Chapter 26: Chapter 26

We can’t talk Lara out of it and her mother is on Jeremy’s side as far as abortion is concerned. Now Lara is insisting that she isn’t ready to have a baby much less his baby and is refusing to carry to term. She claims that she hates Jeremy for the way he treated her after finding out that she is pregnant. Anna and I google abortions and advise Lara that a clinic is the way to go. We find out that she doesn’t even need a referral from a physician or a parent’s consent. She does have the consent part though. The clinic ensures her privacy.

The lines of communication deaden between Lara and Jeremy except for one text telling him she decided to terminate the pregnancy but not telling him when or where. The clinic we contact can accommodate her immediately. I feign being sick to Scott and Coach Tammy, so I can take the day off skating and support Lara in her time of need, after all, Jeremy encouraged her to do this in the first place.

Anna picks me up first, and then Lara. We pull into a local park and call in absences for each other to the school pretending to be our parents, so we can have the day off without the school calling us. Once our calls are finished, we turn our phones off and drive in silence to the clinic. That is our biggest mistake. We never should have turned our phones off, it gives us away.

Lara isn’t allowed to eat or drink anything for several hours before the abortion and since Lara is early on in her pregnancy, she can have the least invasive procedure. The clinic is easy to find, located in an old office building. Anna parks and we walk up together. Lara registers like a normal doctor’s office, anyone would attend a doctor’s appointment. She hands the receptionist her card and fills out the information on a clipboard and hands it back to the lady before rejoining us.

Her name is called shortly after and Lara requests to have us come into the room with her. The lady nods and the three of us proceed to follow her into a small examining room with ultrasound equipment, an examining table, two chairs, and a box of Kleenex. With a heavy heart, the reality of what Lara was being encouraged to do strikes me as we enter the room. I turn to her and mouth, “You don’t have to do this.”

The lady who escorts us into the room says, “Lara, please put this gown on with the opening on your back. The doctor and nurse will be with you shortly.” When the lady closes the door behind her Lara immediately strips out of her clothes and put on the gown she was given before taking a seat on the table leaving the chairs open for Anna and myself.

The doctor and nurse that attend to Lara are both females. They ask her questions and discuss future methods of birth control before proceeding with determining the gestation period through ultrasound. Once that is done, they can confirm that she can have the least invasive procedure and chose the safest method for Lara. The procedure only takes minutes before Lara is brought into another room to recover.

Her pregnancy is terminated. We leave the clinic and parked across the street is Scott’s black Mercedes. Scott and Jeremy are watching us. “Oh my God, they found us,” Anna says spotting them. They get out of their car and start crossing the street, walking towards us.

“Did either of you tell them?” Lara whispers to us frantically.

“No!” We say in unison. When they reach where we are standing, Jeremy studies Lara, “We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you,” she whimpers weakly.

“We’re taking her home,” Anna informs him coldly. “She needs to rest.”

We start walking towards Anna’s car when Scott calls out, “Where do you think you’re going?” to me.

I clear my throat, “Home with Lara and Anna,” I say lightly.

“Like hell you are,” Scott seethes. “You’re coming with me.” He grabs my wrist and drags me back to his car. “Get in!” he orders. He is scary but hot at the same time. I get in without fussing knowing from experience I don’t have the strength to pull away from him or outrun him. I’m willing to take whatever is coming my way because I like the ALPHA male and I know I was naughty by not being honest with him and telling him what I was really up to. He presses the button to start his car and pulls out of the spot before I even have my seatbelt on. “Do you want to explain to me why you lied about being sick?”

“Lara needed me.”

“For what?” he asks angrily.

“Support.” He slams on his breaks, “She didn’t!”

“Of course she did. Jeremy encouraged it.” He pulls out his phone and texts Jeremy right in front of me:

SCOTT: She terminated the pregnancy. Sorry, Jeremy.

“He changed his fucking mind. We were on our way to tell her!”

“He shouldn’t have let her get that far, nothing would have happened if he wasn’t such an asshole, to begin with.”

“He was upset. He needed time to come to terms with it.”

“Well, now he has tons of time,” I say spitefully. “She killed their baby because that’s what he wanted, and she couldn’t do parenthood alone. Now take me back to Lara’s, because my friends need me. Months later, Scott and I are still in contention for making it to the Olympics. Never in Nigerian pairs history has a pair that only skated together one year ever achieved this! Word of us is spreading like wildfire in the skating community and we are now making headlines in local papers with each win. We have a one-week break during Christmas and New Year before we compete two more times, each competition three weeks apart. If we survive both, then we make it. Our dreams of skating on Olympic ice will become a reality.

Mom is singing Christmas carols in the kitchen while making her usual Christmas dinner. The smell of turkey and cranberry sauce is permeating through the air. Dad is glued to his new 90-inch LED television mom had delivered for him while he was at work. I am exploring my brand-new Apple Air that has every bell and whistle I can think of. Suffice it to say, we are all content.

It’s been ages since I checked FB, so I decide to divert a potential social media withdrawal and check out what is going on. Scott is requesting to add me as a friend, so I accept. I start scrolling down the wall when an instant message pops up from Michael:

MICHAEL: Hi! Friends? (He selected a yellow face waving a white flag and places it next to his message)

ISABELLA: Sure! Why not?

