The Right Thing [Degrassi TNG, Manny + Ashley]
So I'm still doing the one-fic-at-a-time thing, but I'm working on a longer fic and so it feels like I'm not accomplishing anything, even though I am. So I might put it aside for a bit and write a few more drabbles, aside from this one. We'll see. Anyway, I kinda needed to write this after getting all pissed off at the shit Huckabee said about abortion on The Daily Show.
Title: The Right Thing
Fandom: Degrassi: the Next Generation
Characters: Manny, Ashley, mention of Craig and Emma
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Abortion
Word Count: 583
Disclaimer: Degrassi TNG and its characters do not belong to me.
Craig wouldn’t look at her. A few days ago, she would’ve been fine with that. Happy with that, even. But after she’d told him she was pregnant, she’d started to fall in love with him all over again. His smile, his laugh, his touch-those wonderful things had made everything else almost worthwhile. And she’d hoped…well, it didn’t matter what she’d hoped. It’d been so foolish, all of it-them thinking they could raise a child, her thinking…thinking he would still want her after…after the…
“Abortion, Manny,” Emma’s voice finished, inside her head, disapproving, disgusted. “You know, that thing you did when you killed your unborn child.”
The bell for homeroom would ring soon, but she found it very hard to care. Her chest was heaving with sobs she refused to release as she turned and walked as quickly as she could without running to the girl’s bathroom. A decision she immediately regretted; Ashley looked up from where she was washing her hands in the sink. Her eyes narrowed, her lips pursed. Manny wished she’d stayed at home.
“Let me guess, morning sickness,” Ashley bit at her. “Don’t hold it in for my sake.”
“Ashley,” she tried, her voice weak, “I’m not-”
“Oh, don’t be ashamed.” She turned off the faucet, the movement of her hands sharp and jerky. “It’s perfectly normal. A little annoying, I imagine, but, hey, that’s what happens you don’t use a condom.”
“Ashley-” God, she was going to cry, just like a little girl. Ashley made her feel like such a child, always. It didn’t matter how old she looked-with her lipgloss and her little tops and her thong-one little glance from Ashley Kerwin and she felt six years old. “Please, I’m not-I had an-”
“Abortion, Manny.”
She cried, her back pressed against the bathroom door. The sobs came out, loud and echoing slightly, and her make-up was going to run, but she cared as much about that as she did about the homeroom bell ringing. She didn’t care at all.
Ashley was looking at her in the mirror. Her eyes widened, her lips parted. “An abortion?” She asked, her voice a whisper.
Manny opened her mouth, but only another sob came out. She nodded and watched with a feeling of dread as Ashley turned around to face her. She waited for the angry words, the disapproval and disgust. But those things never came.
“Manny,” she said instead and her voice was soft, “I’m so sorry. I-didn’t know. Does Craig-”
She nodded again, her surprise allowing her to find words. “He hates me. He didn’t want me to, but I-I couldn’t. I just-I couldn’t.”
“Of course you couldn’t,” Ashley soothed-and it’d been so long since Ashley had spoken to her without the cold harshness that she deserved-as she went to her, touched her shoulders. “Of course. Manny, you’re in high school. Craig-” She shook her head. “Craig’s an idiot. You did the right thing.”
There. Those words. The words she’d hoped to hear from Craig, from Emma, from the people who’d loved her, once. She’d hoped they would’ve said those words and they would’ve held her because she so wanted, needed to be held. But it was Ashley-Ashley who’d despised her-who was saying those words and who was putting her arms around her.
She started crying again and the late bell was ringing, but she didn’t care and Ashley didn’t seem to care, either.
Title: The Right Thing
Fandom: Degrassi: the Next Generation
Characters: Manny, Ashley, mention of Craig and Emma
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Abortion
Word Count: 583
Disclaimer: Degrassi TNG and its characters do not belong to me.
Craig wouldn’t look at her. A few days ago, she would’ve been fine with that. Happy with that, even. But after she’d told him she was pregnant, she’d started to fall in love with him all over again. His smile, his laugh, his touch-those wonderful things had made everything else almost worthwhile. And she’d hoped…well, it didn’t matter what she’d hoped. It’d been so foolish, all of it-them thinking they could raise a child, her thinking…thinking he would still want her after…after the…
“Abortion, Manny,” Emma’s voice finished, inside her head, disapproving, disgusted. “You know, that thing you did when you killed your unborn child.”
The bell for homeroom would ring soon, but she found it very hard to care. Her chest was heaving with sobs she refused to release as she turned and walked as quickly as she could without running to the girl’s bathroom. A decision she immediately regretted; Ashley looked up from where she was washing her hands in the sink. Her eyes narrowed, her lips pursed. Manny wished she’d stayed at home.
“Let me guess, morning sickness,” Ashley bit at her. “Don’t hold it in for my sake.”
“Ashley,” she tried, her voice weak, “I’m not-”
“Oh, don’t be ashamed.” She turned off the faucet, the movement of her hands sharp and jerky. “It’s perfectly normal. A little annoying, I imagine, but, hey, that’s what happens you don’t use a condom.”
“Ashley-” God, she was going to cry, just like a little girl. Ashley made her feel like such a child, always. It didn’t matter how old she looked-with her lipgloss and her little tops and her thong-one little glance from Ashley Kerwin and she felt six years old. “Please, I’m not-I had an-”
“Abortion, Manny.”
She cried, her back pressed against the bathroom door. The sobs came out, loud and echoing slightly, and her make-up was going to run, but she cared as much about that as she did about the homeroom bell ringing. She didn’t care at all.
Ashley was looking at her in the mirror. Her eyes widened, her lips parted. “An abortion?” She asked, her voice a whisper.
Manny opened her mouth, but only another sob came out. She nodded and watched with a feeling of dread as Ashley turned around to face her. She waited for the angry words, the disapproval and disgust. But those things never came.
“Manny,” she said instead and her voice was soft, “I’m so sorry. I-didn’t know. Does Craig-”
She nodded again, her surprise allowing her to find words. “He hates me. He didn’t want me to, but I-I couldn’t. I just-I couldn’t.”
“Of course you couldn’t,” Ashley soothed-and it’d been so long since Ashley had spoken to her without the cold harshness that she deserved-as she went to her, touched her shoulders. “Of course. Manny, you’re in high school. Craig-” She shook her head. “Craig’s an idiot. You did the right thing.”
There. Those words. The words she’d hoped to hear from Craig, from Emma, from the people who’d loved her, once. She’d hoped they would’ve said those words and they would’ve held her because she so wanted, needed to be held. But it was Ashley-Ashley who’d despised her-who was saying those words and who was putting her arms around her.
She started crying again and the late bell was ringing, but she didn’t care and Ashley didn’t seem to care, either.