Chapter 2

"You're wasting your breath, Lex," I said as I slumped down on the sofa. It felt nice to be sitting down, resting my feet.
"We're not letting you out" came the voice of the blonde with the knots again. I wasn't paying much attention, because I was thinking over the rendezvous with the blonde earlier that day. She reminded me of someone.
"Hey Zan—" I said as I grabbed her hand.
"Yeah?" Zandra answered as she sat down on the sofa and put my feet in her lap.

"Don't you recognize the blonde?" I asked her as I studied the blonde's face. Zandra just shrugged, and she looked up at the girl.
"I'm not sure, it looks like Amber, doesn't it?" Zandra asked me, and I nodded.
"How are we going to get out of here?" I asked as I sought out Ryan's eyes with mine, but he was talking to Lex.
The next morning
"What's your name?" I called up to the blonde as I saw her leaning against the railing on the second floor with a red headed boy.
"I'm Amber," she said, which confirmed my suspicions. It was Amber Martins, one of my friends. I wasn't as close to her as Zandra was though.
"Don't you recognize me?" I asked as I struggled to get out of the sofa, until Zandra helped me.
"Why? should I?" Amber answered and I just sighed. I remembered that I had most likely changed in the past nine or so months; so had Amber, and Zandra, and the boys.
"Because you and Zandra always hung out with me at the school," I said as I looked up again. It looked like something dawned on Amber's face, and she was heading down the stairs.
"Trudy?" she asked as she reached the gate, and I just nodded, and before I knew it Lex had moved me aside.
"Let us out of here," he said forcefully and I just rolled my eyes.
"Lex, shut up — Amber, ignore Lex. He isn't going to do anything," I said and turned around and glared at Lex. He just nodded. "I know Lex tried to steal your food, but only because the idiot handed our food over to the Locos. But he is strong, and has protected me and Zan for several of months now" I said, still glaring at Lex. He was an ass at times, but he was still a friend, and helped protect us.
"Can you promise me that he won't do anything?" Amber asked me as she stared at Lex.
"Yes, because he knows what will happen if he does. Don't you Lex?" I asked turning to him, and stared. I knew Lex was trying to think of an answer, but he knew me too well to argue with me. I had almost neutered him once, and he hadn't liked it then. Lex just ended up nodding.
"See, now why don't you let us in Amber. Me and Zan are your friends. And anyways, they can help guard us," I said as I stood close to the gate. Ryan had come up behind me and wrapped his arm around me. He and I had stayed a couple since the dance; we had fallen for each other - deeply.
"Okay. But if he tries anything he's out," Amber said as she headed back up the stairs.
"Jack—" Amber called as the scrawny red-headed boy came out from what had been a food court. The gate was lifted and we were out. I stalked up the stairs toward Amber. I had a few things to ask her.
"So Amber, why did you leave the school? I overheard Ma'am's conversation with the principal," I said as I slumped down on one chair, and put my feet up on another—where they stayed for three seconds! Ryan lifted my feet up and placed them in his knee. He removed my shoes, he knew that my feet were hurting, I'd told him. He was massaging my feet, which relieved the pain.
"I didn't leave, I was shipped off. Only because the evil witch lied about what I was doing. All I did was talk to Lex. She reported that I'd been doing more," Amber said in a frustrated tone of voice, which made me cringe slightly. It was me who had socialized with a boy, not Amber. I had my own idea of why Amber had been sent away.
"Lex, were you flirting with your instructor?" I asked as I stared in disbelief at him. I couldn't believe that he would hit on any female with a heartbeat. He'd tried it on with me several times. The last time I'd almost neutered him. If I'd held on for any longer, he would have been neutered!
"No," Lex answered as he came up the stairs. I just glared at him. I decided not to push it at this time.
"I'm starving," I said as Ryan tried to put my shoes back on. That didn't work too well. My feet had swollen.
"Your shoes won't fit," Ryan commented even though it was obvious.
"S'okay. Just leave them on the floor," I said as I tried to lean forward, which didn't really work seeing as I had a huge, hidden belly in the way. I wasn't sure of how hidden it actually was, but neither Lex nor Ryan had noticed it, yet.
"How about some beans and hot-dogs?" Amber asked as she disappeared behind a red cupboard door.
