Authors: Megan McKenney
“I’m scared too,” I admitted. “But I’ll have you and that keeps me strong.”
“We’re in this together,” he smiled.
“Together,” I repeated.
After a while of walking, we decided to take a break. We sat up on a sand hill, secluded by a few trees. It was peaceful where we sat. I sat between his legs, resting the back of my head on his chest. We both stared out into the water, letting the crashing of the waves upon the shore fill our ears. He was perfect. Absolutely, without a doubt, perfect.
“We should come up with a name,” he suggested.
“We have almost eight more months,” I answered. “Besides, we don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl.”
“Well, we should always be prepared in case something happens to one of us. You know, in case one of us has to move or something.”
“What do you mean?” I questioned. Dread began to fill me. He couldn’t still be talking about suicide could he? I thought the medicine had cured him.
“I mean, before you leave for Yale.”
“Oh,” I sighed in relief. At least he wasn’t still thinking about suicide. That’s when I remembered that I never told him my final decision on college. “I’m not going.”
“What?” His reaction was something that I had expected. “But you have to go. You’re so smart. Honey, I’ll help out in anyway. I’ll get us an apartment, a car, whatever you need.”
“I just need you,” I said. “I just need you.”
“Honey,” he repeated.
“Keiffer, the moment I realized that I was pregnant, I realized that my dreams weren’t that important anymore. I can get a degree anywhere. Whether it’s here in Michigan or at Yale, even in Florida if that’s where you want to go. I just want to be with you.”
“But you need to go to college.”
“I will –“
“Yale,” he interrupted. “It’s been your dream.”
“But sometimes dreams change. And I’ve changed so much this semester.” I didn’t really want to talk about it. I made my decision way before I even told him. I understood how he felt. I knew that he wanted better for me. Hell, I wanted better for him. But, at that moment in my life, the only thing that mattered to me was Keiffer.
He sighed after a few moments of silence. “What do you think she’ll look like? I hope she has your brown eyes. They’re beautiful.”
I shook my head. “I hope she has your blue eyes. I could lose myself in them forever.” I ran my fingers through his blonde hair. “And I hope she has curls like you. Wait…how do you know that it’s a girl?” I laughed.
He shrugged his shoulders. “A daddy’s conscious, I suppose.”
“I suppose so. And when we get older, we’ll get a house.” I loved imagining our lives together.
“With a pool,” added Keiffer.
“Yes. And we’ll celebrate Christmas downstairs by the fireplace –“
“That I would have already started before opening our presents,” he smiled. “And on weekends, we’ll take our daughter to the park.”
“And then out for ice cream,” I agreed. He squeezed me a little tighter, placing his hand on my stomach as we talked. Time stood still as we sat there on the dune that night. Nothing else mattered. We were there, alone…alone with our dreams and our futures. Nothing, not even college, could ruin what he had at that moment.
“Have you ever thought about us?” He whispered into my ear. Chills ran down my back as I felt his hot breath against my neck.
“Of course. I think about us all the time,” I responded.
“No, like
us
. Have you ever imagined yourself being my wife in the future?” Keiffer asked me as though I was about to run away. But that was the last thing from my mind. I knew he felt uncomfortable talking about this because I had just been given a ring by Brad. But, with Keiffer, it was different. Everything was different. I loved him more than life itself.
“I would be your wife in a heartbeat,” I smiled.
“Then do it!” He said excitedly. I could feel his heart beat fast. I sat up also, looking him directly in the eyes. As soon as I didn’t respond, he started to explain himself. “Jenna, marry me! We’re having a baby…getting married is only right.”
“I don’t know…” I couldn’t believe that he was asking me this. Having a baby with him was one thing, but actually tying the knot? Marriage made me sick. After watching what happened between my parents, I honestly didn’t think that any marriage would work.
“What don’t you know? I love you. You love me. We’re having a baby. There’s not much to think about.” He embraced my face between his hands. He put his lips close to mine, feeling him breathe against me. “You’re the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“You are too,” I smiled. “But you’re only seventeen. We both have to be at least eighteen –“
“Not unless my mom allow us to get married before I’m eighteen. I know my mom’s cool with it. Now we just have to convince your parents to be supportive. Legally you don’t need their support, but it would mean the world for them to be at the wedding. Your dad’s taking this whole pregnancy okay. Your mom may be a bit of a challenge, but she’ll come around to it. Jenna, please marry me. I want to wake up to you every morning. I want to take care of you when you’re sick. And I want to support you through everything that you do in life.”
