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missmadisings

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          I was able to leave the hospital two days later. I went to school after that. Mrs. Numez, bless her heart, had gone to a maternity store for me and gotten me clothing that would hide my bigger bump for now and as I got bigger they would grow too. It was no use keeping it a secret from the teachers though. Somehow, they had figured it out. I gave it a week before the entire school knew too. Our teachers were the biggest gossips.

          The hand print on my cheek had not entirely faded. The doctor had said that it might never fade completely. Melissa must have put some real force into that slap. In a sick way I was proud of her. She wasn’t normally very strong, but she had really hit me.

          People were looking at me during school. But my face, not my stomach. Only the teachers were looking at my stomach. Like they could see. Like they could tell. Melissa was at school. She glared at me when I saw her. Somehow Paul and Thom managed to always be next to me, so she kept those destructive hands to herself. And she didn’t give me my cell phone back.

          I had called the obstetrician and scheduled an appointment. I was going during eighth period. Dr. McKenzie had sounded nice on the phone. She told me they would check my baby’s development. She also said that they would give me all sorts of vitamins and such to keep the baby healthy. And I would get a special diet list full of SAFE and UNSAFE foods for my little bundle of joy.

           The seventh period bell rang. I booked it out of there. Normally I would have signed out, but I have eighth off so why bother? It took me twenty minutes to find the doctor’s office.

          It was clean, as a doctor’s office should be, and pretty. The carpet was plushy and white. The walls were light blue, like the sky. The chairs were comfortable and dark blue, like the ocean. There were other mothers there. Mothers who looked extremely pregnant, mothers that looked a little pregnant, and mothers like me that barely showed. They shot me looks of pure venom as I took my seat. I curled into my legs and hung my head in shame.

          “Emma Campbell?”

          I looked up. A nurse in soft pink scrubs was standing in the doorway holding a clipboard.

          “That’s me.” I said, walking over to her.

          “The doctor will see you now.”

          I followed her through the doorway. The door shut behind me, blocking the glares. We went past four doors in a long narrow hallway. She opened the fifth door and ushered me inside.