On the Subject of Unmentionable Things by Julia Walton

Author:Julia Walton [Walton, Julia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2022-08-23T00:00:00+00:00

Phoebe, u there? I need help.

* * *

Cora was waiting in her driveway when I got to her house.

“I thought you’d be at the gala until late,” she said.

“Can you tell me again what happened?” I asked as she buckled herself into my passenger seat.

“It came off. The condom came off….”

“Okay and so—”

“Everything spilled out, okay, Phoebe! Is that what you want to hear, that I’m a complete idiot?”

“No,” I said. Cora was breathing hard, and I could tell she was scared.

“Well, the good thing is you are also on the pill, so the possibility of pregnancy is low.”

“But it is possible?” She looked at me, eyes wide.

“Yes, but not if we go get you a morning-after pill right now.”

“Okay,” she said, trying not to cry.

“One more thing,” I said. “Since the condom came off, you’re going to want to get tested. Just in case.”

“Tested for what?” Cora hissed.

“Everything,” I said. “Sexually transmitted diseases you might have gotten from—”

“David isn’t sleeping with anyone else!” she snapped, tears suddenly rolling down her face.

“Okay,” I said, making a mental note to come back to this later. “What did David do?”

“What do you mean?” she asked after I parked the car outside the pharmacy. I tried to keep up with her as she raced through the automatic doors.

“I mean, where is he and why didn’t he already do this with you?”

“I don’t know,” Cora said before hissing, “Shit! That’s Mrs. Telly from my mom’s bunko group.”

We hid behind a wall of feminine hygiene products and waited until a woman with long, wavy hair left the store. Then we turned to walk toward the family planning aisle. It was mercifully empty, which was a relief because Cora was a wreck.

“I need one of these,” Cora said, showing me her phone. It was a link to my blog, citing the various forms of emergency contraception.

“Yep, this one,” I said.

We were walking to the counter to ring it up when I heard another set of footsteps shuffling behind me. All the color drained from Cora’s face, but she relaxed slightly when she realized who it was.

David was standing there looking just as bad as Cora. His clothes were wrinkled, and his absurd beanie hung off his head a little more haphazardly than usual, like a sock only half pulled off a foot.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry I freaked out.”

She stared at him for a moment before nodding. It was nice to see that she wasn’t running dramatically into his arms. I was proud of her for that.

“I’ll just…head home, then,” I said, trying to gauge whether Cora wanted me there. When she didn’t say anything, I hurried out of the pharmacy. Just as I was about to open my car door, I felt her arms around me in the tightest hug she’d ever given.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m sorry I was—”

“It’s okay,” I told her. “Go take that. And remember what I said about getting tested. I wasn’t saying it to be mean. I promise.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.