Together

Chapter 1

Stef's POV

Senior year. This was it. The first day of my last year in high school.

I got out of bed and shut off my alarm.

"Good morning Stefanie!!!" My mother sang from the doorway of my room.
She's always been one of the only ones to call me by my full name.

"Hey mom." I replied, walking to my closet.

"Happy first day of your senior year! I made you pancakes."

"Ok, I'll be down in 10." I said.

"You better hurry before your brother eats them all." She warned.

I laughed as she closed the door behind her.

I guess I was excited to be starting my senior year. Senior prom, class officer elections, last year in hell....all things to look forward to.

Mostly, I was excited to see my boyfriend, Dan.

He had been on a family vacation for a week, and he got back yesterday morning. I figured I would give him the last day of summer to rest and relax. But today, I would see him for the first time in a week. I couldn't wait.

I headed downstairs, and saw my brother Coleman sitting at the kitchen table pigging out on pancakes.

"Morning Cole!" I said to him, grabbing my own plate of pancakes.

"Hi Stef!" He smiled.

"Are you excited to start 6th grade?!" I asked enthusiastically, messing up his hair with my hand.

"I guess." He replied, fixing his hair.

"It'll be fun, I promise." I winked at him.

Cole was like the light of my life. We didn't share the same dad. My dad left my mom and I when I was 6. A year later, my mom got together with a guy that I was iffy about from the beginning.
He got her pregnant with Cole, then left.
Now it was just the three of us, but really, I couldn't be happier about that.
I love our little family. And I love Cole.

"You're a senior now! Isn't that scary?" He asked, drawing me from my thoughts.

"Well, not really." I said thinking about it. "It's like...it's like the beginning of being a grown-up. It's fun to think about, you know being off on my own soon, but I guess it might be scary."

"When you leave, you'll come back, right?" He asked longingly.

"Of course! I would never just pack up and go forever." I smiled.

He started to get out of his seat to clean off his plate, when he stopped and turned back to me.

"What about Dan?" He asked.

"What about him?" I said, lighting up when I heard my boyfriend's name.

"Are you going to leave with him?"

"Cole...I don't know. But there's still time to figure it all out. College comes before any guy at this point. And so do you and mom."

He smiled and put his plate in the sink.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.
When I answered it, there was Dan on my front step with a bouquet of roses.

"Good morning, beautiful!" He greeted me holding the roses in his hand.

I squealed and jumped into his arms.

"It's been too long!" I said kissing him all over his face.