It's A Shakespeare Thing (Shakespeare Series 2)

Chapter 28

It's A Shakespeare Thing

Chapter 28

Cassio

The house was dark and everyone including me was hid behind some piece of furnature. Lauren was crouched down by the door so she could turn on the light when Ray walked in with Ryan. Ryan's rehab was over and he was finally coming home today. We all couldn't wait to see him. None of us had seen him in person for over a month. While he was at rehab we were only allowed to have short fifteen minute phone calls that were monitered. So we were all a little over excited.

"Shhhh... I hear them coming up the stairs!" Lauren whispered excitedly. She was practically bouncing on her toes.

Suddenly the door opened and Lauren flicked the light on as everyone jumped out of their hiding place and yelled "Surprise!" there was nothing but shock written across my brother's face. Everyone crowded around him to hug him and welcome him back. Ellie and I just kinda hung back and let the crowd disperse before we welcomed him home.

"Hey bro how goes it?" I hugged him.

"Really great at the moment little bro." Ryan replied with a smile.

"Awesome!" I exclaimed. Ryan looked at Ellie and held his arms out wide.

"Get in here munchkin. You may not be biologically my little sister, but I have a feeling one day you will marry my brother." Ellianna smiled and hugged Ryan.

"It's good to see you too." She laughed.

A little while later after Ryan had greeted everyone and almost all the food had been eaten Ryan stood up and tapped his glass with his spoon.

"I always wanted to do that." Ryan joked.

Everyone chuckled before settling down again.

"Lauren, will you stand with me?" Ryan helped a confused looking Lauren out of her seat next to him.

"Lauren, you are the most amazing person I have ever met that i am not related to. You have stood by me when I was at my best and worst. You know me better than I know myself. From the moment our eyes met I knew you were the only girl for me. I promise to love you and cherish you for the rest of my life. This is it baby. Will you marry me?" Ryan dropped down on one knee not only surprising Lauren but the rest of us as well.

"Yes!" Lauren choked out between sobs and wrapped her arms around my brother's neck.

Everyone cheered and applauded the newly engaged couple. I looked over at Ellianna sitting beside me. I knew deep down in my heart she was the only girl I would ever love. Seeing Ryan propose to Lauren had put that in perspective.

The only problem looming in front of us was college. Our junior year of high school was coming to a close soon. We had already started the process of applying to different colleges in and out of state. I wanted to get into a different university than Ellie. We hadn't exactly talked about what would happen if we decided to attend separate universities. It wasn't something we were thrilled to talk about, but it had to be done sooner rather than later.

A weeks passes and summer rolled in. I still hadn't got up the nerve to bring up the college conversation. I guess a part of me hoped that we would decide to go to the same college. That is until Ellie started talking about a university located in the southern part of our state. It was one I hadn't applied to and didn't plan on applying to because they dis not offer my course of study. I knew then that the talk was inevitable. It had to be done.

"Cass. Cassio. Michael Cassio Aymes! Will you please pay attention to me." Ellie snapped.

"Sorry Ellie. I kinda spaced out there." I apologized sheepishly.

"Yeah, you have. What's been up with you here lately?" She asked concerned.

"This whole college thing. After next year we will more than likely be at two different schools. What happens to us then?" I asked voicing the thoughts that had invaded my mind since Ryan proposed to Lauren.

"We have a whole year to figure that stuff out silly. Can't we just enjoy what's happening now?" Ellie smiled.

I knew what she was doing though. She was trying to avoid the subject at hand. I wasn't having any of that though. The college thing had been bothering me for a while and now that I had finally spoken up about it I wasn't going to let Ellie sweep it under the rug like it was no big deal. Because it was a big deal, at least to me it was.

"Don't do that!" I exclaimed.

"Do what?" Ellie looked confused.

"Don't try to change the subject. This has been bothering me for a while. It's not something we can just sweep to the side and forget about until later. Because when later comes I don'twant to be stuck with the same questions I have floating around in my head now." I said hoping she would understand the importance of this conversation. Everything, including our future as a couple, rested on this one conversation.

"Just stop. Ok, maybe I don't want to talk about the future right now." Ellie admitted.

"Why not? If not now then when? Ellie, we can't wait until we've walked across the stage and recieved our diplomas to talk about this. Acceptance letters will be arriving soon. This is serious. We can't just let it sit on the back burner until it boils over. As much as we both- and believe me when I say both- don't want to talk about this, we have to." I sighed taking a breath.

"No. I can't and I won't. Not right now at least. " Ellie walked away from me and out the door.

"Ellie wait!" I called after her, but she was spreading pulling out of the driveway. I was still standing with the door wide open when Raylin pulled up.

"Cassio? What's wrong? What happened?" Ray asked as she hitched Braxton up on her hip.

"Ellianna and I had a fight. I don't know what to do." I admitted sadly.

"What was the fight about?" Ray asked as I followed her into the living room.

"College. It was something that had been bothering me for a while. I wanted to talk about which colleges we were looking into and how it would affect our relationship." I explained.

"That is a serious topic and I'm proud of you for voicing your concerns now rather than the last minute." Ray smiled at me proudly. It made me feel a little bit better knowing my big sister, someone I looked up to, was proud of me.

"Yeah, but Ellie got upset and left. She dais she doesn't want to deal with that right now. But Ray, if not now then when? I don't want to have that conversation with her after we've already decided where we are going. I want to know what the future holds for us. I love her and I want us to have a future together." it was amazing how much I had changed in a year. I went from thinking about which girl I wanted to hook up with to thinking about my future with just one girl. Ray must have been thinking the same thing as well.

"You have grown up so much this past year. I understand what you are saying. I've thought about things like this myself here lately. I'm sure Ellianna will come around and realize that this is important to not only you but her as well." Ray reassured me.

"I hope you're right." I sighed.

Unfortunately, for once Ray wasn't right. The summer passes like lightening and Ellie never once spoke of college. It was like she was in denial. I wanted so desparately to bring it up again, but each time I tried Ellie instantly changed the subject. I wasn't giving up though. This was one thing I would fight for. I had to make Ellie listen for the sake of our relationship.