Rebellion Project (18 page)
Authors: Sara Schoen
Five Years Later
College had gone well, I graduated with honors and Kayden had stayed by my side through everything. We defied the odds and everyone’s remarks about how we wouldn’t make it. Which made it that much better as I proudly held my hand out to show my father and his wife, my stepmother, the ring Kayden had gotten for me. It was a plain thin silver band for my small slender fingers. Three stones were set on the band, two small diamonds on either side of a large diamond in the center. My stepmother had explained it represented past, present, and future. The present stone rests in the center and was the largest so I could remember the present was what mattered and where I should focus my time.
I nodded in agreement, I had learned that years ago as I moved past my mother’s death, Kayden’s new interest in me, and then college as my dad remarried. It was hard, but living in the past wouldn’t have done me any good. Change was all around us, and we had to learn to adapt. I had been uneasy about Shannon marrying my father. She was a widow with a daughter, Madison, who was ten at the time I met her. Now Madison was fifteen, getting ready to start her sophomore year of high school. The years had just flown by.
“It’s beautiful,” Shannon said with a smile as she released my hand. Although the second she let go, Kayden took hold of it. “You did a wonderful job, Kayden.”
“Thank you, Ma’am. I wish you could have seen Lauren’s face when she saw it,” Kayden smiled brightly before producing a photo he had been carrying with him everywhere since he asked me to marry him. “Oh, wait you can.” He produced a photo that a hidden photographer had taken to capture the moment.
I had my hands over my mouth in shock and disbelief while Kayden was perched on one knee with the ring box. There were a few others where you could see my tears, tears of happiness, and a few more where I collapsed on the ground and hugged him. I had been waiting for years for him to ask me to marry him. Honestly, I thought he would have done it after graduation, but instead Kayden had taken the time to get us settled in an apartment and both of us into the world.
Kayden had spent the last four years studying business, which honestly had surprised me at first, but he had big plans including one day having his own business. He wasn’t
exactly
sure what it was yet, but he knew he wanted to do something with kids. He had an affinity for them, which had also been surprising when we started our
actual
relationship, and he was excited to one day have his own. He would just have to wait a while longer.
While I hadn’t forced him to wait until marriage for sex, I was going to make him wait for kids. I had waited until I trusted him fully, and there was just a moment when I knew he was the one I wanted to give my virginity to. He was special, and he made sure to take care of me the entire time, which I appreciated. At first he was still reluctant, I think because he still had the reputation of getting girls, and he was worried it would shatter our great relationship. He had been wrong though, it had improved our relationship, and we had become closer because it opened a new level of trust and love into our relationship.
Luckily, we had made it through four years apart. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to share that moment with anyone else.
While we had gone to different schools, we were never really far apart thanks to the internet and texting. We Skyped every day, called, visited each other’s schools, and worked to make the relationship last. It was possible, it just took a lot of work. Just look where it got us, engaged at twenty-three and already planning to have children one day, but it could wait until we got more settled.
I had spent years working in aquariums and zoos, I enjoyed it, but both of us were still getting used to the new move. For right now I was okay with visiting our old home town and sharing this jubilant time with family.
“I’d love for Madison to be one of the bridesmaids. I want it to be a day surrounded by friends and family, and I’d love for her to be up there with Parker and me.” I had been waiting to ask Madison since Kayden told me he had plans to visit his family last month. I needed to ask a few friends from college to also be in the bridal party, but I had to make plans with them so I could ask in person. It just seemed more personal.
“I’m sure she’d love that,” Shannon said with a smile before it quickly fell. “If only we could get her to come out of her room so she could hear the news.”
My father took Shannon’s hand for support. “I’m sure she’s fine. High school is a hard time for everyone. Lauren went through something similar.”
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously. My high school experience hadn’t been typical in my opinion, but it was filled with all the same cliques, stereotypes, and popularity contests. High school couldn’t change
that
much in the last few years.
