Chapter 15 : Tremors

Neil realized during his first trail ride of the final week that he'd been denouncing Mae's reluctance to cheat on Steve while essentially cheating on her on some mental level with Leah. It was an epiphany of self-judgement that rattled him, and Neil spent a long time in the saddle wondering how he felt toward either girl. Each time he doubted his love for Mae he pictured her face and heard her whisper "I love you" in his ear and all doubts were suddenly gone. When he started to doubt his love for Leah he glanced back at her in the riding line. She was chatting with another girl, her blond hair peeking out from her black riding helmet and framing her pale face. In a pale green tank top and jean shorts she was the picture of youth and innocence, bouncing slightly in her saddle as her brown geld paced along. He felt the surge in his chest and loins and all doubt was erased. Neil felt like a real top notch bastard and sighed deeply at his now clearly illustrated flaws.

Neil's new riding class had not been much of a surprise. Gail and Leah were both in for the final week while Gwen moved over to Harry's dressage class. Of his remaining first class, just over half stayed on while the others moved to take various rodeo and arena classes. He picked up six new faces from one of the other counselors and wound up with a class consisting of twenty girls. With no arena work to concern themselves with, Neil got to plan several long trips to the deepest and most secluded parts of the mountain, including two all day events where they would pack lunches.

Moving up the line, Neil passed a young tan girl who was slumped miserably in her saddle. He had to search a bit for her name, even though he recognized her from his earlier classes. "Stephanie, what's wrong?" he asked, picking her name from some faded mental roster.

The young girl glanced over and shook her head. She tried to draw herself higher in the saddle, quickly wiping away tears and sitting up straight. The anguish on her face didn't leave, though.

Neil moved his horse into step with the girl, who was holding back sniffles. He gave her a quick once over. She didn't appear injured, and Neil tried not to allow her attractive looks overshadow his concerns. She was short but well built and had the curves Neil appreciated. Short brown hair barely managed to escape the edge of her helmet. "Steph, come on, you've got to tell me." he insisted.

She gave him a defiant look and shook her head. "Its nothing... nothing you can do anything about." she said sullenly.

Neil frowned and rode in silence for a few moments. "OK, if you need someone to talk to, though." he suggested.

Stephanie looked over and shook her head, then shrugged.

"I could live with maybe" Neil said cheerfully. "Plus I won't leave you alone until I get one."

Steph gave him a resigned look and nodded.

He nudged his mare into a faster walk and moved up alongside the line. They moved into a less dense area of the woods, dropping down into a low stream and back up. At the top of the bank the woods broke and the trail turned East along the treeline. Neil shaded his eyes against the sudden glare and called ahead for a break.

Several riders rode back to the stream to let their horses drink while the rest walked around the clearing for a few seconds before hopping down and stretching. Most stripped off their safety gear, airing out helmets and a few sets of knee pads in the sunlight. Neil tracked down Gail and Leah to swap their lead and follow positions then found Stephanie sitting with a pair of other girls, all of whom looked ashen faced.

"Alright, break it up." Neil said with authority. "I need to speak to Stephanie". When her friends left Neil crouched down and gave her a stern look. "Look, Stephanie... I can't have you in this state if you're going to be riding. You've got to..."

"I'm pregnant." she said suddenly.

Neil dropped from his crouch to a seat and gasped. "What? Are you..."

"Pretty sure. I'm three weeks late."

Neil searched for things to say, but nothing seemed very appropriate. "That... is a problem, Stephanie."

She looked up with a "Duh" expression.

"No, Well... I mean for you riding with us. Do your parents know?"

Stephanie shook her head. "I took a test when I first got here, I grabbed it at a store on the way... but it didn't work right or I screwed it up or something."

Neil nodded. "Look, I'm going to pretend you didn't tell me anything, OK? At least for this ride. I doubt that one day of trail will affect you much if you're three... or five weeks pregnant. But when we get back, we'll get you up to the med hut for a test. I'm going to have to tell the school, though. I can't have a pregnant girl on a horse without a doctor's note."

Stephanie nodded sadly. "Don't tell anyone else, OK?" she pleaded.

"I won't."

Neil noticed Leah more from her absence than presence. She'd stopped flirting with him after the midmorning break and he missed it. He hadn't really been avoiding her, but it made his life a little easier to not think about her and how she affected him. The cessation of winks, grins, wiggles and other suggestive movements was replaced with a curious looks each time Neil approached the back of the line. He finally noticed a hint of frustration in her face and moved back to talk to her.

