NINETY
“Come in,” I said when I heard a knock on the door. I was sitting on the bed watching Netflix on TV, my attention turns to the door when I hear it creaks open slowly.
“I come bearing food.” Samantha said, raising the tray of food up. “breakfast.”
I let out a laugh. I could have easily gone down for breakfast, but I appreciated her gesture. I stood up from the bed and went to sit on the couch since there was a table at the center of it. Samantha walked towards me, placing the tray on the table, and then took a seat beside me.
“I hope you are hungry,” she says as I stare at the large dish of pancakes and sausage on the side.
“I would have gone down for breakfast; you didn’t have to stress yourself.” I say to her:
“It’s nothing; I don’t want to eat in the kitchen or the dining room or eat alone in my room. So, in a way, I’m using you to keep me company.” She replied with a grin on her face.
I breathe in the wonderful aroma of the meal, and my mouth is salivating. I looked at the other side of the tray to see a different plate of pancakes with a banana-flavored topping dripping from the top to the bottom. She takes a bite of her pancakes, her eyes focused on the TV in front of her. I ate my food, but the smell of banana from Samantha’s plate didn’t sit well with me. “Are you okay? You look pale,” she asked.
My stomach was rumbling weirdly. “I’m okay.” I directed my eyes to my food and tried to take another bite, but the smell was so prominent that I felt my stomach begin to churn.
“Are you seriously eating pancakes with banana toppings?” I was puzzled.
“Yeah, I like it. I saw the video of someone trying this on YouTube, and it actually tasted great to me.” Samantha replied, putting more pancakes in her mouth.
I tried not to put my attention on the smell while I ate my food slowly. I kept my gaze straight to the TV and kept repeating in my mind, “It’s fine, I’m fine,” but I made a mistake of looking at it on top of her plate, and the next thing I know, I find myself hunched over the toilet, letting out my guts.
“Mani. ” I hear Samantha call out, followed by the sound of her hurried footsteps. I feel her soft, gentle hand pull my hair out, away from my face, and behind my back in one swift movement as I continue to hurl.
I flushed the toilet and sat back, resting my back against the wall with a thud. “Ugh, I feel like crap.”” I groan.
Samantha sat next to me and said, “You may have a stomach bug.”
I nodded my head in agreement: “Maybe I ate something expired or rotten that was accidentally used when preparing meals yesterday.” I suggest, I use my hand to rub the nausea building up in my stomach.
“Maybe,” she says almost dismissively. “But you also vomited the last time and refused to see a doctor,” she points out, pointing out what happened weeks ago in the kitchen and how I was pestered to see a doctor, and I told Sin if it continued, then I would see a doctor, but didn’t. It was just a simple stomach bug.
“Yeah, what about it?” I asked her, trying to understand what she was getting at.
“Can I ask you a question?” She says this, facing me.
“Sure,” I answered, feeling uneasy.
“When was your last period?” was the first thing she asked, and i looked confused before answering.
“The week before we went to the dinner party,”NôvelDrama.Org is the owner.
“Are you sure?” She asked, and I nodded my head, wondering where she was headed.
She mumbled to herself before speaking again. “Have you been taking birth control pills with the way you and Sin get at it?”
“yes….. I got a new one just recently.”
“And does he wear condoms?” she asked, as calm and collective as possible.
On the other hand, I could feel my heart beat ten times faster than before. “No, that’s the reason for birth control,” I whispered.
Taking a deep breath, she stood up, and I followed, standing up as well. We both walked back into the room.
“Give me a sec; I need to get something from my room.” She dashed out of the room before I could say anything, and I just stood there, confused.
I heard footsteps of someone coming, and a second later, Samantha walked in again with her hands filled with white and blue sticks.
She walked towards me, pushing her hand up to give the sticks to me. “Go into the bathroom.”
I took the sticks from her and examined it; my eyes widened. “I’m not pregnant, Samantha; I already told you I had my period last month.” I let go of the test kit and watched them drop, hitting the ground in a rattle.
Samantha sighed and picked up the test again. “Just go check first; that’s the only way we would know if you’re pregnant or not, Mani,” she says with pleading eyes.
I half-mindedly took the test from her hand and then made my way back inside the bathroom. I locked the door and tossed the sticks on the counter, not caring if they got broken or not. I recall the time Stephanie had asked me this same question; she was so sure that I was pregnant. I felt my hands shake on their own accord. What if she was right?
What if Stephanie and Samantha were right and I was pregnant? I let out a shaky breath.
Before reaching for the sticks, I wiped my sweaty palms on my shirt and tried to calm my nerves. I took the stick and peed on five of them. When I was done, I set the stick back on the counter. Then take a seat at the toilet seat, waiting for the set time.
My eyes were set on the clock on my phone; 15 minutes was all I needed to know how my life was going to turn out.
5 minutes passed.
10 minutes passed.