The Treehouse - Chapter 9

"Victoria?!" Noelle gasped loudly.

"You're pregnant, too?" Brianne couldn't believe what she saw before her. Vickie was standing there, her hair unusually tossed about and her face tired and sunken in.

"Hey there," Victoria greeted solemnly. "Yea, sucks, doesn't it?" She looked at Brie knowingly. Brie was a little confused.

"You're weirding me out," she told Vickie. "You're being half-nice, do you realize that?"

"Yup. I've changed so much since Tyler," she responded, rubbing her belly. "It's a boy." Victoria smiled at Noelle and Brianne, who were still slightly puzzled. She sighed. "Care to hear the story?"

"We've got some time," Noelle replied. "Coming, Brie?"

"Yea…" Brianne trailed Vickie and Elle until they got out of the store. The three girls sat at the food court to talk, minus the food.

"Sit back, this might take a minute," Victoria told Brie and Noelle. "Ok… well, I called Chris one day in April, and we made plans to get together so he could help me with the math homework we had that night." Brianne narrowed her eyes as she listened. 'He hates math,' she thought to herself.

"So he came over, but we didn't exactly do math…" At this point, Vickie looked over at Brie. Brianne looked back, eyes still narrowed to thin slits, not ready to believe.

"When are you due?"

"New Year's," Victoria replied simply.

"Same as me," Brie muttered. "So who's kid is it anyway?"

"Who have I been talking about ever since we sat down?" Vickie smiled evilly. "It's obviously Chris's." Brianne stood to leave, trying to contain her rage.

"You've changed alright," she commented. "From bitch to mega-bitch!" Noelle got up and ran after Brie, who was power-walking to the parking lot. Vickie watched them leave, feeling content.

"My work is done her," she told herself, leaving the mall.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Chris waited for Brianne to come out of the house the Thursday afternoon following the day of the mall. Brie wanted to visit with everyone at dance class as much as possible before she couldn't go anywhere altogether. She climbed into the front seat, purposely avoiding eye contact with Chris. Although the two had been living under the same roof for a while now, Chris had been busy with Dream Street again, so they hadn’t talked much.

"What's up?" he asked, frowning, as he drove down the street. Brianne finally looked up at him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked in a hushed tone, as if spies could be listening in on their conversation.

"Tell you what?" Chris was utterly confused.

"Dammit, you should know! I saw Victoria at the mall the other day, and she told me what happened. I'd much rather have you tell something like that!"

"Something like what? Will you please tell me what is going on? I have no idea what you're talking about!" Chris yelled. Brianne narrowed her eyes in his direction.

"Ok, let's refresh your memory. You were originally planning to help Vickie with math homework…"

"What?! Brie, I've never even had a civilized conversation with that girl, much less go to her house to talk about math! Now would you please tell me what she said to you?"

"She's pregnant. I bumped into her in a maternity store and we sat down to have a chat. I asked her who's kid it was, and she said it was yours."

"And you have reason to believe her?"

"She told me it happened in April, which was one of the months that you and I hardly talked. I had no idea what you were up to, so it's definitely possible you could've fit it into your oh-so-busy schedule." Chris pulled into the parking lot at the studio and walked in behind Brianne, flustered. As soon as the two of them entered, everyone knew there was trouble lurking in the air.

Brie sat in a chair in the front corner of the room and Chris danced as far from her as he could get. When the teacher had the class change their shoes, all the girls went to Brianne, and the guys went to Chris so they could find out what happened. It was later reported to Brie when she asked Pineapple to call Chris over that Chris refused to converse with her because she didn't trust him.

Returning to the car when class was over, Chris and Brianne both go in and slammed their doors at the same instant. This caused both of them to smile, but neither wanted the other to know it.

"This is ridiculous," Brianne decided. "You're my best friend and I can't even trust you. I give up, I believe you."

"I'm glad. I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever speak to me again." Chris's body relaxed as he drove home, but his mind was not so easily relieved. He glanced at Brianne, who was staring contentedly out the window. He was having one of those moments again where he noticed how beautiful she really was. Chris had a hard time keeping his eyes on the road because he wanted to admire the way the sunset glowed in Brie's face, making her eyes dazzle with color. Meanwhile, Brianne was happily watching the crimson, gold, and yellow tree leaves rushing by. He decided not to dampen her spirits by unleashing his darkest secret. But it had to come out sooner or later…