Weeks later, Lauren, AJ, Britt, & Nick were all still together and having fun in Ruskin in the summertime. Lauren’s parents didn’t mind her staying with Britt; they knew Brittany’s parents well enough and knew that she was in safe hands. Lauren stayed often as she could, sometimes five days a week. Brittany and Lauren would tan and hang out during the day, and go out with Nick and AJ at night. The boys were trying to find jobs in a band. Lauren and Brittany didn’t work; they would start their senior year of high school in the fall.
One day, Brittany woke up to hear Lauren swearing and things clanging in the bathroom.
“SHIT!” Lauren hollered. “There’s no way; there’s no way.”
Brittany rolled her eyes and squinted at the clock – 9:56 a.m. Good thing my parents have left for work already, she thought. Britt stumbled out of bed, felt along through the hallway, and knocked on the bathroom door. “Lauren, could you please keep it down? I’m trying to sleep.”
“NO, I CANNOT KEEP IT DOWN!” She screamed, and started sobbing.
In fear, Brittany opened the door to see Lauren sitting on the toilet, her pajama pants and underwear at her ankles. Lauren’s eyes were wide with fright.
“BRITT! SHUT THE DOOR!” Lauren hissed.
Brittany jumped out of the bathroom, slammed the door, and apologized. “Sorry. But what’s going on in there?”
Lauren got off the toilet, pulled up her pants, walked to the door and opened it. She faced Brittany, with a solemn look on her face, and she took a deep breath.
“I’m late.”
“Okay guys, one more time please,” a voice said over the PA in the studio.
Nick sighed and looked at AJ. His eyes pleaded to AJ. He nodded toward the door. AJ shook his head and said “make it good; this will be our take. Let’s do it for the girls,” he added.
Nick grinned, and was all business when he began to hear the opening music in his ears. The boys harmonized to a song called “Quit Playin’ Games With My Heart.” AJ added a little special ending to the end of the song, and the boys cheered and high-fived when they finished.
A heavy-set man came into the recording area. He shook AJ and Nick’s hands.
“Nice work guys. We’ll be in touch.”
“Thanks Mr. Pearlman. We really appreciate it,” said AJ.
“Please, call me Lou.” Said Mr. Pearlman.
“Right.” Said Nick.
Nick and AJ talked excitedly and bounced around as the exited the studio. The boys had always had a dream of becoming famous rock stars someday – with girls screaming for their attention, fame on every telephone line waiting for an interview, and a load of money in their bank account. Who could ask for anything more?
“We’re on our way, man. We’re practically there!” Exclaimed Nick.
“Slow down buddy,” AJ chuckled. “Don’t count your eggs.”
“What?” said Nick, with a confused look on his face. “I’m counting my money!”
Nick and AJ laughed as they made their way to AJ’s Jeep Wrangler at the far end of the parking lot. AJ recognized an old pal up ahead.
“HEY HOWIE!” AJ screamed.
“AJ! What the f-” Nick began to ask, but he was interrupted by a short, Latino and a tall, dark handsome man came jogging over to them.
“AJ! My man! How ya been?” Howie asked as he shook AJ’s hand and gave him a hug.
“Great! Just finished recording with my pal, Nicky here.” AJ gave Nick a slight punch to the shoulder and Nick narrowed his eyes at AJ. He hated being called Nicky, especially in front of people he didn’t know. “We’re auditioning for a group, what are you doing here?” AJ finished.
“Hey, so are we! Oh, excuse me, this is a good friend of mine, Kevin Richardson.” Howie apologized. Kevin stepped toward AJ and Nick, nodded, and shook their hands. Nick nodded back, and added “Nick Carter” so he could excuse AJ’s immaturity. Kevin smiled and stepped back beside Howie. Howie continued once the handshakes finished. “We’re working with Louis Pearlman here at Transcontinental, what about you?”
“Same thing, buddy!” AJ hooted and shook Howie’s hand again. “I hear they’re accepting five guys. They got four of ‘em, right here,” AJ gestured with a smirk.
“You got that right,” Howie said with a laugh. Kevin held his hand up to excuse his interruption. “Excuse me here fellas, but Howie and I are going to be late if we don’t get going.”
“Oh man! We’re sorry – but hey, Howie, and you too Kev, keep in touch. We’ll let you know how everything goes,” yelled AJ as they began their good-byes and as Howie and Kevin walked toward the building.
“What do you mean you’re late?” asked Brittany. “Where are you going?”
Lauren rolled her eyes through her tears. “MY PERIOD BRITTANY! And I’m never late!”
Britt’s eyes grew wide and she put her hand over her mouth. Then her eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute…you had sex AGAIN?”
Lauren walked to Brittany’s bedroom and sat on her bed. Britt followed, and waited for answer. She leaned up against the doorway.
“No, I mean, just that night we spent at the park. Brittany, what am I going to do? I can’t support a baby! I can barely support myself!” Lauren started sobbing harder and she put her face in her hands.
Brittany sat down next to her very best friend in the whole world. She put her arm around her and leaned down into her face. “Don’t worry. And hey, maybe we’re jumping to conclusions. Maybe your period will come sometime today. Let’s go get a pregnancy test before we decide anything, okay?”
Lauren wiped her face and gave Brittany a hug. “Thanks. Let’s go right now.”
The boys arrived at Brittany’s house and let themselves in; Brittany’s parents were out of town once again, and they really didn’t mind AJ and Nick entering without knocking. They had grown to know them so well over the summer.
“Wonder where they went,” said AJ. “Britt’s car’s gone, but Lauren’s Jeep is here.”
