door, swinging her bag over her shoulder. She didn't even say a word to me, just brushed past me and got into the passenger seat of my car. I got the hint and followed after her, hopping in the driver side and turning the car back on.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her.
"Everyone is going to know!" she yelled, whipping around to look me in the eyes. Her's were still full of fury from their fight.
"It's going to be fine," I tried to assure her. I grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers. "I'll be there with you."
She took a shaky breath and she tried to smile, but I could see in her eyes, doubt. I'd never seen her doubt me before. I tried to brush it off, but it was an unease I didn't like. When we got to school though, I saw that she had been right.
People stood in a crowd around her locker. Some laughing, some shaking their heads, but it was obvious when we walked in, everybody knew. How the rumor mill had churned out so quickly that she was pregnant, I'll never know. But along with the words branded across her locker were taped up pregnancy tests. I didn't think I'd ever seen something that made me want to kill somebody as much as I wanted to kill whoever had done this.
I looked to Lauren, who had her head ducked down, eyes only seeing the floor. Tears stained her cheeks, as she pushed past everyone and did her locker combination. I couldn't take the fury anymore, it roared in me like a primal animal.
"Who did this?" I yelled. "Who the fuck did this?" I screamed at the crowd. Everyone started to scatter. Everyone started to run, but I wanted answers. So I grabbed the nearest guy I could find and pulled him back, pinned him against the lockers with a loud clang.
"Who the hell did this?" I screamed in his face. He paled, seeing the rage that was in my eyes. In the back of my mind, I knew he probably didn't have a clue, but I didn't care, I only wanted names.
"I...I..." he stuttered. I shook him harder.
"That will be enough Mr. Daniels," Mrs. Roe our Principle said from behind me. "I don't think we need more locker decorations, do we? I think you and Miss Cole should come into my office."
I put the kid down and he scurried away to his homeroom, no doubt thanking God that I hadn't gotten a chance to let the rage out. I took Lauren's hand and we followed Mrs. Roe to her office. The homeroom bell rang just as we were entering her office.
"Please, take a seat," she offered with a smile and closed the door behind her. I had no doubts that this would not be a conversation that would not end in smiles. "Now, as you are aware, Miss Cole's condition is no longer a secret."
I hated the way she said "condition." She practically spit out the words, like poison in her mouth.
"So what the hell are you going to do to the people who did that to her locker?" my voice echoed loudly around her room.
She completely ignored my question."You are sadly not the first, and I'm sure, not the last, to have this...condition in our school."
I felt the need to crack my knuckles. I knew I was going to lose my calm again if she called it a "condition" one more damn time. Instead, she pulled out papers and placed the spread out on the desk in front of her. Lauren leaned forward in her seat and looked at the papers. Her face paled.
"When we have young girls in this situation, we like them to enter this program. It is specific to young girls in this situation and you will all be there together. You will earn your GED and be able to take your tests for college there."
I didn't really comprehend what she was saying. Lauren got it quicker than I did. I looked over at her and her cheeks went from pale, to fiery red.
"Are you saying you want me to leave the school?" she asked with a tone of disbelief.
"Miss Cole, I am not saying I want you to leave the school." She pointed to the pamphlet. "This school here, has only girls with your condition and it