Just Like Heaven (13 page)

“What?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“Oh my God,” Hayley said in disbelief. “You’re
pregnant.
”

“Yep.”

Hayley looked at Demi and realized she didn’t recognize the girl who she had grown up with. The Demi she knew was dependable and head strong and more importantly, going places.

Hayley had never been studious and her mother would often wax lyrical about how she could benefit being more like Demi.

“You should study more with Demi, she’s a bright girl, maybe she will rub off on you. She won’t be stuck in Collinswood come graduation, that girl will see the world, mark my words.”

At the time Hayley had felt insanely jealous, but now, sat on her bed and absorbing the news of Demi’s pregnancy she pitied her, realizing that of everyone, Demi had so much more to lose because she had been held in such high regard. Having a baby would destroy not only her dreams, but people’s perception of her.

“I can’t believe it.”

“Yeah, it’s mental.”

“Does Arthur know?” Hayley asked delicately.

“Yes, and he’s fine about it. Excited even. He’s not going to Duke so that we can stay here and be a family.”

Hayley wondered if Demi was aware of just how ridiculous she sounded. She was a teenager, there was no way she was about to start a family. She was talking as though she were thirty five and married.

“Arthur’s giving up Duke?” Hayley asked, sounding unconvinced. She remembered how excited he had been at the party, bragging to anyone who would listen about he was leaving Collinswood for Duke to make something of himself.

“This town won’t see me for dust!” he’s slurred. “The only place I want to see Collinswood is in my rear view mirror!”

It was hard to believe that Arthur would remain in a town he so clearly had outgrown, even for the sake of his unborn child.

“Arthur is glad to give up Duke for us to be together. He never really wanted to go in the first place,” Demi said with as much certainty as she could muster in an attempt to convince not only Hayley, but also herself.

“Well great, I’m glad he’s stepping up,” Hayley managed to smile. “But I still can’t believe it. What about becoming a nurse? What about your dreams?”

“I’ll still become a nurse,” Demi said, forcing herself to sound positive. “There’s night school, and my Dad will help with the baby.”

“Babies are a lot of work,” Hayley said, speaking with experience as her cousin’s often roped her in to looking after their multitude of young off spring.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Will you?” Hayley asked, trying to see through the façade which Demi was hiding behind but failing.

“I’ll be fine,” Demi repeated.

“Well then, congratulations,” Hayley reached forwards and embraced Demi. It all felt so surreal, the girl she had always looked up to and admired was throwing her life away. Anyone looking in would have betted on Hayley being the one to end up a pregnant teen. How surprising life can be.

“How’s your Dad taking the news?”

“Really well.”

“He’s such a nice guy.”

“Yeah. He’s the best.”

The two girls sat in silence, no longer caring about the yearbook which lay open between them. Something had shifted, changed in their relationship. The future was no longer this exciting prospect, it was on their doorstep and in a few short months it would be a screaming, wailing reality.

“When are you due?”

“March.”

“Spring baby, cool. Have you thought about names?”

“No, I need to talk all that over with Arthur.”

“It sounds like he’s being really supportive. Most guys our age would just bail.”

“Yeah.” Demi didn’t have the heart to tell Hayley the truth; that when she first told Arthur he had accused her of having another man’s baby before ignoring her for a week. Not the behaviour of a guy who was ready to become a father.

“You okay?” Hayley asked, sounding concerned.

“Yeah, just tired,” Demi tried to sound breezy with her reply.

“Well, hey, if you feel up to it, want to go to the mall and check out baby clothes? They have the cutest stuff but I’ve never had a reason to really look before!”

“That would be fun,” Demi smiled, feeling relieved that Hayley was being so supportive. At least someone was on her side.

####

Jared gazed in wonderment at the laptop as Arthur dragged the mouse to show him different views of the Duke campus.

“Wow,” he breathed, impressed.

“Pretty nice, right?” Arthur smiled.

“And you’ll have your own room?” Jared asked.

“Well, I’ll be sharing with another guy, but basically my own room.”

“Awesome.”

Watching the screen with wide eyes, both Jared and Arthur welcomed the distraction of college. It was a promise of something new, something exciting. It had been too long since the Cooper family had felt a need to look to the future, investing all their energy in just enduring the present.

“I can’t wait to come visit you,” Jared beamed, his eyes sunken in to his small head, his skin as thin as paper. Each day he looked paler, as though he were just slowly fading away.

“Me neither. I’ll take you to a game-”

“And buy me a beer!” Jared interrupted.

“I don’t know about that,” Arthur laughed. He loved spending time with his younger brother where the focus wasn’t his ailing health. They had something positive to focus on and it was joining them together in a way neither of them had experienced for some time.

