Angel in the Shadows, Book 1 by Lisa Grace (Angel Series) (23 page)

I read the little insert, “Well it says—one
woman out of a thousand gets pregnant even if they do everything
right. It also says certain drugs interfere with the pill’s
effectiveness.”

Mandy looks at me funny, “What drugs?”

I look, “Some antibiotics, or if you were
throwing up while ill, the pill may not have gotten it into your
system.”

“Oh no!” Mandy’s face gets pale… She sits on the
edge of the counter. “I wasn’t feeling well and I did get sick a
few times—oh no! I couldn’t keep anything down. I went to the
doctor and got on the Z-Pack. I didn’t want to miss
homecoming.”

“Didn’t the doctor warn you?”

Mandy blushes, “I didn’t tell him I was on the
pill. It’s none of his business. I didn’t want him to know I was
planning on having sex. I didn’t want a lecture or the doctor
trying to talk me out of it.”

We both look at the stick again. Two lines in
the square. Mandy’s pregnant.

Mandy looks at me, “What do I do?” She wipes at
her eyes with a tissue.

“I don’t know. I guess you have to tell Alex and
your mom.” I try to think of an easy way out. There isn’t any. “Do
you think Alex would marry you? He is a senior and he loves you.
You could get into married housing at college next year.”

“He did say he loves me. Maybe we could make
marriage and a baby work. Alex is coming over tonight. I’ll tell
him then.”

I can tell Mandy is afraid to face Alex.

“Megan, could you come over, please, around
seven-thirty? Please? I know I should tell Alex privately. But
maybe you can tell him some of these things. I’m so nervous. I’m
afraid I’ll forget.”

I nod my head yes, and give her a hug.

“I know he isn’t going to be happy at first, but
I think he loves me enough to marry me,” Mandy smiles, “It doesn’t
have to be the end of the world does it?”

“When are you going to tell your mom, Farrah?” I
ask.

“Not till after I tell Alex. If we’re going to
get married, we can face my mom together, and his parents too.”

Mandy gives me a ride home before dinner. She
needs time to think of how she’s going to break the news to Alex. I
ask my mom to please drop me off at Mandy’s, after dinner, on her
way to Max’s karate class. She agrees.

I say a prayer that things work out for Alex and
Mandy. I’ll know soon enough when I see her later tonight. On the
way to Mandy’s house, I’m nervous and feeling nauseous. I can’t
believe this is happening. Mandy and I had a plan. We were going to
go to college together, share an apartment, and have fun. Now my
best friend might be getting married and having a baby.

My mom drops me off and gives me a kiss, “Have
fun honey. Tell Mandy to stop by more often. We miss her.”

“I will. Love you Mom. Love you Max. Have fun at
karate.”

I walk up to the front door. Alex’s car is still
in the driveway. I stand there for a minute, unsure if I should
ring the bell. I hear yelling and screaming. Unfortunately, it
sounds like things are not going well. I feel so bad for Mandy. I
don’t want to intrude, but Mandy might need my support as a friend.
I get the courage up to ring the bell. I hear low voices and then
hear Mandy say through the closed door, “she already knows.”

Mandy opens the door, she’s been crying and her
face is red with traces of smeared mascara. “Come in.”

Alex is standing in the living room, pacing back
and forth. “Look, Mandy told me you know. So far it’s only us
three.”

Mandy talks to me, ignoring Alex for the moment.
“He didn’t believe me when I told him I was pregnant. He thought I
was faking it, to trap him. He made me take the second pregnancy
test and pee in front of him! Then, he accused me of sleeping with
somebody else.” Mandy dissolves in tears against my shoulder.

Alex, though angry, obviously doesn’t want to
yell in front of me. “Look Mandy, we’re too young to get married.
We haven’t even gotten through high school yet. And our best years
are ahead of us in college. I’m not ready to be a dad and you don’t
want to be a mom! Come on honey,” He walks up behind Mandy and
starts rubbing her arms, “We can get this taken care of. I’ll pay,
of course. The sooner we get this taken care of, the better.”

Mandy turns to him, “What are you saying? That
you want to get married and you’ll pay for the license?”

