A Broken Promise

by Meg Brenner

  “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, she just 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 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?”

  “No,” she responded. “And this 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 with about you. I wanted to…but he loved 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 laughed. “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.

  “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 seventeen years old!” 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 can make her own decisions,” dad barked. My mom glared at him, obviously trying to burn a whole through my dad’s face. “We’ve trusted Jenna a million times before.”

  “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 it 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 Steve right now.” My mom pulled out her cell and started dialing numbers.

  “Who’s Steve?” Dad asked.

  “My boyfriend…”

  “MOM! Steve 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 Steve 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.

  Steve 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 Steve that caught my attention. It was his daughter that followed him very closely.

  “Everyone, this is Steve and his daughter Annabelle,” she said proudly.

  Annabelle’s cheeks grew really red. “Just Anna,” she squeaked out. Anna was the girl that had spoken to me during class that I had blown off. She had even come to my house to give me notes from class when I had missed it. This little girl had been more apart of my life than I had ever known.

  Her eyes flicked up at me, obviously embarrassed to be there. Her dad must’ve told her why he was coming over. But, it wasn’t until my mom talked to her did I actually have a bit of jealousy.

  “Annabelle, sweetie…how was school?” She asked, giving the small girl a hug.

  “Good,” she responded.

  “Why don’t you go make yourself at home.” Mom grabbed a pudding cup from the fridge and led Anna over to the family room where our big screen plasma TV was. Just listening to my mom treat Anna (practically a stranger) better than she treated her own daughter made me feel a bit sick. Keiffer noticed my change of moods and he rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb.

  “Steve, they’re trying to talk me into allowing Jenna to get married,” she whined to him. Steve looked around for who could possibly be Jenna. First he thought Indigo was me, but then he realized that his soon-to-be-stepdaughter was sitting across from him. “She’s only seventeen and known this hoodlum for like five months.”

  “Do you guys love each other?” Steve asked. I was about to say something before my mom cut me off…again.

  “Of course they don’t. Besides, Jenna is throwing away her dream of going to Yale just to be with him. He’s a lowl
ife who doesn’t have money of his own. He needs to get a job.”

  “He’s not a lowlife,” I responded quickly. Keiffer kept his mouth shut…his jaw showing strain. “He’s a great guy. And yes, I do love him.”

  “But I’ll agree with your mom no matter what,” Steve responded. “I don’t have much of a choice.”

  “No…you really don’t,” dad snapped. “You’re not even a parental figure to my daughter. I don’t even know why you’re here.”

  “He’s here because he’s my boyfriend. He’s apart of my life and you better get used to it,” mom said rudely.

  “And Keiffer’s apart of my life!” I said, standing to my feet. “You need to get used to it!”

  “Jenna, sit down,” Indigo said. “Please, you need to reconsider…”

  “No, I’ve made up my mind. I’m not going to sign the papers. You and your son are nothing but trouble. You’ve ruined my daughter. She thinks she’s in love but once she sees how fast you’ll be draining her bank account she’ll realize that you’re nothing but a piece of –“

  “I’M PREGNANT!” I blurted. Even Keiffer looked up at me as though I had just exploded. “I’m pregnant, okay? That’s one of the reasons why I want to marry Keiffer. I do love him. And whether or not you want me to marry him…it doesn’t matter. The second we’re both eighteen, we’ll be going down to the damn courthouse.”

  “You’re preg…preg…pregnant?” she stuttered. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “Because only the people I love got to know first,” I excused myself from the table. “And I already know where this is going. Mom, you’re never going to hear me. You only want to hear what you want to hear. I thank God every day for Indigo, because without her…I would be lost. You’ve been nothing to me my whole life. And yes, I’ve only known her for five months, but she’s been more of a mom to me these five months than what you’ve been in seventeen years.”

  I ran up to my room, slamming the door behind me. I hated her! There was nothing good about her. And the fact that she treated Anna with more respect than she did me made my blood boil.

  A few minutes later there was a knock on my door. I didn’t respond, but he let himself in anyway. Keiffer didn’t say a word, but instead sat next to me on the bed. He ran his fingers down my back, the way he sometimes did when we were trying to fall asleep. I turned over so I was on my back. He propped himself on his elbow and looked back down at me. We didn’t’ need to say anything. The love was being shown through our eyes.

  “I don’t care what she says,” I finally admitted. “I love you no matter what.”

  “And obviously she loves you too,” he smiled. “She’s downstairs signing the papers right now.” He placed a kiss on my lips. “Would you like to become Mrs. Lawrence tonight?”

  “Tonight?” I exclaimed while sitting up.

  “Yes. The court house doesn’t close for another hour or so.”

  This was all going so fast. However, the adrenaline felt good so I quickly agreed to it. “I don’t have anything to wear!” I said as I ran over to my closet. Keiffer grabbed my hand, pulling me in so our foreheads were touching.

  “You’re perfect just the way you are.” Still holding my hand, he led me down the stairs. Steve and Anna had left, but my mom was still at the table with Indigo and my dad. It looked as though my mom had been crying and I suddenly felt guilty.

  “Mom…” I whispered. She looked up at me. “You signed the papers?” She nodded her head, sliding the papers across the table.

  “I’m sorry,” she cried. “I just didn’t want to lose my daughter.”

  “Oh, mom,” I said quietly. I walked to where she was and slipped her into a hug. It was very heartfelt and I love her with all that I had. However, she’d never treated me like she loved me. It had always been about her and her status. I couldn’t ever life up to her expectations. They were much too high for me to handle. “You’ll never lose me.”

