» CHAPTER EIGHTEEN «
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The three were just staring at each other ; all in complete and utter shock .

"Alex ?!" they said again .

"Amanda ?!" Joe said shocked . Now he REALLY wish he never said anything out loud . Amanda just stood there with a smirk on her face ; somewhat a look of accomplishment .

"Oh , BOY do I have a story to tell when we go back to school . I can`t WAIT to tell everyone this !" Amanda bragged unmercifully .

"Amanda , please ." Joe stated .

"Nope ! EVERYONE`S gonna know about this and I`ll make SURE of that !" she continued . Alex started to cry , but tried not to let Amanda see her .

"Amanda , please just be a good friend to me and not say anything to anyone about this ? PLEASE ?" Joe begged .

"Pshhh , yeah right . You weren`t a good boyfriend to ME , so why should I be a good person to you ?" she asked .

"Because it`s the right thing to do ." Joe said .

"Well , too bad !" she rambled on .

"Well , can you answer one thing for me ?" Joe asked .

"Sure , anything ." Amanda answered .

"Why do you hate Alex so much ? She`s NEVER done anything to you ." Joe questioned . Amanda just paused for a minute , not knowing what to say .

"I -- I don`t know ." she stuttered .

"Well , how can you NOT like someone and don`t even know the reason ?" Joe implied .

"Just leave me alone , Joe ! I can hate anyone I want to !" Amanda said obnoxiously . Just then the NEXT worst possible thing happened . Someone else popped out of the front of the restaurant and looked at Alex , Joe , and Amanda , replying to the whole "ALEX HAS HIV" announcement . As soon as Alex saw who it was , she started bawling with tears of disappointment and embarrassment .

"What was THAT all about ?!" the voice said . They walked out to the bench and looked Alex straight in the eyes . She and Joe couldn`t believe who was standing in front of Alex .

"How could my little girl have HIV ?" the voice said again , in pain and confusion -- it was her dad .

"Dad , what are you doing in Georgia ?" Alex asked crying .

"I was just going to come and visit you since I couldn`t do for Christmas because you were all the way out in California , and I figured it wouldn`t make any sense for me to come see you then because you were about to move down here , but I just wanted to stop at my favorite restaurant and just think a little while before I saw you . This ISN`T how I expected to run into you ." he explained . "I heard that your mom kicked you out . Why would she even do that to you ?" Alex started crying even harder .

"Because I`m a horrible daughter !" she wept . "She found out that I had HIV and I`m the worst person on the face of this earth !" she downed herself .

"No , you`re not !" he told her . He sat next to her on the bench . It was getting dark out . "Is that the only reason why ?"

"No ..." she started again . "Dad ... the other reason I`m the worst daughter in the world is ... is because I`m having a baby ." she said slowly . He looked confused for a minute . "That`s it ?" he asked . Joe looked straight at him , eyes wide open , about to lose it . Ok ... he thought . He JUST heard his SIXTEEN year old daughter is pregnant and he`s acting like she just took a lollipop from a three year old ?! This man is crazier than I remembered !

"Your mom is SUCH a hypocrite , it`s not even funny ." he started again . Amanda was just standing there , engaged in the conversation , confused and lost -- just like Joe . "I don`t think she even remembers how old she was when she had your brother ."

"How old was she ?" Joe asked .

"Alex`s age -- sixteen ." he explained . Joe`s jaw dropped , wanting to smack Alex`s mom .

"So you were only 17 when you became a dad ?" Joe asked again .

"Yeah , I was horrified and so was she . She just about lost her mind ." he said again . "And I think the reason she kicked Alex out was because her mom kicked HER out , too . I guess she didn`t know what to do so she just did what her mom did to her and took the easy way out ."

"But don`t you think that if her mom kicked her out , she wouldn`t kick Alex out because I`m SURE she didn`t WANT to leave her house ?" Joe questioned again .

"I don`t know , she thinks so much differently and I would have thought she had more sense than that , but she doesn`t and that`s one of the reasons she and I divorced ; she`s stupid ." he explained . "I know what Alex did was wrong , but that`s NO excuse for a mom to kick her own daughter out . I thought she would have been more supportive than that , and Alex , I TOLD you that you should have come live with me . I would NEVER have done that to you and you KNOW that ." Alex looked embarrassed . Her dad wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug . "Don`t worry . It`s going to be OK ." he stated . "Where are you staying now ?"

"I`m staying at Joe`s house ." she said .

"How lond have you been there ?" he asked again .

"A few days ." she explained . Mr . Gomez sat there for a minute with a thinking look on his face .

"OK ." he said .

"Well , Alex , maybe we should go back inside and finish our lunch ." Joe began .

"Oh , yeah . I forgot about that ." Alex replied .

"I probably should too ." Mr . Gomez added in .

"Me too ." Amanda stated . Joe just looked at her . Mr . Gomez and Joe walked back into the restaurant , while Amanda and Alex stayed outside .

"Alex ..." Amanda began . "I`m tired of fighting ." Alex was a little shocked . She almost gagged a little .

"Excuse me ?" she asked .

"I said , I`m tired of fighting ." Amanda repeated . "It`s a complete waste of energy and I`m done ."

"What are you up to ?" Alex asked suspiciously .

"Nothing ! Can`t a person say sorry anymore without being asked why ?" she stated . Alex was still a little suspicious .

"Well , if you really are sorry , then apology accepted ." Alex replied .

