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Chapter 16 Zac peeked into Julie's room to find Ashley sitting alone in the room. "Where are Jess and Jules?" Zac asked as she stepped into the room. "Well ... Jess just hurried out of the room and Julie's in the bathroom throwing up her dinner," Ashley replied as she sat up and looked at Zac. Zac frowned. "What happened?" he asked. Ashley shrugged as she stood up. "Let's go downstairs," she said quietly. "Okay," he nodded as he followed Ashley. He stopped briefly at the door and looked toward the bathroom and wondered briefly if he should check on Julie, but he decided against it. He figured that she had eaten something that didn't agree with her. "So, why did Jessica run out of the room?" Zac asked once they were alone in the kitchen. "I have no idea," Ashley replied. "I was just asking Julie why she turned Neil down when he asked her out on a date." "Neil asked Julie out on a date?" Zac asked with surprise. "When did this happen?" "The other night when he was here, and don't you dare tell him that I told you!" Ashley replied. Zac shot Ashley an evil grin. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it." "I mean it!" Ashley said as she slapped him playfully on the arm. "He'd kill me if he knew I told you." "Oh, fine, I won't say a thing," Zac sighed. "So, what did Julie say?" "That she wasn't interested in seeing anyone right now," Ashley replied. "But I think there's more to it than that." "Like what?" Zac asked. Ashley gave him a knowing look. "She's the one you were talking about that day, isn't she? She's the one that's pregnant." Zac just stared at Ashley for a moment. He didn't know quite what to say. He had promised Julie not to tell anyone until after she told his parents. "And how did you come to this conclusion?" Zac asked. "Well, Zac, it doesn't take a genius to figure out," Ashley rolled her eyes. "First of all, she's the only other female in this house that could be pregnant. And then there's the throwing up..." -- Julie stood up slowly and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she walked over to the sink to brush her teeth. It was already bad enough that she felt like crap, but then Ashley just had to go and mention Neil asking her out - in front of Jessica. Julie knew that Jess was going to be upset when she found out. She had just hoped that she would be able to let her down easy. This wasn't at all what she had in mind. Julie just hoped that Jessica believed that she wasn't interested in him. After she brushed her teeth and splashed some water on her face, Julie walked back out into the room. She expected Ashley to still be there, but she was surprised to find the room empty. Julie shrugged ad let out a soft sigh as she walked out of her room and down the hall to Jessica's room. She wanted to get things straightened out as soon as possible. She knocked on Jessica's door. "Jess, it's Julie. Can we talk?" she said. "Go away! I don't want to talk to you!" Jessica replied. Julie thought Jessica sounded like she was crying. Julie frowned and decided to give Jessica some space. She knew all too well how it felt to find out that a guy she liked was into someone else. She decided to go see where Ashley had gotten off to for now. She checked Zac's room and found it empty, so she decided to check downstairs. She couldn't even imagine what Ashley was thinking right about now. Between Jessica running off like a wounded animal and her hurrying to the bathroom, Ashley was probably more than confused. 'You sure do know how to make a first impression.' Julie thought as she walked down the hallway toward the kitchen. She stopped outside the door when she heard Zac and Ashley's voices. -- "Okay, so it's Julie," Zac sighed. "So, what happened? Have you talked to her?" Ashley asked. "Yeah ..." Zac nodded. "I woke up one morning and mom said that I had just missed Julie, and it was still pretty early. She had told mom that she was going to look for a job, but I had a sneaking suspicion that she was going back to the clinic, so I followed her. I found her sitting on a park bench. She was pretty upset. There were a bunch of protestors in front of the clinic, and she didn't know what she was going to do. And she knew that I knew she was pregnant, so we talked for a while and went for a drive. We talked through things, and I convinced her that she had other options." "So, she's not going to have an abortion?" Ashley asked. "No," Zac replied. "That's good," Ashley sighed. "So, when is she going to tell her parents? Or your parents for the matter?" "I don't know yet," Zac replied. "She really nervous about it. I told her to take a little time and get herself together and figure out how she wants to tell them, and I told her that I'd go with her to tell them." "What about the father?" Ashley asked. "Where's he? Does he know?" "He's back in California. She said he pretty much went on the defensive when she told him. Did the whole accusing her of sleeping around thing," Zac rolled his eyes. "What a jerk," Ashley commented. "No kidding," Zac nodded. -- Julie stood frozen outside the door. She couldn't believe what she was hearing! Zac was telling Ashley all about her. 'How could he?!' she wondered as she felt the anger boiling up inside of her. She felt tears burn her eyes. She couldn't believe he had betrayed her like this. He was supposed to her friend! She had trusted him to keep her secret. She tried to hold back the tears as she turned around and hurried back upstairs to her room. She passed Diana on the way upstairs. "Julie, is everything alright?" Diana asked with concern as Julie brushed past. "I'm fine ..." she muttered keeping her head down as she dashed down the hall to her bedroom. |