I Promise

"I would have never done anything to disobey or get me into the trouble.

But now, all I want is to live,

and if it means I have to break all the rules to follow my dreams,

Lock me up now, because I'm a criminal."

Chapter One

"Now, Serenity, we have a few matters to discuss with you." My Uncle James, announced one Sunday afternoon after mass.

"We know that you are becoming a very mature, beautiful woman in both your soul and body.  We realize now you are nearly a graduate of high school and temptation may begin to arise as you move onto college..."

My Uncle and Aunt are die-hard Christians, which is easily made known by my name, Serenity Mary Walsh, which they gave to me after my mother killed herself when I was barely a few months old. I don't know what name appears of my birth certificate, that same name I suppose, My Uncle can persuade anyone to do anything he pleases, he is after all, the priest of the local Christian church.  I have grown up to understand all aspects of the full-time Christian life I lead. I appreciate the way they have bought me up, but sometimes I just wish I could be normal, and avoid conversations like this one..

"...We want to make sure you're safe, cupcake. So we have decided to present to you, a promise ring and hope that you will save your virginity, purity, innocence and dignity for the wonderful man we will choose for you to marry." He ends with a wide smile on his face.  I nod and grin as he hands me the silver band, that has been inscribed with the word, 'promise' on it.

"I promise, Uncle, I will not let you down." I said in all-honesty as I slide the ring onto my wedding-ring finger.

I must admit, I have been a bit of a disappointment for my Aunt and Uncle, from the day I was born, I was already different to everybody else. I'm not very tall, quite short actually, 5"4, compared to my lean, thin and sporty older cousin, Chastity,  who reaches a staggering 5"9. I have dark, thick brown hair with eyebrows to match and deep amber eyes, whilst the rest of my family has light, golden- blonde hair (except my bald Uncle) with bright, emerald-green eyes. From the one picture I've seen of my Mum, we are pretty similar looking. As for my Dad, Uncle said he went off into the army, and never came back, leaving Mum with a broken heart, which led her to do what she did. Though, the family rarely talks about it, as suicide is extremely frowned upon in the Christian religion. So when anybody I don't know, asks me, I've been instructed to tell them she died in a tragic accident, and give no more details.  What they don't know is, is that my best-friend, Lacey, she knows the whole story. I never met my Mum, but I

Lacey, is the daughter of a husband and wife who do a lot of volunteer work at the church. She's a Christian too. Her family is much richer than mine, she lives in a really expensive estate up in the hills, about a fifteen minute's drive away. But our family avoids driving, we usually make the long, forty-five minute walk when we visit. Lacey is much prettier than I am, she has brilliant deep red hair and eyes that can be turquoise one day and green the next. Despite the no-touch policy our school has between males and females, you can see how the boys drool over her  fit body and natural beauty.  I first met Lacey in pre-school , we were assigned seats next to each other. I used to hate her, mostly because I was jealous of how pretty she was, and her perfect family life. One day she found me crying on the oval and sat down next to me and put her arm around me and said "Is it because you have no mum or dad?" And that's when I told her the whole story. Since then, we've been the best of friends.

That morning she came bounding up to me and embraced me in a hug that almost cut off my air supply.

"Um.. Lacey can't breathe!" I managed to spit out before she released me.

"Can you believe it?" She squeeled in excitement, "We're graduating tonight!"

I was sad that my time at St. Mary's was nearly over , as we move our way through the school I thought of how much I was going to miss, the grumpy old cafeteria lady with the mole on her chin and the way the classrooms leant on an angle because of the floods last year. The one thing I thought I'd never miss, which I'm now going to miss the most, is my uniform . The way it so unattractively sits on my body, and the putrid green and off-cream colours that used to make me want to puke, now comfort me. In college I would have to choose something different to wear everyday, I bearly had three outfits in my closet at home. My chest tightened a little at the thought of leaving and I started to feel a bit queasy. Lacey cocked her head to one side and looked at me, concerned.

"Oh Ren!" She said sympathetically, the nickname she gave me in pre-school had stuck and I like it. It's like we have our own little language. She gave me one more constricting hug before realeasing me and grabbing me by the shoulders.

"All that matters is that we're going to still be together, we're going to college together!" She smiled and I smiled back, weakly.

"Yeah,  I know." Dragging behind her feeling the weight of a sack of potatoes on my back.

Lacey and I were going to St. Andrew's College together in the fall, but taking completely different classes. Lacey was doing a course in Medicine, whilst I was opting for Primary English Teaching. I loved my science courses more than any other subject, and those are the subjects i'm best at. But just like my Aunt Sally and Chastity, my Uncle wants me to follow the footsteps, and strongly believes that  teaching is a job better suited to a female. So Im following there footsteps just like he said, and I can already feel Lacey and I becoming more distant and I know my heart will be left behind at St. Mary's as I go to college in the fall.

That night, as we throw our graduation caps, into the air and they get all mixed up on the ground, I can't help but let a little tear slip down my cheek onto the ground and I quickly smear the wet trace away with the back of my hand.  Everything is going to change, just when I don't want it to.