Wondering Minds

Chapter 19

The bus doors squeaked open as I stepped off the bus. I slowly walked to the front door and unlocked it.

I shut the door behind me as I walked in and sighed loudly from a busy day at school. I threw my backpack on the ground and lay down on the couch.

I closed my eyes trying to get a nap in before my appointment.

Before I could drift off to sleep, someone loudly knocked on my door.

"Ugh..." I whispered to myself.

I don't move, hoping whoever is knocking thinks nobody is at home.

There was silence for a few seconds until I heard another loud knock. "Ugh!"

I forced myself to get up and dragged myself all the way to the door.

I opened the door and my heart skipped a beat as I saw Emma standing there.

We both stared at each other as I stood there frozen. I looked down and saw that her belly was sticking out a little bit.

Emma stood there very stiff and avoiding eye contact. Emma started to rub the back of her neck and finally spoke.

"Do you mind if I can come in?" Emma says while still avoiding eye contact.

"Um... Okay..." I moved out the way to let her in and then closed the door behind her. Emma sat on the couch waiting for me to sit next to her.

I sat down on the other couch to get enough distance between us. "Um... Why are you here?" I said.

"I wanted to apologize to you..." I saw a single tear fall from her eye before she quickly wiped it.

I kept my guard up, "Okay..."

She took a deep breath and then let it out. " I'm sorry for the way I treated you, I was mad at you for no reason."

More tears flow down her face, "This pregnancy was my fault, not yours and I'm so sorry how I treated you. You were only trying to help and I'm sorry."

Tears start to flow down my face as I try not to show emotion.

"I ruined this friendship... not you Luna. You've always been there for me and I hate that I'm just now realizing that. I don't want us to fight anymore... I want you to forgive me."

Emma starts to cry, making me cry too. I held on to Emma until our crying subsided. I wiped my tears and then spoke, "I don't think we would ever get back the same friendship that we had, but we could build a new relationship."

Emma slowly started to smile as she wiped her tears with her hand. She then inspected my face, "How's your eye and your nose?"

I gently touch my eye and then my nose, "It's okay... How's your face and... your stomach?" I said.

"My face is okay and my stomach too." Emma puts her hand on her stomach. I could see her little baby bump as she rubbed up and down her belly.

I swallowed hard, "Did you decide to keep the baby?"

Emma looked down and then back up to me, "Yes, I decided to keep it. I talked to Ryan the other day and he told me that he wanted me to keep it. And that he'll help me with the baby... He already bought baby clothes."

"That's sweet but he doesn't know the gender yet?" I said confused.

Emma laughs a little, "Yeah... He's sweet..."

I started to think about the Truth or Dare game but I pushed it to the back of my mind. "Anything new happened lately," I said.

"Um... Nope nothing new, just being pregnant and staying at home mostly. What about you?"

"It's too much to tell..." I said fake smiling.

Emma starts to nervously shake her leg, "You don't have to tell me... I know I probably got to gain your trust again."

"Yeah..." The room started to feel awkward as we looked at each other.

Emma clears her throat, "Are you still hanging out with that Braden guy?"

"Yes, he's very sweet and loving."

"Oh! So, he's your boyfriend now." Emma says surprised.

I smile, "No... I have a boyfriend but it's not him."

Emma's face lights up with excitement, "Oh! Who is it?"

I thought for a few seconds, "Um... We're deciding to keep it a secret for now." I said scratching the back of my head.

Emma looked down disappointed by my response. "Okay, I need to get going." Emma stood up with her hand on her stomach.

I stood up and helped her to the door. "Have a good day," I said as Emma walked off the porch.

"You too!" She yells.

She passes by Nathan who is in his blue scrubs. Nathan smiled brightly when we made eye contact.

He grabbed me and hugged me tightly. "I would kiss you but I'm working." He whispered.

Before I shut the door I saw Emma's Mom come and pick her up.

"Who was that?" Nathan asks.

"Oh... That was Emma..."

"Emma? The girl that you got into a fight with."

"Yeah..."

Nathan pulled out his laptop and sat down on the couch. I sat down next to him waiting as he typed.

He finally looked up at me, "Okay, you get to choose what you want to do today. What do you want to work on?"