MICHAEL: I never C U on FB

ISABELLA: I’m > in2 texting! I’m only on FB once in a while.

MICHAEL: Check R. side of the screen, I invited U 2 New Years Party.

ISABELLA: Cool, will try 2 make it.

I see the invite and click on it out of curiosity to see who accepted, declined, or clicked maybe. He looks like he’s going to have a good turnout. I go back to his dialog box after.

MICHAEL: How’s U’r friend?

ISABELLA: Which 1?

MICHAEL: Lara, Jeremy told me about what happened between them.

ISABELLA: She’s had a rough year.

MICHAEL: It hasn’t been roses 4 Jeremy either. I’m surprised he’s still talking to Scott!

ISABELLA: Really? Why wouldn’t he B talking 2 Scott?

MICHAEL: Nobody told U?

ISABELLA: I wouldn’t be asking if I knew!

MICHAEL: I shouldn’t be the 1 2 tell U.

ISABELLA: U have me curious now, I won’t say anything.

MICHAEL: The baby Lara aborted couldn’t have been Jeremy’s.

ISABELLA: Get the Fuck Out! I’m her best friend, she would have told me if she was cheating on Jeremy

MICHAEL: She wasn’t cheating on HIM,

ISABELLA:?

MICHAEL: It was conceived with Scott.

ISABELLA: No! She wouldn’t... He wouldn’t... That can’t B!

MICHAEL: I’m sorry D., U should know the truth about U’r best friends.

If U want U can talk 2 Jeremy, I’m sure he’d B more than happy 2 tell U what really happened. Text me when U’r ready. I’ll take U to him.

I sat back in my chair dumbfounded. There is NO WAY this can be true. Michael probably fabricated this to get back to me or something. Mom calls up, “Dinner is ready!” I compose myself and slowly walk downstairs doing the math. According to her ultrasound results she had to have gotten pregnant in late August. Jeremy and Lara broke up in June because it was when I had my break from skating in the summer.

Why was I so stupid? Did I think she had an immaculate conception? It never dawned on me to ask her whether she got back with Jeremy or found someone else? I begged her to reconsider the abortion. He was angry that she terminated the baby, and that I got involved. I needed to get the truth out of Jeremy because if Anna knew, she wasn’t telling me. She was keeping their dirty secret. I join mom and dad at the dinner table, but I’m not there.

I check my phone after dinner, it’s flashing blue. It’s a text from SCOTT:

SCOTT: U’r friends with Michael on FB? I ignored his text and text MICHAEL:

ISABELLA: I’m ready, I need 2 C Jeremy.

MICHAEL: I’ll pick U up in 10

I wait in the living room waiting to see headlights. The black Mercedes pulls up and I slip out quickly before my parents can stop me. I jump into his car closing the door and putting my seatbelt on before texting mom, so she wouldn’t worry:

ISABELLA: Mom, had 2 run out 4 a bit with a friend. B back soon.

Michael pulls into Jeremy’s and I change seats getting into the back while we wait for him to come out.

Jeremy gets into the car and lights a cigarette, “Sorry dude, I’ve been dying for a cigarette all night,” he turns back to look at me. “My parents don’t know I smoke,” he explains. Jeremy spins back to face Michael after catching a glimpse of me, “You fucking told her, didn’t you?”

“Shouldn’t she know?” he defends himself.

“Ya, that’s the only reason you told her,” he says sarcastically. “It’s not because you want to get back with her or anything. You’re going to have to step to the back of the line in that long fucking queue she has waiting for her.”

Michael looks at me in the rearview, “Just tell her.”

“Alone,” Insists Jeremy, “come let’s talk Isabella.” We get out of the car and he takes my hand, “Lara broke up with me in early June. She dropped the bomb that she was pregnant at the end of summer. She swore the baby was mine. At first, I insisted she terminate the pregnancy, but Scott talked me out of it. I wasn’t suspicious of Scott at that point, I just thought he was against abortions or something. We tried calling you, Anna, and Lara, and all of your phones were off, so we knew what you guys were doing. That’s when we started googling abortion clinics and then frantically went racing around trying to find you guys. Luckily, we recognized Anna’s car on our second stop.”

I remembered Scott in the hotel asking Lara, ‘Is it’s Jeremy’s?’ Now I realize, he was trying to determine if it was HIS!

“While we were waiting for you guys to come out, I did the math. The likelihood of me being the father was slim because she probably would have been showing already. I told Scott in the car that I didn’t think it was mine. He texted me confirming that she had the abortion. He must have realized in the car that it was his. Scott had already dragged you away from us but when I got Lara alone, I got her to admit that she was only seven weeks into the pregnancy. I demanded to know who the father was, and she was so tight-lipped on telling me who she was with I instinctively knew it had to be someone close to me. Who could be closer, than my best friend? When I guessed Scott, the look in her eyes told me everything.”

“So if that’s true, then why are you still friends with Scott?” “You know that saying about keeping your enemies close?” “Did you confront him?”

“He doesn’t know I know.” “Why not?”

“I thought I would let him stew in the fact that she aborted his baby for a while.”

I’m numb and it isn’t from the temperature outside. He holds me close for a little while before walking me back to the car. He opens the front door and says to Michael, “Take care of her.” He drives me home, on Christmas Day.