"So you'll talk to Steph but not me?" she accused. There was a little cadence of sarcasm or joking, but there was an underlying foundation of jealousy to her pose and look.

"She's not feeling well. Its my job to check on her."

Leah frowned and accepted this grudgingly. "Your job. I know all about your job"

"I have to do my job, Poppet."

"Maybe I'll get sick and you can take care of me." she suggested, peppering her sultry tone with another wiggle.

Neil was glad to see her flirt a little, it was a much more familiar state. "I'll send you to the med hut where they'll do unnatural experiments on you."

"Well, at least I'd get some attention from the staff"

"You don't need attention from anyone's staff" Neil said with a grin.

Leah made an "eww" face. "So what's wrong with Steph?"

"Can't say."

"Can't? What, is her tummy ache a secret?"

Neil wanted to defuse the situation to save Stephanie's privacy and pulled a golden nugget from some dim memory of the first counselor meeting. "Its school policy. We can't discuss anyone's medical issues."

"What?"

"Like if someone had... say... some hereditary disease, or some embarrassing issue."

"Like?"

"I don't know, sickle cell or diabetes or whatever. Something you don't need to know about."

"Why?"

"Teasing, probably. Safety... privacy laws. Besides, if everyone else knew you were... shit, say deaf in one ear. They'd screw with you, wouldn't they."

"Some... I guess"

Neil shrugged. "Anyway, can't tell you. School policy"

"Just like you can't kiss me" Leah whispered.

Neil sighed. "Something like that."

"Not even a little?"

"I wouldn't stop at a little" he said seriously.

Leah flashed him a huge smile of victory that hit Neil like a lightning bolt. He cursed his honesty, his lust and her clear joy at his response.

When they reached the camp in the late afternoon, Neil pulled Stephanie aside and they went to the beach. He wanted her to go with him to the medical hut, but Stephanie wasn't ready. Instead they sat on the pier and looked out over the water. Stephanie cried for a long time, leaning against a post on the pier. Neil sat in combined misery. Leah had him imagining ways to drag her off into the woods and Stephanie had him squirming for things to say. How exactly do you console a young, scared, pregnant girl?

"You know what sucks most?" she asked after she finished crying.

Neil had a good number of ideas, 'being pregnant at 17' being one of the topmost, but he wisely let it go. "What?"

"I don't even know if I loved him."

Neil had to admit that one was pretty abysmal. It didn't rank on his personal list of things she should be worried about, but again he let his worthless opinion slide.

"It was exciting, you know? Sneaking out, having sex in his car or at his house when his parents were at work."

Neil waited, letting her be.

She ran her hand through her hair, then rubbed tears off her cheeks. "The sex... I wish it had been better."

Neil blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Like... worth it. It was kinda..." Stephanie trailed off, staring across the lake.

Neil waited as long as he could before his inner smartass re-emerged. "Kinda what? Quick? Cold? Ugly? Green? Wrapped in bacon?"

Stephanie broke into laughter between tears. "Not quick... well, maybe it was, but that's not what I mean. We didn't know what we were doing. Maybe that added something, you know? Exploring, doing things we'd read about or heard about. But it wasn't really... very good, you know? It was short and frantic and... like trying to race a car without knowing how to drive. We would just be all over each other, just because we could."

Neil felt himself getting aroused and clamped down hard. What kind of bastard was he, getting horny listening to a pregnant girl describe her miserable sex life? Of course, it was a young girl frankly describing exploratory sex with her boyfriend, but that was beside the point.

"If I loved him, maybe this would be easier."

Neil had questions, things about her parents or her school, but the beast snuck past his guards. "Did you use... protection?" He felt kind of like a sicko afterwards, drawing out her sex history, but it was too late.

"Yeah, sort of. He wore a rubber and all, but... I don't know, maybe we screwed it up. We weren't sure how... well I mean parts of it seem obvious, but then you've got this... thing and you're all hot and trying to... it doesn't seem to work the way you expect..."

Neil grunted something, seriously questioning his ability to trust himself to open his damn mouth. The smartass and the monster were arguing over a series of inappropriate responses. Neil felt like a real ass for thinking them, and put on his best mask of concern.

