Decisions

482 days. That’s how long it had been since Megan Mulvaney met Jared Rushworth. That day was still vivid in her mind. It was nearing the summer of their sophomore year at JMU. Megan was having the day from hell. She was sure that she had just failed her calc class, was late for work, and had managed to lock herself out of her own car at the gas station. Sadly this wasn’t the first time this had ever happened to her. She leaned against the front door window of her Toyota Camry banging her head lightly against the glass and staring at her keys and cell phone lying a mere 2 feet away on the front seat when she felt a hand tap her shoulder.

“Um hey are you alright?” asked a voice behind her.

Megan stared with big doe eyes at the tall, tan, blue eyed guy before her and stuttered over her words as she tried to explain her predicament. He’d lent her his cell to call the local cops to break into her car and then written her number on his forearm. 4 dinner dates, 2 movies, and one bowling night later they became an official couple and had been inseparable ever since.

4 days. That’s how long it had been since Jared got the call. Since Megan had watched that amazing smile that was ever present on his face change to an expression of pain and anguish. Since she had watched the phone fall from his hand as he crumpled to the ground before her. Mrs. Rushworth was like a second mother to Megan and her funeral was the most difficult experience of Megan’s life thus far. She watched the tears streak down Jared’s face as he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “ I don’t think I could ever make it through this without you.” Megan squeezed his hand gently.

She held the phone to her ear and listened to the third ring. “Hello Parker and Wright Graphic Design,” echoed the secretary on the other end of the line. Her dream job, all the way across the country in L.A. “Hi this is Megan Mulvaney calling regarding the job I was offered for next spring. I really appreciate the offer but due to personal issues at home I’m not going to be able to take it.” She hung up the phone and dropped her head to her hands on the kitchen counter. She knew she had done the right thing. He needed her here. So why was she on the verge tears?

Life Altering Moments

The magnitude of the two objects laying upon the desk before her was more than Gina could handle. She knew they were bound to change her entire life. She had been putting off both of them for too long, but waiting was only making things worse. It was time she faced the music. The first object, her letter from Princeton in response to the application she had submitted three months ago, was something she had been waiting for practically her entire life. The second she never, not in her wildest dreams, thought she would be faced with at this time in her life. She decided to deal with the letter first. She took the envelope in her hands and ever so carefully ripped open the top so as not to rip the letter. She eyed the Princeton seal in the top right corner, took one last deep breath and read.

Congratulations Miss Gina Levine! We are pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to Princeton University this upcoming fall semester.

The letter fell from her hands and tears of happiness welled up in her eyes. All of those years of hard work and she had finally been accepted to the school of her dreams. But the joy was temporary. The second object still lay upon her desk and the consequences of it loomed above her head relentlessly.

She wished Adam could be here. She needed him right now more than ever before. But Gina knew that this was something she needed to do on her own. She reached for the stick, the pesky little plus or minus sign was sure to have made itself visible by now but she was unable to force her eyes to make the journey down to her hands. She watched the seconds tick by one by one on the crisp white face of the clock and wanted to stop them. How on earth had she gotten herself into this situation? Gina had always been the practical one. She made lists and plans for her minute detail of her life and had known exactly what she wanted to become since she was six years old. She thought through problems rationally with charts and graphs and had never been one to let her emotions get the best of her, until Adam. She had never known how much she was missing in life until she met him and fell in love. The plan she had clung to for the last 13 years of her life now felt empty without him in it.

“I swear that boy has made a new woman out of you,” her mother had said. “I’ve never seen you giggle so much in my whole life. Just don’t go losing your head over some boy.”

Not only had Gina lost her head, she had lost her virginity along with it. She couldn’t wait any longer. Waiting wasn’t going to change anything. Without hesitation she moved her eyes to the stick and at the sight of the red plus sign she froze where she stood and dropped the pregnancy test onto the Princeton acceptance letter. Now what was she to do?