Chapter 12The Secret’s Out

Issy walked into their bedroom holding a sweater and tossed it onto Luna’s bed.

“Here. I took it from Dad’s closet. It’s baggy enough to hide your stomach. We can go shopping after school to get you some more stuff.”

“Thanks, Is. Maybe we can try the Salvation Army or something.” She pulled on yoga pants, tugging at the waistband. “Ugh, these are digging into me.”

“Here . . . let me.” Issy rolled the waistband down beneath the obvious bump of Luna’s belly. “Is that better?”

“Yes. Thank you.” She pulled the sweater over her head. She turned to look at Issy. “So? How do I look?” She moved from side to side so Issy could see her better from every angle.

“You look good, Luna. You can’t tell that you’re pregnant at all.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. You look great. Pull it off your shoulder a little bit and you’re totally in style.”

“Yeah?” Luna pulled her father’s sweater off her shoulder and looked in the mirror.

“Totally! Bulky sweaters are so in right now.”

Luna took one more look at herself and nodded.

“Okay. Then I guess I’m ready to go.”

“Great.”

Luna reached out and grabbed her sister’s arm.

“Is?”

Issy stopped and looked at her, impatiently.

“Yeah?”

“You’re sure no one will know, right?”

Issy leaned over and hugged her.

“They won’t know, Luna. I promise.”

Luna nodded again.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

***

Issy was right. To Luna’s surprise, no one noticed that she was pregnant. No one pointed or whispered or noticed anything unusual about her. With the first trimester behind her, the morning sickness had finally stopped and Luna found herself constantly hungry. She had cravings but not for pickles or ice cream. She craved hot dogs. Just the smell of hot dogs was enough to make her mouth water. And she would happily eat them uncooked as well as boiled, fried, or barbecued.

“That can’t be good for you,” Issy remarked, watching her eat a cereal bowl full of cut up hot dogs.

“I don’t care. They’re so good!”

“You do realize you hate hot dogs, right?”

“No. I used to hate hot dogs. Now I love them. They’re my favourite food.”

“I think you’re flying pretty fast and loose with the term food, Luna.” Issy ducked as a pillow came flying at her head. “Hey, I’m just saying. Can I at least make you a fruit salad to go with it? I hardly think a bowl of hot dogs constitutes a balanced breakfast.”

Luna nodded.

Her stomach was growing every minute and she was fast outgrowing her father’s sweaters. Issy had been taking her to second-hand stores so she could find shirts that were large enough to cover her expanding stomach without calling any attention to it. Her yoga pants and Issy’s sweats were still working . . . so far.

“It’s lucky your butt isn’t getting any bigger,” Issy remarked as Luna buttoned up a denim shirt she had picked up on a recent visit to their local Salvation Army store.

Luna scowled at her.

“Thanks a lot.”

“It was a compliment!”

Luna rolled her eyes.

“Damn! It’s Tuesday! I need a T-shirt for Gym.” She dug through the laundry basket. “Didn’t you wash my T-shirts? I need one for Gym, Is!” She was throwing the neatly folded clothes all over the bed, looking for something to wear.

“Luna, stop it! It took me ages to fold all that stuff! The T-shirts are over here. Jeez.” She handed Luna one of her oversized shirts. “I hope you know you’re folding all that back up!”

“Because it’s not like I have enough to worry about?” Luna grumbled.

“Umm, I’m sorry. Have I not been attending to all of your needs, princess?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. I’m just exhausted. I couldn’t get comfortable last night. You’ve been amazing, Is.”

“Yes, I have!”

“You have. I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. I’m trying to help you, Luna.”

Luna picked up one of the shirts she had tossed onto the bed and started to fold it back up.

“I know. I’m sorry. See? I’m folding!”

Issy rolled her eyes . . . but she was smiling.

“Fine.” She picked up a pair of pants and folded them. “Let’s just clean this up and go.” She threw a sock at Luna.

***

“Foul!” Ms. Michaels blew her whistle and caught the ball as Brittani ran for the sideline. She tossed it to her and Brittani jumped and deftly caught it. “Okay, girls! Ready?” She blew her whistle again and Brittani threw it back into play. “Good throw! Get on it, Ashleigh!” she shouted. There was a scuffle as the girls went for the ball. Luna backed up as a teammate broke away from the group and kicked the ball out of the fray. Luna intercepted it and took off down the field with it.

“Go, Luna!” her team screamed at her.

She had a clear shot on the goal and ran up the field, dribbling the ball. She saw Ashleigh coming toward her out of the corner of her eye. She pulled her leg back to kick the ball into the goal just as Ashleigh reached her and grabbed at her shirt. The momentum carried her forward as Ashleigh pulled her backward. The ball flew into the goal and her team was running down the field, screaming. She heard Ashleigh gasp as the team reached her . . . then they stopped dead one at a time, staring at her in shock. She frowned, confused, and then felt Ashleigh let go of her.

“Luna . . . ” she said, reaching for her.

Luna stepped away from her.

“What?”

She looked down and immediately saw what everyone was staring at. Her bare stomach, with her belly button poking out in the middle of her bump, was completely exposed. Ashleigh had pulled her shirt up over her belly when she grabbed her. Her secret was out there for everyone to see. Luna scrambled to push it back down and cover herself but the damage was already done. Her classmates were whispering and giggling, pointing at her. All the colour drained from her face and she glanced over at Ashleigh, expecting her to laugh and point and start screeching about the dirty Indian whore. But Ashleigh was staring at her in silence, shock written all over her face. Ms. Michaels trotted up behind them.

“Okay, okay . . . girls, that’s enough. Go hit the showers. Now!” She looked at Luna, her eyebrows raised. “Not you, Luna. You better come to the office with me.”

Luna nodded silently. Ms. Michaels smiled sympathetically, putting a hand on her back.

“Do your parents know?”

Luna shook her head.

“We’ll have to call them, Luna.”

“Yeah. I know,” she said, falling into step with her.