Part 8: Crisis

At first day of school a very good looking girl came up to me. She asked "Where is Room 215?"

I smiled and said, "I'll show you. That is my home room." I walked her to the room.

"I'm Abby, by the way. My family just moved here last month from Illinois."

"Hi. I'm Will, Will Henry."

When we got to the room, we saw that the teacher had his name on the board. It said 'Mr. Peterson.' Mr. Peterson asked Abby for her name. She answered, "Abigail Hendricks."

"You sit in the second row, fourth seat back." He pointed toward the row. He looked at me and asked, "What's your name?"

"William Henry."

"OK, Mr. Henry you sit right behind Miss Hendricks." I thought, 'Cool.'

Mr. Peterson explained his homeroom rules: Talk quietly. Be on time. Stay in your assigned seat.

Abby and I compared schedules. We both had 1st period Geometry, 3rd period English and 7th period Art. I walked Abby to the first class when homeroom was done. We talked every day in homeroom and before classes. I thought Abby is pretty. I enjoyed talking with her. I wanted to date her. I decided to take things slow. To get to know her better before I asked her out. 'Once burnt, twice shy.' Well, I've been burnt four times, so I decided to be very careful.

Thursday before school, Tina caught up to me and said, "Will, I need to talk to you."

"OK. What's up?"

"I'm pregnant."

"Are you sure?" My mind was racing. Pregnant? I'm screwed. What are we going to do? I don't even like Tina. How can we have a child? I'm too young for this.

"Yes. I'm three weeks late. I went to the doctor to be tested. I'm pregnant."

The home room warning bell was ringing. We needed to get to our home room. I asked, "Can we get together at lunch? I have an early lunch."

"No, I have late lunch."

"Can we meet at the front door after school?"

"Yeah, I can do that Will." Tina said as she hurried to her home room.

I walked to Room 215 in a trance. I don't know what happened that day. I don't think I heard one thing the teachers said. I mind was fully occupied with my plight. When school was over, I waited at the front door the way Tina and I agreed. She never showed up. I waited for forty-five minutes for her. I had to take the late bus home.

"Wait a minute. You got Tina Mayer pregnant? The minister's daughter?" Abby asked.

"Yes"

"The straight laced, bible quoting girl in my math class. You got her pregnant?"

"I did. Now can I continue the story?"

After dinner I called the Mayer house. All I got was the answering machine. I left Tina a message to call me. I left two more messages as the night went on. The next morning, I looked for Tina outside her home room. I couldn't find her. When the first class started, I hurried to her home room. She wasn't there. I asked one of the other students in her home room. They said she was sick today. Friday was just as bad as Thursday. I was only going through the motions.

I called the Mayer house all weekend. I don't know how many messages I left. I never heard anything from Tina. I spent the weekend worrying about what we would do. I thought a lot about how Justin and Sherry handled their baby. We were too young to get married like them. I thought about Jon and Amy. I didn't like Tina. I didn't think their way would work either. My future was screwed. There wasn't any way around it. I was screwed.

On Monday morning I caught up with Tina before homeroom.

Tina explained, "Will, everything is taken care of. I had an abortion on Friday."

"What?"

"It's taken care of. I don't need anything from you. The problem is taken care of." She turned and left me standing in stunned silence in the hall.

At fourth period Biology class, Mr. Herr announced the lab partners for the class during the year. He read off a series of last names. When he got to Henry he announced, "Henry with Landis". I blanched and looked over at Katie. She gave me a cold stare and looked away.

After class both of us made a beeline to Mr. Herr's desk. We spoke almost in unison, "Mr. Herr I need to different lab partner. I can't work with him (her)!"

Mr. Herr looked up from his grade book. "Correction. You don't want to work with each other. You are physically capable of working together. And you WILL work together."

"But, but..." both of us said.

"No buts. If you want to pass this course, you will work out whatever problems you have with each other and do the required work. Otherwise you will fail."

I turned to Katie, "Can we get together and talk?" Katie stared at me, turned and walked away without saying anything.

I went to the cafeteria for lunch. I picked an empty table so I could be alone. I ate silently, cursing my life.

Jon Miller and Amy Holt joined me. "Heh guy, can we join you?" Jon asked.

"OK. If you want." I answered.

"How's tenth grade so far?" Jon asked.

"It sucks. Life sucks!" I said, almost whimpering. I felt like crying, but that ISN'T done in high school.

Amy put her arm around my shoulder and asked, "What's wrong Will?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone."