Looking into his eyes made my heart start to melt. Just seconds ago we were talking about how wonderful our future was going to be. He loved me. I saw it in his eyes as he embraced my face. He knew me better than I knew myself. How could I not marry this man? He made me happy…all the time.
“I’ll marry you, Keiffer!” I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me into a hug. We sat like that for a while. I took in his cologne, and he nestled his face deeper into my hair. “I want to grow old with you…” I whispered into his ear. He didn’t respond, but I knew he heard me.
The next day at school, it was like everyone knew about our sudden engagement. Yes, I’d told my dad, but it wasn’t like I told anyone else from school. But, as we walked hand-in-hand down the hallway, I didn’t really mind the whispers about us. I was getting pretty used to it. No one was particularly happy when I was with Brad, yet, they all hated the fact that I was with Keiffer…and I didn’t care.
It wasn’t until we were in the gymnasium after school did someone have the nerve to approach me about it. Keiffer sat up in the stands as I led the Cheer Squad in another practice. This was the last one until graduation, which was in just a week. I was a little nervous because we had been working on this routine for like months. But just knowing that Keiffer was there made me feel more confident.
“Why do we have to do this?” One of the girls whined. They were all sitting on the ground doing stretches. All twelve pairs of eyes looked up at me…they obviously all had the same question.
“Well, if we didn’t stretch then you’d pull something –“
“No,” the girl interrupted. “I mean, why do we have to continue practice when you’ve done nothing but sit on your ass this entire semester?”
“Excuse me?” I said, shocked that she would say something like that to me.
“Well, really…you’ve just been bossing us around. You got kicked off the squad, came back, got preggo, and now you’re still bossing us around as though you’re better than us. Obviously, by the looks of things, your ass should’a stayed off the damn team.”
“Yeah, Jenna,” another girl piped up. “You’re not exactly a leader, are you?”
“A leader wouldn’t dump the hottest guy in school and then screw around with some weirdo surfer wannabe…” Another one said. Pretty soon the whole squad was yelling insults at me. From up in the stands, Keiffer couldn’t hear anything that was going on. Yet, I wished that he would come down and punch each one of these girls in their pretty little faces.
“And you all think that you’re leaders?” I spun around, coming face-to-face with Brenda. She walked up to me, placing her hands on her hips. “What makes you guys so perfect?” She asked the squad. “Tasha, last I knew you had been dating a thirty year old married man.” The squad looked at her and she hid her face suddenly. “And Molly…you think your abortion went unnoticed. Well, it didn’t. Maybe you should talk on your phone outside of school. Your mouse voice travels empty halls quite well.”
“And you, Brenda?” A girl named Kelly stood up, pointing her finger at Brenda. “What makes you so special?”
“What makes me so special?” She retaliated. “Absolutely nothing. I’ve been a lying, cheating bitch my whole life. I’m only valedictorian because someone was selfless enough to give me the title. I’ve hurt nice people. But you know what? I can see things that no one can see. Everyone is perfect in their own way. And you speaking to Jenna like this…well, you guys are all pigs. Because last time I checked, there’s not a single one of you in here that could lead a squad of disgusting people like you. And you’re lucky…let me repeat…you’re lucky for having her as your captain.”
The moment she stopped talking the whole squad looked back up at me. I ran my fingers through my hair nervously. This was all extremely awkward. Just a couple weeks ago I wanted to kill her. Yet, today she came to my rescue. It was all really strange, but I kind of liked it in a way. Years of hate suddenly turned into an almost-friendship.
“Did you really mean that?” I asked, catching up to Brenda before she left the gym. She smiled at me sweetly.
“I’ve really messed things up for you. What I’ve done…I can’t take back. Jenna, I’ve been jealous of you this whole time. You’ve had everything. Brad, good grades, popularity…yet, I never did have that. And I hated you for it. But the moment you gave me a chance…” she paused, looking down at her shoes. “I realized that I did some really horrible things. I lied to you.”
“I already know,” I said quickly. “But can you tell me the truth on something?” She nodded her head. “Did you sleep with Brad?”