"That sounds delicious," I said as I put my feet on the floor and got up from my seat. I peeked around the corner to see what the café looked like. I was planning to tell Ryan that he was going to be a dad, but I kept putting it off for fear of him leaving. I didn't want to be alone; well I wouldn't be alone, I had friends, but I loved Ryan, and didn't want him to leave.
After we'd eaten, the little kid, whose hat Lex'd found, said that he'd heard something. But he was deaf, so I didn't quite understand how. I didn't bother to stick around. I was bored, and needed to tell Ryan something important, so I grabbed his arm and we went down the stairs to one of the stores where no one was. I wanted some privacy with Ryan.
"I love you Ryan," I said as I put my arms around him and he put his around me.
"I love you too, Trude," Ryan whispered in my ear. I just giggled since his breath tickled me. We were hugging when I heard the dog bark. Ryan and I parted and went to find the dog. What we found instead was the dog and a boy, about Ryan's age.
"Who are you?" I asked as I looked the boy over.
"A friend," he answered, but I didn't like him. And since Bob the dog had barked, the rest of our little tribe were coming down the stairs. I could hear them, and Bob was still growling. Ryan had gone over to the boy and was holding him firmly, making sure he wouldn't get away.
"What's going on here?" Amber asked as she came into view.
"We found him lurking in the shadows, but we wouldn't have found him if Bob hadn't barked," I said as I walked closer to Amber. Lex had come too, and he was looking at the boy Ryan was holding.
"Who are you?" Amber asked as she walked closer. I thought I recognized the boy, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"I'm Bray. I need shelter for the night," the brown-haired boy said, still in Ryan's grasp.
"Oh really?" I asked skeptically.
"Yes," Bray said as he tried to wriggle his way out of Ryan's grasp, which proved to fail seeing as Ryan only tightened his grip.
"I know you..." I said after some pondering. I had been in the same class as his younger brother, and I'd seen the two speaking during lunch breaks.
"What?" Bray asked with confusion in his voice.
"Your brother Martin, he and I were in the same class," I said which shocked everyone. "What?" I asked when I saw their faces. The only ones who weren't surprised were Ryan, and Zandra. "It was like over a year ago since I last saw them, 'cause I was shipped off to a private school out in the country," I added while I kept my eyes on Bray.
"If you know him, can we trust him?" Amber asked looking at me. I just shrugged my shoulders and said: "I don't know, I haven't seen him for almost a year."
"It's okay Trude," Ryan said as he let go of Bray and came over to me, standing behind me, wrapping his arms around me. At just this precise moment the baby decided to kick, and Ryan felt it.
"What was that?" he asked and I just shook my head as I said, "Not here," and trudged off. I had a hold of Ryan's hand, and he followed me willingly. The others were probably staring after us; I just didn't care what-so-ever. I didn't stop until I was sure that we were out of earshot.
I'd just gone off with Ryan to tell him that I was pregnant when my waters broke, and the pain in my abdomen was extreme; I barely managed to say anything.
"Why'd you pull me down here?" Ryan asked, and I just smiled. We were close to the sewer entrance, I could feel the smell, it was making me nauseous, but I ignored it.
"I have something to tell you," was all I had time to say before I screamed out in pain.
"What's wrong?" Ryan asked me, and I grabbed him, so I wouldn't fall over from the pain. Everyone had obviously heard me and were on their way. I distorted my face in pain once more, and on the floor there was fluids.
"My waters have broken," was all I got out before I screeched out in pain again.
"Ryan—" I panted.
"It's okay, I'm right here," Ryan said picking me up.
"It's yours—" was all I got out before I screamed again. The labor pains were frequent and strong. I'd been having a mild cramp on and off throughout the day, but I'd thought it was just gas, because it had gone away when I'd farted.
"What do you mean?" I heard Ryan ask, but then I passed out before I could answer. When I woke up again I was in a bed.
"It's okay Trude, we're here," both Zandra and Ryan said as I came to, moaning. I could see them. I could also see on Ryan's face that he didn't want to be here. I looked at him pleadingly.
"If you want me to stay, then I'm not leaving," he said, which made me smile slightly, but I lost the smile quite fast as I screamed again because of the pain.
"It's okay Trudy, now everyone out," I heard Amber say, but since I was holding on to Ryan's hand, he couldn't leave. Amber realized this. So she made sure that it was just her and Ryan in there. I screamed once more, because I had another contraction.
"Amber, they're more frequent," Ryan said meekly. I could see the fear in his face. I didn't know what it was he was afraid of.