July Raine

July Raine ( Prologue)

When Melonie was young, summer meant time spent at the lake with her family. She lived in a bubble during the summer.  She enjoyed being with her family on the lake. It took her away from her real life for a little while. When she was at Lake Tahoe she didn't think of the world around her or the consequences of the choices she made.
Before turning sixteen , Melonie loved anything about being outdoor. She was that kind of girl. She was a pretty tomboy who thought nothing of romping through the woods. Melonie felt like herself when she was doing all those things. Eventually, as much as she didn't want it to, things changed. She changed.

Melonie was no longer the girl she used to be. It didn't happen all at once, but she changed into a whole new person. Life had changed her. A lot of things changed when she turned sixteen. Changes that would alter her life and the lives of those who loved her most. She would make decisions that would last a lifetime.

There was no doubt in her mind where it started, rather who started it.

She met a boy. Typical was the word for it, but he wasn't just any boy. He would become the most important boy to her. She never would have thought that her life would have changed because of a boy. His name was Rainey Barbacosa, and his name wasn't the most interesting thing about him. 

At this point in his life he was a boy, not a man.  They were both young and dumb, but that didn't stop her from falling in love with him that summer. He was different, he was unlike any guy she'd ever met. He was there when she needed him. He was there when she felt so disconnected from the world.

Rainey was average looking, brown hair, blue eyes, and about 5'10. She wouldn't have ever thought he was super attractive until she got to know him. She learned that personality was what made someone the most attractive. He wasn't unattractive to say the least, he was just an average boy. He would probably not agree with that description, but that was the only description he was getting.

Rainey and Melonie had nothing in common. He was a city boy, loved nothing about the outdoors. He told her his family dragged him to the lake for some much needed family time. That summer was his parents last ditch effort at saving their marriage. As a matter of fact, they were separated by the end of that summer. At least that is what he told her the day they left the lake.

That summer, Melonie was different. She didn't do much hiking or swimming, or anything that she would have normally done. For  whatever reason, she wanted to spend all her time with Rainey. They didn't have a great love story. They didn't do anything different than any other teenagers would do. There were no romantic gestures, no big professions of love, and no promise of a future. Melonie never even told him she loved him, but she did. She suspected that he loved her too. They were just not those type of people. They both knew that it was summer romance, neither of them saw it going any farther than that summer. Regardless of all the reasons not to, she lost her virginity to him. She wasn't sure what they were thinking. He said it was his first time to, which made it seem okay. She believed him when he said that he was a virgin. He didn't seem experienced. Even though her choices were idiodic, she didn't regret her actions. She didn't live with regrets. She embrassed them, learned from them, and moved on.

That last day together with him flashed in her mind.

"Rainey, do you think we'll ever see each other again?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want to promise to stay in touch."

"I don't know." I was beginning to think this was all he could say.

"Do you love me Rainey?"

"I don't know." I couldn't believe that was all he could say, I wanted to cry, but I wasn't the girl would ever like a guy know he'd hurt me, so no tears were shed that day.

"Melonie, maybe one day our paths will cross again, I dunno but right now I just don't see how this could work. We live so far apart, and we are just too different." He was right, I lived outside of Salt Lake City, UT and he lived in Los Angles, California. We were sixteen. What sixteen year olds could make whatever relationship we did have, work.

"Well I guess that is that." I stood up and hugged Rainey. I handed him a card with my address on it.

"For in case, you change you mind." He pulled out a pen and wrote his address on my hand. That told me he only did it to match my gesture. 

"In case you change your mind." I would never write to him, because if he wasn't willing to try neither was I. He got into the back of his parents SUV and they drove away.

That was the last time she saw him.

Six weeks later, Melonie found out she was pregnant. She never once considered writing him, not until that day anyway. She pulled out a post card and wrote.

         I know we said we couldn't make it work.

         I need to talk you, it is important, please respond asap.

         I  do miss you,

         Melonie

She waited weeks and didn't get a reply.  In October,  her heart broke into pieces for their daughter, when she received a response.

Melonie,

I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but the person you are writing to no longer lives at this address. They left no forwarding address. Wish I could have helped.

There was no signature to the letter, she only assumed it to be the new home owners. 

That was almost six years ago. She now had a beautiful brown hair, blued eyed girl, who reminded her some day of her dad. Sometimes, she tried to find him, not for her, but for her July Raine.