But then my brow wrinkles.
“Wait a minute. Aren’t you with Server, though? The senior with the floppy brown hair? How is that going?”
“Oh no, not anymore.” Emma waves her hand dismissively. “I had to ditch Server because even though he’s technically older, he’s not what I’m looking for. No, he’s like a boy who’s just discovered his first chest hair. When I say older, I mean decades older. That’s what I find attractive.”
I look at her curiously.
“Really? This sounds new and potentially very juicy. Have you met someone, Em?”
My friend’s eyes go wide and then she lets out an embarrassed giggle as her eyes dart to my bureau.
“Oh no, I’m just hypothesizing, or fantasizing is more like it. I mean, I don’t know anyone in my preferred age range.”
I shoot her a puzzled look and then turn to see what she’s looking at. But my bureau is the same as always, although there’s a picture of me and my dad on top. Joseph looks the way he always does with his dark hair laced with silver, and his arm around me. It’s no big deal.
Giving up, I turn to face my bestie again.
“Well, you’ll meet someone,” I say with conviction. “I mean, look what happened to me! I’ve known Brad for ages, but our relationship only just took off.”
Em bites her lip and looks down.
“I know, it’s amazing, right? He was right in front of you this entire time.”
I nod and take her hand. “You’ll find someone, I’m sure.” But before I can continue, nausea slams into me and I bring my hands up to cover my mouth as a disgusting belch erupts from my lips. OMG, this is so gross!
“Katy, are you okay?” Em asks, her eyes wide.
I don’t answer her because I can’t. Jumping up from the bed, I yank our dorm room door open and take off running down the hall. Most of the time I don’t mind living in the dorms and having to share a communal bathroom with the rest of the floor, but right now I’m cursing the set-up because the corridor feels like it goes on forever. I’m afraid I might not make it as another disgusting belch erupts from my lips, tasting like broccoli and rotten eggs.
Finally, I’m at the bathroom and rush to the first open stall, dropping to my knees just in time as everything I’ve eaten in the past twenty-four hours empties from my stomach. A horrific gush of brown stew erupts from my lips and I choke, heave and even cry a bit as my stomach contracts.
I’m not sure how long I’m on the floor throwing up, but my stomach muscles ache from the violent retching by the time I feel confident enough to sit back from the toilet.
“Oh my God,” Emma says from beside me, where she’s been holding my hair out of my face. “Holy shit. Are you done, Katy? Do you think you can get up?”
I nod but then another violent spell seizes hold, and my stomach seems to empty itself all over again. Emma goes to get me a cup of water, and I take it gratefully.
“Come on,” she says, helping me stand. “I think if you sit, you’ll feel better.”
With that, my friend leads me over to a bench near the showers, and then wets a couple paper towels so that I can press them against my forehead.
“Thank you,” I manage, placing one on the back of my neck.
“Are you okay?” she asks doubtfully.
I nod slowly. “Yeah. I think so, or at least now I am. I must have caught that stomach bug that’s going around. Mary Jane Patterson from my English class had it last week, and she practically sneezed on me during section. Ugh.”
But Emma doesn’t look too convinced because her eyebrows are drawn together as her lips purse.
“What?” I ask her. “Mary Jane’s a ho for even coming to class sick like that. I’m going to kill her.”
But my friend shakes her head.
“Are you sure it’s not something else? I mean, this woman you describe is totally a bitch, but … I don’t know, Katy. Maybe it’s something else.”
I throw her a puzzled look. “Like what? I get my flu shot every year, so I don’t think that’s it.”
Emma looks around like she’s making sure we’re alone in the bathroom, then turns back to me with concern written all over her face. “Could you be pregnant? I mean, you have been with Brad a lot these past couple of months.”
I stare at her in shock.
“What? No, of course not.”
Emma doesn’t look convinced and shakes her head as her brown curls swing.
“Well, it’s just that you said you’ve been having a lot of sex, and that could do it.”
“Yeah, but we always use …” Suddenly, my mouth snaps shut because my friend’s right. It is possible that I’m pregnant. I was going to say that we always use protection, but that’s not strictly true because there were a few times where we got swept up in the heat of the moment and just plain forgot. I know it’s not mature, nor is it wise, but it did happen and it only takes once. Shit shit shit. When did I get my last period? My brain races along at a thousand miles an hour when I realize I missed my monthly flow last week. Oh shit.