Free It Was Us by Anna Cruise

Parenthood tomorrow. Schedule an appointment and they'll take care of it. Just like that.”
    I narrowed my eyes. “You sound like you're speaking from experience.”
    She shrugged. “Maybe.”
    I tried to keep my mouth from dropping open. I pulled on a pair of silky pajama shorts and sat down on my bed. “Tell me.”
    She shook her head. “Nope. I'm not sharing unless you do.”
    I thought for a minute, then sighed. Keeping the details to myself was pointless. She'd already figured it out.
    “I'm seven weeks. Almost eight.”
    “Okay.”
    “Forgot to take a pill when I was sick,” I said. I stared across the room, seeing nothing, just focusing on the words I was saying. “Maybe two.”
    “Maybe?”
    “I took one late, I think,” I said. “Like the next morning? I don't know. Everything from that week is a blur.”
    She nodded. “Yeah. You were a wreck.”
    “How would you know?”
    My sister grinned. “I might've stopped by.”
    “You did?” I had no memory of that at all.
    “Yeah. But you were asleep. And Mom was at the office, I think. So I just peeked in on you and left.”
    I didn't know what to think of that. Maybe she'd come by for something else—laundry or food or something—and it just coincided with me being laid up in bed. Because Annika wasn't the nurturing type, had never cared when I'd gotten sick or hurt or anything.
    “Oh,” I said. “Well, so that's what happened.”
    “Okay.” She leaned back on her hands. “And so now you've gotta figure out what to do about it.”
    “Tell me about you.”
    She sat up, readjusted her legs. “It's happened twice. The first time was a couple years ago. Before I went on the Pill.” She looked at me. “Blake Martinez.”
    I raised my eyebrows. Blake Martinez was not a couple of years ago. She'd dated the senior when she was a freshman. “Seriously?”
    “Yep.” She took a deep breath and when she spoke, she tried to keep her voice light. “Took me forever to figure out what the hell to do. He denied it was his. Told me I was a slut and that there was no way to know for sure.” She forced a laugh. “The funniest thing? He was the first guy I'd ever slept with. I knew it was his.”
    “So...so you went to Planned Parenthood?”
    She nodded.
    “And they did it there?” I felt like I was back in middle school, trying to glean information about taboo topics I'd never in a million years ask my parents about. I wasn't stupid; I knew Planned Parenthood existed, knew they helped women get contraceptions and abortions. But the logistics of it? The hows? I had no clue.
    “Yes.” Annika played with a strand of hair, her eyes on the bedroom ceiling. “You go in for a consult first. Fill out paperwork and stuff, talk to one of the workers. A nurse, I think. They tell you what will happen during your appointment. And then you go in and do it.”
    “How long did it take?”
    “The first time?” My sister closed her eyes briefly. “A few hours. But I was pretty far along. It gets a little more involved.”
    I folded my hands in my lap, rubbing my fingers along my knuckles. Annika and I didn't share things with each other. Not things like this.
    “How far?”
    “Almost twenty weeks.”
    I swallowed hard. Twenty weeks was five months. A client of my parents had gone into preterm labor and had their baby at 24 weeks. And he'd lived. My sister had been a month away from that.
    She stared at me, her eyes glittering. “Don't judge.”
    “I wasn't.”
    “Yeah, you were.” She raised her eyebrows, her mouth tight. “I was fourteen. Didn't have a fucking clue I was even pregnant until I was almost three months. And then I had to figure out what the hell to do.”
    I felt a twinge of guilt. For the millionth time, I wished we'd been closer, been better sisters to each other. Annika had set the terms of our relationship early on—she'd been the one who was always competing, who always tried to be better than me, who managed to succeed by knocking me