The Stand: Complete and Uncut Edition/Chapter 2

Chapter 2 is the second chapter of Book One of the Complete and Uncut Edition of The Stand by Stephen King. It contains the first appearance of Frances Goldsmith and Jess Rider, the only appearance of Gus the parking attendant, and the first references to Peter Goldsmith and Amy Lauder. It is also the first appearance in the Standverse of Ogunquit, Maine. It is the chapter which reveals Fran is pregnant with the future Peter Goldsmith-Redman.

Summary
On June 17, 1990, college student Frannie Goldsmith arrives at the beach of her hometown of Ogunquit, Maine to meet her college student-slash-poet boyfriend Jess Rider. She is not sure she is still in love with him. She comes up behind him and startles him, and his shock causes her to giggle, fall on her back and bite her tongue hard enough to draw blood. He shows genuine concern, and she thinks she may be in love with him, after all. As they walk off the beach, she reveals the big news :

She is pregnant with his child.

He is, of course, shocked, and she asks to go to a nearby Dairy Queen, where she orders a Banana Boat Supreme, which she tries to eat despite the blood in her mouth. He just orders a Coke. Frannie asks him to throw away most of her banana split, and they discuss the options: Marriage, single motherhood or abortion. Frannie is the one who lists these options, and Jess becomes increasingly annoyed by her apparent flippancy. He says he rented a room in the nearby Lighthouse Motel, but she refuses to meet him there. He asks her to marry him, and when she refuses by insulting him, he slaps her in the face.

He drives her back to the beach, where he apologizes for slapping her, but she realizes she is truly no longer in love with him. They part ways.