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Chapter Thirty Five

"Oh my god, you look adorable. Turn to the left a little more."

I turned left. I held my shirt up and glanced over at my laptop.

"I couldn't really see it when I was there for Halloween, but wow."

"Four months exactly," I said.

I was web-camming with Mason. I sat back down and brought the screen back up to my lap. He smiled.

"I miss you. I wish I could be there."

"I know. I feel like I haven't seen you forever," I said with a sigh.

Mason smiled. "Well, I'll be there in spirit. First day of driver's ed, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, right after school. I--"

"SHEL! The bus will be here soon!"

I groaned. "I've got to go. Bus will be here soon."

Mason leaned back. He seemed to have had another growth spurt between Halloween and now.

Of course, that might have had to do with the great season his football team had. They had gone to regionals before they lost.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

We blew kisses and I closed my laptop. I grabbed my backpack and headed down the stairs.

Even though I was now looking totally pregnant with my amazingly dorky maternity clothes, I was feeling more energetic.

"Have a good day at school!" mom called.

"Don't forget, I'm picking you up!" dad called.

"Alright, love you!"

I headed down the steps. The bus rounded the corner and pulled to a loud stop. The door opened and I climbed up the steps.

I hadn't been able to hide the baby bump once we got back from Thanksgiving break. Of course, I was doing my best to ignore any catty comments or looks.

And there were a lot.

"How's it going prego?" Frank asked. I ignored him and sat down.

"Drawing any more naked cowboys lately?" he continued. He turned around in his seat to look at me. "Is that who knocked you up?"

I glared at him. "Shut up," I said. He smirked.

"Are you going to throw up on me again? Because I would so totally prefer if you had just spread your legs for me. I bet you're nice and red all over."

I felt my face flame. He reached over the seat towards me.

Something in my head snapped. I stood up, grabbed my bag, and just started whapping him with it. He covered his face.

"HEY! STOP! OW! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"DON'T TALK TO ME EVER AGAIN!" I shrieked.

I was pretty much going ape-shit. The guy sitting next to Frank backed off.

I didn't realize it, but the bus pulled over to the side. It took the bus driver yanking the bag from me for reality to come back.

"You're sitting up front," the driver snapped.

I stomped up to the front of the bus.

"Who would want to sleep with that?" a girl whispered. I whirled around. She looked away.

Once the bus got to school, I spent an oh so enjoyable hour in the principal's office. Let me tell you, the 'prince' of this school was so not my pal.

"You attacked one of our basketball players with your bag?" he asked.

"He...was harassing me."

The principal sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"You only have two more weeks in this school. I would prefer if you could stay out of trouble and just get through your finals."

My jaw tensed. The principal looked like the Pillsbury Doughboy. I wished I was still little and could just say whatever was on my mind. Because if I had been little, I would have told him that he needed to avoid any marshmallow factories for the fear of being mistakenly packaged as the grand-daddy of all Jet Puffs.

But I was sixteen and I was taught to respect my elders, so I bit my tongue.

As a result of the lecture, I missed my first two classes. The rest of the day dragged out miserably. The only bright spot was that I had driver's ed to look forward to.

-----------------------

"Now, remember, slow is good. Let people pass you. You'll get there safely."

Those words of wisdom came from dad in the backseat. The instructor just smirked.

The first thirty minutes of driver's ed was learning all the different rules in a classroom.

For the last ten minutes, I was sitting in the car.

I wasn't even driving today. I couldn't drive until I passed the written portion.

What stupid person thought up stuff like this? I was sixteen. I was born to drive.

"Today, we're just going over the parts of the car," the instructor said.

"Hey, you've got to be careful in a stationary car too," dad argued.

The instructor gave a little sigh. I sat there with my arms folded across my chest while I was introduced to the rearview mirrors (duh), lights, wipers, turn signals, and other stuff that I tuned out.

"So how long until I can take the test?"

"A couple weeks."

I groaned.

Twenty minutes later, dad and I were driving back home.

"Pizza sound good tonight?" he asked.

"Sounds good to me," I said.

We swung by a 'grab-and-go' pizza joint and grabbed a couple of pizzas.

Joe and Ally were already sitting at the kitchen table. I could hear the sound of the sewing machine. Mom was making something again, probably more costumes for the twins or repairing what they had ruined.

"PIZZA NIGHT!" Dad called out.

Joe ran out and grabbed a box. "God bless you," he said seriously. Dad ruffled his hair.

The machine stopped. "How did driver's ed go?" mom asked.

"I didn't even drive!" I said. "I have to read this book and pass the test." I held up the driver's guide for the state of Florida. Mom smiled.

"That's usually how it works."

"Ugh."

"I think that's a good goal to work towards. If you work hard, you'll be able to finish it right after your birthday."

I sighed. My birthday was right around the corner. My seventeenth birthday.

Last year at this time, I would have called anyone crazy that told me that I'd be pregnant.

It was scary how fast things could change.

Maybe dad's advice about driving wasn't too far off. I just wish I had gotten it sooner.

If I had, maybe I would have realized that slow was good.