“She gets picked on by other kids because she gets good grades and never gets in trouble,” Shannon said, shaking her head. “She’s trying so hard to please me when all I want is for her to be herself. Her father, while he wasn’t strict, had rules and she followed them to the letter. She wants to please us, and I haven’t been able to get through to her that I just want her to be whoever she wants to be.”
Kayden elbowed me lightly in the side. He flashed me a warm smile when I turned my attention to him. “That sounds oddly familiar, doesn’t it, GG?”
I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily before casting him a glowering look. He was right, but that nickname still rubbed me the wrong way. I didn’t want to be associated with it, and I had broken out from it senior year, and never went back. I tried not to think about it, but the past had its way of showing up again. It didn’t take much time for me to decide that I’d try to help her out like Kayden had done for me back then.
I got up to leave, only to have Kayden call to me, “I was just kidding, Lauren. I didn’t mean to make you leave.”
“I’m not leaving because of you,” I said without turning around. “I’m going to see if I can help Madison out.” I didn’t say another word as I went upstairs. Madison’s door was shut, but I could hear tears on the other side of the door. A haunted frown curved onto my lips. It wasn’t really that long ago that I had been in her position, and I had a strong feeling I knew the tears were caused by either a boy or the more popular crowd.
I pushed open the door to see Madison eyeing her phone before quickly wiping her tears away. She didn’t want me to see her cry, and I knew it was because to her she didn’t understand why they were making fun of her. I also knew that it was from frustration, she wanted something different, but she was trying to please everyone but herself.
“Do you want to tell me about it, Madison?” I asked, sitting on the edge of her bed. When she didn’t say anything, too busy attempting to hide her tears, I said, “Is it about other students making fun of you?”
She nodded. “My friend, Katie, is telling me to stand up to them, but I just want them to leave me alone.”
“Why are they picking on you?”
“Because of Linkin Phillips,” she said, letting the frustration show on her features as her shoulders dipping in annoyance.
“And who is he?”
“He’s been making fun of me since middle school,” she explained. “It just became more relentless in high school. I thought he’d get bored of it after freshman year, but he hasn’t. He just encourages them. I get called names and made fun of all the time. I just want it to stop.” Her phone vibrated on the bed and she immediately reached for it to type out an answer.
“What does he have to make fun of you for?”
When she finished typing her response to Katie, I assumed, she put the phone down and looked at me. “They make fun of me for getting good grades, because I never get in trouble, and I tend to get others in trouble.”
A smile curved onto my lips. “So you get Linkin in trouble a lot, right?”
She perked up, and looked at me curiously. “How did you know?”
“It sounds a lot like Kayden and I when we were in high school.” At my words she smiled, she had always said she loved Kayden’s and my story, and now I understood why. History was repeating itself with her and Linkin, maybe she was hoping for a similar result. “So how about I help you out? I have a few ideas for becoming exactly how you see yourself, get Linkin and those other students off your back, and the best part is I know exactly where to start.”
She beamed at my words and quickly agreed.
“I only have one question for you,” I said with a coy smile. “What’s your favorite color?”
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About the Author
Sara Schoen began writing in middle school, but did not officially dedicate herself to writing until high school when encouraged by her writing partner. Before then, Sara had not thought about trying to publish her works because it seemed unlikely that anyone would take a chance on someone so young. Despite her previous thoughts, she published her first book, Amber Alert, at the age of nineteen, and began rewriting and editing a spy series that she spent years writing when she was younger. With a lot of hard work and determination, now that same series, which is close to her heart, is a bestseller.
Sara is a Biology Major with a minor in Environmental Science and a minor in Spanish at James Madison University, and spends her time writing, studying, and ghost hunting. While writing is a great hobby that turned into a passion to share with others, school is her priority.
Throughout her publishing journey, Sara has had an amazing support system from her family, friends, and significant other, who were with her every step of the way. She hopes to continue to write, and wants to inspire others to reach for their dreams no matter how far they may seem. She truly believes that dreams can come true at any age, if you put in effort and chase after what you want.