"Will, we're your friends. Tell us what is wrong." Jon pleaded.

I sniff, "I got Tina Mayer pregnant. sniffle... She wouldn't talk to me... Today... she tells me that she... sniffle... she had... an abortion... "

"Oh no Will. I so sorry to hear this." Amy said as she hugged me tighter.

My eyes were starting to tear up. I rubbed them to hide that fact. I whimpered, "That's not all. Mr. Herr... sniffle... he assigned Katie Landis and I to be lab partners for the whole year... sniffle... Katie... Katie hasn't talked to me since we broke up... sniffle... last fall. I... can't work with Katie. She won't even talk to me. I'm going to flunk Biology because of this. My life sucks."

Amy hugged me and Jon reached out and put his hand on my shoulder and massaged it and said, "Will, I know things seem bad, but things will get better. What happened with you and Tina? I didn't even know you two were going out."

"Well, we really never did go out. We hooked up one night at the fireman's carnival."

"You had a one night stand with the minister's daughter? Miss Goody-Goody?" Amy asked.

"Tina is not who you think she is. She has a wild side. A very wild side. And we did go on a date a few days after we did it. We agreed after the date that we didn't have much in common. We decided not to go out anymore."

Jon asked, "Will, you're always so careful. I don't know how many times you got me to get you condoms. How could you let this happen?"

Talking was helping. The tears stopped. "I don't know. I ran into Tina a couple days after I got back from my six weeks working at scout camp. She asked me to go with her to the carnival. I was taking the minister's daughter to a carnival. I didn't expect to have sex that night. It was a complete shock when she started to talk dirty and practically dragged me back to her house. I was horny and Tina's pretty. My dick did my thinking that night. Tina told me it was a safe time of month for her. So we did it bare."

I could see the look of disappointment on Jon's face. He squeezed my shoulder and said, "Will, you should know. There is no safe time of the month. If you have unprotected sex, you can create a baby. Believe me, Amy and I know. You know. But pregnancy isn't the only problem. How many girls have you had sex with?"

"Ummm... six."

"And you used a condom with how many of these girls?"

"Uh, three."

"Haven't you thought about sexually transmitted diseases?"

"Umm... not really."

"If you have unprotected sex with multiple partners, you better think about that. Unprotected sex can kill you in these days."

"Gee, Jon thanks for brightening my day." The tears were starting to build up again.

Amy broke into the conversation, "Nice job Jon. Way to console your friend. Will, how do you feel about Tina getting an abortion?"

"I'm not sure. I'm too young to be a father. But I don't know how I feel about her getting abortion. I feel superfluous. She didn't tell me about planning to get an abortion. She told me she was pregnant one day. After I spent the whole weekend trying to call her, I finally got to talk to her on this morning. It was already done by then. We made a child. And now it's gone. I just feel empty."

"I know. What you're going through stinks." Amy explained.

"What do I do?"

"Well, about Tina. Nothing. You're not dating. You agreed to that. Now, about the baby. You mourn. You lost your child. I can't imagine how I would feel if Jon and I lost our son Brian. I know it would hurt an incredible amount."

"I think that is part of what I am doing now. But what do I do about Biology and Katie?"

Amy looked me in the eye. "I think I can help you there. How do you feel about Katie?"

"She's special. I care very deeply for her. I wish we were still together. But I understand why she hates me. I guess I broke her heart when I cheated on her last fall. I wish I could take everything back that happened then. But I can't. I'm happy that Katie found another boyfriend. I hope they're very happy together. That's what Katie deserves. But how do I tell her? She hasn't said one word to me since we broke up."

"This is where I can help. Can I tell her exactly what you told me?"

"Would you? That would be great. I've always wanted to apologize for how I treated her. I feel terrible that I hurt her so much."

"Would you be willing to sit down and talk with her?"

"Absolutely. I'd love to be able to talk to her. I've wanted to do that since we broke up."

"I can't make any promises Will. But I will talk with Katie and find out if she is willing to talk with you."

Jon finally spoke again, "I know it's a downer to talk about STD's, but you really should go to the clinic and get tested. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I guess you're right. Thanks for being my friends. I don't feel quite as bad as I did before."

Jon, Amy and I finished our lunches. When Jon and Amy got up to go, Amy said to me, "I'll talk to Katie after school today. I'll call you tonight."

Abby greeted me with a big smile when I came into our seventh period Art class. Talking with Abby always brightened my day.

