Chapter 2

             AN: Hiiiii. I just want to make sure that you remember that this is a short story and my first time writing, so you shouldn't expect long chapters or anything of quality, tbh. I'm not some great writer or anything. Let me be. :(

           Upon completing her three required classes of the day, Nicki thought she'd avoid her mother's yelling at home by ducking out at the mall. After trudging through about every store in the mall, she decided to stop at the food court and grab something to eat. Knowing her mother had probably eaten out or fixed dinner for herself only. Sitting down with her turkey wrap and chips half-chewed in her mouth, her heart dropped to her stomach as she made eye contact with someone. It looked exactly like her best friend Safaree, but it couldn't be. He'd moved away. "Nicki!" the person called, erasing any doubt in her mind that it was him.

            Safaree and Nicki had been friends since diaper days. Their mothers were best friends and had lived next door to each other for 16 years. In the middle of the year last year they had to move unexpectedly to take care of Safaree's sick grandfather. Nicki and Safaree both were devastated. They'd intended to keep in touch, but with so much going on now, Nicki had been ignoring his calls, text messages and e-mails. Not because she was mad at him for any reason, but because she was embarrassed. Embarrassed that she'd let this happen to her. Scared about what he'd think of her. But now? Now she couldn't avoid him anymore. He was here. There was nowhere to hide.. He'd seen her. 


             "Nicki?" he called again, sure this time that it was her that he'd seen. He approached her table still unaware of the secret beneath her hoodie, hidden from view. "Nicki! How are you? How've you been? I missed you! I thought we were gonna try to keep in touch, what happened? You look great!" he said, not really giving her a chance to answer his many questions. Nicki just sat there, looking up at him, unable to speak. "Nicki?" he asked, a bit of worry in his voice. "How are you?" Nicki opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "Well..? Gimme a hug!" he said with a smile. Her eyes glazed over as her tears threatened to fall. Holding her hand, he coached her to her feet. As he pulled her into his arms, he felt the bulge of her protruding belly against his stomach. He pulled back confused, finally noticing her small bump being outlined by her hoodie. "Nicki...." he spoke softly. At this point the tears were pouring out rapidly. He pulled her into his arms again as she sobbed now, uncontrollably into his chest. They stood like that until she'd finally calmed down. She slowly pulled away and spoke, "I'm sorry." she said dropping her head to stare at the floor. He lifted her chin and said "You don't have anything to be sorry for, Nic." He hugged her again and led her back to her seat. He slipped into the chair across from her and they sat locked in a "stare off" for what felt like an eternity. "What happened?" Safaree finally asked. She let off a tired sigh. "I missed you so much, Faree." she responded. "I missed you so much."...


           After she'd explained to Safaree what had happened, they decided to continue to stroll the mall to try to catch up. They stopped at 'Trendy Tikes' and bought a few more onesies and booties to add to the growing collection of baby clothes currently hidden at the very back of her closet at home. The reason behind hiding the clothes was simple; her mother didn't know she was keeping the baby... and she had no intentions of telling her. Upon realizing she was pregnant, Carol had demanded she get an abortion, but Nicki had protested from the beginning. She couldn't just kill the innocent life inside her... it hadn't asked to be conceived. Carol had then given her an ultimatum: Give the baby up for adoption or get out. Having nowhere else to go, Nicki agreed on the adoption, but knew in her heart she couldn't do it. She couldn't just give up the child she'd grown so attached to over the course of her pregnancy. And so, she'd been saving her money, while buying the essentials for her baby so that by the time the baby is born, she'd have enough money saved for an apartment for a few months.


This isn't really much, but it was just to give a little bit of insight on who Nicki is n awllat & also to introduce Safaree, who's going to be a main character in the story. Also, I'm going to work on posting more regularly now that I've sorted my life out a bit. ok.
P.S. - I'm dedicating this story to Charliee because she truly is amazing & she's inspired me so much without ever even realizing it.