"Great . I just want everything to be at peace between us ." Amanda said . "And don`t worry . Your secret`s safe with me ." Amanda hugged Alex . Alex hugged back , but she could sense something wasn`t right about her . It didn`t feel sincere to her .

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That next Monday , school started back up , Alex already being regsitered . She continued the 10th grade at North Creek High School , Joe went back to finish his senior year there and Nick went back to 10th grade also , finding out he had some classes with Alex . Since Joe CAN drive , he drove Alex and Nick to school .

When they arrived back at the educational death trap , as Nick called it , each parted their separate ways . Alex saw Amanda on the way to the sophomore hall and smiled at her . Amanda smiled back , but Alex was still hinting something wasn`t right . In Amanda`s hand was a stack of papers , a binder , and a "multi v" , or lemonade , vitamin water . She was wearing a black body fit t-shirt that read "Make Art , Not War" and skinny jeans .

Joe then spotted Amanda and tried to hide from her by putting another tall girl in front of him , but she already saw him . She went right up to him and said , "Joe , why are you hiding from me ?"

"No , I`m not !" Joe lied .

"Honestly , NO ONE hides behind anyone unless you`re hiding from somebody ." Amanda said .

"Ok then , what do you want ?" Joe asked , annoyed .

"Nothing . I just want you to know that I want to start all over on good terms ." Amanda explained sweetly .

"Really ?" Joe was a little shocked . Even though he knew her for a little , he felt a little uncomfortable in the situation . "Well , thanks for your maturity ."

"You`re more than welcome ." she smiled . Joe approached to give her a hug and she hugged . They parted their separate ways and headed off to first period .

***********************

Before anyone knew it , it was 4th period already , and lunch was in fifth period . On the sophomore side of school , Alex walked out of her honors biology class , Nick following her . She was mostly looking at the ground , walking . She started to hear laughing as soon as she came out the room , and then Nick spotted something on the locker -- no , LOCKERS -- and realized they weren`t there before . Of course , some waste-of-time club was posting some ridiculous flyers like "come join the art club" or "get involved with reading" or something . Since the paper was bright orange and usually the school flyers are white , he decided to take a look , thinking it MUST be good if  EVERYONE was crowding around them , laughing and pointing at the flyer .

"Hey , let`s go see what everyone`s looking at ." Nick suggested .

"Sure , why not ?" Alex agreed . They approached the crowd and oddly enough , the laughs got ear piercingly loud . Nick got to the flyer before Alex did and read what it said . In big bold letters , it read :

KNOCKED UP BY JOE JONAS , SIXTEEN YEAR OLD ALEXANDRIA ISABELLA GOMEZ FINDS OUT SHE`S HIV POSITIVE .

As soon as Nick read this , his heart nearly stopped . He immediately tore down the flyer and crumpled it up and pushed Alex away . Alex didn`t get a chance to see it .

"What was that for ?!" Alex wondered .

"Nothing !" Nick said quickly . Alex snatched the paper from Nick , opened it , and read it . Everyone else was facing her and literally screaming at her . Her face was as red as a tomato . She was shocked and just wanted to die .

"I`m sorry ." Nick said softly . "I tried to hide it from you ." Alex didn`t say anything . She ran into the senior hallway to find Joe . All along the way , all she saw on the lockers were bright orange papers , all reading the same exact thing , people laughing , pointing , staring and swearing . She nearly ran into Joe , getting laughed at also , and he was unaware of what was going on .

"What are all these flyers ?!" he demanded .

"I have no idea , but I KNOW who did it !" Alex cried hysterically . Less than a second later , Amanda walked out of the calculus room and had the biggest smile on her face . Alex and Joe looked at her in disgust .

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME ?!?!" Alex screamed in her face . Everyone started laughing harder .

"Oh , please . You REALLY thought I meant that I wanted to be your friend ?" Amanda asked with a smirk . Alex scremed at the top of her lungs and ran away into the bathroom . Joe went up to Amanda .

"WHY DID YOU DO THIS ?! JUST THIS MORNING YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO BE ON GOOD TERMS WITH ME !" Joe yelled outraged . Amanda laughed .

"Ha , just for the record , NO ONE breaks up with me and stays on my good side ." she explained . Joe wanted to hit in her face so hard , but he didn`t want to get into trouble , and besides , he was taught better not to hit a girl anyway . "WHY DID YOU EVEN PUT MY NAME IN THIS ANYWAY ?!" he asked again .

"Truth hurts ." Amanda shurgged . Joe froze .

"DON`T YOU KNOW THAT SOMEONE ELSE IS THE FATHER OF HER BABY AND NOT ME ?!" Joe asked loudly . Amanda looked confused .

"What are you talking about ?" she made up a face .

"I`M NOT THE DAD , SOMEONE ELSE IS ! YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE YOU EXPOSE THIS TO THE WHOLE SCHOOL !" he continued yelling . He ran off to go find Alex . Amanda just stood there in shock . Several people came up to her , congradulating her .

"Good job ! I NEVER would have had the guts to do that !" a boy said to her .

"This is SERIOUSLY the highlight of the year ." another girl expressed to her , giving her a high-five , but she resisted .

"Oh , man , what did I DO ?" she thought to herself . By now , the hallway was completely empty , and everyone proceeded to lunch . Amanda was alone in the hallway , with nothing but 100 bright orange flyers on the ground .