Reaching Retribution (The Prophesized Series) (36 page)

Ryanne must be having similar issues, because when she looks up at me, her grip tightens on the bouquet she’s holding. James clears his throat, bringing
me out of my thoughts and back to the scene in front of me. “It’s time for the vows,” James whispers.

Ryanne
previously volunteered to go first with the vows. She hands her bouquet to Emma, her maid of honor, and faces me. I can see the tears threatening to spill out of Emma’s eyes. In fact, almost all of Ryanne’s bridesmaids are crying or on the verge of crying. Olive is sitting on the ground at Emma’s feet with her pale green rhinestone studded collar watching everything play out. Ryanne reaches out and grabs onto my hands and smiles up at me. All the nervousness dissipates and all I see in her eyes is love. Her love for me.

“Colton, we’ve been through
so much together,” her voice rings out, much more confident than I was expecting. “I won’t go into all the details, because I know you already know them. Despite all the hardships we’ve endured, I know that I wouldn’t change anything. This is where I’m meant to be. Right here, standing in front of you.

“When we first met, I was this extremely shy, depressed, lonely girl who wanted nothing more than to get away from this town. You came into my life like a raging bull and broke down all my barriers. You became my first real friend. Then, you pushed further and became my best friend. I started to develop feelings for you and that scared me to no end. Then, you became my
soulmate. Suddenly, everything made sense. Everything I had been trying to push back and ignore made sense, Colton.

“You accepted me for who I was. You accepted all my flaws and insecurities. You accepted my stubbornness and my uncanny ability of attracting trouble. You accepted all of it rig
ht away. There was a reason why I walked through the doors of the bookstore that day. We were meant to find each other. I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. We make each other stronger. You gave me the strength I never knew I had. You gave the confidence I never knew I had. You have given me so many things I never thought I’d have. You’ve given me so much and if I have to, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Our lives were predestined, but there’s nothing more that I want this moment.

“I love you so much, Colton Wagner
, that it scares me sometimes, but that lets me know it’s true. We’ve had to fight for this moment, because nothing in life comes easy.” I scoff and she smiles at me, the tears brimming on the surface of her eyes. “And I wouldn’t have accepted this if we didn’t have to fight. I wouldn’t deserve your love if I didn’t have to fight. Because I fought, I finally feel worthy of someone like you.”

I suppress my groan. I should be the one feeling like that.

“Don’t look at me like that, Colton.” A couple people laugh behind me. “I want this. I want us. I’m so glad that I’m standing before you today. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” She reaches out and grabs the ring and turns toward me again. A single tear cascades down her cheek.

“Colton, I give you this ring as a token
of my love. I promise you I’ll always be here for you. I’ll be the wife you deserve. I promise to be your soulmate. I promise to always stand by your side and with this ring, I gladly combine my life with yours.”

Ryanne slides the band onto my ring finger and looks up at me, waiting for my vows. Another tear starts to fall. I lace our hands together and look straight into my beautiful bride’s eyes.

“Ryanne, the day I met you, Claire told me that something big was going to happen, and she was right. The moment you walked through that door, I knew everything was about to change, and I’m so glad it did. We’ve run into a lot of obstacles along the way, but look at where we’re standing today. We’ve overcome all of those and reached this point. Together.”

Ryanne bites her lip and continues to stare up at me. I can see her struggle with keeping her emotions in control. Her hazel eyes brighten with tears that threaten to fall. “Before you, I was waiting for my life to begin. You walked into my life and completely changed everything for the better. I didn’t realize what I was missing until you. I didn’t realize how incomplete I
was before you…how empty I was.

“Even before we were
soulmates, it was my goal to make you smile. I would think about all the ways I could make you laugh. It’s one of the best feelings in the world to know that you’re responsible for someone’s happiness no matter how short lived it is. From this day on, it’s going to be my goal to always keep a smile on your beautiful face, because you deserve to be happy. You deserve the world, and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you get it.

“This is not the ending. This is the beginning. The beginning of our life together. I realize
that we’re young and I know it scares you sometimes, but love has no age. We were chosen for each other. We wouldn’t have found out that our destinies were intertwined if it wasn’t the right time. I didn’t know it was possible to feel so much for someone until I met you. I love you so much that it hurts.” There we go. The tears start to fall out of Ryanne’s eyes. I step forward and cup her face with my hands, using my thumbs to brush the tears away.

