VII: Exposed

11:59 pm Sunday, January 1, 2023,

Danielle's pov

"...5!...4!...3!...2!..1! Happy New Year!" everyone in the gang yells. It's been 1 and a half months, twenty-six days since I found out that I am pregnant with my best friend's boyfriend's baby.

And now here I am celebrating New Year with her and our friends and family. Especially James. I still haven't told him he's the father of my baby but I will soon, it's just we never get a moment alone.

"Hey, Danielle, do you want some champagne?" He asks me to hold a glass of champagne in his hand. Before I could say anything Tera grabs it out of his hand and drinks it, she's been watching me like a hawk to make sure I don't injure my unborn baby.

She knows nothing about who the father is and she never will. I value my friendship with Tera and won't let my mistakes, problems, and stupid choices get in the way.

"What the hell is wrong with you Tera? Why do you have to make everything about you!" James yells at her, I wanted to say something but I didn't know what.

"James, leave her alone, it's fine," I say Tera rolls her eyes and walks away. I want to tell him, I have to. James starts to walk away like his night was ruined, it was about to get a lot worse. Not just for him, but for me too.

"James?"

"Yeah, what's the matter?" he asks, sitting down next to me. "W-we need to talk." I watch as his expression turns into concern. I get up and we walk upstairs to the hallway of Tara's house.

As soon as we get upstairs he pins me to a wall and kisses my neck vigorously. "James," I whisper to get his attention. "James!" I say louder and he looks up at me. "Do you want us to get caught?" He whispers. I roll my eyes and push him off.

"James, I told you we need to talk," I say sternly. "Is this about Tara? Baby you know I don't love her, I love you." He tries to keep me on his side. "That's the problem James, you want to be with her best friend." I tried pushing him off again. "Look, Dani, I know I hurt your best friend but I can't help how I feel about you." He says looking me in my eyes, I wonder if he'll feel the same way if I told him that he got me pregnant.

My eyes started to burn, tears threatening to fall. "James." Tears now fall down my eyes, I gather all my courage to tell him the truth.

"James, I'm pregnant." I start, looking at his face for a reaction. "With your baby." He let go of me and backed up. "James, say something," I said now crying.

He looked me right in the eye and I could've sworn I saw him smirk and then he started laughing. Did he think this was fucking funny?

"Why are you laughing? This is a serious matter!" I say in fear expecting the worst. "My plan worked." As soon as he said that I felt a suffocating fear. "The first night we had intercourse, I knew I had to claim you as mine. So every time we had sex behind Tara's back I made sure to poke holes in my condoms and steal your birth control." He said coming closer to me. Each step he took, every word he said, made me feel sick.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" I yelled loud enough for everyone else downstairs to hear, and his expression changed to fear. I'm sure he didn't want anyone to know what he did.

I hear Tara coming up the stairs and I panic. "What's going on I heard you ye-" Tara was cut off by the sight of James and me in tears. "Sweetheart, what's wrong, why are you crying?" Her questions made me cry harder, as if the situation couldn't get worse Cassie texted me:

Cass: I overheard your conversation with James. If you don't want to be exposed, not just to Tara but the others too, I suggest you come clean. What you did was terrible, especially since you did it to your best friend. I think you need to be honest and cut all ties with this psycho "James". I'm sorry to put you in this situation but actions have consequences.

Danielle: Who the hell are you to tell me what to do? And you have no right whatsoever to tell my secret to anyone! You need to stay out of this!

Message Read at 12:20 am

I'm tired of everyone and everything. I want to go home now. I ran down the stairs gingerly and straight to my grandmother. "Dani, what's wrong?" "Can we just go home now?" I grab the keys to her car and her hand. I start driving home.

I get home and go straight to my room. I lift my shirt and see my growing belly. I sat on my bed and broke down into tears.

.....

I woke to see the sunlight on my face and the smell of food. I was really hungry. I walk downstairs cautious of my baby bump. My Nana still doesn't know but I need to tell her before my belly gives everything away. I don't know how she'll feel and to be honest, I'm scared. My situation is worse because of my actions.

I walk into the kitchen to see my Nana and Papa. They had made all my favorites, French toast, Eggs, Bacon, Sausage patties, Chocolate waffles, Hash browns, and the best of all Orange juice. "Morning Dani-Cakes." My Grandpa hands me a plate full of food and my face lights up. My pregnancy cravings hadn't started yet due to it only being about a month and I was about to start my second month so I had a deadline to tell them before they find out.

I sit down on the couch and watch the news with my grandparents. I start eating fulfilling my need of hunger, then out of nowhere, I hear the newscaster say:

Breaking news, My name is Alesha Mcaullgey and we are still waiting to see if abortion will be banned in all states rather than just a few that have a temporary ban.

As soon as I heard those words I felt my heart sink. Even though I try to ignore anything pregnancy-related, something always pops up. " It's really sad, but they're doing the right thing." My Nana says.

I have to tell them, if I don't do it now they'll find out...

"Nana? Papa?" I say putting my plate in the sink, their full attention on the tv still eating. "I have something to tell you guys, please don't be mad at me." Their attention now is on me as I play with my fingers. "Well, Dani-Cakes it just depends on how bad it is." My Papa says and that makes me go queasy. "W-w-well I... I um." I stutter with tears in my eyes. "Danielle? Sweetheart, what's wrong?" My Nana inquired and I broke down into tears, she came and hugged me telling me to take my time.

"I'm pregnant, and I do know who the father is but we haven't cleared anything yet," I say in full tears. My grandpa comes over and hugs me too while I cry in their arms. "So what are you going to do now? You have no job, no car. Taking care of a baby is a lot of responsibility. Wait, how long are you?"

"About a month," I say wiping my tears.

I go upstairs and take a shower, I am going to hang out with the gang. Tera, Liam, Cassie, Melody, Hazel, and Ari. We were all going to The Easton to hang out. I decide to wear something to cover my belly. I put on a gray sweatshirt, and some comfy sweatpants, along with my Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars. I was about ready to go until I got a call from Melody.

Melody: Hey Danielle um we need to talk.

Me: About?

Melody: Everybody Knows your secret…

Melody: Do you know who the father is? Cassie told us that you don't know.

Me: Um, Yeah I don't know. But why did cassie tell you guys?

Melody: Cassie said that you wanted us to know. I think that's why she told us.

Why, didn't you want us to know?

Me: No, not really, it's a personal matter and if I knew Cassie would run her mouth without talking to me first then I wouldn't have told her.

Melody: Oh, well, just know that we're here for you especially me. Do you know who you're going to name the baby after?

Me: Um no, I'm not even there yet. But I will def think about your name being the baby's middle name if it's a girl.

Melody; Now I hope it's a girl. If it's a boy just let me be the second auntie.

Me: Who's the first?

Melody: Tera of course.

Me: Oh, Yeah, Tera.

Me: Well, um I'll see you in 30.

Melody: Ok Bye!

Me: Bye.

Message Read at 12:54 pm

I sat down on my bed feeling a mix of emotions tired, sad, confused, overwhelmed, furious, and sick of everyone. My anger took over and I called Cassie, I was starting to like the girl and now she was trying to blackmail me with something personal. The phone rang about 3 times before it declined.

I ferociously stood up but instantly fell on my bed with a sharp pain in my back. I laid back on my bed and my eyes started to feel heavy.

Then everything went black…