Thrust Into His Arms

"This is bad." Says Curry. "It is not that bad. You can just get help from someone else. I am quite good in math." I am so zoned out that I barely hear Maverick suggesting that.

"You are such a dummy! Didn’t you hear what she just said? He told her that she is going to get demerits if she works with someone else!"

Maverick looks at me, "Did he?" He saw the answer in my blank expression. "Oh shit then. What are you going to do about it?"

"I don’t know." I breathe out, rubbing my eyes. I really don’t know.

"Howdy there!" Mom says in a jolly tone as I sit at the table for dinner.

Here we go. I was expecting this. "Howdy." I don’t feel like responding, but I had to. She is dramatically twirling around the table with a big bowl and one of the giant spoons that we use for soup dishes.

"I have got some big news! Someone had finally admitted that she has a boyfriend. Do you know who?" I am fighting the urge to roll my eyes. Her fake gossipy tone is adding another layer of uneasiness to my frayed nerves right now. I throw an accusing glance at Dad who is digging into his food without a care in the world. "It is not that serious. We are still just kinda friends." I say. That is not a lie, but she seems to believe it is. She clicks her tongue. "Hmmm. Suspicious. That is what they always say until one catches them red-handed rolling in the hay.

How far have you guys gone? Kissing? Smooching? Grinding coochies?" Dad is coughing a little violently as he had almost choked on his water obviously because of what mom said. The same thing could have happened to me because I myself am surprised. Alarmed and surprised.

I start defending, "Mom! It is not like that at all!"

"Come on now. Don’t be shy.

I hate to tell you this; but you an adult now. We all are adults here. Expect of course, my little munchkin." She shifts her gaze to Percy in his babysitter beside her and fondly rubs his chubby cheeks.

"Isn’t that right honey?" She asks Dad who looks up, puzzled, perhaps wondering how he had gotten an invite into the conversation. "Y. . .yes that’s right." He says.

She beams. "See? So be honest with me. I promise I won’t get mad." She shrugs lightly. "If I wanted to get mad, I would not be having this conversation with you in the first place."

This is a trap. Even if there was something, I would not be stupid enough to tell her.

"There really is nothing to tell." I answer in a flat tone, taking a spoonful of the chicken broth. And then the rice. Glancing at her, she still looks oddly interested and is not going to drop this anytime soon. Which was proven right when she opens her mouth the next second, "What is his name?"

"Rex." I figured there is no need to add his last name.

"What does his parents do?" Oh, damn it. "I imagine that they must be so rich since he drives around in a Porsche cayenne."

Shit. Do I have to tell her that they are not the same person? That had been Calix.

No. There is no need to. I would only be setting myself up for more talks and misunderstandings.

"I don’t know anything about his parents." The key is to keep it short and perfunctory. Not that I know much to reveal anyway. Except that it is a fake relationship, and I can’t let that slip out.

She frowns, "How could you not?"

"We have only just started dating. And is it not better that way?"

She gives me a scrutinizing look, before asking. "Are you guys doing friends with benefits?"

"No. That is absurd!" I blurt out sharply. Looking at her like she has grown two heads. Mom speaking to me like this? I never thought I would see the day. Did someone switch her out with a clone and that clone is actually the one speaking to me right now instead of her?

I know that is a wild assumption, but why are we suddenly having this awkward talk? And Dad is conveniently staying out of it. Which is good. Because I couldn’t have handled this talk and the two of them.

"What makes you think that?"

"You not knowing anything about his parents." She responds in a matter-of-fact manner. "I’m guessing he also doesn’t know about us?"

I hold my hands out to emphasize, "Yeah, because there is no need to. We are not. . . Really like into the relationship."

She hums again. "That sounds almost convincing. Nice job trying to make me believe that you are not already into 18+ scenes with this guy. You are getting a birth control injection first thing tomorrow morning.

Friends with benefits or whatever you guys are or wanna be, I do not really care. But a family addition is not coming out of this!"

I went to bed thinking that mom did not actually mean that. There is no way. So I just focus on the plan on how to do my assignment myself. To hell with a team!

Morning has come. And to my uttermost surprise, I am in the front seat of Mom’s car being taken to the nearest hospital to get an injection that I don’t really fully understand what it is meant for.

I’m currently sitting on a lounge chair in the out patient area in a small, maternity clinic. The sign outside had read, "Cromwell Maternity Clinic"

Mom is at the desk, speaking to one of the nurses. The one in the turquoise scrub. She looks a little elderly compared to the others I’m seeing. She is currently nodding to whatever mom is telling her and throwing short glances at me from time to time.

I figure that she might be the owner or the head nurse. The others are young women dressed in dark blue scrubs.

The smell of antiseptics hits me hard. That is when the word "Injection" really starts to make sense and hit me too. I’m getting an injection?

But I am scared of needles!

That thought scatter when I hear faint screams. Just then a group of nurses were running to the entrance. I quickly held my feet up so one would not trip over it as she was in a rush and did not see her path.

Someone is being wheeled in on a stretcher. She is screaming so hard and loud which tells that she is in real serious pains. Her hair is sticking to her face. She is all sweaty despite the cold morning weather.

A nurse is telling her to calm down and breathe.

But she cannot seem to.

She looks very young. Seeming to be around my age or slightly older. I notice her stomach is so big. Which means that she is pregnant. She was wheeled past me and our eyes made contact. I am seeing unspoken pain and fear in her blue eyes. "Help me." She says, her voice could be barely heard.