“T
hat means it’s real, Ryanne. I can’t believe this gorgeous, fierce, amazing, stubborn, frustrating, sarcastic,” a round of laughs echo through the yard. “loving, completely wonderful girl in front of me is mine. You are mine just as I am yours. I’ve not done anything to deserve someone like you, but in this instance, I’m going to be selfish. I’m going to accept the love you’re willing to give and return it back tenfold.

“You’re my life now. My everything,” I reach out and grab the ring. Ryanne bites her lip, trying to stop her tears. I raise her hand and look straight into her eyes. “I promise to spend the rest of my days trying to make you see what I do. All those flaws and insecurities you think you have are what make you perfect. They make you who you are and I love you for who you are. There’s not a single thing about you I would change and I promise to do everything in my power to make you believe that,” I say as I slide the ring onto her finger.

Ryanne chokes on her tears and turns toward James, who’s smiling at us. Taking a step back, he concludes with the ceremony. “You may now kiss the bride.”

I do
just that.

This is a mature YA contemporary novel that may contain some subject matter not suitable for all readers.

Today’s the day. I’m going to finally tell her.

I
finish tying my tennis shoes, grab the daisies I bought earlier, and head out the front door. Lainey lives just around the block, so I can walk there.

Lainey and I have been best friends since we were thirteen. We made it through middle school and high school together. In the fall, we’re bo
th going off to college. We’ve been inseparable since the day I punched a guy on the middle school playground who wouldn’t leave her alone.

I got suspended, but I made a best friend.

At that time, Lainey was beautiful. Long light brown hair that curled at the ends and big bright blue eyes that when she looked at me, I swear she saw right through me. As she got older and started getting noticed more, she started to hide beneath herself. I thought she was just self-conscious. I thought she dyed her hair because she wanted to express herself. I thought she wore the dark clothes because she wanted to hide in the shadows. There are so many things I should have caught onto back then.

Now, I know differently.

That jerk she lives with is always hurting her. That bastard of a step-dad is always laying his hands on her if she doesn’t do something the way he plans it.

I remember when she came over to my house one night during our sophomore year and she was helping me cook dinner for my parents when I accidently spilled water on her sleeve. I grabbed a paper towel and grabbed her arm and started cleaning it up for her.

She tried to pull her hand back, but I kept drying it. The sleeve of her shirt moved up a little and I saw it—the deep black and blue bruise wrapping around her entire wrist. She stopped trying to fight me and stilled, watching me silently. I pushed her sleeve up a little further and found a few more bruises on her pale skin.

“Who did this to you?” I asked as I looked away from the bruises and into her eyes. She bit her lip and looked out at the window above the sink. “Lainey, who did that?”

“Gregg,” she whispered at last.

Her step-dad? “Gregg hits you?” She didn’t give me an affirmation, but I could tell based on her posture that it was true. I turned her wrist over and saw a few long scars on her skin. Self-inflicted scars. “Lainey, please talk to me.”

“You can’t tell anyone.” She turned and looked at me as he pulled her sleeve down. “You can’t say anything to anyone.”

“Lainey, you’re cutting yourself,” I said as I took a step
forward. She’s hurting herself because her step-dad is abusing her. I had to do something. “I have to tell someone.”

Lainey moved forward and fisted the fabric on the front of my shirt. “You can’t. Swear to me that you won’t say anything. I’m not eighteen yet, they’ll take me away. I don’t want to leav
e. Promise you won’t tell.”

“But…”

“No buts, Bryce. Promise me,” she said. When I continue to just stare down at her, she takes a step forward. “Please just be here for me,” she whispered as she rested her head on my chest. “Just be here.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist and placed my chin on her head. “I’ll always be here, Lainey. I won’t tell if you promise to stop cutting yourself.”

I felt her nod beneath me. I heard a car door shut outside, meaning that mom was home, so I forced myself to release her. “I won’t cut anymore, but you seriously can’t tell anyone. Ever.”