She nodded her head again. “I did it to make you jealous. I liked Brad too. He’s cute,” she laughed. “And you had him for so long. He wouldn’t give me a second glance, even if his life depended on it. And soon as I had the chance, I snagged it. Jenna, I lost my virginity to him. I can’t get that back. And I ruined a relationship. My spite got me…and it got me good.”
“No…you helped me, Brenda.” I placed my hand on her shoulder. “I would’ve never been with Keiffer if it wasn’t for you. You challenged me,” I smiled. “Did you…did you sleep with Keiffer too?”
“No,” she responded. “And that was the last straw for me. I wanted to sleep with him. But he kept talking about you. Everything that came out of his mouth was about you. I wanted to…but he loved you way too much.”
“Did you kiss him?” I asked…my voice barely controlled.
“No,” she repeated. “Not even close. I tried, but he pushed me away. He said he loved you. Oh, he really does love you, Jenna. There’s no doubt about it. You’ll make a wonderful mom, and he’ll make a great dad. You’ll be amazing parents.”
“Thanks, Brenda,” I smiled. “And you’re not really all that bad yourself.” I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts. “I’m sorry for the way that I acted too. I really should’ve been nicer sooner. You’re a good person.”
She smiled. “I’ll see you around,” she said finally.
“See you around,” I responded.
Chapter 18
“Absolutely not!” My mom practically yelled. We were all sitting around the dining room table at my house: Mom, Dad, Indigo, Keiffer and me. It was tense, exactly as we thought it was going to be. However, Keiffer and I held hands under the table, which made me a feel a bit more comfortable.
“You’re being a bit irrational,” Indigo said back to my mother. My dad snorted as soon as she said that.
“Irrational?” Mom retaliated, before slamming her palm down on the glass tabletop. “I’ll tell you what’s irrational – these
children
are too young to get married!” I hadn’t told my mom about the pregnancy yet so no wonder she was still upset over this.
“These
children
are in love!” Indigo shouted back.
“There’s no way that my child is getting married at this age. No way at all. She hasn’t even graduated from high school.”
“She doesn’t need your permission to get married,” dad barked. “She’d just like her parent’s support!” My mom glared at him, obviously trying to burn a whole through my dad’s face. “We’ve trusted Jenna a million times before to make her own decisions.”
“But now she’s acting like a child!” Mom snapped.
“You just said that she was a child,” Indigo mouthed off. Mom shot her a dirty look before crossing her arms across her chest. “Listen, these two are in love –“
“I’m not going to listen to you,” mom growled. “Who are you? Some hippie that moved in next door? I can see what’s happening. You’re poor and your panhandling son wants to marry my daughter for our money!”
“MOM!” I yelled. Now she stepped over the lines. I had allowed them to bicker and fight for the last hour, but the moment she started being rude to my fiancé, things were about to get nasty. “I love him!”
“You don’t even know what love it. Honey, don’t you want to go to college first? We’ve been planning this for years.” She stared me directly in the eyes.
“I’m not going,” I finally spoke up. Dad rubbed his eyes nervously. Indigo looked over at me, studying my face. Obviously, this came as a shock to more than just my mom.
“What do you mean?” Indigo asked gently.
“Hey! Let me speak to my own daughter,” my mom snapped. “What do you mean you’re not going?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Mom, sometimes life doesn’t go to plan. Sometimes there are little…bumps…in the road that prevent you from fulfilling your dreams.”
“Jenna, I can help you…” Indigo placed her hand on my shoulder.
“You know what? I’m calling Jack right now.” My mom pulled out her cell and started dialing numbers.
“Who’s Jack?” Dad asked.
“My boyfriend…”
“MOM! Jack has nothing to do with this!” I practically yelled. How could she possibly think that a guy that I had never met before in my life had the right to make such a big decision for me? However, she didn’t listen to me and invited him over anyway.
The table suddenly got quiet as we all waited for Jack to arrive. Indigo and my mom refused to look at each other and Keiffer and I kept our fingers laced. The moment the doorbell was rung, my mom sprinted to the door.
Jack looked like any other regular mid-forties guy. His gray hair was slicked back and he was wearing a suit. It looked as though he was made of money…but that was exactly how my mom liked them. She loved money…a lot. But it wasn’t Jack that caught my attention. It was his daughter that followed him very closely.