Friday, August 26, 2011

Chapter 1-10: First Love and Love at First Sight

                Tanner Avendale emerged from the womb at precisely 4:13am. Although there were a few complications during his birth he arrived bravely with one big, hearty cry to announce his birth and then nuzzled into his mother’s arms. Rebecca, though saddened that Justin was not with her to witness the birth of their second son, was both elated and speechless at the perfection of this tiny person. The doctor announced both baby and mother healthy and free to go home and even hinted that, due to Tanner’s development, he may grow up to be an athlete. With a weary yet heartfelt smile, she took her new baby home.


                Later that morning, over breakfast, Shane told Rebecca that he wanted to be a surgeon when he grew up. Maybe having Tanner had prompted that desire or maybe it was just his intelligence taking control and making him want to be successful. Either way, she was sure he would succeed.

                Shane had a birthday later that week. He was finally going to be a teenager. Rebecca could scarcely believe that her son would soon be so grown up. She gave him a huge hug, sure that her little boy would not want hugs much longer.


She threw him a party with quite a few friends and got him a telescope. She figured it would be a great gift for him since he loved the outdoors but could also be beneficial in the long run towards achieving his goals.


                The party was a moderate success. The friends definitely enjoyed being there and Shane even took notice of one of his best friends, Carrie, in a new way.


They spent the rest of the party dancing together. Oh sweet irony. Carrie was Goodwin’s second daughter.


                Although Rebecca had hoped the party would be a hit with all Shane’s friends, she was relieved when it was over, even if it was only a moderate success. She headed outside to tend the garden, which was in serious need of weeding and pruning while Shane stayed in to talk with friends. After he got off the phone, Shane heard Tanner crying. “C’mon, you can do this,” he thought to himself. “He’s your brother, how hard can a baby be”? He went in and picked Tanner up, playing with him and talking to him. Turns out, that was all the little tyke needed. Shane, though rather enjoying his little brother, was still dubious about having children of his own one day. His phone rang moments later.


                “Hey Jeannie, what’s up,” he asked his long time best friend.
                “Oooh, I just wanted to let you know that I found out from my sister that prom is coming up,” she replied excitedly.
                “Prom? So soon? But I don’t know who to go with. Maybe I won’t go.”
                “Miss prom??? You’ll regret it. Just go. You can always go alone.”
                “Yeah, I’ll think about it,” he answered and then said his goodbyes.

                Only, he knew who he wanted to go with.

 
But how could he tell one best friend that he liked another best friend? Or tell his best friend that he had a huge crush on a girl who probably only thought of him as a friend. “What a disaster,” he moaned in his head.

After some stargazing to clear his head, he decided to just go over to the Jones-Goode house and ask Carrie to prom. The worst she could do was say no, right?


                Wrong, he discovered. She was nice enough, only he never got around to asking her out. Hands sweating, heart beating way too loud, Shane had been on the verge of asking, the question at the tip of his tongue. Then the police arrived. Apparently, he was out past his curfew. So, not only did he get rounded up and taken home in a police car, although he didn’t have to sit in the back, he was also rounded up right in front of Carrie.


Whatever is she going to think of me now? I wonder if she would even be allowed to go with me”, he lamented, sure the world was ending.

Chapter 1-9                                                                                                                                         Chapter 1-11

3 comments:

  1. lol. Oh the pain of being a teenager! So it's Goodwin with the good genes, I'll need to remember that ;)

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  2. poor kid. prom night and no date. no fun.

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  3. Well that was no fun at all. He didn't even get to ask her to prom!

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