And I never have. Soon we’ll be going off to college and she won’t have to deal with Gregg anymore. She’ll finally be free. Turning into
her driveway, I walk up to her porch and am about to knock on the door when I hear yelling on the opposite side. I can’t hear anything that is specifically being said, but I can tell it’s her mom and Gregg who are arguing. Where’s Lainey?

When I knock twice on the door, the yelling stops. After a few seconds, Lainey’s mother opens the door, and I freeze when I see the tears streaming down her face. She doesn’t look surprised t
o see me at all.

Lainey’s mother is tiny. Barely over five feet tall and thin as a rail, she couldn’t hurt a fly. Gregg
on the other hand is a different story. The man is intimidating. I can see him pacing in the background.

“Lainey’s not here,” her mother says with sadness
lacing her words. She eyes the flowers in my hands and clasps her lips together, trying to keep more tears from falling.

“Do you know when she’ll be back?” I ask her.

Shaking her head, her mother disappears for a few seconds, and I’m left standing in the open door. Gregg looks at me and I can’t help the glare I give him. He knows I’m aware what he does to both of the girls living in this house, but he doesn’t care. His gives me his signature cocky look and turns away.

Lainey’s mother reappears a minute later and hands me a folded piece of paper. Without saying anything, she closes the door. I look down at the paper and see my name written in her perfect handwriting. My heart plummets into my stomach because without even opening the note, I know what it’s going to say.

I drop the flowers on the porch and turn around. I can’t read this here. Not caring who sees me, I run to our spot. Cutting through yards and parking lots, I take the shortcut through the field and stop when I reach the county line edge. Lainey loves sitting beneath the tree at the back of the field. The large one at the entry line of the woods. The woods scare her, but for some reason, she always loved sitting at this tree. Through the years, it became our spot.

I stop beneath it and try to catch my breath. Though it’s almost summer, there
’s a chill in the air. I lean back against the tree and look back at my name on the paper.

Lainey left. I just know it.

Taking one deep breath, I unfold the paper and start reading.

Bryce,

I’m sorry
I have to tell you this in a note. If I could do it any other way, I would. I couldn’t risk you talking me out of this. I need to do this. I need to get away. I can’t take it here anymore. I’m scared all the time. I’m scared Gregg is going to get so drunk one night that he’s not going to know what he’s doing. I’m scared he’s going to hit me in just the right spot that I’ll never wake up from it. I don’t want the last thing I remember to be his fist coming toward me. I’ve been beaten and have broken bones too many times by him. I literally cannot take any more of it.

I want to be set free. I want to spread my wings and fly away from this hell-hole. I want to find my own little piece of heaven in an otherwise dark world
, and I know I can’t find that here.

We had all these plans we were going to do-all these dreams we were going to accompl
ish together—and I’m sorry I’m ruining everything, but I have no other choice.

Thank you for being my best friend when no one else would. Thank you for staying by my side even after you found out the truth. You’ve always been there for me. You never left, and I can’t return that. I’m so sorry.

I don’t know where I’m going to go, but I’m eighteen and they no longer have any control over me. They can’t tell me what to do, and I’m not going to let him hurt me anymore. I feel horrible about leaving my mom because I know she’s just as much of a victim as I am, but I have to. I have to, Bryce, please understand that.

Someday I might come back, but please don’t count on it. Move on. Forget I existed. You are destined for big things, Bryce Aarons. Despite the joking and hassles I always give you, I do see a successful career for you with a beautiful-wife and two kids. You’re going to make it. You have it in you. Don’t stop fighting because of me.

I won’t stop either.

You were my guardian angel. I don’t know how you did it, but you brought me out of my dark cloud. You made me stop
cutting which probably saved my life. When I was around you, I felt alive. I didn’t get that feeling anywhere else.

You’re my best friend
, and I’m sorry this is how we end. I wish things were different, but as I’ve learned over the years, wishing is pointless. Some things in life can’t be changed. The only way to create change is to do it yourself. That’s what I’m doing now.

Go to college and get an educat
ion. I seriously do believe you have greatness ahead of you.

Lainey.

P.S. Please keep an eye out for my mom. Though I’m not there, I don’t want anything to happen to her.