21

Auriana

"Did I miss something?" Nikki asked. She walked into the gym.

"Let's see… Auriana stood up to Mrs. Scheeps, causing Mrs. Scheeps to hit her. Jake took Auriana to the nurse. Principal Nickolas fired Mrs. Scheeps. Mrs. Scheeps called Auriana a bitch, so Jake kicked her in the knee," Jeremy said. Nikki slowly put the bag on the stage as she listened.

"I need to get some more streamers," Jake said. He jumped on Nikki's bike and raced away. I pulled six sheets out of my bag and handed them to the girls.

"What's this?" Renee asked. I hid behind my long red locks so the others couldn't see my face.

"The lyrics to Superman, I want to sing it at the party." Skylar and Emma looked at each other.

"Why?" Skylar asked. They already had a hunch.

"Are you jealous of Hannah?" Emma asked with a laugh. Offended, I turned my back to them.

"What? No!" I said, my voice rising a few octaves.

"Auriana!" the others said with a meaningful undertone in their voices. They already knew enough.

"Maybe a little," I finally admitted. I quickly changed the subject.

"Nikki, can you get two more bottles of helium, five bags of balloons, and those heavy things that keep them on the ground?" Nikki looked at me hesitantly.

"I'd like to, but Jake stole my bike." I took my key out of my pocket and threw it to her.

"See you later," Nikki said as she walked away. We got back to work.

"Emma, ​​hit it!" The gym filled with the sounds of Little Mix. Time flew by and before we knew it, it was almost three o'clock. Most of the work was already done.

"Auriana, where do you want the headsets?" Mr. North asked. The teachers finally brought the musical instruments. They still had to be set up and connected to the amplifiers.

"In the dressing room," I replied. With my pen I pointed to the dressing room where we would change later that evening.

"And the microphone stands next to the stage," Brooke said. She grabbed a broom and threw the other at Jeremy. Nikki dragged the helium tanks inside, Emma and Skylar rushed to help her and Jake came in with three bags. I took them from him and put them away in the dressing room and then went to ask something but just heard what was happening as I walked out of the room.

"She is really jealous," Emma said.

"Who is super jealous?" The friends jumped and saw a familiar face.

"Sil?! What are you doing here?" Emma asked, startled. He shrugged.

"Auriana texted me to come over."

"Where are those confetti cannons? It's half past three, they should have been here an hour and a half ago," Jeremy grumbled. He looked at his phone impatiently.

"Where's Auriana?" Sil asked. He was starting to lose patience.

"Sil! Come with me!" Sil walked over to me, I was finally done asking how to hook up the equipment and together we walked away from the group. Brooke called the party store.

"Hello, this is Brooke Taylor, yes we ordered two confetti cannons and they were supposed to be here at two…oh okay, thanks," Brooke hung up, "they're coming, but the van was stuck in traffic." Sil left the gym without saying a word and didn't look too happy.

"Skylar, Emma, ​​Jimmy and Nikki, you're going to fill the balloons with helium and tie a ribbon with a weight on them, Jake can you come with me?" I said. Before he could calmly walk over to me, I was already pulling him along impatiently.

"What's up?" I stood right by the door and heard everything that was happening in the gym.

"Are you going to pick up Hannah later?" Jake looked at me for a moment. He tried to read my intentions with the question, but as always he couldn't read me when I took on this position.

"No, why?"

"You promised my grandma she would take me home." Renee pulled a clothing rack to the dressing room.

"Yes, I will, don't worry." He held out his pinky, but I pushed him away.

"Are you going to kiss Hannah tonight?" I asked. I don't know why, but I just have to know.

"Are you jealous?" Jake asked. I rolled my eyes and gave him an irritated look.

"No, you wish, just curious." He shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not." I settled for that answer and dropped the subject.

"Okay, I'll help you with the streamers." I gestured toward the gym.

"Sure," Jake said with a laugh. I was pretty sure he could say with certainty that I was jealous. As he walked back to the gym with me, Katie walked toward the gym.

"Brooke, Mom wants you to come over." Brooke tied off the balloon she was filling and handed it to Emma. She stood up and screwed the bottle all the way shut, just to be safe.

"Okay, I'm coming," Brooke said in a squeaky voice.

"Brooke, have you been inhaling helium?" I asked, looking at her suspiciously but teasingly. The answer was obvious.

"What…no…maybe…okay, yeah," Brooke admitted. The others burst out laughing.

Chase

My phone rang and I couldn't help but smile when I saw that Taylor was calling me. I still couldn't believe how lucky I was to have her. Auriana is a true doctor when it comes to love. I was on the phone and turned pale.

"Chase, honey, what's wrong?" my mother asked. I was almost unable to hand her my phone, I felt like I was going to faint at any moment.

"Hello? Chase, are you still there?" She looked at the screen to see who was on the phone and held it up to her ear.

"Hey Taylor, Chase is…in shock it seems…are you crying?" Her voice immediately sounded concerned.

"Yes," Taylor answered. The sobs were getting louder on the other end of the line.

"Why?" she asked. Her motherly instincts immediately took over, something that often happened to her when she was worried about someone.

"I…I…" Taylor couldn't finish her sentence.

"What's wrong, honey?" she asked. Taylor had been with me for quite a while and everyone liked her.

"I'm p—" Taylor couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears.

"Pregnant?" my mother asked uncertainly. My father spun around in the direction of his wife when he heard that word.

"Yes," Taylor managed to say between sobs.

"Chase's?" She couldn't quite make out what she was saying now but it sounded like an affirmative noise from the other end of the phone.

"Try to calm down and come to West Field High." Taylor said she would do her best and would come over.

"Mom? I had such a weird dream." Slowly the shock wore off and I got up from the checkered kitchen floor where I had lowered myself.

"Let me guess, you dreamed Taylor told you that she is pregnant?" Could she tell the future? Or was she just some witch?

"Yeah, good guess." My parents exchanged a serious look before looking back at me.

"Chase, that wasn't a dream." No, I couldn't believe my ears, we had always been so careful. Until a certain memory came back to me.

"I'm going to be a father," I stammered. To keep myself from falling again, I quickly sank into one of the chairs.

"Would you like a glass of water?" I couldn't speak and nodded in response to my father's question.

"Chase, how long have you been dating?" my mother asked as my father handed me the glass of water.

"Three years, why?"

"Chase, honey, you're nineteen, you're going to have a baby soon, maybe it's time to take the next step if you think she's the one for you." Because of the heavy news that I still hadn't fully processed, I couldn't quite follow what my mother was trying to tell me. Apparently my look told her that too, and she sighed.

"Your mother is trying to say that maybe you should ask her to marry you," my father said. Like me, he thought she was being a bit old