Episode 11: Two Pink Lines
At first, I told myself it was stress.
Final year stress.
Project stress.
Relationship stress.
Everything stress.
My period had delayed before during exams, so I tried not to panic immediately.
But after the fifth day…
Fear started growing quietly inside my chest.
I became restless.
Emotional.
Every small thing irritated me.
Even Chioma noticed.
“You’ve been moving around this room like spirit.”
I forced a laugh.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
I looked away quickly.
That night, while brushing my teeth in the hostel bathroom, the reality finally hit me properly.
What if I was pregnant?
My entire body went cold instantly.
No.
Impossible.
Well…
Not impossible impossible.
But still.
No.
I returned to the room feeling dizzy.
Chioma sat up immediately once she saw my face.
“Ada?”
I sat slowly on the bed.
Then quietly whispered:
“My period is late.”
The silence that followed felt endless.
Chioma blinked once.
Twice.
Then carefully:
“How late?”
“Almost one week.”
“Oh.”
That tiny “oh” carried too much meaning.
I buried my face inside my hands immediately.
“No no no no…”
“Calm down first.”
“How am I supposed to calm down?”
My chest already felt tight.
Thoughts started crashing into each other rapidly.
School.
Graduation.
My parents.
Daniel.
Marriage.
Disappointment.
Shame.
Fear.
Everything at once.
Chioma sat beside me gently.
“Have you tested?”
I shook my head quickly.
“No.”
“Then stop panicking before confirming anything.”
But honestly?
Women usually know when something feels different.
And deep down…
I was already terrified.
The next morning, Chioma followed me to buy a test kit from a pharmacy far from school so nobody would recognize us.
I wore face cap like criminal.
The pharmacist barely even looked at me.
Meanwhile my own heart was beating like police siren.
Back at the hostel, Chioma stood outside the bathroom while I took the test.
My hands shook so badly I almost dropped it.
Then came the longest three minutes of my life.
I stared at the result window breathing too fast.
One line.
Then slowly…
A second faint pink line appeared.
My entire world stopped.
“No…”
My voice cracked immediately.
“No no no…”
The pregnancy test nearly slipped from my fingers.
Chioma pushed the bathroom door open instantly.
“What happened?”
I turned toward her slowly with tears already forming.
Positive.
The moment she saw the test, her face changed too.
“Oh God.”
That was it.
No dramatic music.
No movie scene.
Just two girls standing inside a hostel bathroom while my future suddenly felt unfamiliar.
I sat on the toilet cover and burst into tears.
Not because I hated the idea of motherhood.
But because I wasn’t ready.
Not now.
Not like this.
Chioma hugged me immediately.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet.”
I cried harder.
Everything I feared suddenly crashed into reality at once.
This was exactly the kind of situation people warned women about.
Emotion.
Love.
Trust.
Then consequences arriving before certainty.
The worst part?
Daniel and I hadn’t even fully settled the moving-in conversation emotionally.
And now this?
My chest felt like it would explode.
“What am I going to tell my parents?” I whispered brokenly.
Chioma stayed quiet because honestly…
There was no comforting answer yet.
For almost an hour, I sat there trying to breathe normally again.
Then came the next terrifying thought.
Daniel.
I immediately wiped my tears.
“I have to tell him.”
Chioma looked worried.
“Do you want me to stay with you?”
I nodded quickly.
Because suddenly I was scared.
Not of Daniel hurting me physically.
Never that.
But emotionally?
I suddenly realized how vulnerable women become in moments like this.
One reaction can change everything.
One sentence.
One expression.
One disappointment.
Daniel arrived less than forty minutes later after my shaky phone call.
The moment he entered the room and saw my swollen eyes, panic covered his face instantly.
“What happened?”
I couldn’t speak immediately.
My throat felt blocked.
Chioma quietly handed him the pregnancy test.
The moment Daniel saw it…
Everything became still.
I watched his face carefully.
Fear.
Shock.
Confusion.
All flashed through his eyes at once.
Then silence.
Painful silence.
My heart started breaking immediately.
Because in moments like this, silence feels louder than rejection.
Finally, Daniel sat down slowly.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then quietly, almost like he was speaking to himself, he asked:
“You’re pregnant?”
That question alone shattered me emotionally.
I burst into tears again.
Daniel immediately looked up.
“Ada…”
“I’m sorry,” I cried uncontrollably.
The moment those words left my mouth, his entire expression changed.
Immediately.
Deep concern replaced the shock.
“Why are you apologizing?”
I couldn’t stop crying.
“Everything is messed up…”
Daniel stood up instantly and came toward me.
Then he knelt directly in front of me.
“Ada, look at me.”
I tried avoiding eye contact.
But gently, he held my trembling hands.
“Look at me.”
I finally did.
And what I saw there surprised me completely.
Not anger.
Not blame.
Not regret.
Fear, yes.
Shock, definitely.
But also something else.
Care.
Real care.
“You didn’t create this situation alone,” he said softly.
Fresh tears rolled down my face immediately.
“I know you’re scared.”
His voice cracked slightly too now.
“Honestly? I’m scared too.”
The honesty in that answer somehow comforted me more than fake confidence would have.
Then he said quietly:
“But you’re not alone in this. Do you understand me?”
I stared at him through tears.
Because deep down…
Part of me had been terrified he would pull away.
That suddenly I would become “the girl who got pregnant.”
A problem.
A complication.
But instead, Daniel squeezed my hands gently and whispered:
“We’ll figure this out together.”
And for the first time since seeing those two pink lines…
I finally breathed properly again.
