| published! under the new title MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE | Eden knows she can't love Truman, the boy with the angelic smile and devilish eyes. Why? He's her best friend Katie's older brother, who she strictly promised she'd stay away from.
But when a...
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E D E N
It rained the morning of Ramona's wedding. I ran through the church parking lot with my jacket shielding my head from the droplets. The inside of the church was warm and dry, and I sat in the front pew and knelt down.
No one else was praying yet. There was this heavy anticipation in the air—this intangible buzz. I could see it in everyone's eyes; hear it in their whispers.
And I wanted so badly to join in. I wanted to squeal and giggle and stare in awe at Ramona's five-thousand dollar dress with a sweetheart neckline; I wanted to gasp when she slid the ring onto her groom's finger and pick a flower petal off the floor and place it behind my ear.
I sat in the second pew and I wanted to feel the excitement I felt boiling around me but instead I felt empty inside, like I was standing on the rafters and watching from different eyes.
How could I smile at this wedding when my world was falling apart? With Truman gone and Katie on the cusp of death, there were no more Falls siblings in my life. And I hadn't felt this lonely since before I entered grade nine and met Katie for the first time.
So as the priest declared them husband and wife and the church erupted with applause, I knelt on the ground and shut my eyes. I prayed to a god I had stopped believing in that summer night when a boy drank too much and got behind a wheel and hit my best friend; when I watched Truman's knees sink into damp grass when he learned his sister may be dead.
I squeezed my eyes shut and I prayed to any god that these past few weeks had been a horrible dream. That I'd wake up to Katie snoring beside me in a light pink sleeping bag and Truman sitting on the kitchen counter, feet dangling in the air and a bowl of cereal on his lap. I prayed that promises were never broken and neither were hearts.
But then Ramona screamed with happiness, and she descended the alter steps with her husband's hand in hers, smiling brighter than the coloured sun rays streaming in through the stained-glass windows, and I remembered that I didn't have the luxury of dreams.
That promises had been broken.
That hearts had been shattered.
That lies had been told and secrets had been kept. And that I had lost both Falls siblings because I was selfish, horribly selfish, and unable to keep a simple promise I made as a young girl.
Then Ramona's eyes held mine as she walked down the aisle, a married woman. I smiled, brilliant and dazzling until my cheeks ached and my eyes burned.
Ramona smiled back, completely unaware. And that was the scariest part, how unaware we all were.
If I was aware there was a drunk driver on the roads, I wouldn't have let Katie leave the party.
