Chapter Nine
“Babe…I’m home.” I walk into the house, and it is completely silent, which is odd because he told me he would be home all day.
I go look in the office…nothing. I go look in the bedroom and stop to see if he’s in the shower…nothing. I’ve went through every other room in the process so that only leaves one other place…the deck.
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you.” I walk over and join him on the lounge chair.
“You found me. Have a good day?”
I smile and lean back into him. Our relationship has gotten stronger ever since that night on the deck. “Fabulous day. What are you thinking about? You look kind of serious.”
He laughs a little. “Hmmm…I was thinking about how all of this started. Us.”
“Ah…yes. Look at all that fun we had. Time’s about up here. We’ll be graduating in a couple of months.” The thought saddens me. We’ve been here for almost two years now and all of us are getting ready to graduate. “Where is everyone?”
He wraps his arms tightly around me. “They were inside somewhere. I’m sure they’ll be out in a minute.”
Not thirty seconds later, Kaylee comes out. “Hi, Haley.” She walks in front of us and takes off her shirt, then faces her back to us. The word ‘Will’ is written there. Huh?
Brendon is the next to saunter in front of us. “Hi, Haley.” And he gives us a view of his back as well where the word ‘You’ is written on his back.
Jenny comes skipping out next. She doesn’t say anything but has a huge ass grin on her face. When she takes off her shirt and turns around, she has the word ‘Marry’ on her back.
Zach comes out, blows me a kiss, then shows us his back and it has ‘Me’ on it. What the fuck is going on?
Sam is the last one out, and her eyes are red like she’s been crying. When she turns around, she has ‘?’ on her.
“Read that, baby,” he whispers in my ear.
“Okay. It says Will You Marry Me?” When I finish, I look down and see that Liam has his hand open and is holding a small box. He slowly opens the box in front of me.
“I knew the first day that you moved in that you were it. Will you marry me, Haley?”
Holy fuck! Sonuvabitch. I turn halfway around so I can see him. “Are you serious? You want to marry me?” I can’t believe that someone would actually want to marry me.
I can hear everyone laughing, including Liam. “Why wouldn’t I want to marry you? I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with your crazy, sexy ass.”
I know the tears are running down my cheeks. He loves me. We’ve said we loved each other after that night. “Yes.”
“WooHoo!” I hear the girls scream. The next thing I know, we are both being attacked. Liam has his hands firmly placed on both sides of my face, kissing me with all he has.
I have dreamt of this moment all my life. All I ever wanted was to move out of that hellhole I was in and graduate from college, which I’m about to do. I hoped and prayed that I would find someone who would love me the way I deserved to be loved. Liam has been the answer to my prayers. He has taught me so many things since I’ve been in this house, as well as all the others. The people that live here are family…they are my family.
You never know what’s going to happen when you decide to venture out on your own and live your life. You never know who’s going to teach you something. You may have one person or several that you learn from, but the bottom line is there is a lesson in everything. I was lucky and had six teachers. I learned a lot from all of them. I learned a lot about myself as well. I’m stronger for one. I’m have more confidence in myself and the things I do.
There are teachers in every shape and size. Make sure you pay attention when you meet one…you just might learn something.
The End
DEVIATION
By
M.C. Cerny
Deviation: an action, behavior, or condition that is different from what is usual or expected.
An act or instance of deviating; a noticeable or marked departure from accepted norms of behavior.
Example: Edith and Jack deviate from the acceptable student/teacher relationship.
Deviation, 2014, in Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved June 27, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deviation
Edited by Kim Young
Chapter One
Edith
I slam my head down on my desk as the nameless, button-down wearing TA shoves another exam paper in front of my face. Groaning, I peer up and, with shaking hands, flip the blue book open to the back page. Again, in big fat red marker that looks like someone bled all over my quiz assignment, is written…69%