“That was fast,” Dad said as he stretched his arms out across the swinging chair sitting on the deck. “It’s nice being in walking distance of the convenience store, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s really nice.”

I pulled a Red Bull out of the plastic bag I was holding, gave it to my dad and then turned to glance out to the shimmering ocean before I ducked my head inside the door.

We had been at the beach house for two weeks. Miami seemed great, but I still missed California and having a best friend to talk to. I wanted to call Amanda, but I decided I wouldn’t get a new sim card for my phone at least for at least a couple months to avoid the risk of having a weak, emotional moment and doing something stupid like calling Mason just to hear his voice.

I fucking missed him, and it made me sick to think that I still did. How could I miss him after I literally witnessed him cheating me? Was it even cheating? Was he even my boyfriend? I tried to find justification for what he had done, but how could there be any reason for him to kiss his ex-girlfriend after telling me he was done with her? Hell, she shouldn’t have even been at his house with him alone like that.

And aside from my poor mental state, I was sick in the literal sense as well. I wasn’t sure if it was because of exposure to new germs in a new environment or if heartbreak was tearing me apart, but there had been more than a couple times that I found myself having the urge to run to the toilet and vomit my guts out.

With my mind on Mason’s cheating and the whirlwind of moving, I hadn’t even considered that I might be pregnant until the day ago, when I noticed that my period was far too late. Mason and I used protection each and every time we had sex, so I was pretty sure that I wasn’t, but it didn’t hurt to check. We did, after all, have a little bit of a mishap the first time at the football field.

Wouldn’t that be ironic? Getting pregnant on our first romp?

I had told my dad that I wanted to pick up some snacks, and along with his Red Bull, a bag of chips, and other miscellaneous items to make my shopping bag look innocent, I had picked up a pregnancy test as well.

I sat the bag of snacks on the kitchen counter and made my way towards the bathroom with the pregnancy test tucked under my shirt.

The beach house was small but beautiful, 3 tiny bedrooms and white walls throughout. The one bathroom inside was tiny, but it served its purpose well. I seemed like everywhere you went inside the home was just a few steps away.

After shutting the door, I read the instructions and urinated on the tip like it explained. It told me to wait 15 minutes, so I figured I would take a shower to give my Dad an excuse for me staying in the bathroom so long.

I tilted my head under the pouring water and thought about the what all had happened in my life over the past few months. I couldn’t believe that I was so easily pulled into Mason’s dark web the way I had. To think that I had been swayed by his gorgeous smile and slick moves. And a street racer? I admit the danger of it all was really hot, but he had me sneaking out all the time to see him and going up to Rolling Bluff. That wasn’t the type of girl that I had ever been and I never would’ve gone down that path if I hadn’t met him.

I guess my dad had been right all along that he was bad news. In a way, I felt like I had been saved.

I was going to go to college in Florida just like my dad wanted, stay focused on my studies and get myself into something productive like I knew I should. I wasn’t sure, but the idea of finally getting out in the world—the non-illegal, non-racing-from-the-cops world—was kind of exciting. If I ended up not liking Florida, I could always move back to California when I graduated.

As I thought about my major, entering into college, and the whole new set of college hotties who would mostly be the same age of me processed through my brain, I almost forgot about the pregnancy test and the fact that I was buying time for the test results.

I turned off the water and pulled open the shower curtain. I reached for the towel that was hanging on the nearby door and noticed the pregnancy test hanging off the edge of the sink.

Oh yeah, I thought.

The bathroom was so small that I could almost see the results from the tub. I leaned over, and when I thought I saw something other than a negative sign, I leaned over even further to get a better look.

A plus sign?! What the fuck?

I was leaning over and grabbing the towel at the same time, and I got so distracted by the results, that my weight shifted under the slippery tub floor, causing me the flop forward, hit my head on the toilet, and pull the towel rack off of the door. It must have sounded like someone was beating me up in there, and I shrieked as I fell.

“Layla!” My dad yelled, and I could hear feet storming through the halls of the beach house.

My forehead was throbbing, and I was seeing stars, hearing bells.

“Layla?! What are you doing in there?” Dad yelled again, his voice sounding muffled.

“I’m… I ugh… fell.” My voice was low and weak. I’m not even sure if he could hear me.

He pounded on the door. “Layla, if you don’t speak up, I’m coming in.”

I tried to reach for the towel nearby and pull it over my naked body, so shocked from the pain of the fall and fearful that my dad would see me nude, that I didn’t even remember the pregnancy test that was sitting on the counter.

I heard him pull hard on the handle of the door once, and then a second time. Even with the door locked, it popped open on his second hard twist. They were old, cheap doors with thin locks that were there more for convenience than security.

“Layla?! Are you okay?!” Dad asked as he opened the door, knelt down, and pulled the towel over the rest of my body, the part that I hadn’t managed to cover myself.

I blinked a couple times, and my vision and hearing was starting to return to normal. “I slipped… fell out of the tub.”

“Hell, how did you get so clumsy?” He touched my forehead. “It’s a little red, and you’re going to have a big knot there. Did you break anything? Can you get up?”

I blinked again and focused on my body. Everything seemed fine. The only pain on was on my head and a little bit of soreness on my hip. “I’m okay.”

