Ripple Effect: A Novel (38 page)

I’m jittery off of adrenaline and my stomach is queasy thanks to nerves. Why couldn’t I just be happy to be graduating? Then I look around me and see that the majority of the students are in the same shape that I’m in.

So it goes like this: girls in nasty yellow gowns to the left of the stage, and boys in navy blue gowns to the right. Then we move slowly, slower than it should be, toward the stage where our names are being called out.

The yellow gown reminds me of the golden bridge I’ve seen so often in my sleep. I swear there are figures on that bridge, humans that have spoken to me, but I can’t remember. Quite frankly, it’s annoying. Dreaming is annoying. Unless I dream of Kelly, then it’s not too bad.

Nightmares about the coal mine incident or Leison assaulting me . . . I have far too many of them. It’s not fair if you ask me, but nothing in life is. Needless to say, the hostages we found are fine and alive. They’re actually advocates now for some awareness group that deals with abductions and whatnots of young adults and teens. They’ve invited us a time or two to their meetings, but every time I see the girls I see three bags of bones in a tunnel. It’s nothing personal.

I guess I’m still having a hard time with this. Not that I’ll tell anyone. My fear will ease with time.

“Cecily Wolf,” an announcer says, bringing me from my thoughts. The person behind me shoves me forward. I glare at them before moving toward the stage, which shouldn’t be that intimidating, but it is.

I stumble on to the black stage and smile naïvely. Everyone becomes silent, just like I knew they would. Principal Smith shakes my hand with pride, and then a few other members of the school board follow. My diploma is placed in my hand, I smile for the camera. People finally clap for me and it’s nothing major or embarrassing. My
sisters
call out my name and cause a raucous, which helps in breaking the awkward silence, and I leave to sit down in my seat. I pass Hazel on the way and she suppresses a giggle at my expense. I refrain from smacking her head with my diploma.

As I sit, I hear them––I hear the whispers,
Cecily Wolf, the bravest girl in school
;
Cecily Wolf, the girl who stopped Leison;
Cecily Wolf, the fearless hero; Cecily Wolf, the one that saved the girls
.

Sabrina, who is a few rows up and to the side, is looking over her shoulder at me. I allow a small smile to fill my face and she returns the motion. Since the incident with Leison, we’ve become close friends. She’s no Hazel, but you get what I mean.

The names are finished quickly and we all rise to our feet. After a speech on bullying and confinement by Stacy, the valedictorian, we throw our caps into the air and let out screams of excitement and laughter. We did it!

Students disperse to their families and I make my way over to Sabrina and Stacy. After the fiasco with Leison, the hierarchy obsession has dropped down a couple hundred notches and no one cares that Sabrina is being seen with us, or that we are being seen with her. We have joined an unseen pact through the trauma we’ve endured, and we don’t care if anyone is having a fit about it.

Besides, we’ve become like the coolest people at school over it. I don’t care about the admirers or the fact that I am the
Hero
to many. Being
Hero
has nothing to do with why I stopped Leison. Cool or not, what I did is what I did.

“Did someone puke on your gown?” Sabrina asks me.

I look down at the yellow color. “I custom ordered it. You don’t like it?”

Sabrina smirks and winks. “I have the same one! Now I have to go and sue the company for messing up my order. I can’t possibly match you, Wolf.”

We laugh and nudge each other with our elbows.

“Nice speech, Stacy,” I compliment. She was uber nervous about it.

Stacy smiles and blushes a little. “It wasn’t too personal, was it?”

“No. You said just the right things. We should always stick up for ourselves and not allow each other to be bullied. It was good,” I reply.

“Party time!” Hazel yells and slings her arm over my shoulder. “Who’s in?”

Stacy, Sabrina, and I both exchange uninterested looks.

“Who wants to start a bonfire and roast things?” Darien asks. “Kelly and I are going up the canyon. Who’s game?”

I sigh with relief. “I’m in!” I can’t do parties––they’re too awkward.

Everyone else agrees. Hazel finds her way to Darien. Kelly wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses beneath my ear with tenderness. Sabrina and Landon are talking and flirting a little––I’m pretty sure they’re an item. But with
those
things and Sabrina, you don’t ask. She’ll tell you when she wants to.

Mom and Adie join us and I give them huge hugs. Of course, when there is Adie, there is Daphne and Jema. After teasing me about my puke colored gown, they give me sisterly hugs. Then they tease me about smooching Kelly in public. They’re just jealous.

“Gordon,” Mom says with a happy smile, and we all look in his direction. “Wonderful seeing you.”

He smiles, his gray eyes slanting a little. “Nina, I can say the same.”

“Where is Natasha?” Mom asks. She has to reel her head back to just see his face.

Gordon wraps a strong arm around his daughter and smiles. He kisses her oh-so tenderly on the head. She blushes with embarrassment, but secretly loves it.

“Sabrina,” Natasha says as she runs toward us, teetering on super high heels. “I have something for you.” She hands a small box to her and her model-like face lights up with excitement.

