I walked inside with a huge smile on my face. My father was sitting in his chair reading his papers and looked up.
“Ten thirty, I like this boy already,” Dad exclaimed. “And I’ve heard of Joe’s parents from around the neighbourhood. The Granger’s are respectable people, Jess.”
“I like him a lot, Dad,” I said as I kissed my father on the forehead before heading off to my room. I checked on Lilly before I went to bed, she was sound asleep. She had soft music playing so I tip-toed in and turned it off. Lilly’s floor was covered in sketches and I spotted a beautiful drawing of me amongst them. I smiled as I closed her door, she was becoming real artist.
My mum had booked Lilly to go into group counselling and she was due to attend once a week for at least six months. A few of the families who had also lost their loved ones in the plane crash were also attending. Lilly was grateful to my parents for everything they had done for her. They had arranged everything to be packed up from Lilly’s home and they had put the house on the market for sale as well.
Soon we were back at boarding school and studies were getting harder as we were coming into our final exams. Before we knew it, we would be finished and ready for university. Lilly had her heart set on completing an arts degree and I planned to major in business and finance. I had spoken to Joe a few times over the last few weeks and we had planned to meet up on the weekend before exams. I couldn’t wait to see him and was counting down the days.
One afternoon just before my final class in the afternoon, I heard Claire calling out to me in a raging panic.
“Jess, come quickly, it’s Lilly, she’s throwing up in the toilets.”
Claire was a friend of ours from class and we shared a room together in the boarding house. I quickly ran to the bathrooms with Claire to find Lilly bent over a toilet bowl, moaning.
“Are you okay, Lilly?” I asked, concerned, as I tried to move her hair away from her face.
“I think so,” Lilly replied breathlessly. She wiped her mouth as she walked over to the tap to drink some water. Suddenly she stopped short, clutching her stomach. “Oh no,” she moaned again as she ran back into the cubicle.
I waited with Lilly, holding back her hair as she threw up again, as Claire ran off to find the school doctor. They came back and the doctor took Lilly away to his rooms to give her a full check-up. I waited outside the rooms, a little concerned yet sure it was probably nothing serious and most likely a twenty-four-hour stomach bug. The food at the school canteen was not of the greatest quality and other students had been known to come down with the stomach bug quite often.
A little while later, Lilly walked out of the doctor’s rooms looking distressed. Her face was covered in tears.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I quickly stood up, worried about what Lilly was about to tell me.
“Jess, I’m pregnant! How can this be?” Lilly was in shock, again.
I froze for a moment. I knew how. This was because of that night, the night with Jarrah. Everything Joe had told me about Lilly and Jarrah flashed back through my mind. I knew why Lilly was pregnant and now I was going to have to tell her, and she would know I kept it from her. I had no idea how to tell Lilly, but I had to tell her something. She looked so confused and deeply horrified.
Lilly didn’t say a word. She sat down and listened to me as I tried to explain to her what I thought could have happened. It was such a shock that even I found it hard to believe that Lilly was pregnant.
“Please, Lilly, you have to understand, no one really knew exactly what had happened that night. We weren’t sure and we couldn’t ask you, you had just found out about your parents and …”
Lilly interrupted before I could say another word and placed her hand on my knee. “It’s okay, Jess, please calm down, I understand why you didn’t tell me. I’m not mad at you. I could never be mad at you, you’re my best friend. I know you were just trying to do what you thought was right, you were trying to keep me safe. But what am I going to do now?” Lilly looked at me with tears in her eyes, helpless. No one could have ever imagined the events that had taken place, but it happened, and now we were going to have to get through this, together.
“I don’t know, Lilly, but we are going to have to tell my parents.” I guessed that at least they would be supportive.
“I know, but I’m scared.” Lilly was shaking as she spoke. “I just can’t believe I’m pregnant, Jess,” she said as she shook her head in disbelief.
“It’s going to be okay,” I assured her. It had to be okay. We had no choice but to make things okay.
When we told my parents, they did end up being very supportive and suggested to Lilly that she wait a few weeks before she made any decisions. Lilly needed time to let everything sink in and so she kept busy. She spent every spare moment she had sketching and painting. She entered her paintings in all the available art comps and soon became a finalist in one of the local competitions. We all went along to the opening and then celebrated with dinner afterwards at Zaytinya’s, a popular Mediterranean restaurant on 9thStreet.
It was a Thursday evening and Zaytinya’s was buzzing with people enjoying after-work drinks. There was dancing and you could hear the band playing hip hop music in the adjoining bar.
My father ordered a bottle of Bordeaux as soon as we sat down at our table, made a toast and congratulated Lilly on her recent success.
Lilly thanked my father and told us she had made a decision about her pregnancy.
“I’m going to keep my baby,” Lilly said as she proudly looked down at her belly that was still not noticeably showing.
There was silence at the table before my mother spoke.
“Are you sure, Lilly? This is a big decision and you have your whole life ahead of you,” my mother stumbled, trying to be careful with her words.
“I’m certain,” Lilly answered, “I don’t expect you to agree with my decision but I’m not changing my mind and I hope you will still support me, the baby can carry on the Stone surname, and that’s that.” You could hear Lilly’s conviction in her voice. She had made her decision and we had no choice but to accept it.
“Okay Lilly, of course we will always support you, we are here for you, for whatever you need,” my mother said as she reached out and took Lilly’s hand.
“Lillian Stone, my dear, you’re a very courageous young lady,” my father added as he looked over at my friend and smiled.
“So, I’m going to be an auntie,” I said as I looked over at her, both of us with tears in our eyes. This time they were tears of joy, because something special had finally come out of this. Lilly was going to become a mother.
Two weeks of exams went by swiftly and before we knew it, school was over. We didn’t start university till early the following year. Lilly planned to attend the first semester and then take the second semester off, just before her baby was due.
Lilly didn’t attend the end-of-year party. She was concerned that the other girls would notice her protruding stomach and make comments behind her back. I tried to convince her that our friends weren’t like that, but she had already made up her mind to stay home. Most of the girls had hotel rooms booked close to Brightonfield so we didn’t need to worry about driving back. I had invited Joe and was looking forward to seeing him and having a fun night.
“So, we have a room?” Joe whispered in my ear while we were on the dance floor. He looked very handsome in his tuxedo and I was proud to have him as my date.
“I have a room,” I replied cheekily.
We were both looking forward to spending our first night together. We left the party around two and walked back to the room. As Joe opened the door, he looked at me with his deep blue eyes.
“Are you sure?” Joe quietly