Chapter 19

Zac stepped into the house and threw down his keys. He kicked off his shoes and walked down the hallway to the kitchen as he scratched his head and let out a big yawn. It had been a long day at work and he was completely exhausted. He was ready to grab a bite to eat and then call it a day.

On top of work, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Julie. He didn't know what to do about her. She was so angry with him, and he knew that she thought he had just outright told Ashley about her pregnancy, but she wouldn't let him explain what had really happened.

"Girls," he muttered, shaking his head as he dug through the refrigerator for something to eat.

"What about girls?" Zac jumped at the sound of Jessica's voice. He straightened up and looked around the door of the refrigerator.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Zac asked.

Jessica shrugged. "I have half a mind to," she replied. "It's not like you wouldn't deserve it."

"What crawled up your ass and died?" Zac asked as Jessica walked over and leaned against the counter.

"Nothing, I just don't like big mouths," Jessica replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zac asked.

Jessica rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Are you really that dense?" she asked.

"Apparently so," Zac replied, shaking his head out of annoyance. "Because I really have no idea what your problem is."

"My problem is your big mouth!" Jessica replied, throwing her hands up in the air with a sigh. "Julie told me that you blabbed to Ashley about her."

"Wait ... Julie told you ..." Zac asked with surprise.

Jessica rolled her eyes and had half a mind to slap her brother upside the head. Sometimes he just seemed so incredibly stupid.

Jessica was still in a state of shock. At first when Julie had told her that she was pregnant, she thought for sure that she was just pulling her leg. It just seemed so unbelievable that Julie had a baby growing inside of her, but from the way Julie had looked at her, Jessica had quickly realized that she was completely serious.

However, when Julie explained why she was angry with Zac, Jessica hadn't been all that surprised. She knew that Zac had a hard time keeping his mouth shut. He'd always been a bit of a big mouth, whether it was about something serious or not. And she couldn't blame Julie for being upset about Zac's betrayal. Jessica realized that it must have been hard bearing the burden of the secret all alone, so confiding in Zac had probably been a relief to her until she discovered that he had gone behind her back and told someone else.

"Yes, she told me," Jessica finally replied. "And I, unlike you, know how to keep my mouth shut."

"Listen, Jess, you don't know what really happened," Zac replied with a glare.

"So, what did happen? I mean, you did tell Ashley that Julie's pregnant, didn't you?" Jessica asked.

"I didn't mean to tell her," Zac replied.

"What the heck does that mean?" Jessica asked.

"Ashley figured it out," Zac replied.

"How? I live with her, and I never would have guessed if she hadn't told me," Jessica replied.

"Let's go upstairs," Zac replied as he grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper out of the refrigerator and a bag of chips off of the counter.

Jessica crossed her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes as she followed Zac upstairs to his room. Zac sat down on his bed and opened his can of Dr. Pepper.

"Do you ever clean in here?" Jessica asked, making of face of sheer disgust as she looked around the room for a place to sit.

"Not unless I have to," Zac shrugged.

"Well, are you going to answer my question?" Jessica asked impatiently.

"What was the question again?" Zac asked as he grabbed a hand full of chips and stuffed a few into his mouth.

Jessica sighed. "How did Ashley just 'figure out' that Julie's pregnant?" Jessica asked.

Zac dusted off his hands and took a drink of his Dr. Pepper before he sat up straight. "I found out about Julie being pregnant by accident. I overheard her on the phone telling Isabel that she was going to the clinic..."

"Clinic ...?" Jessica interrupted out of confusion. "I thought she hadn't been to a doctor yet."

"The abortion clinic," Zac said softly.

Jessica's eyes grew wide and her mouth formed and 'o' shape. "She was going to ..."

"Yeah," Zac nodded. "And I didn't know what to do, so I went to talk to Ash. I didn't tell her who it was. I just needed to know what to do. I couldn't let Julie have an abortion, ya know?"

Jessica simply nodded. "How did you stop her?"

"We talked it through," Zac replied. "I didn't think she really wanted to go through with it, and I was right. Thank god. So yeah ..."

"So Ash just guessed that it was Julie after she met her or what?" Jessica asked.

"She threw up after you ran out of the room the other night, I guess," Zac replied. "And Ash put two and two together."

"Oh ..." Jessica replied.

"Do I hear an apology coming?" Zac asked.

"Why would I do that?" Jessica asked.

