Giving her a deer-in-the-headlights look, he froze momentarily, and then gradually came back to life. Standing up from stooping down to pick up an armful of clothes, he backtracked, and shut the door. Then he looked at her some more, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

"What do you mean you're pregnant?" he inquired, pulling his desk chair out. The clothes he'd gone to pick up remained on the floor, a dirty collection of his nightly exploits.

"Exactly what I said," she said lamely, tucking dark strands of hair behind her ear. His brown eyes met her green ones, and he stared, dumbstruck and speechless. She could tell from his lacking response that his brain was at top-speed, trying to process the information.

"You don't look pregnant," he commented, lowering his eyes to her stomach, and then bringing them back up to her face.

"Well, I am," she emphasized, grinding her teeth.

Cameron paused and glanced around his room. Rubbing the rising stubble on and underneath his chin, he peered over towards the door. "Did you know you were pregnant before you got here?"

"No," she shook her head.

"Then how do you know you're pregnant now?" he questioned.

"I took the test," she answered with exasperation. Cameron was being borderline dumb, and it was getting more than annoying. Eyes still wider than normal, he removed his hat and spun it around on his fist, distracting himself from the flood of information. Alternating between staring at the shaded window and the floor, he finally looked back at her, head angled slightly.

"Well, are you gonna... keep it?"

"Yeah," she answered quietly, twirling some of her split strands of hair. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled quietly and steeled herself to prevent any tears. Even though it wouldn't do anything, she felt like crying. Just breaking down and sobbing on the floor.

"You're seventeen, Kith," he shot back.

"I know that," she snapped, rubbing the back of her neck. Stating her age wasn't going to change her decision. She'd thought about it, a lot. Holding a positive pregnancy test in her hand had made her thoughts fly faster than they ever had before. All of them led back to the central one: what was she going to do? There was no point in considering any other option besides keeping it; she couldn't afford the alternative.

The silence became stifling. Biting her lip, she wished she had friends. Or even her mom. She wanted to tell someone who understood completely, someone who wouldn't sit and ask stupid questions.

Cameron was taking the news pretty well, as far as pregnancy admissions went, but he still looked lost and confused. He could've spouted some words of encouragement, maybe asked better questions. Instead, he just sat there, spinning that stupid, blue hat of his around on his fist.

Kith wanted to hear that being pregnant at seventeen wasn't the end of the world; she could still go to college and get her dream job. Her life wasn't completely shot now that she fell into the category of teen mom. She wanted someone to tell her that there was still hope.

A nice pat on the back would've been acceptable as well. Except, she remembered sullenly, she didn't like being touched. Cameron hadn't known that the first day she moved in. His attempt to hug her in a joking manner had resulted in him being shoved back more forcefully than he would ever credit a girl with doing.

That was one thing he had learned quickly though. He'd never tried to touch her again, and he never asked why. Kith figured that he just considered it one of her weird qualities. She probably wouldn't have told him if he'd asked anyways.

"I gotta go," standing up suddenly, he put his back on, and pushed in the chair. Stepping over the clothes that were so close to being washed, or at least she assumed that was where they'd been headed, he walked towards the closed door.

"I just wanted to tell you," she mumbled.

"Yeah," he said shortly, twisting the knob. "I'll see you later."

Disappearing from the room, he left her to sit and think, two things she didn't really want. Thinking had consumed the majority of her time since her brain registered that her childhood was over. It was done, and it was never coming back. Kith didn't want to think. She wasn't even in the mood to do homework. Pushing off from the bed, she tugged the laundry basket from beneath it, and began gathering his clothes from around the room.

Movement kept her from reliving the moment, the instant she saw that plus sign in that stupid little circle. The subsequent crying in the frat bathroom, the shower, and the bed when Cameron wasn't in the room. Seizing the mound he'd been about to pick up, she dumped it on top of the pile, swept hair out of her face, and then grabbed the detergent.

After getting home from school the next day, Kith walked into their room and was surprised to see Cameron rocking back and forth in his desk chair, once again looking as if he'd done nothing the entire day. Dropping her backpack next to the bed, she admired the clean, carpeted floor. It wasn't often that Cameron's clutter wasn't marring the image.

"What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," he answered simply, standing up. "Come with me for a second."

"Where?" she asked suspiciously.

"My truck," he replied, heading towards the door. When he realized she wasn't following, he turned around. "What's the matter?"

"Why can't we talk in here?" she gestured to the open space and cleanliness. His truck was too small. Inside, they'd be breathing each other's air, hearing each other's thoughts. She couldn't be that close to him.

"What? Are you afraid?" he raised his eyebrows, staring across the gap.

"No," she said harshly, deeply wishing that he'd just change his mind and go back to sitting in the desk chair. "I just... what's wrong with here?"

"I don't want other people to hear," leaning backwards in the doorway, he checked up and down the hallway. That was unnecessary because, unlike him, most of the guys were in class or doing things around campus. They'd be back in the evening. After four, basically everyone was back in the house, talking, laughing, drinking, working. Cameron engaged in all of those activities, too, minus the working part.

Reluctantly, Kith stepped away from her backpack and followed him downstairs, through the foyer, and out into the fall air. Leaves swirled in miniature tornadoes before settling on the sidewalks and in between the trees surrounding Greek Row. The entire campus was practically a nature reserve. There were trees, leaves, and squirrels everywhere. The scenery, along with the old buildings, made her premature college experience almost storybook-like.

