SAM's POV

~Friday night, Winter Break~

We managed to have our weekly Bestie Day this Friday at my house. I invited Becca and Khalil over my house to chill. I wasn't going to tell Diggy about it since he's been acting brand new lately, but my friends insisted that we try to work out whatever problems we've been having. Since I feel like I'm a changed woman and have matured (despite the fight with Dana the other day at school), I guess I should put our differences aside and pretend like there's nothing bad between us.

We all were getting our plateful of snacks and candy from the kitchen table, like usual. This time, my mom made sub sandwiches for us and set out bowls of potato chips in a variety of flavors along with a bag of assorted candy. We each took a can of soda.

"Thanks again, Mrs. Goode. We needed this night!" Becca enthuses to my mom.

"It's no problem. I remember when I was your age..."

I groan and roll my eyes, "Mom! Nobody wants to hear your 'back in my day' stories. Please!"

Becca and Khalil smile and laugh a little.

"Oh, hush! All I was saying is that when I was a teenager, I'd love hanging out with my friends. We even threw parties when our parents were out of town."

"Really?" I ask.

"Yep. You may not be able to see it now, but I was a pretty cool girl in my day," my mom puts her hand on her hip and flips her short hair over her shoulder.

"Right..." I wait for my friends to get the rest of their snacks.

"Me and Diggy's mother used to be the baddest chicks in school. We did everything together. Bet y'all didn't know that we were on the cheer team together."

"For real? That's so awesome! You guys were on a team together, now your oldest kids are both playing on a basketball team," Becca says, while smiling at me and looking back at Diggy.

"Yes. Actually, when Samantha and Daniel were younger, they were on the same little league tee ball team. They were inseparable."

"Wonder what happened?" Khalil speaks up, looking at his friend Diggy who hasn't said a word since he came in the house.

"Welp. On that note, we're gonna head upstairs to my room. Vaminos!" I begin to walk upstairs.

"Don't eat in your room. You always get food on the carpet, Sam."

"Okay, we'll go to the bonus room..."

I went up to my room anyways. I sat on the floor, resting my back against my bed while Becca and Khalil sat on the bed. Diggy sat on the floor, too.

"Alright, I put the movie 'This Christmas' in," I announce.

"Ooh! Now I can see Chris Brown," Becca gushes. I laugh at her.

As the movie starts, everyone is munching on their food except for Diggy. He's in another dimension and not even paying attention to the movie. I snap my fingers in his face and he slowly looks up at me. His eyes looked glazed over.

"Diggy... you okay?" I ask, sizing up his glum look.

"Yeah."

"Man, you been silent since you got here. What's wrong?" Khalil asks.

Diggy sighs and says, "I'm fine."

I was getting tired of his Debbie Downer mood, so I asked Becca and Khalil if they'd step out of my room for a second so I could talk to Diggy alone. They agreed and walked out the room, closing the door behind them. No matter how much I may despise Diggy right now, I'm not gonna sit here and let him be all gloomy. He better tell me what's wrong with him.

"Why have you been so gloomy lately? It's like ever since last week, you've just had your stank face on all the time. What's going on?" I ask him.

Diggy sighs and says quietly, "It's Julie."

"Julie?"

"She's just been controlling lately."

"But weren't you the one who said, 'oh, a man gotta stick by his woman and do whatever she says. That's what men are for and they be her slave blah blah blah'?"

"I was just in the moment—"

"Oh, you were in the moment? Mkay."

"Look, this is serious. For the past week, she's been dragging me to the mall with her 24/7, making me be by her side all the time, and hang with her friends. It's getting really annoying. I was thinking about what a friend told me... maybe I'm putting too much of my focus on her. I'm starting to question if I want to stay with her..."

"OMG, WHAT?" I act like I'm shocked.

"Yeah... she's been real sick lately, too. She told me she throws up everyday. I thought she had the stomach flu or something, but nope."

"Hmm... okay?" I reply. I don't really care about Julie so.

"I gotta tell you something, but you have to promise not to tell," Diggy rubs the back of his head.

"I'm all ears."

"Okay... so yesterday, we were at Julie's house chillin' or whatever, and she told me the reason that she's been sick lately."

"Okay?"

"Promise not to tell anyone," he says again.

"I promise. C'mon, Dig!"

"She said... she was pregnant."

"Pregnant? Hm, I mean... it would've happened eventually. I mean, I told you she was easy," I shrug without a care in the world. It's really not that surprising.

"Stop it, Sam. I told you she's not like that!" He exclaims.