Sabrina takes the small box in both hands and stares down at it for a moment. Finally, she opens it. Inside is a locket with a picture of her father and her when she was little. Tears fill her eyes and she looks at Natasha with surprise. “You’re not in the picture,” she whispers. “It’s not complete . . . unless we have our whole family.”

Natasha’s face fills with shock. “I’m not your mom, though, and I can’t take her place––”

Sabrina throws her arms around Natasha and hugs her tightly. “You’re the closest thing I’ve had to a mother, Natasha.”

Mom exchanges looks and smiles with the teary-eyed Gordon.

“Come here, baby,” he says and hugs his daughter tightly. “Did I tell you that I love you today?”

Sabrina smiles. “I think I need to hear it again.”

As they talk, Hazel’s parents join us. They exchange hugs with Mom, then congratulate me on my accomplishments. It’s easy to say that Hazel is a miniature of her gorgeous mother, and her dad looks rich and sophisticated.

Kelly wraps his arms around me tightly and I smile, feeling like things in the universe are okay for once. For everyone, for once.

*              *              *

“I want to dedicate this round of root beer to the happy couple, Kelly and Cecily. May you get married soon!” Jema says as she raises a brown glass bottle to the orange and pink sky. I laugh and roll my eyes. “You’ve been eighteen for a month now . . . it’s time to get on with life,” she adds.

I laugh loudly and Kelly holds my hand. Then we all swig from our bottles of soda and return to our laughing and chatting.

The fire is huge and the flames lick at least six feet into the fading sky. The forest is full of life. Green leaves line the branches as wildflowers and native grasses fill the forest floor. Old logs sit randomly among all the green grass and wildflowers. Ivy curls up a trunk or two in the forest. Of course, we sit on a concrete pad with a fire pit.

Sabrina and Daphne start talking about fashion week in who knows where, with added input from Hazel. Adie and Stacy are talking about some book they were reading, and how they want to start a book club. Jema is chatting it up with a few of Kelly’s friends from his work. Darien and Landon are all about the newest ninja video game.

And . . .

I’m just sitting contently in Kelly’s arms while I watch the flames before me, smiling at the wonderful people that surround me.

Kelly’s finger strokes my arm and I look at him and smile. “Come over here with me,” he says quietly.

My head nods and urge him to lead me where he wants to go.

There is barely enough light to see by, so I grasp his arm tightly as we hike along a wide trail. At the top of the trail is a small clearing beside a cliff that is filled with fireflies. Kelly stops us there.

“Is everything okay?” I ask him. Just barely, I touch my finger to his chin and smile. When he bites his lip and gives me that eager look, he melts me. “That fire is a little hot . . . I can see why we took a nice stroll.”

With a nervous smile, he nods once. “Cecily, I want to ask you something.”

“Yeah,” I reply, as something inside me freezes.

Kelly laughs at the expression on my face. “It’s not scary––I don’t think.”

I look down at the green earth and back into his water-blue eyes. “Kelly, what is it then?”

He pulls a black velvet box out of his pocket. “I’ve had this for a long time. Look, we’re young, and this world is so big and there is so much to do, and so many people would be against this at our age, but . . .”

I stare at the box then into the eyes of the man who stole my heart. My heart is pounding.

The box opens. Inside is a small diamond sitting on a white-gold ring. I’m frozen when I see it and all I do is stare in shock and wonder.

Kelly cups my cheek in his free hand and stares anxiously into my eyes. “Will you marry me, Cecily?”

I breathe, “Yes, Kelly!”

Our lips meet for an eager kiss. We exchange another elevated laugh. My mouth quickly meets his again. Very softly he kisses me, melting my heart.

“What about the Navy? Are you still going to join?” I ask, my eyes closed and my lips an inch from his. I open my eyes and can’t hide my fear. “Kelly?”

Kelly holds my face in hands and nods his head. “I’m joining the Navy, and you’re still going to the Art Institute. We’re still going to do everything we wanted to do, Cecily, we’ll just do it together.”

We kiss once again. I step away and place my left hand in his. With a very excited smile, he slips the small little ring over my wedding finger. It is perfect, in all ways. Kelly worked hard to buy this little diamond for me, and that’s all that matters to me. Besides, I’m not one for big jewelry anyway.

Kelly pulls me close, a devishly handsome smile filling his face. With a giggle, I kiss him once more, a kiss I never ever want to end.

“Cecily Owens,” he whispers, after I rest my head on his shoulder.

Laughing, I look at him with a raised brow. “I was thinking Kelly Wolf . . .”

Kelly’s head rolls back and he laughs loudly. “Wait!” He looks at me, serious now.

This time I am laughing hysterically. “No! Cecily Owens is just fine.”

Strong arms wrap around me super tight and he kisses me with all the love in the world.

After graduation, Hazel and I set off on our epic trip to the West Coast. Darien and Kelly had their fits, but we didn’t care. We had been planning this forever! So, we jumped in the car, blasted “California Love” and by the time we reached the freeway, the song was over. So, we blasted it all over again, and again, until we got sick of it. Then the next day we blasted it some more. Reaching the Pacific Ocean was one of the most epic things ever! Hazel and I dipped our toes in the water before having a sand fight. Coming home was the hardest part.

