Bad news

Two pink lines.

One week on from the party, Laurie sat on her bed, her head in her hands. How had she gotten into this mess?

In the aftermath of the party, things had seemed to go OK at first. Alex had accepted her explanation about losing her phone, and although people had noticed her missing from the party, they'd assumed she had just gone home early. They'd been too drunk to ask questions. She had avoided Dan for the first couple of days; her cheeks blushed with shame whenever she thought about what had happened between them.

But then she noticed Dan had moved out of his room without even saying goodbye. Dan didn't answer her calls, and when he texted her, his replies were brief - Sure, I'll call you later, I'm just busy at the moment - and Laurie started to suspect she was being ghosted. She needed to talk through what had happened with Dan, but he had gone back to his home town and wasn't coming back.

Then came today. She'd finally had time away from Alex, and had taken the opportunity to sneak to a pharmacist. She'd bought a pregnancy test and...

Laurie looked down again. Maybe she had miscounted - nope, still two lines there. Maybe she had misread the pack... nope.

She was pregnant.

Laurie put her face against her palms again, and let out a little moan. The one and only time she had let a man go raw, and it had happened. This wasn't fair! She'd been so good, so sensible all her life. How had she ended up getting knocked up cheating on her boyfriend?

She had called Dan a dozen times since getting the result, and he still wasn't picking up. She'd have to do this by text:

Dan, please call me

She snapped a picture of the test result, and sent it on. Minutes later, a reply came back:

Dam haha!

Don't tell Alex lol

Im w my fam, cant call now

Ill send money to get it sorted

I think I have your paypal

Laurie screamed in frustration. She tried calling Dan again, and when he didn't pick up, hurled her phone at the wall.

She could get an abortion - that's what she'd always thought she would do in this situation - but now she knew she was pregnant, with a baby growing inside her.... Laurie put her hand on her tummy. She thought about what was happening within. She wondered if it was a boy or a girl, whether it would look more like her or Dan. Swearing under her breath, she realised she couldn't go through with a termination.

She could come clean to Alex, and try to chase down Dan, but... then she'd have the shame of the whole world knowing what she'd done. Her parents knowing. Alex would be humiliated, and Dan would never take responsibility.

What did that leave? Alex would know it wasn't his - she had always been so insistent about condoms. Immaculate conception worked for Mary with Joseph, but wouldn't persuade Alex.

Was she going to end up a single mother?

Laurie laid flat on her bed and stared at the ceiling. And as she laid there, a idea she had been suppressing began to bubble up to the surface

'I couldn't. I couldn't. But... what else can I do?'