Chapter Text
Taking another deep breath she checked the timer again, two more minutes to go. Only three minutes had gone by and it felt like an eternity. She felt sick to her stomach yet again, something she first thought it was from the three-day-old leftovers she had for dinner but when she realized her period was nearly a month late she knew it could be the consequence of a night etched in her memory.
In a matter of minutes her entire world could be turned upside down. She paced back and forth in her small two bedrooms flat she shared with college mate Clara. She was grateful Clara was at work, as she wanted to be alone no matter of the results. She heard the timer start beeping and practically ran to the bathroom. Charlotte closed her eyes before picking up the stick and reading the results.
When she opened her eyes, her heart sank at the sight of the two red lines on the test in front of her. She immediately sank on her bathroom floor and began to cry at the realization that she was pregnant.
Charlotte Heywood had always been a responsible person and always did what was expected of her. She would be the last person anyone would expect to end up pregnant at 19 years old (soon to be 20). Her parents scraped every penny they had to send their oldest child to college and make something of herself and this is how she repays them. She began crying harder at the thought of disappointing her dear and sweet parents.
“Stupid stupid stupid Charlotte,” she kept repeating to herself while sobbing until there were no longer any tears left in her to shed. So many questions and thoughts began running through her mind; Should she keep this baby? How would she finish school? How was she going to afford to raise this baby on a tutor salary? She suddenly felt sick again; thankfully she was already near the toilet, where she emptied her stomach for the second time today.
After a few minutes she picked herself up from the floor and went to brush her teeth and splash some cold water on her pale face. She also made sure to discard of the pregnancy test container and take out the trash; she was not ready to share the news with Clara or anyone else until she knew what to do herself. First thing tomorrow morning she was to call and make a Dr. appointment to confirm the results, even though she was certain she was pregnant.
That night Charlotte barely found sleep; she tossed and turned all night thinking of her situation and how she fucked up her future. She maybe managed to get a full hour of sleep before her alarm went off. For a moment she thought yesterday had been a bad dream until the nausea hit her again making her remember it was her reality.
Thankfully today was Wednesday and Charlotte only had one class this morning, the rest of her day was filled with tutoring sessions. Charlotte had taken up tutoring other students her first year at university to help pay for school and soon became the most sought out tutor among the wealthiest students at her university. Tutoring wealthy and entitled students was not gratifying but she put up with them because she needed the money, they paid her at least 3x times more than the average rate.
Before she left for class Charlotte called the women’s health center for an appointment. As Charlotte walked to campus she suddenly found herself nervous after they told her they had an opening this afternoon. She wanted nothing more than just go hide in her room until the appointment but Charlotte was not one to ever miss class.
Thankfully her day did go by quickly, although she spaced out during her class, she then had three back-to-back tutoring sessions. It was now 15 minutes until 3p and she had to rush to the health center. She was a ball of nerves when she arrived but everyone at the health center was really kind and answered all her questions. They ran some test and she was told she would get a call on Friday with her results.
For once she was grateful she had a 10-page paper due Friday, it would hopefully help get her mind off things. The next day Charlotte went to her two classes and then spent the entire afternoon in the library writing her literature paper. On Friday she only had her literature class followed by one tutoring session. As she sat waiting for her tutee in the library, who was already 15 minutes late, she couldn’t help but look at her phone again for the hundredth time. All day she had kept checking her phone making sure she didn’t miss the health center’s call.
Charlotte was on verge of tears, not only was she anxious about her call but also extremely frustrated with her tutee Eliza who had no concept of time. She was going to give her 5 more minutes or she was going home. She had been tutoring Eliza for about a month now and the girl had been late every single session. Charlotte had wanted to drop her after their first session but a part of her feared Eliza would have her blacklisted from tutoring, not only was she a socialite but also came from one of the wealthiest and most influential families in the entire country. Eliza was in year 4 and due to graduate in three months if Charlotte could help her pass her classes. Thankfully she only had to put up with her for a few more weeks.
A minute before she was about to leave, in walked Eliza without any books or studying material, only holding her cell phone.
“Hi Charlie, sorry I’m a couple of minutes late, I had to take an important call,” she greeted Charlotte excitingly like they were best friends. Charlotte did her best not roll her eyes, she hated being called Charlie.
“Where is your finance book?” Charlotte asked Eliza trying her best to sounds calm and get this studying session over with.
“I forgot it, but honestly why do I even need it? You already helped Crowe pass this class last semester. Just tell me what I need to know for the midterm.”
“Eliza I can’t do that and besides how are you going to learn about finance if I just give you the answers?’
“Charlie, you know the only reason I am here is so daddy doesn’t cut me off, I just need that business degree so he can agree to fund my fashion line. I don’t need you to teach me anything, I just need you to help pass me that class,” she smile at her.
Charlotte knew it was a losing battle trying to argue with Eliza, so she pulled out her study guide and began going over the test material.
“Look at the time, I need to rush home and get ready, Sidney is taking me out to dinner. Do you know Sidney? Of course you do, silly me. He was the one that told me all about ‘genius Charlie’,” Eliza said as said all under one breath as she scrolled through her phone and began to walk away.
Charlotte didn’t have time to fully process Eliza’s words before her own phone started vibrating. She looked down and immediately saw the health center’s number.