Closer to the Whispers

True Friendship to the Test

**like and comment what you think!**

I walked back to the dorms numb and processed what he said. I wanted to believe that I would never fabricate a memory, especially one so specific, but he seemed absolutely sure of what happened.

When I got to my dorm, I flopped on my small twin bed dejectedly, with no notification to study.

"Bad day? You're the only person I've met that was miserable being popular." Jasmin said, actually studying at our small desk for once, it seemed.

"Hey, remember that night before school started when we were at that club? Did you see me with anyone?" I asked her, hoping she could ease my worries. We had never actually talked about what happened that night and had instead brushed it under the rug.

"Perhaps. Why? I do vaguely remember a guy with you, but I was pretty smashed by the time you did anything more than mope around." She said with a shrug, not looking up from her work. I glanced over and realized she wasn't studying at all. She was mapping out the Maldives and creating a folder of things we absolutely had to do and categorizing them by importance, it seemed.

I had never even invited her, so it was a testament to our friendship that she assumed and started planning, knowing the entire school was after the three spots.

"You remember what he looked like?" I asked her hopefully. She stopped what she was doing and spun around, frowning and concerned.

"Why? Did he hurt you? If so, will I kill him myself? What's all these questions about?" She asked me immediately, protective, swinging her beaded braids around, ready to fight.

"No, at least I don't think so. It's just...do you think it could be Mr. Grande? Just based on what you remember?" I asked. She was silent for a long while, remembering the alcohol-fueled night.

"He had a small skull tattoo on the palm of his hand. I saw it when he was reaching for a drink at the end of the night; by that point, we were all so smashed, except you, obviously. I've never looked that closely at Mr. Grande, honestly, but if I were you, I would look for that." She said helpfully.

"Wouldn't that be crazy, though, if we hung out with a teacher before school started? The rumors that would cause. Not to mention, he would probably end up fired." She said, almost dreamily, about the amount of drama that would cause.

"So crazy," I said weakly, not sure if it was necessarily a good thing. If Berkley found out, I would be toast.

"Why are you so into this anyway? You don't normally obsess over guys, and all I've heard all semester is Mr. Grande this, Mr. Grande that. Unless..." She paused, her brown eyes widening in shock, seeming to put everything together.

"THAT'S WHY YOU'VE BEEN SICK SO MUCH! You're pregnant, and you think it's HIS." She yelled so loudly I jumped up and covered her mouth, desperate for this to not get out.

"Jasmine. You have to swear to me that you will tell NO ONE. He does not think it's his, but he was the only person I have been with. If it is his, though, we are both screwed." I said in a hushed whisper, panicking, realizing the biggest gossip on campus now knew my secret. She nodded slowly, seeming to come to terms with the revelation very slowly, so I released her.

"What are you going to do with it? Are you keeping it?" She asked as I sat down on my bed, even more depressed than before.

"Obviously," I said, knowing there was no way I would get rid of it at this point. She nodded her head, and we sat in silence for a long time, just staring at each other while she processed.

"I know this isn't something that will go over well with the school, but I only have a few months left that I absolutely cannot miss. I get it if you're going to back off the friendship, though. I'm sure your mom doesn't want you hanging with someone who got knocked up as a teen." I said, having already realized that our friendship would be cut bitterly short by this.

She jumped up, horrified, and came to me with an adoring look on her face and put her hand over my stomach fondly.

"I'm going to be an aunt. There's no way you can keep me from this baby! My mom wouldn't even try anyway. She knows I have the five-year implant, so no worries there. Plus, she was a teen mom herself. It would be hypocritical of her to say anything at all about it." She explained, clearly in dreamland, imagining a baby she could hold and snuggle.

"What are you going to name it?" She asked excitedly, getting up to grab her laptop and plop beside me.

"I think Chloe would be so cute for a girl! Leo, for a boy, obviously after his father. Do you think Mr. Grande is going to come around and claim the baby? If not, his family is totally loaded. Get you that child support, girl!" She said, pulling up a long list of baby names. She opened Excel and started creating a list of her favorites, putting more effort into planning my baby than her entire school career.

"I haven't even started thinking of names, really. I don't know if he will come around. I don't think I will ask for child support, though; if he doesn't want the baby, then it is what it is." I said, unsure if that was even an option. She huffed at that, waving my reluctance away.

"Girl, that money is your child's RIGHT. You will need help with daycare costs, clothes, and all that fun stuff. It looks like with you registering as living in California, there isn't a cap either." She said, typing away on the computer so fast I could barely see her fingers move.

"Is that good?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, it means with how rich he is...you will make BANK. Probably at least ten grand a month. Your bills will be paid until that baby reaches eighteen," She said, giddy at the very thought of finagling every cent out of him.

I had never held more than a hundred dollars at a time, so I couldn't imagine having so much money at my disposal.

"Don't worry. I will make sure you and little Sarah are taken care of." She said with a grin, renaming my baby already. I smiled, relieved, and let her carry on trying to research everything she wanted.

One question in my mind lingered, though. Why couldn't he remember me? He had been drinking, but he spoke perfectly, seemed to know what he was doing, and didn't sway when he walked. I had assumed he drank too much, but it just seemed so odd. Maybe he knew about the child support laws as well and was trying to avoid them, but it seemed unlikely.

I had to figure out what happened after he left, and unbeknownst to me, I was about to get the chance to do exactly that.