The Positive Test

*Alana*

I knock on the door, and the moment it opens, the look on my face and the box in my arms make Tara's eyes widen in shock.

She immediately gives me a side hug, and I cry in the arms of my best friend.

She takes the box from me, and I wail on her.

My chest is heavy.

“What the hell happened?” she quietly asks.

I look up at her with tear-filled eyes. “He-he embarrassed me in front of everyone,” I try to explain, even though I can’t stop crying.

Tara looks at me and says, “You will tell me all about that later, but first let's go in."

She shuts the door and drops my box on the ground.

She looks at me and mutters. "Let it all out.”

And I do just that. After some minutes, my head now hurts. Tara goes to get aspirin and a glass of water.

When I take it, I am about to tell her everything that happened when she shakes her head. “Sleep first, talk later.”

I nod as she leads me into the room, and I sleep.

I wake up soon after, and I go into our sitting room to see my best friend typing at her phone furiously.“What are you doing?” I ask her.

She yelps. “I didn’t know you were awake.”

“Maybe because you were lost in whatever it is you are doing,” I say. “What the hell are you even doing?”

“Nothing,” she replies too quickly.

My eyes immediately narrow at her. “Were you texting... Zion?”

“And if I was?”

“Don’t T,” I softly tell her. “It is not worth your time.”

“Maybe it isn’t, but it will have to do, seeing as I can’t throw a punch at him,” she mutters as she continues typing aggressively.

I try to reach for her phone, but she immediately sends the text message, blocks and deletes his number.

I glare at her, but she merely shrugs.“Now, tell me everything that happened.”

I sigh and tell her everything. My eyes well up with tears again, and I can’t help it when they fall. Tara’s eyes soften when she sees the tears, but the moment she hears everything that happened, she is pissed.“And you didn’t want me to curse him out?” she asks incredulously.

I shrug. “It will not change what happened.”

She huffs. "I beg to differ, Lana. It will change everything. That asshole has no right to do that to you, especially after everything."

And that is the truth.

If he saw something that implicated me, he should've spoken to me about it, but instead, he didn't.

When Tara sees the look on my face, I can tell she sees that I am about to cry. "Come on, let's watch a movie and eat some ice cream."

We do that, and even though my eyes are glued to the screen, my mind isn't.

All I can think about is the way Zion discarded me like I didn't matter.

The way he couldn't take my word for it, and I don't know if I can ever get over that, especially after everything I thought we had.

*TWO WEEKS LATER*

I look at the tenth rejection letter, and I see the same thing again.

I have been blacklisted.

I let out a scream in frustration. My eyes well up in tears.

He had me blacklisted even though I was nothing but faithful to his company.

Tara comes back, and one look at my face tells her what happened again. “You were rejected again.”

My head is in my hands now. “I didn’t even do anything to jeopardise that damn company, T.”

“I know,” she calmly says.

"I loved that company," I mutter.

She sighs. "I know, but you have another option, though.”

“Which one?” I ask with confusion on my face.

When I see the look on my face, I shake my head. I can’t.

“It is worth a chance, Alana,” she softly says. “If every company is being fucking wuss and keeps on rejecting you even though you are the most diligent person in the world, they won’t reject you because Zion Foster black listed you.”

I shake my head. “But their ethics don’t align with mine.”

“And you say that why?”

“They tried to get me to work for them while I was still working with him,” I mutter.

"Maybe they saw just how diligent you are and wanted you on their team,” Tara says instead.

I glare at her, and she shrugs. “Competition is common in this capitalist world, Alana. If you ask me, I think you should work for them because at least we all share the same enemy.”

“But if I work for them, it will make it seem like Zion’s accusation was true and that everything he said about me is correct,” I reply.

Tara rolls her eyes. “Who cares about what he'll say?” she asks. “I don't, so you shouldn't either. You can’t let that bastard spoil the future you have worked so hard for.”

“If I decide to work for them, I will have to move,” I say.

She rolls her eyes at my lame excuse. “I have always been tired of this scenery anyway.”

My eyes widen at what she means. “You will really follow me?”

“You are my best friend, Alana. I will go with you if you decide to work for them. Nothing is holding me here, aside from you." She takes a breath. "But, you do not have to if you do not want to.”

I pause, and I mutter, “I will think about it.”

She gives me a grin. “That is better than a no.”

I roll my eyes at her.

*TWO WEEKS LATER*

I feel bile rise to my throat, and I run to the toilet.

I look at myself in the mirror, and I see the dark circles around my eyes.

Simply put, I look like shit.

This is the second time I am throwing up. I have been sick for quite some time.

I haven't seen my period in a bit. My eyes widen.

No, no, no.

I cannot be pregnant. We had used protection every single time. I took the pills as well.

There's no way I am pregnant, right?

I wash my face, put on a better top, and I rush straight to the pharmacy shop near my house.

I pack five tests, with jittery hands, as I pay the cashier, while mentally praying that this is all in my head, and maybe I'm just sick.

Or maybe this is all because of stress. After all, I've been stressed out these past few weeks more than I ever have in my entire life.

I wipe the sweat from my forehead, as I hand the cashier my atm card with shaky hands.

She gives me a sad smile, as if she can understand what I'm going through.

I take the tests from her, and I run out of the pharmacy like my ass is on fire.

I go straight to my bathroom once I'm home, and I pee on all five sticks.

I sit on the toilet waiting for the results, while also praying it is, in fact, not positive.

Once the time to check the sticks has reached, I stand up abruptly, and I raise them.

It is positive.

I burst into tears.