After Before and After

Conclusion: Chapter 20

Sometimes, Ralph Langley still felt like he was just going through the motions. After a terribly long two years beginning with the trial and ending with an alcohol addiction, Ralph was tired. He had very little energy for the day to day antics of junior year. He seemed to be on an entirely different wavelength from the rest of his classmates, if not an entirely different planet. They were all wrapped up in their sports and performing arts events; Eastern Woodland Academy's end of year celebration. They talked at their lockers between classes about their plans to summer in Costa Rica and which colleges they were considering applying to next spring.

Ralph was just glad he survived junior year.

The one thing that never made Ralph feel like he was just mindlessly rolling with the punches was Jack. The two of them had been together for the better part of the last three years. Most kids their age moved onto a new boyfriend or girlfriend within three weeks. Somehow, Ralph never got tired of being with Jack. He never wondered what else could be out there, and never got tired of the way Jack touched and kissed him. Today, he was as infatuated with Jack as he was on the night they first kissed.

The one thing that did strike Ralph as new and strange was the realization that they were so much older now than they were that night Jack showed up at his house after the rescue. Back then, they were still the same kids from the island, the kids who were too young and stupid to know better. Ralph liked to think that they would've handled themselves better in a survival situation now. They were older, in better touch with their feelings, and they knew what they wanted from each other. Ralph had been thinking a lot about the kids they were when they first got together. He thought about the last three years and how they changed them for the better, even the really terrible and uncomfortable days.

And there were plenty of those memories in the vault.

Jack was graduating high school this year, something that made Ralph a little sad. The older boy's adult life got to begin a year before Ralph's would. Being a grade younger never really bothered Ralph before, but it had never really set them apart before now either. Jack had already made it clear he wasn't interested in applying to colleges, and Paige was quick to let that go. After the trial and Ralph's battle with alcoholism, they all figured that both boys could use a moment or two to catch their breaths.

Paige had somehow successfully managed to keep her brother away from Rebecka Brenner after Ralph caught him sneaking out to see her. The promise that he'd get to make that choice for himself in just a few months was enough to convince him to respect Paige's wishes in the meantime. Becoming a single parent to a teenager at twenty-five was challenging to say the least. During the trial, the Merridew siblings did talk about the fact that their relationship would have to change for the duration of Paige's guardianship. Sister and parent were two entirely different roles, and sometimes, she'd have to be less of a sister and more of a parent. Jack claimed he understood that back in Savannah before she petitioned the court for custody. This thing with Rebecka was the first, and definitely the biggest, parent hat moment for Paige. Her decision to take away the car she bought Jack after he got his license was the next.

Ralph was relieved when the Merridew siblings moved past the Rebecka thing. For weeks after he busted Jack, the latter and his sister were practically at war with one another over Jack being forbidden to see Rebecka. It took weeks before the air slowly cleared between them, at least enough for Paige to sit her brother down and remind him that he agreed to let her play parent when she felt strongly about something. Eventually, their sibling relationship returned to some semblance of normal. Ralph was pretty sure that Jack was counting the days until his birthday just so he could see Rebecka again. If it kept the peace between Jack and Paige, Ralph was perfectly happy to let him count.