I started to think, "I want to go back to the store and see if I can go in by myself."

Nathan showed his white teeth when he grinned. "Okay, sounds good to me." We got ready and headed out to his car. Nathan opened the door for me and I got in, I pulled out my phone to scroll through social media.

Nathen takes a glimpse of me as he drives, "Are you okay?"

"Yes..." I watched as we passed trees and cars. Nathan takes another glimpse at me, "Stop lying... What's wrong?"

I sighed, "It's just too much going on in my life. Like today... I didn't expect Emma to show up at my house and deep down inside I don't know if I really forgive her." I sighed again and folded my arms.

"You didn't like her apology or something," Nathan says.

"No... I liked her apology and I accepted her apology. I think I'm upset that our friendship would never be the same." I started to look out the window again as we pulled into the same grocery store as before.

Nathan parked his car and then looked at me, "I think y'all will figure it out... Come on and let's break another milestone."

Nathan smiled making me smile, I jumped out of the car ready to face my fear. Nathan came over and handed me twenty dollars.

"I want you to get two items of your choice, but one must be in front of the store and the other in the back."

My heart starts to pump a little harder. "Okay, I got this." I walked to the moving electric doors and stood there.

I watched as people walked around the store. "You got this," I whispered to myself.

I walked in slowly observing people shopping, yelling at children, and checking out.

I held my breath and walked over to the nearest aisle. I looked down the aisle to see it was the candy aisle.

I walked over to get a closer look at the candy, to see which one I was going to buy.

In the corner of my eye, I see a boy about my age standing next to me. He picked up a bag of Skittles and then looked at me.

"Hey, you must be Luna."

I slowly turned my head, scared to move the other parts of my body. "How did you know my name?" I said fighting the urge to pass out.

"I've seen you around school before and because your name has been floating around the school... ever since the fight."

I tried to keep my hand steady as I grabbed a box of Sour Patch Kids. "Oh..." I ran to the next aisle to get away from him. I let out a breath I was unintentionally holding. I looked around the corner to make sure he wasn't following me.

"Okay, what do I need to do next," I whispered to myself.

"Oh yeah, pick an item from the back of the store."

I stood there to build up some confidence and then slowly started walking to the back of the store. I looked to my right to see a baby in the stroller, smiling and making eye contact with me.

The Mother turns around to see who her baby is smiling at. She catches me in her glance and then smiles. "Do you want to say hi?"

"Sure." The baby smiled more and then started laughing when I stood in front of her. The baby looked to be about seven months old. She had on a pretty pink bow and a pretty pink dress. I bent down and looked the baby in the face. "Hi!" I said.

The baby laughed more, making me laugh. "She's very precious," I said to the Mother.

"Thank you! Here, let me buy you something."

"No, Ma'am I'm good," I said.

"Then here take this." She handed me fifty dollars. I stared at the money in my hand, "No, I can't take this." I tried to give her back the money.

"No, I want you to keep it... You seem like a very sweet person." She smiled.

I put the money in my pocket, "Thank you so much, have a great day today."

"You too, sweetheart." The lady turned and pushed the stroller down another aisle. I started to feel a burst of confidence as I walked to the back of the store to the toy section. I saw a dolphin plush toy and picked it up.

Still high off the confidence boost I walked to the self-checkout area and checked out my items. I then walked out of the store with my head held high.

I saw Nathan walking towards me with a huge grin on his face. I ran up to him and jumped into his arms.

"You did it!" Nathan yells.

"Yes! And I got you something." I pulled the dolphin out of the bag and handed the stuffed animal to him.

"This is so cute!" Nathan says laughing and inspecting the toy. "Thank you!" He bends down a little bit and kisses me. I kissed back kind of surprised, "I thought you wanted to be professional when at work."

Nathan looked at me, "I couldn't help myself this time."

I giggled as I pulled out the money the lady gave me.

"Woah! Where did you get that from?"

"From this sweet lady and her baby. The baby was so cute!" I said jumping up and down.

"I'm so happy for you baby."

I squint my eyes at Nathan. "Did you just call me baby?"

Nathan's eyes widen, "Um... No, I said let's go home." I smiled knowing exactly what he said.

"Okay, let's go home." I held out my hand and he walked me to the car.