Alex looks at her, “Don’t be stupid.
You
have
to get an abortion.
I’m not paying child support and we are
not
getting married. If we do it now, quietly,
our parents don’t even have to know.” Alex looks directly at me,
“No one has to know. Don’t ruin my senior year of high school.
Mandy, if you love me, you’ll get it now. The clinics are closed
tonight. We’ll call first thing tomorrow and set up an
appointment.”

Mandy’s crying, “Alex it’s a baby,
our baby
. I can’t kill it! We could
get married and live in student housing next year. You can still go
to college. It won’t be easy, but we can do it. Other people
do.”

Alex looks at Mandy coldly, “It’s a blob
of cells, an accident, because you were to dumb to follow
instructions. You want me to sacrifice
my
life
for the next eighteen years for
your mistake
. How can you be so
selfish?”

Alex picks up the phone and dials information.
“Clearwater, Florida,” We hear him say to the automated attendant.
“Abortion clinic.” The machine can’t understand him so he repeats
his request again and again, “Abortion clinic.”

He writes the number down on a piece of paper
and hangs up the phone. “You call tomorrow and make the appointment
or I will.” He thrusts the piece of paper with the number on it at
Mandy. “We are taking care of this mistake before anyone else finds
out.”

Alex looks at me one last time before he walks
out the door, “You better keep your mouth shut,” he says as he
leaves.

I hold Mandy as we sit down on the couch and I
just let her cry. “What am I going to do? What should I do
Megan?”

I don’t know what to say. I believe abortion is
murder. I tell Mandy, “You know what I believe,” we’ve had this
discussion before.

“What are my choices if I have the baby? Keep
it? I don’t want to be a mom all by myself and Alex doesn’t want to
help. Put the baby up for adoption and let some stranger raise it?
Maybe abortion is the best solution.”

I get a little mad at her logic. “You’re right.
Murdering the baby is better than letting a stranger love your baby
and raise it.”

Mandy starts to cry again, “You don’t have to be
so cruel.”

I look at her and say, “This is a real human
being growing in you. You can’t just think of yourself anymore. You
have to think of your baby’s future too. Mandy, you have to grow up
and think of what’s best for the baby.”

Mandy looks at the piece of paper in her hand
with the abortion clinic’s phone number on it. I’m afraid to
suggest Mandy talk to her mom. Farrah goes out and parties, sleeps
around with men, and gets drunk almost every night. I’m afraid
she’ll tell Mandy an abortion is okay the same way she told her
being on birth control and having sex is okay.

“I would really like you to talk to my Pastor
and his wife about this. They can help you,” I say.

Mandy wipes at her eyes, “No, thank you. I don’t
need anyone to make me feel worse than I already do. I don’t need
lectures! I need help.”

She looks at me, “Megan, I know abortion is
wrong. I just honestly don’t want to face everything alone. My
mom’s too busy partying to care. I can’t see her being any help at
all. Please don’t tell anyone. I won’t make a decision tonight. I
promise.”

I can’t leave Mandy alone tonight without anyone
to talk to. I make a snap decision and announce, “I’m spending the
night tonight. I can’t leave you alone.”

“Really? Thank you Megan.” Mandy sounds
relieved. I give her a hug.

I call my mom to let her know I‘m going to be
spending the night at Mandy’s. She can drive me to my house before
school, that way I can change clothes and pick up my books. My cell
rings after I hang up with my mom. The number says “private.” It
could be Johnny; or it could be Jude. I hesitate before I answer.
I’m afraid of who it might be.

“Surprise! A bun in the oven. Isn’t this
the best? I get a mother and a father to commit murder, and a dead
baby. Three more for me. I call this a triple crown. Just like the
good old days with Adrammelech and Anammelech. I just love
surprises! I almost spilled the beans once or twice. It‘s so hard
to keep secrets. Especially from you, Mouse. No wonder you humans
fail at it so often. My Mouse, my pet, my toy.” His voice keeps
changing as he talks, sounding like the evilness he is. “Why don’t
I come over and make Mandy feel better about aborting. I won’t even
tell anyone—maybe. Maybe I won’t tell anyone. But it’s so
hard
to keep secrets. I don’t know…
maybe you can talk me out of telling, Mouse. Oh, I almost forgot
why I called. Give Max my best. I haven’t seen the little bugger
lately. Where have you been hiding him? Oh, I get it! We’re playing
hide and seek. What fun!”

