Paper Hearts by Lynette Ferreira

The boy pushed himself away from the wall and walked over to Megan as soon as the faded, wooden door of the building closed behind her. He was much taller than her, but he kept his distance so she would not have to crane her neck to look him in the eye. "Hi," he said.

"Hi."

He was just about to say something else when Edwina came out of the building and stepped closer to them. "Just a second," he said, and turned his face to Edwina. "All done?"

"Yeah, we can go."

"Why do you keep coming here?"

"I don't know. It kind of helps me feel better… Helping others."

He leaned in closer to Edwina. "The only thing that will help you feel better is for you to move on. Coming here just makes it worse. Every. Time."

Edwina focussed her blue eyes on Megan. "Has this rude jerk introduced himself to you yet?"

He turned to face Megan and just looked at her.

"What?" Megan asked.

"Nothing," he said.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

He half smiled. "When God created beauty, it was meant to be looked at."

There was a brief awkward silence.

Edwina exclaimed with a soft laugh. "What a cheesy thing to say. Ignore my brother." She pulled on his arm. "We gotta go. See you next week, Megan and you have my number. Call any time."

"Okay," Megan said, looking at her mum waiting for her, and started walking.

"Can I text you?" He asked.

Megan felt flattered but she knew what happened the last time she fell for a charming boy's flirting. "You're a stranger," she said.

He looked confused. "No, I'm not. We've met. You know my sister." He gestured toward Edwina, standing beside him.

"What is your name?" She asked him.

"Marcus. Marcus Glynn. Anything else you need to know?" He smiled a crooked smile.

Megan shook her head and took the first step down the stairs. "Nice to meet you, Marcus, but I've sworn boys off for the time being. Maybe if we met before or even at any place other than St. Mary's Home for Unwed Mothers, who knows."

A look crossed his face as if he only then realised, he was standing on a porch in front of a home which helps and supports young pregnant girls. "Yeah. Who knows," he said, pulling his hand through his dark hair.

When she reached the bottom of the steps, he called her name. She turned to look up at him and Edwina.

He asked, "Have you seen that movie called You, me and baby make three?"

Megan noticed Edwina nudge him with her elbow.

"You should see it," he said.

"Okay," Megan said. "I'll see if I can find it on Netflix."

"It's not on Netflix and I have the DVD."

"Are you offering to let me borrow it?"

"No. I am suggesting you watch it with me."

"I hardly know you, Marcus Glynn."

He nodded, walking down the stairs toward her. "And I'd like to get to know you, Megan." His shoulders filled out his black T-shirt with a game logo Megan had never heard of.

"If I didn't already make it clear, I am not interested in getting to know anyone. I am dealing with my own crap right now," Megan said as she turned away from him. She walked closer to her mum's car, leaving Marcus behind her. A weird mix of disappointment and anger started to well up inside her. She did not really know what the feeling was, just that it was overwhelming, and she wanted to smack Marcus Glynn for giving her hope. She reached for the handle on the car door and heard his loud footsteps behind her.

His hand grabbed hers.

She pulled her hand away from his but turned back to face him.

"I know what you're dealing with," he said. "My sister… Obviously... Look, we can be friends, you know, talk and hang out."

"I'm sure you have loads of friends and people to hang out with. I don't need your pity."

Her mum started the car and the engine idled.

"I have to go," she said, turning away from him. "See you around."

She sat down in the passenger seat and felt his eyes on her as he remained standing next to the car, but she refused to look his way.

Her mum pulled the car out of the parking spot and they drove away.

"Is that wise?" Her mum asked without looking away from the road ahead.

"We were just talking, Mother," Megan said with an exasperated sigh.

"It's just..."

Megan cut her off. "Are you going to judge me forever for this one mistake?"

Her mum inhaled sharply but remained silent for the rest of the trip.

Megan felt guilty. She was taking her anger out on the wrong person. It takes two to make a baby. Donovan, the boy who charmed her pants off, literally, was the one who helped her make this thing growing in her belly.

Now, Donovan was one of those whom her world used to centre on, and he looked at her as if he never knew her, or loved her, or even cared about her, at all.

He should bear the brunt of her anger, but she could not face him. Donovan made her feel as if it was her fault and her fault alone. He was adamant when he told her he would not give up on his own dreams and demanded she gets rid of it.

Should she?

When they arrived home, Megan went straight to her room and shut the door. She fell on to her bed and was asleep minutes later. She was always tired these days.

Her mum woke her for dinner, which was a quiet affair. The scraping of knives and forks against porcelain was especially loud tonight.

After she finished eating, Megan pushed away from the table. She asked, just to be polite, "Do you need any help with the dishes?"

Her mum shook her head.

"Okay," Megan said. "Good night, then."

Her dad's eyes softened when he looked at her. It looked as if he was going to say something, but he ended up not saying anything.

Megan asked, looking from her mum to her dad, "When you were pregnant with me, and if you weren't already married, what would you have done?"

Her mum asked, "What do you mean?"

"Parenting, Adoption or Abortion. Which one would you have chosen?"

"We didn't need to make that choice," her mum said.

"But which would it have been?" Megan insisted to know.

Her mum was getting angry. Megan could see her cheeks turn that scary hue of red. "If you want to know the truth, Megan. You are too young, too young, to be a parent. What about University? Your dreams? You have worked so hard at school since you were a little girl with just one goal in mind, and now? Now you want to throw it all away. All your hopes and dreams?"

Without thinking, Megan's hand came up to her stomach as if she wanted to protect the little one nestled inside her from hearing this conversation. "Would I really be throwing away my hopes and dreams? Why can't I still have them? Are you saying, you threw away your hopes and dreams when you had me?"

"No!" Her mum shrieked. "You wanted my opinion and I am telling you if I was you, I'd choose adoption or abortion."

Her dad lowered his head in the palms of his hands. He had always been a man of few words.

Megan turned on her heels and rushed down the hallway to her room before the tears welling up in her eyes could escape.

Adoption?

Abortion?

What if she regretted her decision?

What would she do when it was too late to change her mind?