Hazel and Darien were engaged for a total of six weeks before getting married in July of that year. They went down to the beach and had a little ceremony. It was very Hazel. Her parents weren’t exactly happy about it, because it wasn’t huge and posh, but she didn’t care.

Daphne, Jema, and Adie eventually got around to finishing college, meeting guys, and popping out a few kids. (Let’s just say that Daphne was a little too excited for the boom-boom.) I still see them frequently. Obviously, because they are my family.

Owens and Reinhardt ended up falling in love, as I knew they would. They remained partners against crime as Special Agents, and in life, from there on out. James Longhorn, or Leison, was shot to death—and no RIP on that one. Thanks to the info he gave us about leaving coordinates on maps, all the families that had lost their girls—thanks to Leison’s smug confessions—were at least able to get their remains back.

Sabrina clearly confessed everything to her father, the sex (rape included), drugs, substance abuse, her hatred for her mother, and her distrust for Natasha. Not to mention the death of her older brother at such a young age. He took her to a therapist and they’ve both getting counseling, because they both need it. Sabrina feels loved again and with all that negativity wiped from her mind and heart, she’s allowed Landon a permanent place in her life. She and Natasha even hang out now, like friends or something, and she is included in that adorable locket that she gave her.

Stacy is amazing! She made it through a horrible ordeal and has taken valuable life lessons from it. She is an advocate against sexual abuse and goes around talking to young people about how they can change their lives, and tells them that they are not alone in their pain and suffering. Stacy brings hope to others that have none.

My mom surprisingly set out to serve humanitarian missions. She leaves for three months out of the year to places like India, Africa, Ecuador, and Mexico. As well as preaching her beliefs, she helps out with medical care and teaching positions. She always wanted to go abroad and help the people.

I set off for college in New York. The Art Institute was as beautiful as I had imagined. The lines of the city were so sleek and crisp and unlike anything I had really ever seen. I knew that it was where I belonged, where I would fit in.

Kelly was almost immediately drafted in the military, so we decided that we’d wait ‘til he got back to get married. Luckily, time passed quickly and Kelly had returned to me. Of course, he was some epic hero and everyone knew who he was for his unselfish acts.

We got married that fall in upstate New York. I always had a thing for the fall leaves and their vibrant colors. I wore this awesome ivory dress and he wore his Navy blues, which he looked amazing in. I would say that it was one of the best days of my life.

Unfortunately, death has visited us as well. Kelly’s grandma passed away at an old age and was happy for a life well-lived. We used to sit around and listen to her old stories as she crocheted baby blankets to donate to the church. She loved to help the children in the community and was always cooking big batches of soup to give to the community centers and soup kitchens. She was one of the most memorable people that I had met in my life. It was hard to see her pass.

The years swirled into one as they passed by so quickly. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into years. Months seemed to be completely bypassed. Next thing I knew I was twenty-five, living in a penthouse in New York with Kelly, my husband, and a college graduate who made art worth living off of.

Sometimes, I can remember the horror I went through in high school––I remember it crystal clear. Leison and the classroom, Principal Smith and the officer asking me questions, stealing the map, throwing up, the mine tunnel, the starving girls. The horrible cuts he left on me. Sometimes everything comes back to me and I can’t really function for a few hours, but I get past it.

I sometimes reread the journal entry from the night that I was supposed to kill myself. I still don’t understand the phenomena behind how I was stopped. Whatever it was, it saved not only my life, but the others’ lives as well—many others to be exact. If I hadn’t been here to stop Leison, he could have done damage that was far worse.

Though the physical scars have faded overtime, I still have the mental ones. I am not defined by the fears of my past, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t haunt me still. What has happened will never happen again. That is what brings me solace on dark nights. Never will I be touched like that again . . . threatened like that again.

I was once a victim of a horrendous act, but now I stand as a warrior.

I am a survivor.

I often catch myself thinking about the ripple effect I leave in this life. If I had died, Adie would’ve died. Hazel would have dived into a depression. Sabrina would have been raped and killed, Stacy too, I guess. My mother would lose all hope. Kelly wouldn’t have met me and found his one true love. Darien and Hazel wouldn’t have gotten together because no one would stand up for them like I did. Mr. Leison would have gotten away with it and killed many others. The girls in the mine would have never been found. And really, who knows what else?

But, since I lived, my ripple effect was like this; Adie lived. Hazel and Darien fell in love and were married. Mom went forward to do humanitarian work. Leison was stopped and caught and lives were spared. I made two more great friends in high school, Stacy and Sabrina. And I married my soulmate, Kelly, the love of my life.

Today, Kelly and I have two cats named Whiskers and Mr. Frisky (Adie chose that name). On my walls are copies of my most memorable paintings. The red lily is in my guest bedroom because that is where Adie and her husband stay when they visit us. Her husband was volunteering with her at a cancer institute when they met. In my bedroom is the beach scene that got me my scholarship to the Art Institute. A golden bridge that arches through the solar system sits in Kelly’s office.

In the studio is a painting of a troubled girl, touching hands with an angel in white . . .

It is still waiting to be finished.