  “I already did,” she forced a smile. “But I’d rather have you have Indigo. She’ll be a good mother.”

  “She’s pretty amazing, isn’t she?” I smiled at Indigo. I could see tears forming in her eyes also. “But you’ll always be my mom.”

  “I know, honey. I know.” She patted me quickly on the back before standing to her feet. She was never one for mushy moments like that. “Well, I must be going. Steve and I have a dinner date tonight. Though it’s always a…pleasure…being here.” She quickly shot Indigo a dirty look. “It was so nice seeing you, Indigo.”

  “As always,” Indigo mimicked. Mom seemed to get Indigo’s sarcasm and she pursed her lips in disgust. Then, with one last glare around the room, mom left the house.

  Well, we didn’t get married that night. As soon as my mom left, Indigo, my dad, Keiffer and I just sat around the dining room and talked. We hadn’t done that since…ever! It was nice to see how well my dad and Indigo got along. At least I knew that after we got married, the two parent-in-laws would get along great.

  We decided to hold off going to the court house until the next day. We wanted our parents to be there. But, like expected, news had traveled quickly once we got to school. It was probably little Anna who told the school about what had happened at my house the night before. As soon as we got to the school, every pair of eyes were on us.

  “Do you ever have that feeling that someone is watching you?” Keiffer whispered playfully as we walked through the hallway.

  I jabbed him gently in the side with my elbow. “Just ignore them.”

  “When I first met you I knew you were popular. But now actually being on your level…I don’t think I can handle this,” he said nervously, but with a smile on his face.

  “You want to break up with me?” I teased. He shrugged his shoulders and I jabbed him again. Even though it felt as though the whole world was watching, he was still the center of my universe.

  We got to my locker and I started to unload my books from my backpack. Keiffer kept to himself, like he normally did when we were at my locker. Not every second spent together was filled with talking. We were content with just being with each other and that’s it. He excused himself quickly so he could go make a phone call.

  “You’re getting married, huh?” Brad asked, his arms crossed against his chest. Now, just because I was in love with Keiffer didn’t mean that Brad couldn’t still take my breath away when we walked into a room. I was still totally attracted to him. He had a great body, hair, smile…but he wasn’t Keiffer.

  I nodded my head, shutting my locker door firmly. “We got engaged last night and we got permission from our parents.”

  “That’s romantic,” Brad said sarcastically. “Nothing says love like asking your parents for permission.”

  “What do you want, Brad?” I asked rudely. In a way, I actually felt guilty for talking to him. Not because Keiffer would get mad, but because I knew how much Brad loved me. In fact, as I looked into his eyes I could tell that he still loved me. And I still loved him…but in a different way. He would always mean a lot to me. Just because I couldn’t be with him romantically didn’t mean that I hated his guts or anything.

  “You’re making a big mistake,” he said suddenly. He stepped forward, grabbing the sides of my face. I tried to fight it, but I still cared about him.

  “How so?” I whispered. I closed my eyes, not wanting to look at him completely. The love of my life was outside, I couldn’t give in to temptation.

  “Because I love you, Jenna. I could give you everything. Your baby? I’ll raise it as my own. You don’t have to sacrifice school. Your life will be perfect with me.” He tilted my chin upward so I was forced to look into his eyes. “And you know that I’m perfect for you.”

  “I know you love me. But it wouldn’t be fair to you if I pretended to love you back. Don’t think of those four years as wasted. I just…I really love Keiffer. He’s different than you. Hell, he’s different than me,” I said as a tear escaped. “And he’s the only one I want to spend the re
st of my life with.”

  “Please, Jenna…” Brad pleaded.

  “I think she’s already told you the answer,” Keiffer said, shutting his phone quickly. “And if you don’t mind, please get your hands off of my fiancé.”

  Brad dropped his hands, hate running through his face. He clenched his fist as he kept his eyes locked on Keiffer’s. “I told you to keep away from her,” Brad growled. “I knew this was going to happen. The second I heard he was in your room –“

  “Brad, that was all a misunderstanding. We already talked about that,” I tried to reassure him. “But you can’t determine when and where love is going to happen. It’s not Keiffer’s fault that I fell for him.”

  “Shut your mouth you dirty whore!” Brad pushed me against the locker. I hit my head hard against the metal and I slid to the ground.

  Everything that happened after that was a blur. Keiffer punched Brad in the jaw when he wasn’t expecting it. Then it became a huge fight in the middle of the hallway. I blacked out after a few minutes later, only waking up to a huge headache in the nurse’s office. I looked around, trying to figure out what had happened. Keiffer was no where in sight.

  “Keiffer?” I asked, sitting up from the bench that I was laying on. The nurse walked into the room carrying a clip board. “Keiffer?” I asked the nurse.

  “He was suspended, along with Brad.” She placed her clipboard down on the counter. “You’re lucky Principal Nelson didn’t suspend you also. Luckily, the two boys kept saying that you were innocent in this whole thing. Sit up, let me hear your heart.”

  It wasn’t until I got home did I finally get to see Keiffer. I didn’t even stop at my house before letting myself through his front door. I walked into his room, not surprised to see him laying in his bed. I slid in next to him, placing my body against his. He woke up and ran his fingers through my hair. He only had a cut below his eye, but nothing that would swell or take a long time to heal.