Chapter Thirty-four
"Taylor, are you okay, man?" Zac questioned his older brother, who sat at the computer just staring at the screen.
"I'm fine, Zac," Taylor replied, not breaking his staring contest with the computer screen.
"Are you sure? Ever since you came home from visiting your girlfriend you've been acting very strange. . ." Zac observed. He suspected that Taylor and Page had had a fight or something, but he knew they would make up like they always did. "Did you hear me?" Zac asked.
"Yes, I heard you. My girlfriend is just being a bitch!" With that exclamation, Taylor angrily threw the laptop off the desk.
"Um, whoa?"
"Yeah, and you know what? She won't be able to stay away for too long. When she comes crawling back, I should let her go through the hell I'm going through!"
"What hell? Taylor, you're making yourself miserable by sitting around dwelling on whatever fight you guys had. . ."
"We didn't have a fucking fight! She just dumped me out of nowhere!" Taylor exploded. "I didn't do anything to her. She's psycho!"
Zac giggled at Taylor's last comment. Here Taylor was screaming, throwing shit, and calling his girlfriend a bitch and after all of that drama, he calls Page a psycho.
"Well, man, you just gotta wait until she comes crawling back then. She'll realize what a gentleman she's giving up," Zac snickered sarcastically. Without knowing the details, he knew what happened was most likely Taylor's fault. Lately, he had been acting like a lunatic.
"I know, right?" Taylor agreed, completely misunderstanding Zac's comment. "You know what I need? I need to smoke up. Want to join me?"
"No thanks, Tay. And you might want to do it somewhere else because everyone is home. . ."
"I can do it wherever I want to do it. I'm almost eighteen!"
"Okay, don't say I never warned you. I'm out of here," Zac replied, leaving the room. He knew Taylor had lost a few marbles when he was planning to smoke weed when everyone else was home. It was almost like he wanted to get in trouble.
Zac wanted to help his brother, but he had no idea how to do so. He could call Kathy, but he knew she and Page didn't keep in touch. Zac had to find out what had had happened between Taylor and Page so that he could help Taylor cope with whatever was going on. Even though Zac would hate to admit it, he was trying to be a peacemaker between the two.
* * * *
"Who is it?" Page asked her youngest brother Noah, who had the phone to his ear.
"Zac?" Noah said questioningly. "Isn't that Taylor's little brother?"
"Yeah, it is," Page sighed. She wouldn't have been surprised if it was Taylor tricking her into answering the phone. She took the phone from her little brother and greeted whoever it was.
"Hey, how's it going?" Zac asked.
"It's going. . ." Page snickered. She was relieved that it wasn't Taylor. "Why are you calling me? Did Taylor put you up to this?"
"Actually, I stole his cell phone and got your number from it. He has no idea I'm calling you right now."
"So, why are you? Listen, Taylor and I are over. Our relationship ended officially two weeks ago, so I don't have anything to say to him."
"Well, that's why I need to talk to you. I'm probably the least likely person to act like Oprah, but I just want to know why he's acting like a fucking crazy-ass jerk."
"Hey, your guess is as good as mine. But I don't care anymore. I realized that he and I are looking for something totally different. He also treats me like shit. He uses me for sex and whatever else he needs at that moment. I can't deal anymore. I need to have a life without him."
"Did you tell him all of this?"
"More or less, I did. I still love him. I'm just scared and fed up with him."
"You have a good reason to be. He's obsessed with you, Page. He doesn't think it's really over. In fact, he thinks you and him will be together forever. He's in a major case of denial."
"That's his problem. Zac, you're a sweetheart for calling me to talk about this, but I don't want to talk about him."
"Okay, I understand. I'm sorry I couldn't help you. I'll talk to you later, Page. Good-bye." Zac regretted calling her and bringing up Taylor, a subject she clearly didn't want to hear about again.
"Thanks for calling. Have a nice night," Page said politely. She hung up the phone and tried to comprehend a reason why Zac would call her. She couldn't accept that Taylor had really lost it. She felt sorry for his family, but knew she couldn't do anything to help.
The next morning, Page stumbled into her little sister's room. Her mom was brushing Noelle's hair for school.
"I'm not feeling well, Mom. Can I please stay home?" Page asked.
"Page, this is your senior year. Please don't start slacking off now," Mrs. Monroe begged.
"I just feel like crap. I promise I'll go in later. Can't I just stay home for a couple of hours? I'll probably feel better then," Page begged.
Mrs. Monroe let out an exasperated sigh and then told Page to go lie down. After stopping to throw up in the bathroom, Page finally stumbled into her room.
