Sara hates the holidays this year. She hates that everyone is so
happy. She looks around and sees the decorations and she goes nuts.
She cannot stand the fun festivities of the season. She just wishes
she could close her eyes and it would be time to go back to school
again. This holiday season is extremely hard for her because she has
a major secret: she just found out that she is pregnant. Now at only
thirteen, she has to explain this to her parents.
Sara has to explain to her parents that the Halloween party at Katy’s
house was unsupervised and someone snuck in alcohol. She knows that
she has to tell them how she had decided to drink instead of calling
them to come get her, because she wanted to look cool.
She starts crying as soon as the last bell rings. It means that it is
time to go home for the holidays. How is she going to hide the
morning sickness? How will she hide the swollen ankles and the
weight she is starting to gain? Her boyfriend broke up with her when
she told him.
What will her parents say?
Her boyfriend, Grayson, is now on his way to California to hang out
with his family and friends. He told her that he is going to be
moving soon and refused to say where, because he no longer wants
anything to do with her. He said that he is sixteen and has his whole
life ahead of him, and he does not want to ruin it with the
responsibility of having to take care of a kid.
When Grayson broke up with her, Sara was devastated, because he then
spread rumors that she was sleeping with the other boys at school.
She felt so alone, like she had no one that she could trust. She felt
as if the whole world hated her. One of her teachers even told her
that she needed to find a different school to attend, because their
school does not condone this kind of behavior.
Sara sits on the bus quietly, until it pulls up to her stop. She gets
off and walks home. Her parents are working late, so she decides to
put some clothes in a duffel bag and runaway. She cannot bear to hurt
her parents, like this news surely will. She does not want them to
feel the disappointment that she has caused. She does not want them
to hate her the same way that her boyfriend now does.
She only has about two hundred dollars, money she has been saving for
Christmas shopping. She knows that she will have to keep hold of the
money for as long as she can in order to buy food. She packs a couple
of sandwiches and walks to the city bus stop down the road from her
house. She climbs on the bus, and there she see the one person that
she had least wanted to see. Her best friend Katy is on the bus.
Katy, two years older than Sara, is heading to her babysitting job
across town. Katy sees the suitcase in front of Sara. She tries to
question what is going on, but all Sara does is stare out the window.
When Katy gets off the bus, she calls Sara’s home. No one answers, so
she tries to call Grayson to see if he can make any sense of the
situation. Grayson’s father answers and says that Grayson has just
boarded a plane to California. He then tells Katy that they do not
want to hear from Katy or Sara again, because Sara tried to spread a
lie that their son got her pregnant. Katy tries to defend Sara, but
Grayson’s father will not listen. He does not want to believe that
his son could have gotten a girl pregnant.
Katy later calls Sara and decides to talk her out of running. Katy
tells Sara that she should go home and find somewhere to stay first.
She says that there is no sense in running if you have nowhere to go.
Finally, after what seems like hours, Sara agrees to go home. She
sneaks into the house hoping that no one is home.
Luckily for her, both of her parents are still working. She decides
that she will try to wait until after the winter break to tell the
news to her parents, because she does not want to disgrace them in
front of the rest of their family coming to town for the holidays.
But on Christmas Eve morning, Sara wakes up feeling rather sick and
runs to the bathroom. She then washes up and heads to the breakfast
table. On her way to the table, she sees Katy with Grayson’s parents
sitting there.
Sara comes out to the table crying. She feels badly, because she
wanted to be the one to tell her parents, but she has not done so.
Now they are finding out from Grayson’s parents. Since it was Katy’s
party, Grayson’s parents told Katy to be there. When they ask Sara
what happened, she tells them everything. She tells them about the
party, and what she did with Grayson. She tells them about the missed
periods and even about the things Grayson was spreading around the
school.
Grayson’s parents confirm that after the baby is born, they would be
happy to assist with child support, if there is a paternity test
proving that Grayson is the baby’s father. They also apologize for
the things that their son said about her, and they leave.
After Grayson’s parents are gone, Sara’s mother decides that she would
like to talk to Sara alone. She calls Katy’s mother to come pick her
up.
After Katy leaves, Sara asks if her parents will ever forgive her for
the stupid things that she has done. They assure her that, even
though they are very disappointed, they will forgive and always love
her and the child that she is carrying.
“Our biggest issue is that you did not come to us first,” her mother
says. “We are your parents. It is our job to be there for you, when
you need us. Why didn’t you tell us sooner? Did you think that you
could hide something like this?”
“I am so sorry, Mom and Dad. I didn’t ever mean to hurt you. I was
afraid of losing you, too. People were already calling me mean names
and now the school wants me to leave. They feel that I make them look
bad.”
Her mother says, “We will do what is necessary to take care of this as
a family.”
Her father speaks up, saying, “Grayson doesn’t want to raise this
child. You need to decide if you want to keep it or what you are
going to do. Do not feel like you are stuck. You do have a choice
and options. We are here for you in any way.”
That night, Sara and her parents decide to talk to the rest of the
family and let them know what is happening. While many questions come
up and a few people are upset that this happened to her, most of her
family says that they are there for Sara. Katy and her parents come
to Christmas dinner, and they assure Sara that their family is going
to still be there for her through the pregnancy and even after.
Katy wants Sara to know that no matter what the other kids at school
have to say, she is going to continue to be Sara’s best friend.
Katy’s parents also inform Katy and Sara that they will no longer be
leaving the girls completely unsupervised, because of the poor
judgment with the Halloween party. They say that from now on Katy
will stay at Sara’s house when they leave town.
Sara’s mom lets the girls know that she is disappointed with Katy’s
judgment on the party, but will not keep the girls apart: because the
thing that Sara needs most right now is the support from all of the
people in her life.
That night when Sara goes to bed, she finally find that she is able to
sleep peacefully. She was afraid of what the holiday break would have
in store, but she has found the most valuable gift is the gift of a
loving family.
She realizes that the true meaning for the holidays comes from the
people that she cares about the most. Instead of losing her family,
she has gained their support.