October Leaves by Lauren Knisbeck

Bee

by Michael Moreth

Rachel’s Story

by Micah Prakin

Growing up, we all experience sobering moments that force us to mature bit by bit. I, on the other hand, had one in particular. I was like every other teenager growing up in Small Town America: spending autumn Friday nights at football games, going to the movies with friends, the occasional party with shitty alcohol, and even shittier people. It was all normal and honestly, minuscule compared to what I was to face.

My junior year was typical; same old people, same old school walls, same old me. I wasn’t overwhelmingly popular. I made good for myself, socially, that is. I was well-known, but not in the “it” crowd, which I was fine with. I dated a few guys since high school started, nothing serious, though. In November of 2017, I started hanging out with Jaylen. He was the overly popular, jock, asshole-type. I don’t know what I saw in him, honestly, but we started dating. I enjoyed being around him. He was funny, and it didn’t hurt to be around some of the more popular kids.

Were we in love? I would say it was more of an infatuation. Does anyone really know what love is when you’re that young? We were together for about two months, but those childish relationships really don’t work, so we ended things and he started dating another girl in our graduating class. Her name was Catie. Fucking bitch. A little while after we broke up, I had missed my period, so I went and peed on a stick. That moment changed everything.

On February 11th, I found out I was pregnant. At first, I was terrified. I first thought of what other people were going to think. High school kids are brutal, and I was not ready for the shit they were going to talk. Then, I was confused. How could this have happened? I thought to myself. We were always so careful. I genuinely didn’t know what to do. After a few hours of freaking out, I started to get excited. I always wanted to be a mother. This may have not been the conventional way, but life is a miracle. I was a firm believer in that. Immediately after accepting the results, I texted Jaylen and told him we needed to talk. He came over to my house and I let him in on the news. He was excited. I can’t say that I expected him to be. I mean, who would want to be a parent at seventeen? It wasn’t ideal, but at least I had his support. Even if we weren’t together, we were in on it as a team. It gave me hope.

I told my father on February 18th. I was dreading looking him in the eye and telling him what I’d done. He wasn’t mad, he didn’t even get upset. He was so