"You don't know what she might've done at her other school. Anyway, I calls it like I sees it."

"Seriously, that got me real scared. That's why I've been feeling some type of way," he scratches his neck.

"Why are you scared?"

"She said it's been almost a week now that she's been feeling sick..."

I blink, waiting for him to expand.

"Okay? So she's sick. She'll get over it, I guess." I say.

"...remember last week? Homecoming?"

"Um, no I don't, because I didn't go to the dance, remember? Actually, we both weren't planning on going, but Julie just scooped you right up and made you her slave. Even if I had changed my mind, you still would've ditched me for her probably—"

"Sam, look! This is not about you, okay?" He angrily sighs.

"Yeah, it's never about me..."

Diggy rolls his eyes and stands up, saying, "Forget it, man."

"Stop being in ya feelings and just tell me what's going on!"

He sighs and sits back down onto his knees.

"...last week at Homecoming, after we went out to dinner, we went to the dance," Diggy begins. As he says this, the image of him and Julie giggling in the booth at the BBQ restaurant plays in my mind. Ugh, I can't believe they were at the same restaurant as me and Chris. "It was going smooth. We were having a good time, then she said she wanted to leave. So we went out to my car to get ready to go. She told me we should go to her house, so we went."

"Does this story have a point?"

"We were at her house chilling and just talking in her room. Then, she was telling me how I make her happy, and that she couldn't live without me. She said she wanted me and wanted me bad so... we... started making out or whatever," he scratches the back of his head. "Then... it got intense and..."

"You choked her?! You strangled her with a pillow?" I said happily, and of course sarcastically.

"Sam... we did it."

"You told her that y'all were moving too fast?"

"Sam, did you hear me?" Diggy frowns.

"You told her that her lips taste like fish—"

"Sam, I said we did it! We slept together..." Diggy shakes his head, looking like his puppy just died. Boy don't even have a puppy.

I was confused at his revelation. "What are you talking about?"

"We had sex..."

"Wait," I chuckle in disbelief. "You mean you gave her a massage, right? Then laid down on the covers 'til she fell asleep—"

"You heard what I said. That's why I have to leave her somehow, but I'm scared..."

"Scared of what?"

"She's pregnant. Don't you know what that means? One week of her throwing up and feeling sick, and the dance was exactly one week ago?! I'm gonna be a freaking father, Sam! A father! I'm not ready for that!"

"How do you even know it's yours? Did she tell you? She could be lying to you, Diggy—"

"I know the truth... I just," he shakes his head. "I didn't think it'd end like this."

"WTF do you mean you didn't think it'd end like this? You slept with that piece of trash and got her pregnant! You know better than that, Dig! Since when were you the guy to just sleep with the first girl you see?!" I'm getting a little heated now.

"I didn't—"

"You always said you'd imagine meeting the perfect girl who overlooked your flaws, marry her, THEN have three kids in a beautiful home. What's up with that, huh?" By this time I was standing on my feet and yelling in his face.

"I CAN'T CONTROL THE FUTURE, OK? I CAN'T HELP THAT... THAT HAPPENED, ALRIGHT?!" Diggy yells back.

"HA! You obviously can't control your hormones either—"

"YOU THINK I WANTED THIS? HUH? YOU THINK I WANNA BE FATHER?" He shakes his head and heads for the door.

"Dig, WAIT!"

"No. I'm done waiting. I've waited my whole life for my best friend to change her judgmental ways and actually be empathetic for once! I've waited to become the basketball captain since freshman year when they offered me the chance, but my best friend told me to 'wait, just let the opportunity come to you. You have four years, don't rush. You can wait' -- and I'm still nowhere near as talented as Chris. I've waited to meet that one perfect girl... just that one girl that... that I'd be happy to call mine. A girl who is supportive, funny, sweet, and doesn't start drama. Someone who understands me... LISTENS TO ME. I met her... and now I'm about to lose her because I couldn't wait to have sex. But look at what not waiting did to me? I'm STILL in the worse predicament ever imagined."

 My eyes begin to fill with water as he speaks to me.

"Diggy... what about me? I don't make you smile or laugh? I haven't been supportive through your whole basketball career?"

"There are more things than basketball. You think that's the only thing important to me?"

"I thought..."

"You're wrong."

"Then what IS important to you, huh?" My lip quivers as I face him with angry eyes.

"Tch. Not you."

He leaves just as my mom appears at the door, asking if everything is alright. Ignoring her, I scream out all of my anger and frustration and lay down on my bed, covering my face with a pillow. Why can't things just be normal?!!