Natalie whispers to me through the dark, soft voice waking me from my near-asleep state, "Hey."

I turn over in my sleeping bag, facing her invisible form shadowed by the night, "What?"

"Tell me something interesting."

"Like what?"

"Like... school drama. What's going on at your school?"

I search through my mind, struggling to come up with something that's happened at my school recently. It has to be good; I don't get to see Natalie very often anymore, which obviously comes with downsides, since holding up a relationship is far more difficult, but it also means the drama accumulates quickly. So much can happen in a week, and I often forget even the largest gossip given enough time.

Eventually, I'm able to pull something from my memory, something that will surely shock her.

I whisper giddily, "Okay, so last month, we had our pep assembly, right? And everyone was super loud and piling into the bleachers, and we were all finally settling down when--boom!--a fight breaks out in the sophomore section."

Natalie squeals softly, "Oh my god, what was it about?"

"I'll get there in a minute, let me finish what actually happened. So they were fighting right, like fully brawling, I think I saw a nose bleeding, and it riled the entire gym back up again, so the teachers had to fight through the kids to get to this fight. They eventually managed to get the two separated but you could see that the teachers had to basically bear hug these kids to get them to stop fighting. I'm telling you, it was bad. It took another 20 minutes at least before we could start the pep assembly and I was so late to my next class."

She begs, "Grace, if you don't tell me what this fight is about, I swear--"

I laugh, trying to keep myself quiet so her parents don't hear us in the next room, "Okay, okay, I'm there now. The fight was between two guys, and it turns out that the one guy's girlfriend was cheating with the other guy."

Natalie lets out a cry before I hear her hand clap her mouth, "Of course, what else would it be?"

I continue excitedly, "That's not even the best part. The girl was pregnant. Not with her boyfriend. With the other guy."

She stops laughing. I stop too, more out of confusion than anything, since usually she's all over this kind of gossip. A girl gets pregnant, whose baby is it? That's how the conversations usually go.

I ask, "Okay, girl, what's wrong, because you're starting to scare me."

Her breath catches, and she starts, "I... I have something... there's something..." before stopping entirely, leaving it up to me to shatter the silence.

I ask again, killing any light in my voice, "Please. What's going on?"

"I... okay, you have to promise you'll understand. You have to promise you'll stay, because I can't fucking lose you too, okay, you have to promise--"

"I promise, Natalie," I tell her, desperately hoping I won't have to take it back.

I hear her take a deep breath before she says gravely, "I'm pregnant."

Everything in my world stops. Nothing could've prepared me for this news. I sit up, and the moonlight outside glances across Natalie's face like a search beam. She sits up as well, looking me dead in the face.

I exclaim bitterly, "How the fuck are you pregnant? I don't have sperm, last I checked."

I watch her stand up to tower over me, and when I meet her at her level, she pleads in my face, "Yeah, I know, I slept with this guy, and it meant nothing I swear to you, okay, I wouldn't do that to you--"

"Just call it cheating, you know what it is--"

She screams, not even bothering to be cognisant of her parents next door, "Stop interrupting me and listen, okay? I'm sorry, I know I made a mistake, but I need you, because the father of the kid inside me won't even talk to me!"

I jab my finger at her chest, "You don't have the right to need me, okay? My support went away the moment you fucked someone else."

She grabs my hand, grasping it desperately, "You swore. You swore you'd stay."

I rip my hand from hers, and I storm to the door. I look back at her, and the expression on her face could rival any Hollywood actor. Just as fake as the sanctity of our relationship. I can't find a single shred of sympathy in my heart anymore.

Coldly, I tell her, "You swore that I was the only one. Look how that turned out."

I leave, slamming the door behind me. I pass Natalie's parents on my way down the hallway, horrified as they watch me walk to the front door. They must've heard everything.

Good.

Her parents should know their daughter is a traitor.