“Show me the girl’s dorms again,” Jared suggested cheekily which made Arthur laugh. He was just about to put the relevant images on the screen when his phone buzzed to life. He quickly scanned the message which was from his friend Ollie;

Dude just seen your girl in town browsing baby clothes…you might want to tell her to slow her roll a bit! Chicks, always trying to tie us down! Lol. See you later at mine, be there for 9. Bring beer.

Arthur frowned at the message and felt his cheeks flush. What was Demi doing so brazenly advertising the fact that she was pregnant? She should be keeping it a closely guarded secret, did she have no shame?

“Everything okay?” Jared asked.

“Yeah little man, everything’s fine.”

“Girl trouble?” Jared suggested, trying to sound smart, like one of the lads.

“Is there any other kind?” Arthur joked. “Let’s check out these dorms then…”

As they scanned through the library of images Arthur tried to hide the fact that he was seething. He didn’t want his friends to know that Demi was pregnant. Luckily they saw it all as a joke, but what if they found out the truth? Arthur realized as he sat there with Jared that he was ashamed of anyone finding out that he had gotten her pregnant. They would think him foolish and reckless.

When his phone buzzed some few minutes later he almost couldn’t bring himself to read the message, fearing it was one of his friends demanding to know why he hadn’t told them that he was going to be a father. Thankfully the message was just from Demi.

Hey handsome, how are you? Just checking in to see what time we are meeting later. Can’t wait to see you xxxx

Arthur felt himself steel at the sight of her name of his phone’s display. He didn’t want to see her. Currently, he felt so angry at her for parading around baby clothing stores that if he saw her, they would just row. He quickly typed back his reply and then resumed browsing the Duke website with an enthralled Jared.

I’ve got plans babe, sorry.

He didn’t even notice that he’d forgotten to put a kiss on the end of the message as he pressed the send button.

“Duke looks so amazing,” Jared said excitedly from his position beside him.

“Yeah, it does,” Arthur agreed. “I wouldn’t miss going there for anything.”

####

“We should probably start thinking about names,” Demi said absently as she sat in the car beside Arthur. He didn’t respond, instead remaining focused on driving.

“I like Amber for a girl and Jacob for a boy. What do you think?”

Still Arthur didn’t answer. Demi sighed, assuming he was just ignoring her and flipped on the car stereo. As usual, their song came on, the text of their matching tattoos being sung harmoniously, but Arthur swiftly switched it off. He was in no mood to listen to it.

“Is something wrong?” Demi asked directly.

“I’m driving,” Arthur huffed.

“You don’t normally mind if we listen to our song while you are driving.”

“Well today I do!” Arthur snapped.

Demi shrunk in her seat beside him, alarmed by his aggressive tone. They’d argued before but he wasn’t usually this hostile without good reason. She replayed their last few interactions in her mind but she couldn’t think of anything which she’d done to warrant angering him.

The rest of their journey was conducted in awkward silence with Arthur seething behind the wheel and Demi not knowing quite what to say to ease the tension. She was relieved when they pulled in to the parking lot at the mall.

The sun was shining brightly but it did nothing to help raise the couple’s spirits. Arthur got out and began walking swiftly towards the mall leaving Demi behind struggling to keep up.

“Wait!” she called as she desperately pounded her short legs in an effort to keep up with Arthur’s brisk pace.

But Arthur didn’t wait. He ploughed ahead and only ceased walking once he was within the pleasant air conditioning of the mall. Around him people were milling about, shopping and going about their business. He turned and fixed Demi with a steely look which sent a shiver down her spine.

“What the hell has gotten in to you?” she asked, breathless from her almost sprint across the car park.

“Nothing.” Arthur said through clenched teeth.

“It obviously isn’t nothing,” Demi protested.

“I don’t want to discuss baby names!” Arthur said, lowering his voice on the latter part of his declaration.

“Well, we need to talk about them at some point,” Demi stated. “We can’t just refer to them as he or she.” She added mockingly.

“You just choose whatever name you want.”

“We have to agree on it.”

“No, we don’t.” Arthur said flatly.

Demi studied his body language, his arms were crossed and he was turned away from her. It was obvious that he was displeased with her and didn’t want to be around her.

“Why did we even meet up today?” Demi sighed wearily. “You’ve been putting me off for days and then when we do eventually meet up, you are off with me.”

Arthur grabbed Demi’s arm roughly and led her in to a nearby café which was relatively quiet. There he selected the table at the rear, away from other diners, and they sat down.

“Order whatever you like,” he told her flippantly.