"You called me a big mouth!" Zac replied.

"You are a big mouth," Jessica replied. "I bet you weren't supposed to say anything about Julie going to the clinic, were you?"

Zac rolled his eyes. "I just can't win, can I?"

Jessica shrugged as she walked over to the bathroom door, which was slightly ajar and pushed it open.

"Where are you going?" Zac asked.

"To clear things up between you and Julie," she replied. "You can thank me later."

Zac pulled a face at Jessica's back as she walked through the bathroom to the other door and knocked quickly before she turned the doorknob and stuck her head into Julie's room.

Julie was seated on her bed writing rapidly in her journal. She looked up and smiled at Jessica and motioned for her to come in.

"Why are you coming in through that door?" Julie asked curiously as she closed her journal and sat it and her pen on the nightstand.

"I was talking to Zac," Jessica replied as she sat down on the bed.

"What about?" Julie asked, biting her lip nervously.

"His big mouth," she smirked.

"What did he say?" Julie asked curiously.

Jessica sighed and rolled her eyes. "He didn't mean to tell Ashley ... apparently after he found out that you were pregnant, he went to talk to Ash because he didn't know what to do ..."

"What to do ...?" Julie cut in.

"About you planning to have an abortion ..." Jessica answered slowly.

"He told you about that?" Julie cried.

"Well, he does have a big mouth," Jessica rolled her eyes as Julie hung her head in shame. "Jules? What's wrong? "

"I didn't want you to know about that," Julie replied softly as she slowly lifted her head to meet Jessica's eyes.

"Why not?" Jessica frowned.

"I'm so ashamed of myself for even considering it, and I know how you and your family feels about abortion, and I thought ... I thought you'd hate me if you knew," Julie explained.

"Julie, I could never hate you," Jessica said as she moved toward Julie and pulled her into a hug. "You're like the big sister I never have. I love you. I mean, I don't agree with abortion, and I'm glad you didn't go through with it. But if I were in your situation, then I would probably be scared and confused too."

"I'm so lucky to have you for a friend," Julie commented with a sigh as she lifted her head and Jessica released her from their embrace.

"Damn straight," Jessica grinned. "So, anyway, Zac only told Ash about you because he didn't know what to do, but he didn't tell her who it was that was pregnant. Then when she was over here the other night and you threw up, she figured it out."

"Oh ..." Julie replied.

"Yeah, so ... I guess he doesn't have as big of a mouth as we both thought, huh?" Jessica commented.

"I guess so," Julie agreed. "I really jumped the gun on this one, didn't I?"

"Nah, I don't blame you," Jessica replied. "I probably would have reacted the same way."

"I guess I should go apologize or something," Julie said.

"Well, actually you could just go tell him that he's forgiven ... he did blab to me about the abortion thing, so technically you were mad at him before he did something wrong," Jessica smirked.

Julie laughed lightly. "I guess that's true," she nodded. "Well, I guess I should go talk to him."

"Okay, I'm going to go to bed," Jessica smiled. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay, goodnight," Julie said, returning the smile as Jessica walked over to the door that led to the hallway and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Julie took a deep breath before she stood up and stretched. She padded slowly across the carpeted floor over to the bathroom door and walked across the linoleum floor to the other door.

She knocked, and Zac said, "Come in."

Julie pushed the door open slowly, as there were clothes lying on the floor behind the door, and stepped into the room. Zac was lying in his bed with a comic book in his hands and a bag of chips lying on his stomach.

"Hey," Julie said softly.

"Hi," Zac replied, sitting down his comic book and tossing the bag of chips to the floor as he sat up.

"Jess told me about what really happened ..." Julie said slowly.

"I'm sorry," Zac cut in. "I should have told you that I'd talked to Ash about you."

Julie shrugged. "It's okay. I can understand why you needed to talk to someone."

"I'm glad you told Jess," Zac commented. "She seems to be handling the news well."

"Yeah," Julie nodded. "You've got a really great sister, and I've got a really great friend."

"Yeah ..." Zac trailed off.

"So, I just wanted to apologize for overreacting," Julie said. "And my doctor's appointment is on Friday ... if you still want to go. If not ..."

"I'll go," Zac smiled. "I made a promise, and I intend to keep it."

"Thanks," Julie smiled as she stepped back. "Well, I'll let you get back to your comic. Goodnight."

"G'night," Zac replied as Julie slipped back through the door.

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