"A couple times, though, we never even got that far. He wasn't ready for me to be so... interested in certain things." Stephanie blushed and turned away.

"Fucking wonderful" Neil thought to himself. He had to fight down his rapidly expanding erection, unsuccessfully blocking the picture of Stephanie in his mind and what she might have been interested in. It was a very powerful image and he tried to turn the discussion. "You might be worried for no reason, you know."

Stephanie shook her head slowly. "I'm never late. Never. I've had periods like fucking clockwork for almost four years." she said bitterly, not even noticing her language.

Neil slowed his breathing and banished the beast from his mind. "We should get up to the med hut" he said quietly.

Stephanie nodded and stood.

At the med hut Crystal was on duty. She was a heavyset lady with salt and pepper hair and a high, shrieking laugh that carried for miles. Neil had never been friendly or unfriendly toward her, mostly because none of his medical needs had required the med team. With one somewhat notable exception, he reminded himself.

Crystal smiled when he walked in and had Stephanie sit. His look, however, changed her face to one of businesslike concern.

"What's the problem?" she asked, glancing over at Stephanie for signs.

"Yeah. She's a bit... How much do I have to go into this, shes..."

"Stomach, homesick, sting?" Crystal asked quickly and routinely... When Neil's face tightened and his eyes shifted she nodded and sighed. "Pregnant... what do you know?"

"She's three weeks late for her period, she said the sex was like a month or so ago."

We've got tests, I'll have to walk her through it." Neil gave her an surprised look and she shrugged. "We get one every few years. Seventeen, eighteen year olds... it happens. Thankfully not ver often, but sometimes they're even younger."

Neil waved Stephanie over and Crystal drew her in and they went back into the main ward.

Neil wasn't in much of a talkative mood at lunch. Dave and Harriet were mooning over each other on one side of the table, much to the annoyance of Ruth who plopped down beside Neil with a thud and seethed. Neil wasn't paying much attention. Stephanie was clearly pregnant and Neil was overwhelmed by it. She had cried inconsolably when Crystal had called up to the admin office. Crystal had told Neil quietly that there were very specific rules about what they would have to do. Stephanie was underage, pregnant, and the rules of the school said she couldn't ride without a doctor's note, if she even had that choice after her parents were told. Doctor Andrews, a doctor in town the school regularly worked with, had been called for a consultation. Neil hadn't seen him arrive, leaving Stephanie in Crystals care, but she said Dr. Andrews would take her into town for a checkup. If her parents didn't come pick her up, she would probably be back on a horse by Wednesday or Thursday.

Ruth spent a few minutes picking at her meal, glancing up at Dave and Harriet from time to time. Her mood soured steadily and finally she stood up and left abruptly.

Dave looked over and scowled. "What's her problem?"

Neil glowered at the pair. "You don't know?"

"No... Jeez, what's YOUR problem?"

Neil snapped, standing and leaning down to get closer. "Ruth's problem is that you and Harriet are dating, going out, in love at some level, whatever lovey dovey term you want to slap on you two pawing each other."

"What? We're not..."

Neil slammed his palm down on the table. "Harriet, let's go fuck. Right now." Neil said, cutting Dave off.

There was an exchange of startled glances on the other side of the table. Harriet started to mutter something, and looked over at Dave, who looked upset and angry.

Neil left them both flustered for a second. "See? Harriet, you don't want to. Two days ago you'd have been in my bed by now. Dave, you don't want her to. Two days ago you wouldn't have given a rat's ass. Why do you suppose that is?"

Dave's anger seeped away and looked over at Harriet sheepishly. "Well, we..."

"You two are involved, whatever words you apply to it. That turns into jealousy and that puts Ruth firmly in the third wheel slot. She's not in love with Dave, but now she's completely blocked out of a relationship she's been comfortable in for years."

Harriet suddenly looked very upset and got up. "I need to go and... damn... "

Dave watched her rush off and turned back with a pained look. "Shit dude... we weren't thinking. I mean, this wasn't a plan or anything, we just..."

"Yeah, I know." Neil said, sitting heavily. "As for my fucking problem, I just found out one of my students is pregnant"

"What? Dude, what did you... ?" Dave clamped his mouth shut at Neil's hard stare. "Sorry. That sucks"

"Yeah. So Mae's left for the year, you and Harriet are hooking up, Ruth's pissed off and I can't touch the camper who's totally hot for me. My prospects are drying up pretty fast."