A Short Story Collection From ELA College 1

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Liv knew she was pregnant; she had suspected as much for weeks but had never been able to bring herself to take the test. With the constant reminder of Aaron and his newfound love, Callie, she refused to face her mistake and take the steps to move on. She continued to feign ignorance and distract herself with Sam, a new fling and a boy her own age. She and Sam hadn’t talked too seriously about a future, but for Liv it was enough to push aside the notion of a pregnancy.

But it was only a matter of time until the truth came out. One day as she and Sam lounged in her bedroom, his hands roaming her body, she knew she could no longer deny the reality of her situation. She had to tell someone, and Sam seemed like the best option. “Sam,” she began softly, “I need to tell you something.”

Sam stopped mid-movement, a wave of fear clearly visible in his eyes. Liv could barely bring herself to say the words, knowing that it would be the end of their brief relationship, but she had to. “I’m pregnant,” she said weakly. “It’s Aaron’s baby.”

Sam recoiled, not believing the words he had heard. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” he barked, pushing Liv off of him and beginning to gather his belongings. “How could you keep this from me?”

Before she could answer, her bedroom door flew open and her brother Benji appeared, flanked by the rest of his siblings. Sam had told, and now her secret was out. Once Benji heard the news, he let out a roar of anger.

“Dad,” he shouted, “Liv is pregnant and it’s Aaron’s baby!” His words spread like wildfire and the entire family stood for a few moments in stunned silence before chaos broke out.

The next day, Aaron began to take notice of Liv and her growing bump. He seemed to have a newfound respect for her, perhaps even sympathy. He asked her if she wanted to talk at lunchtime and she reluctantly agreed.

In the quiet confines of the school’s supply closet, the two talked about what had happened. Aaron apologized for leaving her and for not knowing sooner, and Liv knew he reprimanded himself for not being able to be with her. But he was in love with Callie, and Liv knew she had to accept that fact.

When Aaron stepped aside, Liv quickly filled the space with her new love, Mack, a senior who had asked her to be his girlfriend before he knew of her situation. When Liv told him, he simply replied, “It doesn’t really matter to me.”

It was those five words that sent Aaron over the edge. He saw red and attempted to fistfight Mack, but Liv was quicker. “You wouldn’t even know if Liv had trusted you enough to tell you,” Mack said viciously.

It was only then that Aaron understood. Liv was six months pregnant, and he was the father. He finally looked at Liv, and for a moment, she held her acknowledgement of him silently.

But all that was brought to a horrifying halt when Callie came barging in. “What the fuck?” she yelled. “You told me you were a virgin! Now you’re a whore?”

Liv panicked, but Aaron held her close, and she felt the comfort of his embrace. Though she was scared of his reaction, she knew he would protect her and the baby. Aaron told Callie he would take care of them both before turning towards Liv.

“You ruined my life,” he said quietly.

“No, I didn’t,” Liv replied regretfully.

Aaron nodded, before taking her face in his hands and wiping away her tears. He was silent for a few moments, before speaking again.

“We’ll stay together for the baby,” he said softly. “We’ll figure this out.”

And then, with her heart full of hope, Liv smiled.

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Aaron felt a sudden wave of emotion as he stepped into the delivery room with Liv. He was still in shock that she had told him she was pregnant only two weeks ago. He glanced around, seeing Liv's family staring at him in disbelief. He wished he could turn back time and not have had to be in this situation.

Aaron felt a sudden wave of shame as he remembered his ex-girlfriend, Callie, had broken up with him when he told her about Liv's pregnancy. He had loved Callie deeply and he still wasn't sure what had gone wrong. He quickly walked out of the delivery room and into the waiting room, where Liv's siblings were waiting.

Easton was the first one to speak up. 'Why did you knock up Liv?' he asked accusingly.

The nurse quickly interjected, 'Liv requested Hannah to help her give birth, not Aaron.'

Aaron looked down, embarrassed. 'It's still my baby too,' he said quietly.

Hannah got up and followed the nurse out of the room. Easton and Benji started talking about how possessive Liv was over everything. Benji asked why Liv had even gotten involved with Sam  and Mack . Aaron shrugged, not wanting to admit that Liv had been better in bed than Callie.

Suddenly, he felt a wave of anger. 'They must have been good in bed for something,' he snapped.

Easton's eyes widened in surprise. 'Where did you and Liv even have sex?' he asked.

Aaron blushed, suddenly feeling embarrassed. 'We used your bed,' he muttered.

Easton laughed. 'I've taken three girls in my bed before,' he said. Easton then started talking about when he had taken Callie in his bed once while she was still with Aaron. Benji then said that he had taken his girlfriend on Liv's bed before.

Twenty minutes later, the nurse came back and told Aaron, Benji, Jackie, Easton, and Brenna to go meet the baby. Aaron asked if it was a boy or a girl, and Liv said it was a boy. She said she wanted to name him Samuel Freeman. Aaron felt a stab of disappointment when he heard the name.

'Why not Samuel George?' he asked, his last name.

Liv shook her head. 'No,' she said firmly.

Aaron felt a wave of anger and frustration and the two got into a heated argument. After a lot of bickering, they finally decided to name the baby Samuel George-Freeman, with help from Hannah.

Aaron then decided to FaceTime Callie and tell her that the baby was born. Callie said that she was happy for him, but Aaron could tell she was still hurt.

Later, Easton said that he was going to invite Callie into his bed that night. Aaron felt a wave of jealousy, but he knew he had no right to be angry. He had messed up, and he had to live with the consequences.