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worked up!”
    “For God’s sake!” Kate yelled.
    “Hold on, I have an idea!” I said, pushing Kate aside. I waved my hand under the tap of one of the sinks, turning on the water. I let my hand get soaked while Kate began laughing and did the same thing to the other motion-sensor tap.
    “Is that helping?” I yelled over the sound of the running water.
    “Yeah!” Ricky yelled back. She came out a minute later brandishing the pregnancy test. “We have to wait two minutes now.”
    “Get that thing away from me, you peed on it,” Kate complained, backing away. Ricky washed her hands three times while we waited.
    “I’m so scared it’s positive. What am I going to do if it’s positive, Corey?”
    “You have options,” I said, slinging an arm around her shoulder. I looked to Kate. “Right? Options. ”
    “That’s code for an abortion,” Kate said rather unhelpfully, pulling out a stick of gum and popping it in her mouth. “You want one?”
    I wasn’t sure whether she meant a piece of gum or an abortion, but she slid a second stick out of her pack and put it in Ricky’s hand when she stretched out her palm. Ricky ripped off the wrapper and began to chew on it frantically.
    “Jessa would never let me have an abortion.”
    “It wouldn’t be her decision, now would it? It’s certainly not her uterus.” I touched Ricky’s shoulder encouragingly.
    “Or her vagina,” Kate added, popping a loud bubble against her lips. “You were like a ten-pound baby. That shit runs in families. Imagine pushing a baby out your cooch? Jesus.”
    Ricky crossed her legs. “Jessa would disown me. She wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore.”
    “That’s not true,” I said soothingly, rubbing her back in little circles. “You know that’s not true. She might not be happy about it, but she’d pray for your soul and let you make your choice. She’s not some Bible-thumper. She’s our friend.”
    “I guess you’re right.” Ricky closed her eyes. “How long has it been? Has it been two minutes yet?”
    I gingerly picked up the pregnancy test by the plastic end and squinted at it. “Two bars means pregnant, right?”
    “Oh God!” Ricky shrieked. “I’m pregnant?”
    “No, it only has one bar. Half a bar, really. Look.” I held it up for her. Kate took a look and agreed with me.
    “There is no bun in your oven, you lucky girl,” she said, smacking Ricky on the back, but the damage had been done. I felt bad about having accidentally scared her when I realized she was wheezing. She took a puff of her Albuterol while I rubbed her back comfortingly, the panic-induced asthma attack subsiding as she calmed down. I should have been more careful. Even the littlest thing could set her off when she was upset.
    When Jessa got out of figure skating lessons, the four of us had an emergency “thank God none of us are pregnant” party where we watched chick flicks and ate chocolate, which was nothing at all like my last sleepover.

March 15th
     
     
    “C OME ON , just do it,” Kate whispered, leaning her head against my shoulder. Her head was heavy and warm, lolling just a little bit. “It feels so good.” She licked her lips obscenely and smiled, meeting her own eyes in the mirror. Her pupils were blown wide, almost obscuring the blue of her irises.
    “But it’s—you know— cocaine ,” I stuttered, whispering the last word and feeling my cheeks flush. As if it weren’t enough that Kate had shown up at my house high as a kite, she had taken me to my own bathroom and offered me some of the stuff she was high on.
    “Stole it from my brother’s room,” she’d slurred, just on the cusp of being incoherent. “So I know it’s the good stuff. Guys like him always get the good stuff.”
    “What’s he going to do when he finds out it’s missing?” I had asked, distressed. I didn’t know her brother well, but I’d watched CSI . The people who do hard drugs like cocaine are the people who kill people for stealing