Amy called me after supper that night. She asked me if I could meet Jon, Katie and her at her house tomorrow night. I agreed.

After dinner on Tuesday, I rode my bike over to Amy Holt's house. My emotions switched moment to moment from fear to apprehension to hope. Amy greeted me when I rang the bell. Amy led me up to her room. Jon was sitting in the chair at Amy's desk. Their four month old son Brian was asleep in his crib. I sat down on the bed beside Amy.

I asked, "What did Katie have to say when you asked her to meet with me?"

"She didn't want to at first, but I explained how you felt. I think the fact that you both have to work together in Biology is what finally made her agree to talk. She was surprised that you said you were glad that she had Richard for a boyfriend. Katie should get here in about fifteen minutes. Tell her what you told us. Hopefully you can make peace with her."

Jon, Amy and I talked about Brian while we waited. I was surprised at how well Jon and Amy were handling having a son while they were in high school. Finally the door bell rang. Amy went downstairs to bring Katie up.

Jon moved over to the bed too. Amy had Katie sit down at the desk chair, which was facing me. Katie spoke first.

"I understand you have something you want to say to me." Katie said, staring at me.

"Katie, thank you for agreeing to talk to me. Last fall I did one of the stupidest things in my life. I hurt the girl I loved. I've regretted going out on a date with Megan every day since I did it. If I could take everything back, I would. In a second. But I can't. I want to take all the pain I caused you back. All I can do is ask you to forgive me."

"Amy said you were happy that I was going with Richard. Is that correct?"

"Yes, it is. I do wish it was me you were going with, but I know that can't ever happen. I hurt you too much. I don't deserve a great girl like you. If I can't be with you, I'm glad you found someone else. I really want you to be happy."

"I'm in love with Richard. I'm very happy with him."

"That's wonderful. I want you to be happy. I have spent the last year trying to find someone, anyone as good as you. I've dated girl after girl. I just want to get back what I threw away with you. And I can't find that girl. I was such an idiot. Can you ever forgive me?"

Katie stared at the floor for a minute. Then she looked back up at me. "Yes Will, I forgive you."

"You will? Thank you. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to talk to you. I missed being able to talk to you. Just talk. I loved talking about science with you. Talking about Venturers and camping. Sharing memories of our Algonquin Trip. Talking with you always helped me make sense of things. Since I can't be your boyfriend, can we at least be friends? To talk like we used to do?"

"I guess we can try that. I've missed talking with you too. But you have to understand. Richard is my boyfriend. That isn't going to change. We can't go back to where we were a year ago. But I'm willing to try and be friends again."

"Thank you Katie. I'll try to be worthy of your trust."

"Will, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes"

"How could you have dated Megan?"

"You need to know some history. Megan started calling me two or three times a week right after school started. The phone calls were basically obscene phone calls. She kept telling me all the things she wanted to do to my body. I kept telling her that I was in love with you, but she wouldn't give up. Finally, after two months of these phone calls, I told her I would go out with her on one date if she stopped bothering me. We went out that long weekend you went to Virginia with your family. The date was an eye opening. Megan is a nymphomaniac. I spent the whole night trying to keep her hands off me. Dodging kisses. Pulling her hands out of my pants. It was awful."

"But what about you making out with Megan in the stairwell at school?"

"Knowing what I know now, I'm sure Megan engineered the whole thing. I was walking up the steps when she came through the upstairs door. She pushed me into the corner on the landing half way up the steps. Then she kissed me. That was when you walked through the door and saw us. I'm sure she had everything timed so you could witness the kiss and break up with me."

"I wish I'd known this sooner."

"I started dating Megan after we broke up because she was available and wanted me. At least I thought she wanted me. After dating me for a month she dumped me for her next conquest. I felt like I had been her personal dildo. I was just there for her personal pleasure. She stalks a boy, seduces or traps him, plays with him until she is tired of him and the dumps him for the next play toy. The girl is a barracuda."

"I'm sorry she used you like that. You deserved better than that."

"Thanks. I'm glad we could clear the air a little. I just wish none of it had ever happened."

"I have another question for you Will. How are you handling Tina's abortion?"

My jaw dropped. I looked at Amy. "How could you tell Katie? I really didn't want the whole world to know about that."

Amy looked surprised by my reaction. "I'm sorry Will. Jon and I are worried about you. You were positively despondent yesterday at lunch. You need all the friends you can get now. Katie's still your friend."