“Wait, here’s a note,” Nick said. He read it aloud:
Dear Nick and AJ,
Went to store. Be back soon.
Love, Britt and Lauren
“Hmmm…well, let’s just wait around…we’re home early – it’s only 10:30. We can go out to lunch when they get back or something,” said AJ.
The boys grabbed a bag of pretzels and sat down to watch some TV. Within ten minutes, Lauren opened the door and rushed upstairs with a plastic bag in hand. The boys looked at each other – they knew something was up.
Brittany followed close behind. She went upstairs without saying a word to the boys.
“What’s going on?” AJ asked Nick.
“Got me,” and Nick went to follow Brittany. “I’ll check it out,” he said.
He found Brittany pacing outside the bathroom door. “Hey,” he began, “what’s going on?”
“Nothing. Just have to pee, that’s all,” Brittany claimed.
Nick cocked his head. “Uh, there are other bathrooms in the house.”
Britt started to look uncomfortable. “Well, I want to use this one.”
Nick rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yeah right. Now tell me what’s going on.”
Brittany shook her head. “NOTHING!”
Nick was getting exasperated. He grabbed her arms and looked her in the eyes. “Tell me,” he growled.
Brittany looked into his eyes and started to cry. Nick sat her down and leaned against the wall with his arm around her. Brittany took a deep breath. “Well, you know that Lauren and AJ had sex that night we got into a big fight, right?”
Nick nodded.
“Well, Lauren’s late. We think that she might be pregnant.”
“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?”
Nick and Brittany turned their heads to see AJ at the top of the stairs. His eyes were absolutely horrifying. He looked like he could kill someone.
Brittany gasped. “Nothing.”
AJ ran over to Brittany. He grabbed her shirt and pulled her off the floor. “What did you say?”
“I SAID NOTHING!” Brittany screamed.
AJ put his hands on her shoulders and shook her violently. “TELL ME WHAT YOU SAID!”
Nick intervened and pulled AJ’s arms off of Brittany. “AJ, lay off!”
“TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK SHE SAID, NICK!” AJ was practically spitting in Nick’s face. “TELL ME!”
Lauren opened the door and AJ spun around. She looked him in the eye and said:
“Brittany, Nick, AJ, guess what? I’m pregnant.”
No one spoke or moved for at least thirty seconds. Finally, Brittany released herself from Nick’s hug and went to comfort Lauren. Her knees had buckled; she was on her knees crying and gasping for breath. AJ was cursing and his breathing was shallow. Nick was watching; waiting for someone to explode. Brittany caught Nick’s eye; she waved her hand to him as to say “go on; I need to console Lauren in private.” Nick took AJ by the arm and led him downstairs to the family room.
Nick sat down on the couch while AJ began pacing again. He was muttering to himself and shaking his fists. A few minutes passed, and Lauren and Brittany came downstairs. They sat on the loveseat. Britt had her arm around Lauren; Lauren’s elbows were on her knees and her face in her hands. At last, AJ spoke up.
“Well…let’s just make an appointment. There’s no use in telling everyone – I say we just do it and not get all of our parents upset,” AJ said, and he was surprisingly calm.
“Appointment for what?” Lauren asked.
“The abortion. You know we can’t support this baby, Lauren. I’ve got a life to live,” AJ said.
Brittany got to her feet. “Oh, so AJ, because you fucked up, no pun intended, you decide and go erase your problem? Just like that? YOU’RE JUST GONNA MURDER YOUR OWN CHILD?” Britt screamed, outraged.
Nick followed suit and rose to comfort Brittany. “Shhh, just calm down,” Nick cooed.
Britt shook him off. “Not now, Nick.”
Now just hold on a minute,” AJ began, “Abortion is legal, Brittany. It’s obviously not murder, or it would be illegal. It’s perfectly okay.”
Brittany put her hands on her hips. “Oh right. It’s just perfectly okay to just stop a heartbeat inside – “
“EVERYONE STOP FOR JUST ONE SECOND! LET ME TALK!” Lauren screamed.
Everyone did just that – they stopped and stared at Lauren.
Lauren got up and started explaining. “This baby is inside my body. This is not for any of you to decide. I choose what I do with this baby.”
“Oh no you don’t,” said AJ. “That baby’s half mine!”
“But AJ, I make the decision! The final decision!” Lauren stammered.
“Okay, everyone, listen to this,” AJ began, “before I came upstairs to talk to Nick and find out what’s going on with you two girls, I received a phone call from Lou Pearlman. We’re in the group! We made it! But I obviously can’t go on tour and record an album if I have a baby to take care of! So now, Lauren, if you decide to keep this baby – you ruin my life, plain and simple. This is a chance of a lifetime. If you abort it, we can go on like nothing ever happened,” AJ said with a smirk.
Lauren sat down on the loveseat, dumbfounded.
Brittany pushed AJ back slightly. “You little prick! Don’t put her in that position!”
“Brittany, you’re not in this! Don’t start with me,” AJ said.
Suddenly, Lauren got up and ran through the foyer and out of the house. Brittany gave Nick a “help me” look and rushed to get Lauren. She flung open the door to see Lauren squealing her tires out of the driveway. Britt shut the door and ran to get the guys.
“Nick, AJ! She’s gone. We have to stop her before she does something she’ll regret.”
Nick and AJ gave each other puzzled looks.
Britt screamed, “WE HAVE TO GO AFTER HER! NOW!”
The guys and Brittany all piled into AJ’s Jeep and went off to look for Lauren, hoping that she realizes that if she kills herself, she’ll kill her baby too.
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