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**August 22 2002**

“Char.” Steph gently shook her friend in an attempt to wake her the next morning. “Charline, come on, you gotta do this.”

Charline rolled over onto her side. “Do I have to?” She whimpered, it was so sad that she almost gave in. Almost.

“Yes.” Steph replied. Charline reluctantly crawled out of bed and put on her robe.

Two minutes later Steph was standing outside the washroom door, while Charline was in there. “Now you piss in the clear tubey thing.” She explained.

Charline sighed in exasperation. “Okay…now what?” She asked, from inside the bathroom.

“Now you put it in the white thing, and you wait.”

“Wait to die, wait to live, wait for an absolution that would never come.” Quoted Joce, as she came up behind Steph.

“Shut up Joce.” Steph laughed.

“For how long?” Charline asked, her voice sounding panicky and upset.

“An hour.” Steph replied.

“Do I have to stay in here?” Charline wondered aloud, alarmed.

Joce rolled her eyes. “Yes, Char. It will only work if you stay in there.” She replied sarcastically.

Charline grew even more worried. “Really?”

Steph sighed. “No, Char. You can come out. Just hide the test so no one else sees it, ok?”

After a few crashing noises and yelps of pain from Charline, she emerged from the bathroom. “Now what?” She asked.

“Now we go downstairs and try to eat a normal breakfast.” Joce answered.

The girls had woken up early so they could do Chaline’s test without anyone finding out. It was around five in the morning, so as they walked down to the kitchen, they didn’t expect anyone else to be awake.

Little did they know how wrong they were. Aaron had been up half the night, not being able to sleep. He was afraid that he had scarred Charline for life. He was also afraid that he had scarred himself for life. He wanted nothing more than to patch things up with her and to go back to the way it used to be. But that was impossible, since he broke her heart and stepped on it, he doubted she’d come running back into his arms.

Steph, Joce and Charline entered the kitchen and Aaron kept a low profile, not watch to attract attention to himself, as the girls rummaged through the fridge.

Charline took one look at Aaron and hid behind Steph. He was the last person she wanted to see at a time like this.

Finally, Aaron left the kitchen, leaving Charlie relieved. He sighed, trotting up the stairs, having to go to the washroom anyway. What were they doing up so early? Looking at the wall clock, he realized that it was 6:37am. This was supposed to be his time to escape.

Aaron closed the bathroom door and leaned against it. From the first day him and Charline met, they were never just friends. It was like, one day she hated him, they next day they were going out, and Aaron knew that. He and Charline were never friends, and it would be impossible to start now. Aaron sighed as he left the bathroom and headed for his own room, not noticing the home pregnancy test sitting on the shelf.

**One Hour Later**

“Pink is yes and white is no.” Steph called to Charline who was once again locked inside the bathroom. Amazingly, no one was aware of what the girls were up to.

Charline unlocked the door and stepped out, no uttering a word, biting her bottom lip. She was obviously trying to hold in tears.

She didn’t need to say anything, the answer was written across her face. After a few seconds of silence, she started bawling.

“It was pink, wasn’t it?” Steph asked slowly.

Charline looked up at them and gave a small nod. “Yeah.” She choked out. Then made her way to her room and silently locked the door.

Joce looked at Steph and gulped. “What are we going to do?”

Steph shook her head sadly, thinking of the future of The 4 Gurlz. “I don’t know.” She whispered.

**That Afternoon**

White capped waves crashed upon the shore, one after another in a consecutive sequence as if it were timed.

It was the girls last day of their break. Steph sat in silence on the beach, with all that was happening and the feeling of just wanting to get out and away from the house; she now understood you could just sit on the edge of the water, on the sand, in silence.

Also, she had a feeling Nick was breaking up with her today, probably for the same reason Aaron broke up with Charline. Or maybe it was just that, now that Charline and Aaron were over, it would be too hard. Too awkward.

She took a deep breath as Nick sat down beside her, joining her on the sand. ‘Why does everything happen at the beach?’ she wondered, not acknowledging Nick at all.

Finally Steph spoke, in a sad and yet understanding tone. “I know what you’re gonna say, so don’t even start.”

Nick sighed, from the way she was acting this morning, he knew something was up. “Sorry.” He replied, trying – and failing – not to sound stupid.

“I know you are.”

Defeated, Nick tried a different approach. “I still love you.”

“I love you too.” Steph said, emotion lacking in her voice. She still didn’t so much as glance at him.

Nick sighed again. “Come on Steph, don’t do this, it’s hard for me too.”

She turned and faced him for the first time since he’d approached her. “I know, it’s just that – “ She paused to keep from crying. “a lot of stuff is happening all at once.” She continued, thinking of the Charline problem. They hadn’t told anyone – and weren’t planning on it. Only the four girls knew, and boy was Sophie angry.

“I’d say we could still be friends – “ Nick started, but Steph silenced him with a kiss, one that meant closure.

“But that would be impossible.” She finished, standing up and walking up the steps to go back inside.