"Oh, my God! I feel like I'm seasick!" Page had never been seasick, but she imagined it felt a lot like she was feeling at that moment.
"You look like you're seasick, too. What's wrong with you?" Christina's voice suddenly asked. Page jumped.
"Oh, shit! I didn't know you were right there. I was talking to myself," Page said. She grabbed the mouthwash and proceeded to wash her mouth out.
"Page, are you pregnant?" Her sister had her hands on her hip and looked Page right in the eyes.
Page spit out the mouthwash and then laughed.
"No, smart-ass. If you tell Mom or Dad that. . ."
"Relax, even if you were I wouldn't tell. So, are you bulimic?"
"No, I'm not! Christina, stop asking such stupid questions!"
"Stop acting like such a bitch," Christina replied, rolling her eyes.
Page felt bad about snapping at her sister, but she couldn't control her sudden outbursts. All she wanted to do was get back into her bed and sleep. That was the only solution to her sickness.
Sleep is exactly what she did all day until her best friend Cheyanne barged into her room that afternoon.
"Page Rebecca Monroe, get your ass up right now!" Cheyanne said loudly.
"What?"
"Dude, why is everyone saying that you and Alan were together in my house over Thanksgiving break? What's going on?"
Page opened her eyes and shook her head. What was Cheyanne talking about? Page didn't tell her about Taylor coming by for a surprise visit, but that was because she knew Cheyanne would think she was taking advantage of her and her house.
"It makes sense, you know. You lost your pills that weekend, too. That's why you're all tired and sick. You're pregnant, aren't you? Does Alan know?" Cheyanne demanded.
"No, because I'm not pregnant. Have you and my sister been talking?"
"She's worried about you and so am I. I saw her at school today and asked her where you were and she told me about this morning. You could have told me! We're supposed to be best friends," Cheyanne said. She was really hurt and Page could tell.
"Listen, Alan and I just talked at Lauren's house. That's the only time I talked to him that weekend."
"Someone said they saw him leaving my house the morning after the party. . ."
"Really?" Page thought about an explanation. That was the morning that Taylor and her had made love. Suddenly, she realized it could have been Alan who had knocked on the door when she and Taylor thought it was her family. It all made sense. "I remember hearing someone knocking at the door the next morning, but I didn't answer it. I think that might have been him. Whoever saw him must have just seen him walking away."
"Oh, well why didn't you answer the door?"
"Cheyanne, I know you might be upset with me when I tell you this, but I'm going to tell you anyway. That weekend Taylor surprised me by coming for a visit."
"What? Why didn't you tell me? Is that when you broke up with him?"
"Yeah, that's when we broke up. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to be angry."
"Page, I'm not angry. So, I guess I should tell you that I cursed Alan out after school today and accused him of getting you pregnant. It turned out to be a big scene and now a lot of people think he got you pregnant. . ."
"You didn't! Oh, man, what am I going to do now? Everyone will probably give me hell about this! I can't believe you did that!"
"Page, you're my best friend and I wasn't going to let any guy do that to you. Especially since he denied it and that made me more angry."
"You should have asked me first!"
"Well, you should have told me the truth about that weekend," Cheyanne countered.
"That's true and I'm sorry," Page smiled. "I'm going to take a shower now. Thanks for stopping by and clearing everything with me. . . Even if it was a little late. I think I may stop by Alan's house to apologize."
"Wait, are you pregnant?" Cheyanne asked.
"Hm, I don't think so. I was on the pill until I lost them and from then on we used a condom. There really isn't a way for me to be pregnant. . ."
"Well, I bought a pregnancy test for you, just in case." Cheyanne pulled it out of her backpack. "You're supposed to take it after you wake up, but you can take it right now since you technically just woke up."
"Okay, I'll go take it right now. Just for you, okay?" Page winked as she took the brown paper bag containing the pregnancy test. She went into the bathroom and carefully read the directions. They were simple enough and she followed them. For some reason, she became anxious as she waited for the results. It suddenly dawned on her -- it was the most important test of her life. She could, in fact, be pregnant. She didn't start her period right after she lost the pills, like the doctor had told her would occur. She dismissed it because she had had her period a week before Taylor came into town. Plus the morning sickness was another sign. She thought about the other pregnancy scare she had while her and Taylor ran away. She was certain she was pregnant then, but now she wasn't. There was a possibility, but she knew it had to be slim.
She looked at the applicator and then at her watch. She had thirty more seconds until she found out for sure. She began to sweat because of her anxiety.
Page closed her eyes and prayed to God before finally looking down at the results.