Alaska

Chapter Twenty-Five

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

A lump the size of a walnut formed at the base of Lexi's throat.  There was a large pregnant pause and the only sound that could be heard was Ryan's breathing into the microphone that projected sound throughout the whole ball-room.  He stared up at her, a look of hope and relief on his face and the giant diamond ring glittered in the sunlight that streamed in through the doors.

Lexi stood, stiff and awkward.  Her heart galloped in her chest and she felt like she had just entered a bizarre nightmare.  She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, so she closed it again and gawped at the kneeling Ryan in front of her.

Marriage?!  At sixteen?!  No wonder Bill and Patricia had taken a liking to the Lee's.  It would have been all well and good that they were having a baby anyway if they got married, so it wouldn't put the Whitmore name at risk, and by marrying the two of them, the Lee's got a share of the Whitmore's spotlight.  It was a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone situation.

Just then, there was a rushing sound of footsteps and Lexi soon felt a pair of arms enclose protectively around her waist and settling on her belly bump.  When she looked up, she was delighted to see Ashton staring down at Ryan whose expression turned furious.

"Well?" Ryan demanded, breaking the silence.

Lexi's breathing quickened and she glanced at the seated crowd all around the ball-room at their expectant faces.  She caught a prissy snob looking woman nodding frantically at her to say yes, but then she spotted a pair of elderly people on a table at the far back of the room, and they all looked grave and shook their heads in pity.

Suddenly, there was a shrill squeal from the right side of the room and Angel bounded into the centre, her face looking frazzled, her hair sticking out at odd ends.  She looked livid.

"How dare you do this to her!" She yelled, loudly and the crowd jumped.

Lexi felt tears prick her eyes and Ashton pulled her closer into him.

Ryan exhaled and stood up, still holding the open ring box.  He shifted his weight onto another leg and turned to Lexi again, trying to block out the fact that Angel was angry and Ashton was standing right beside her.  His leaf green eyes looked like a hopeful little kids' at Christmas time.

Lexi's breath rattled, and the intense emotion suddenly overwhelmed her.  How dare her parent's do this to her.  How dare they put her in this situation in front of dozens of people!

She whimpered and threw her face into her hands, as tears poured down her face and her voice shook in splutters and sobs.  She buried her face and hands into Ashton's shoulder, who hugged her tightly and felt him pull her away from the stage and towards the door to the ball-room.  People around her were tutting and muttering things.

Finally, she felt Ashton steering her out into the still air and she withdrew from him, wiping her face roughly and peering around her, carefully.  They were standing outside the Country Club and the area around them was deserted.

"You OK?" Ashton muttered, softly, his eyebrows raised in concern.

Lexi shook her head, gulping, unable to formulate words into speech.

He held her, comfortingly, patting her head and massaging her bump, where fluttered movements began to reverberate off her stomach wall.

 There was a bang, and Lexi whipped back, expecting to see her parents bounding towards her with scowling faces and scolding words, but instead it was Angel who was fuming.  She roughly pulled her sister into her arms, and muttered calming words.