It seemed odd that she would follow someone like Mrs Clean, and then mouth off at her for trying to make a living. It felt as though lucybest65 was only out to spread the hatred. Lucybest65 was a troll; someone who followed successful people’s lives in order to cause disruption. I noticed that her comments came in regularly and they attracted a fair few likes and comments themselves. I decided from here on in, I would keep an eye on her. For some unfathomable reason, I felt a need to protect Mrs Clean.
A loud bang came from just outside and I froze. I looked down at my phone and thought about the missed call that had come through at midnight, just a few hours ago.
I got to my feet and made my way to the front door and peered through the spyhole. I couldn’t see anything. Then I heard it again, the noise; like plastic on tarmac. I began to unlock the door as dread tugged at my insides. To curb some of the fear, I shut the lock five more times, but it still gripped me like a vice as I slowly pulled the door open, not knowing what or whom I would find on the other side. It was deadly quiet on the street and I was surprised to be greeted by a clear, starry night with a moon that was full and bright. I shivered in just my pyjamas and stepped outside. I could immediately see our main bin had been thrown over and the contents had been ransacked by an animal of some kind. Probably a fox. I wasn’t going to be falling back asleep any time soon, so I headed back to the kitchen to grab a pair of Marigolds and a few bin liners.
Outside the house, I slapped them on and I lifted up the wheelie bin and then picked up the bag that had been ripped open. I started sifting through the rubbish and placing things in the new bag when my fingers met with a hard, plastic object. I recognised it immediately as a pregnancy test. I turned it over and saw the word Pregnant and then 3–4 weeks. I supposed that someone from the street could have thrown it in the bin on their way past, but it was too embedded in the rubbish, as though someone had stuffed it right in amongst everything else to hide it. I just hadn’t imagined that any of the girls would be getting themselves pregnant at their age. I presumed everyone had it all figured out; there were certainly enough options available for them.
I immediately started wondering who it could be. I thought of Karen first; she was the one who seemed the most settled. Then there was Mini in bed with her young man after the party, but those dates didn’t add up; although she could, of course, be seeing other people. I was sure it wasn’t Sophia as she hadn’t been in a relationship for over a year; she was apparently taking time away from blokes and I’d never seen anyone come by the house.
I was reminded of the time I held a test like this in my hand. It was just blue lines, not a fancy digital version like this. We had gone for the cheaper option. What I remember most was being told I didn’t need to buy the cheaper options, that we had plenty of money. And I suppose we did. We had. But I had been brought up to be frugal, which was why I got into textiles. Creating things from nothing was always what I was good at. I shivered as I felt the cool night air filter through my pyjamas. I quickly finished stuffing the rest of the rubbish into the new bag, including the pregnancy test, threw the new bag into the bin and shut the lid down tightly.
I took one last cautious look around and went back into the house.
I locked and unlocked the front door six times, ending on a lock, then removed the Marigolds, washed my hands and took my tea and phone back up the stairs.
I locked and unlocked my door six times, then I fell into bed.
At the breakfast table the next morning, I stole intermittent glances between Mini and Karen, trying to work out which one of them was pregnant. I tried to look for any signs of nausea or tiredness, but both of them seemed their usual selves. Mini was making light chit-chat and Karen was still trying her best to ignore me.
‘I got a match,’ I said to swerve the conversation to something I knew they would both be interested in.
‘Oh my God, that’s amazing.’ Mini almost choked on her tea. ‘What’s he like?’
‘Well, I don’t know, I’ll find out this weekend. We’re going for a drink.’
Mini screwed her face up in confusion. ‘So you mean you haven’t actually even like chatted or anything?’
I shook my head. ‘No. He asked if I wanted to meet for a drink and I said yes.’
Karen shook her head, and I was sure I heard a small snigger escape her lips.
‘It’s just, well, usually, you sort of chat via your messages first, get to know more about them,’ Mini said informatively.
‘But surely that’s what meeting them face to face does? You forget, Mini, I’m old school. When I was your age, there were
