It was minutes to the end of the last quater and the score was tied 55 to 55, and the team was on the offense. The team needed a touch down to avoid going into overtime, and Alex's heart was pounding. The deafening cheers of the crowd were drowned out as the aderline surgered through him. The twenty-five yard line, the ten yard line... only a few more yards and he would score the winning touch down.

The minutes ticked by as he was rushing to the end. He knew that Jack, Zack, and Rian had to have his back as he got there. He knew that Sierra was on the sidelines, cheering her heart out for him. All of Alex's practices had prepared him for this exact moment. The five yard line blurred past him. And suddenly, he could hear the screams as he managed to get all the way to score the touch down and the buzzer only five seconds after he had scored.

The next thing he knew, his team mates had tackled him with laughter. He couldn't believe it. They were going to state. He grinned as he yanked off his hemlet, laughing as he was lifted into the air. He could hear his name being chanted over and over again. "Alex, Alex, Alex..."

It felt like a dream. Fifteen minutes later, he had been set back down and they had poured the Gaterode over their coach's head. The drumline was still blaring and suddenly, Sierra was in his arms. She kissed him roughly as he grinned. Her arms wrapped around him, and the flashes of cameras where ignored. He was a high school champion. This was the moment that he dreamed of since he was a little kid. He was the sports hero.

And Sierra mumbled in his ear, "I've got a special celebration for my champion."

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There were several things that the life advice coaches prepared one for. One of them was college, something Sierra and Alex always assumed was on their horizons. Alex assumed he play ball at college level before he moved on to play for the Balitmore Ravens. Sierra assumed she'd go into college and study something useful and they could be a power couple outside of high school still. But as the two of them stood inside Sierra's bedroom, they realized sometimes life didn't always turn out the way one plans. One way plans were always bound to be changed by circumstances and what they had in their hands was a circumstance.

The pregnancy test had read positive and it was enough to shell shock Alex to his very core. He was going to go places and now he was standing here, looking at a test. It couldn't possibly be real. Someone had to wake him up for he was dreaming. Sierra was just sitting her bed, holding a stuffed bear and her mind somewhere else. Alex was the first to speak up. "What the hell are we gonna do?"

Sierra shrugged, her mind flitting through three options. The first was what she first jumped to when she learned what was going on down in her uterus: abortion. She could remove the problem and not have to hear the jeers from her peers about being pregnant. The slut shame would go away and she would never have to be pregnant. She did not want to be pregnant. Abortion made sense.

The realization that showing up at an abortion clinic would be almost as painful as actually going through with the pregnancy. Others would tell others what was going on in her uterus. Tears stung her eyes as she weighed the choice of what she was going to do with it. She didn't want to be pregnant. That was the simple notion. Yet when it came down to it, she could never face the protestors outside an abortion clinic. She could never be strong enough to go through with it and hear what a terrible person for not wanting to be pregnant.

Then she could carry the child to term, but give it up for adoption. The thought of putting her body through so much stress for someone else terrified her. She didn't want to be pregnant in the first place. The idea of carrying something she knew would be unwanted and possibly unloved scared her. She felt the child fluttering in her and she knew there was a chance that she was far too along for the first option anyway.

The third option hit her like a bag of bricks: parenting. Her hand went down to her stomach and she wondered if Alex and her could raise a child. They were two unwed teenagers whose only known talents were acing tests and sports. That was more than most people. Alex had talent on the field. "You should just leave right now, Alex. You can even say I cheated on you if it helps distance you from me. I want to keep it."

Alex knew what Sierra was saying, and he knew that she wanted to raise the child. For some odd reason, he knew he couldn't walk out of her life. In an odd way, he had believed that even the smallest bump in the road was possible overcome. A child was coming their way... and he'd be damned if he left Sierra. He knew that it would be smarter to break up with her and let her take the fall. But that wasn't the way he was raised. He could never leave her behind, he could never let her go. Because in the end... he knew they belonged together. "No. I'm staying. You and I... we'll get through this."

Sierra nodded as she looked down at the pregnancy test again before she heard her mother coming up the stairs. Her heart raced as she threw it out the window, nodding to Alex who opened the door a crack. He grinned when he saw Sierra's mother, Gretal. Gretal looked at Sierra and Alex suspiciously. "What's going on in here?"

Alex ruffled his hair, trying to avoid saying anything that would get him in trouble. In all honesty, he wasn't sure if Sierra was ready to tell her mother what they had just found out. Sierra stood up, grinning at her mom. "We were just talking about the state championship. The one that is gonna have scouts at it. Rumor has it an NFL scout from the Ravens is gonna show up."

Alex looked over at Sierra, wondering why she would say something that ridiculous. There really wasn't a chance someone from an NFL and Sierra knew that. It took him a while to remember they weren't talking about the upcoming championship anyway. He nodded at Gretal, who continued to look at them suspiciously. "Well, then. Don't get into trouble, and Alex... try not to get your hopes up."

Alex nodded, collapsing onto Sierra's bed after Gretal left. He looked up at her and said, "So... are we going to see if it's true that Planned Parenthood also offers prenatal care?"

Sierra nodded, running a hand through her hair. This was certainly not the part of high school they had pictured.