With that, the phone clicks off. I’m worried
about Max, but I have a chance to save Mandy and her baby. Max is
safe at home with Mom and Dad. I can’t worry about him tonight.
Besides, I’m afraid Jude is using Max as a distraction so I don’t
concentrate on saving Mandy’s baby. Mandy assumes the call was from
my mom checking up on me so she went ahead with getting sheets to
cover the couches. We’ll spend the night out in the living room.
It’s bigger and more comfortable than Mandy’s room. We plan to
watch a movie. Anything but a romance.

Farrah comes home three or four hours after the
movie is over. We’re both sleeping. I vaguely hear her getting
ready for bed in my light sleep.

Suddenly the lights come on, “Get UP. GET UP
NOW, both of you!” My eyes are blurry from trying to focus while
I’m still half-asleep. Farrah is standing at the end of Mandy’s
couch where she can see us both clearly.

“Which one of you is it? Which one?” Farrah is
shaking. She looks angry and upset. I realize she’s holding up one
of the pregnancy test kit sticks.

Mandy is still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
I just look between her and Farrah. I’m totally paralyzed by fear.
I know I haven’t done anything wrong, but I feel like we’ve been
caught doing something bad.

“It’s me, Farrah stop yelling,” Mandy sits up
while Farrah sits down on the edge of Mandy’s couch. “I have had
enough yelling from Alex. I was going to tell you tomorrow, I mean,
later this morning. I just found out myself.”

“Oh honey,” Farrah reaches out to Mandy and
starts crying. Farrah must still be a little drunk. Her reactions
are a little over the top and she is slurring her words
slightly.

“What did Alex say?” Farrah asks.

“He wants me to have an abortion.” Megan starts
to cry.

Farrah’s face crumples and she starts to cry.
“I’m so sorry baby, I’m so sorry.” She holds onto Mandy and rocks
her back and forth, saying as if it’s a mantra, “I’m so sorry, I’m
so sorry, I‘m so sorry.”

It’s such a personal moment, I’m afraid to
remind anybody I’m here. I just lie back down.

It’s almost like Mandy is the one comforting her
mother. She starts soothing Farrah by saying, “It’s okay Mom, it’s
okay, don’t cry.”

I slowly get up and move into Mandy’s bedroom to
give them some privacy. After awhile I fall asleep. I didn’t think
I could, but when I open my eyes, it’s morning.

CHAPTER 10 - DECISION TIME

In the morning I go out to the kitchen and start
a pot of coffee. Mandy and I have been friends for so long, I know
where everything is. I wake Mandy up to remind her we have to leave
to go to my house and then school.

Mandy comes into the kitchen. “I’m going to call
in sick today.”

“Why?” I ask. I pour myself a cup of coffee and
sit down at the table.

“I’m going to call the clinic and schedule an
abortion as soon as they open.”

“Mandy, don’t! You told me you know it’s wrong.
You can’t.” I say shocked.

“Come on, you saw my mom’s reaction last
night. I can’t take care of
her
and a baby!”

“Mandy please! Let’s talk to my pastor. There
are groups out there that help girls. Please let’s talk to one of
them first,” I beg.

She shakes her head, “No, Alex was right. The
less people who know the better.” Mandy starts to pour a cup of
coffee then stops. She lets out a laugh, and starts to pour again.
Mandy turns to me, “I almost stopped pouring the coffee because I
thought it’s bad for the baby.” She starts to cry.

I go up and hug her. “Mandy you could keep the
baby or you could put the baby up for adoption. I’ve heard you can
even pick out the adoptive family if you want. I’ve heard that some
of the families will even send you pictures as your child grows up.
Please let’s go talk to someone.”

“No, I know what I have to do,” Mandy dries her
tears, picks up the phone, and dials.

I can’t believe anyone would be there this
early. I pray they are not open yet.

Mandy says, “Hello, I would like to schedule an
appointment for today. As soon as possible. Where exactly are you?”
She writes down an address. “Ten o’clock, that will be fine. Thank
you.”

She hangs up and looks at me. “There. It’s done.
I’m going to drive over to Alex’s house now to get his credit card
to pay for it. I’m going to leave now before I change my mind. Alex
will drop me off at the clinic. I’ll call him when it’s over and he
can give me a ride home. By Monday, we can pretend this never
happened and things can go back to normal. Don’t make a big deal
out of this Megan.” Mandy gets up. “I have to get changed.” Mandy
goes to get ready.