Cameron shivered a bit before unlocked the doors and hopping into the passenger seat. Kith's hand trembled over the lock of the passenger side. Swallowing her feelings, she pulled open the door and shut herself inside.

Thrusting the keys into the ignition, Cameron turned his black truck on and put the heat on its lowest setting. Rubbing his hands together, he leaned more comfortably in his seat.

"I still don't get it," he said after some time had passed. "You're one of those girls that never get in trouble. How'd you get knocked up?"

Relishing the steady stream of warmth, Kith kept her words to herself, choosing not to answer what she considered another one of his stupid questions. How'd she get pregnant? Like everyone else got pregnant. The concept wasn't that difficult, and Cameron was old enough to know how babies were made and where they came from.

"Can I ask who he is?" Cameron asked after another blanket of silence.

The answer caught in her throat. Through the windshield, she watched two squirrels shoot from beneath sculpted shrubbery and onto the sidewalk. Squirrels were so carefree. They didn't have problems. All they had to worry about was storing nuts and... whatever else they did. Nine times out of ten, they were chasing each other.

"Kith?"

"Huh?" snapping out of her squirrel fantasy, she glanced over at him. Cameron was staring at her intently, one eye slightly narrowed.

"Who's the guy?"

"He... he's just some guy I was seeing," ducking her head and turning away, she lowered her voice and swallowed again. "He's in the army now." Her hands started sweating, so she wiped them on her jeans.

"Does he know?"

"Y-yeah," she answered. "I told him and he said he didn't want anything to do with me."

"What an asshole," Cameron responded, shaking his head. Drumming his fingers around the circle of his steering wheel, he scoffed. "You don't... I'm not the best guy ever, but you don't leave your pregnant girlfriend."

"He wasn't my boyfriend," she clarified hastily. It was the truth. He hadn't been her boyfriend. It was fine that he was out of her life anyway; she didn't want anything to do with him.

"It doesn't matter," Cameron shrugged. "You step up and take responsibility. Don't they preach that shit in the army anyway?"

Kith shrugged.

"Do you need those vitamins?"

"What vitamins?"

"Pregnant people vitamins," he answered, stroking his chin. The warmth in his truck was so comforting that she didn't want to leave. It wasn't that warm inside the frat house. The school hadn't exactly gotten around to turning the heat on. Kith was forced to sleep beneath a comforter in a hoodie and sweatpants if she didn't want to freeze at night. "I'll get them for you."

"No," she said quickly.

"I think you do," he pushed. "I'll get some next time I'm out."

"I don't need anything." Her independence elbowed its way to the forefront. His help wasn't required. In fact, she'd made a doctor's appointment right before going to school that morning. Kith was capable of handling this situation herself.

"Kith, I got it," Cameron said strongly. "Is that guy back home? He better not be." Shifting, he rested his head against the steering wheel and sighed. "Messing around with a girl and then not doing the right thing... that guy's a dick."

"Did you go out drinking last night?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I was. What you told me was too much. If it seems like I was running out on you, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," dropping her eyes to her lap, she teased her finger over the metal door panel, tracing her nails around the buttons responsible for locking and unlocking the door. Thankfully, the doors were already unlocked.

"This'll be a funny story," he smiled at her. "Pregnant teenager in the frat."

"Please don't tell anyone," she said quickly, whipping her head to the left to stare directly at him. That wasn't funny at all.

"They're going to find out eventually," he reasoned.

"Please don't tell anyone," she pleaded.

"Okay," he said uncertainly.

She knew they would eventually find out. It was only a matter of time before her stomach eliminated all chances to lie and deny. If they knew, they would look at her strangely, differently; they would judge her.

Kith wanted to be free of the inevitable looks in their eyes once they put two and two together. They would stare at her like they knew, when really, they wouldn't. She just wanted to be the girl who lived in Cameron's room for a little while longer.

She wanted to be that girl until her ankles started swelling and mouths started passing stories and assumptions behind her aching back. Until the day came where people could just look at her and know, Kith wanted to grasp onto her semi-normal status for as long as possible.

"I have homework to do," she said quickly, opening the door. The warm air of the truck flew outside, mixing with the cool breezes.

"You'll be okay," he said before she slammed the door shut and trekked back up the sidewalk towards the front door, hands tucked beneath her armpits.

Instead of doing homework, she curled up on the bed and fought to go to sleep. Nothing happened, so she just laid there with her eyes closed. Her mind was a vast blankness, a void, where nothing happened. By the time she finally got up, it was dark out and the clock said it was after nine. Grabbing her backpack, she decided to work in the lounge. Thumping down the stairs, she hugged her hoodie tighter around her.

"Hey, Kith," said one of the guys – Felix, she thinks - walking out of the lounge.

"Hi," she said quickly, darting to the other side of the room. Dumping her backpack on the table, she unzipped it and removed her binders and notebooks. Turning the pages, she grabbed a pencil and her textbook and attempted to focus on the lines of small, black print.

At twelve in the morning, she detected the distinct drunk-voice of Cameron. Distracted, she lifted her head and struggled to hear if he was actually saying anything. He wasn't. He stumbled past with a girl in tow. He was with Heather, which meant she didn't want him to even look in her direction.

It was perfect, because he didn't.

Yikes, poor Kith. Life isn't working out well for her right now.

Til next time,
Zuz