Perfect grades, no exceptions. I remember very well Leslie making similar complaints.
“Get the extra credit. Mr. Lakoda doesn’t do retakes and never has, so you’re out of luck there. But he’s generous with extra credit, so you’ll still be able to finish the year with a perfect grade in his class. So…just take a breath and do what you can, okay?”
She lets out another shaky breath. “Okay.”
I surreptitiously check the time: 3:54. I have to get Aiden soon—the youth league coach is obsessive about punctuality, and if a player is late, he doesn’t get as much playing time in the next game.
“Is there anything else, Tina?”
She nods, but hesitates. “I…I think Jake and I had…an accident.”
I blink. “You…youthink?”
She nods. “I’m…late.”
“Oh. Oh my.” I bite my lip. “Have you taken any tests?”
She shakes her head. “No. Not…not yet. I’m too scared. And I don’t know how to get one anyway—at least, not without everyone knowing.” Her eyes widen. “I can’t do it, Mrs. Thomas. I just can’t. I can’t be stuck here! A single mom stuck in Clayton? My life would be over. Mom and Dad wouldn’t lift a finger to help. They’d call it getting what I deserve. Youknowthat’s true so don’t try to bullshit me.”
I wince, biting my lip. “Yeah, I know.”
“What do I do? They won’t help. They won’t approve of me…” She shrugs, trails off meaningfully. “…fixing it, either.”
“No, probably not.”
“So…what do I do?”
“What about your sister?”
Tina frowns. “What about her?”
I hesitate, and then out a long sigh. “Look, Tina—as a counselor and an adult, I feel obligated to present all the options to you. But…I’m also a single mom in Clayton, okay? Your life won’t be over. You may have to put some things on hold, and come up with a new plan, but your life wouldn’t beover. And, speaking as a mom, it’s the most incredible and rewarding thing you’ll ever do. It’s hard, yes, and it feels impossible sometimes, yes…especially if you’re doing it without a husband or boyfriend, but—”
“Your parents help you, Mrs. Thomas. Theycare. Mine would see this as me being a failure and they’d want nothing to do with me or the baby—ever.”
“Tina, listen—I know. Okay? I know. I know very well what your parents are like. I do. But there are other avenues for help. If Jake wouldn’t step up, there are other good guys in this town.” I sigh. “I just…I have to make you aware of that option. Keeping it, I mean assuming you’re actually pregnant.”
She winces at the word, and tears streak down her cheeks all over again. “Pregnant,” she breathes.
I nod. “But, as someone who’s been a teenager stuck in Clayton, I get it. But I also get…the other side. And I know how your parents are, and I get how hard it would be to raise a kid alone in this town.”
“Hard? Try impossible.”
“So, having presented the option of keeping it, thereareother options.”
“I just don’t see how. I have no money, Jake won’t be any help so there’s no point even involving him—”
I fix her a stern look. “Tina. Youhaveto tell him. He has a right to know. Even if he reacts as you expect, you owe it to him to tell him. That’s nonnegotiable.”
She winces, but nods. “I know. I will.”
“Promise me you’ll talk to him?”
“I promise.”
“Okay. Well, I know there’s not exactly a lot of love lost between Leslie and your parents…”
Tina snorts derisively. “You can say that again. She comes back once a year for Christmas and New Year, and it’s tense and awkward and she takes off again as soon as she can, and I don’t see her coming back at all once I’m out of their house.” She frowns. “You think she’d help me?”