Dad stood up and offered me his hand. “Here, try to get up. If you can’t stand, I’m going to call an ambulance.”

I grabbed his hand and pulled, feeling him pull at the same time. As soon as I stood to my feet, my equilibrium started to come right back, and it was almost instantly that I felt fully aware again.

I rattled my head back and forth, trying clear the last bit of oddness I felt, and touched the sore spot on my forehead. “Thanks. I’m sorry about the—“ I was about to tell him that I was sorry about the towel rack, but I noticed his eyes had focused on the sink.

He was looking directly at my pregnancy test.

“What’s this? A pregnancy test?”

“Umm, Dad…” I wanted to run away. I still hadn’t had time to process the test results myself.

“There’s a plus sign on here. Doesn’t that mean you’re pregnant!?” His voice was loud and scary.

“I don’t know. I—“

“What do you mean, ‘You don’t know’? Is this your test or not?”

“Yes, it’s mine.”

“Oh God!” Dad yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. He lifted the instructions that were sitting under the pregnancy test, and started scanning it rapidly. “Yep, plus is pregnant.”

“I’m sorry Dad. I don’t know what to say.”

“You’re 18 years old Layla. How can you be pregnant? I didn’t even know you were having sex. Who the hell did you have sex with? Please don’t tell me it was that guy you were sneaking out to see.”

I didn’t say anything and just looked towards the floor.

“Damnit, Layla. Why?! That hooligan had you doing things that you would never do, and he even… He… He violated you?! I’ll go back there and kill that son of a bitch!”

“No Dad,” I said. “It was my choice too. I wanted to.”

“And you didn’t even use protection?!”

“We did, but the first time it broke. It must have been the first time…”

“The first time!?” My dad’s eyes looked like they were bugging out of his head. He was clearly shocked. “How many times did you have sex with the guy?!”

“Dad please…” I could feel the tears starting to form in my eyes, and I was feeling so overwhelmed with everything. I was just as shocked as he was that I was pregnant, but here he was ripping me to shreds because of it. I knew I made a mistake. I knew I fucked up, but I just couldn’t take anymore. Not after losing Mason and leaving everything I knew. It was all too much.

I slowly knelt down to my knees and the tears streamed down my eyes. I gripped my palms together and looked up at my dad, shaking my hands as I spoke. “Please forgive me, Daddy. I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry.”

My Dad swallowed and his face softened. In fact, I thought he might start crying himself. He took a deep breath, and held his hand out. “Get up,” he said softly, looking towards the side so that he didn’t have to look me in the eye. “I shouldn’t have been so… uhh…. Just get up, please.” He pulled the bathroom door open and stepped outside. “Go put some clothes on, and we’ll talk on the couch.”

I stood from the floor, my eyes still watering. I looked myself in the mirror and I looked like shit. My eyes were red, and there was a huge red lump on the side of my forehead. I took one more look at the pregnancy test on the counter, before I shot back down to the floor and reared my head over the toilet, heaving up virtually nothing but stomach acid. I hadn’t eaten all day.

When the heaving stopped, I brushed my teeth, went to my room to put on clothes, and then met my dad on the couch where he was sitting with his arms crossed. I approached cautiously, unsure of what he was going to say, and sat down on the opposite end of the couch, looking like a timid cat.

“I guess this is all my fault,” he started. “I should have known that if I was overprotective of you that you’d go wild on me eventually. I should have known that—“

“Dad,” I interrupted. “You did everything right. You were a good father. I should’ve listened to you. I shouldn’t have messed around with Mason.” I could feel the tears starting to form in my ears again.

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. What should I do?”

“Well, it’s your body Layla, and this is one situation where I don’t feel it’s right for me to tell you what you should do. Whatever you choose, I will be here to support you. If you want to have an abortion—“

“Abortion?” I asked. “I don’t think I can do that.”

“Lots of girls do it all the time.”

“I know. It’s just… I can’t. I can’t explain why but I can’t. I feel like I have to deal with this myself.”

Dad took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Well then you’ve got a big responsibility on your hands. A baby is going to change your life forever.”

I looked down at my hands, and watched as tears trickled off of my chin and splashed down on my palms.

“Are you going to tell that man… Mason—I think you said his name was—that he’s going to be a father?”

I shook my head in confusion. “I don’t want to, but maybe I have to. I don’t have anything. I don’t have a job. I don’t have money to support the baby. Maybe he can help me somehow.”

“Don’t worry about money. I’ll help you get on your feet financially. But do you want him in the baby’s life?”

I thought back to the time I spent with Mason. I thought about the races, running from the cops, seeing him get in an accident that almost killed him and ended with someone dead, and then I thought of the image of him kissing Samantha after he told me I was the only one.

“No…” I shook my head. “I think it’s better that I do this alone. I don’t think he would be the best thing for me or the baby right now.”

“Alright,” Dad said. “Raising a child alone is going to be one hell of a ride. I know it was hard enough for me and your Mom when it was both of us.” Dad held out his arms. “Come here,” he said.

I scooted over in the couch and wrapped my arms around my dad, crying and sniffling into his chest. I was scared, and I had no idea where my life was heading, but at least I still had him on my side.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “It’s going to be okay.”