Here We Go Again ✓

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Babies... Babies everywhere

Alex POV

It was the Monday after the whole embarrassing confession thing on my part. And after my decision to avoid Tyson like the plague.

The whole building was abuzz. Turns out another girl from our school got pregnant this year. At least this one was a senior, the first one being only a freshman. Apparently, the girl was dumb enough to share the news with her friends last Thursday. And of course by Monday everyone knew about it.

“Oh my God, Ally, did you hear?” Isabella squealed grabbing me by the arm. “One of the seniors got knocked up!”

I looked at her excited tanned face. I really thought Bella was a nice girl, but she was one of the biggest gossipers in our school. I mean, this blonde girl couldn’t keep a secret if her damn life depended on it!

“Yes, Bells, I heard.” I replied wearily. Her enthusiasm didn’t falter at the obvious lack of enthusiasm in my response.

“I’m so going to tell the rest of the gang.” And with that she left me.

“The chatty Bella cornered you too, huh?” Tara appeared to my left.

“Yep.” I nodded. “Let’s just get to homeroom!”

We greeted a few people on our way and chatted until we reached the room. Well, it was Tara who did most of the talking and I half-heartedly listened, letting out an “yeah” and an “aha” every now and then. My mind was still preoccupied by the events of the weekend.

We entered and I instinctively started searching for Tyson. I expected him to ditch today, but to my surprise, he was in his usual seat, gazing out the window. I briefly wondered why none of our classmates were staring at him; his black eye was hard to miss. But then I realized that they were probably used to seeing the boy in that state… And they had a much juicier gossip today.

The moment Tara and I had entered, we found our classmates in a state of animated gossiping about, you guessed it, the pregnant girl. Since she had yet to announce who the father was, some of the students were placing bets on it while others, a few boys actually, looked rather nervous. Could they be worried that the mystery man who impregnated the senior was one of them? Quite possibly; all the boys in question were players.

I was actually relieved when the teacher finally came in. At last! No more talk of unwanted teenage pregnancy and babies! But the topic didn’t change even with Mr. Johnson in the classroom.

“Given the recent events,” he started, “an emergency teachers-parents conference was held this Saturday morning. It was decided that you would be given these.” He pointed at about a dozen boxes stacked atop of his desk.

“What are they?” One of our classmates asked.

“I was just getting to that!” Johnson responded testily. “They are Real Care Babies. For those of you who do not know what that is,” he added when he saw the confusion on our faces, “I shall explain. Real Care Baby is a doll that makes it possible for people to practice caring for a baby. It’s a 24/7 job. The doll makes realistic cries and you’ll have to figure out what it needs: feeding, diaper changing, etc. Its software tracks if you are taking care of the baby and is it a safe handling. It records everything: exact times, missed care, specific mishandlings, head and neck support failure… It’s the closest you’ll get to the real thing. These babies will be given to all seniors as special project for a new Health class that you’re going to be taking.”

Here Tara raised her hand. Mr. Johnson nodded for her to speak.

“When will these extra Health classes be held?”