Unpregnant by Jenni Hendriks

Author:Jenni Hendriks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

Mile 637

Dry leaves crunched under our feet as we crashed through the underbrush, running blindly. Behind us I could hear our pursuers.

“Y’all are only running toward hell,” Sapphire called, almost lazily.

I leaped over a fallen log, darted around a half-dead juniper, and scanned the area ahead of me, looking for some clue on which way to run. Instead I realized why Sapphire had sounded so unconcerned.

“Bailey?”

“Yeah?”

“You seeing what I’m seeing?”

“If you’re seeing a cliff, then yeah.”

“I’m seeing a cliff,” I confirmed. Ahead of us the trees ended abruptly, falling off into the unknown. It was impossible to tell how big the drop was. We both kept running.

“We’re still running,” I observed.

“Yeah,” Bailey agreed, her breath coming in short gasps, creating a counterpoint to the rhythm of her feet hitting the ground. I could hear Dwayne and Kevin closing in on us, branches cracking and leaves scattering as they forced their way through the woods. The cliff grew closer.

“We’re not stopping.”

“We’re not stopping,” Bailey agreed.

“This could really hurt.”

“Yep.”

I could see the muddy edge of the drop now. The underbrush had faded away, leaving only a few bedraggled, half-grown plants between us and whatever lay beyond. I looked over at Bailey. Her tangled, multicolored hair was sprinkled with dead leaves; her black eyeliner had smudged until there was more under her eyes than on them. Her shirt was riding up and her skinny jeans were slipping down. She was panting like a dog and her eyes were sparkling like the stars. And I felt something with more certainty than I’d ever felt with Kevin—bone deep, like when I nailed the Writing and Language portion of the SAT.

“Bailey? I know I’ve been terrible . . . but you’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

Bailey looked at me through the tangle of her hair. She wiped a strand out of her mouth and grinned as we neared the edge. “Me too.”

I reached my hand toward hers. She took it. And hand in hand, with one final burst of speed, we launched ourselves into the air.

And landed in a muddy drainage ditch five feet below.

“Owwwweeeee,” Bailey moaned, clutching her shin. I rolled onto my hands and knees, checking to see if any part of me was injured. My whole body hurt from the impact, but as far as I could tell, nothing was seriously wrong. I searched for my cell phone, finding it covered in slime, and shoved it in my pocket. Somewhere above us I heard Kevin.

“Baaaaaabe?”

“Quick,” I whispered. “In there.” I gestured to a storm drain a few feet away. The smell emanating from it was eye searing, but it was so dark inside no one would be able to see us. We climbed in. Huddled together, we could hear our pursuers trampling through the underbrush above us.

“Babe, come back. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Ugh. My shoes are getting muddy. This is lame. Let’s go.”

“I’m hungry. Does anyone want to go to Denny’s?”

“Babe, abortion regret is real!”

“Screw it. I need a Grand Slam.

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