Against The Odds

The rumors had been flooding the hallways for days and I just didn't want to believe what I was hearing. She was my best friend, how could this be true? So many thoughts were running through my mind. Why had I not been there for her? Why had we fallen apart?

It was second period my sophomore year and some of my friends were talking. I couldn't take it anymore, I had to know the truth. I asked one of my close friends if the rumors were true and he admitted to me that they were. He told me that she had shown him her ultrasound a couple days before. 4 in 10 teenage girls will experience at least one pregnancy by age 20.# The news hit me like a ton of bricks. I just kept asking myself questions. What if I had been there for her, maybe this wouldn't be happening. I should have never stopped talking to her. We were so close and we just threw it all away.

As soon as he told me I went to the bathroom. I made sure that no one was around before I let my tears flow freely down my cheeks. I just couldn't begin to imagine what she was going through. You always hear about teenage girls getting pregnant while they are in high school but you never imagine that it will happen to your best friend at your high school. Almost one million teenage girls will become pregnant this year.#

I wondered about what she would do. Would she have an abortion, keep her child, or would she put it up for adoption? I knew she was going to have a hard decision ahead of her. I wondered if she would stay in school. She only had one more year to go. Fewer than one half of teenage mothers receive a high school diploma.#

She made her decision and I was proud of her. She decided to keep her child. She kept going to school for several months and then she became home schooled until she returned her senior year. She never felt down on herself and she was never ridiculed. She never regretted any of her decisions and stayed upbeat the entire time.

She had a beautiful baby boy in September and I'm proud to say she finished