Love At First Swing

Chapter 1

Laken didn't like the cold, growing up in the Texas heat will do that to a girl, and this cold December day was no exception. New York as of yet was not growing on her, she had not yet stopped mourning her parents, and the ache in her chest simply had not gone away no matter how hard she tried to move passed it. Life was not going Laken's way. And she couldn't quite shake the feeling that this miserable cold day was somehow not over and the worst was yet to come.

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I was sitting alone in what my Grandmonster wants me to call, "my room" in her house writing in my journal when the doorbell rang. I prayed that someone in her staff would answer and I could stay as I was and pretend to be absolutely anywhere else. My favorite place to pretend to be is Texas in the spring, when it's warm outside but not yet one hundred twenty degrees and the flowers are blooming and I can run around in my own yard without the need for shoes. But the doorbell rings again and I remember that I am in fact still in my grandmother's New York penthouse where shoes are necessary and it's below thirty degrees outside. It is also then that I realize no one is going to answer the door at eight o'clock on a Saturday, the staff are long gone by now and so is my grandmothers sobriety. While walking downstairs I pass my grandmother's room and hear the clanking of glass and smell the alcohol that radiates from the other side of her closed door. When I reach the bottom of the steps I stop to take a breath and I open the door to see none other than the former love of my life. And I smile at him in shock and then suddenly it dawns on me. Hunter is in New York city, on my doorstep. And with that realization my smile breaks as I get the sinking feeling that I am not going to like what's next.

"Lak-"

"Hunter whatever it is you came here to say can we just forget about it? Because I get the feeling I don't want to hear it," I cut him off and begin to shut the door when he grabed the door with one hand and my wrist with the other.

"Laken I don't want to say this to you anymore than you want to hear it."

"That is totally reassuring!"

"May I come in? Your going to want to sit down for this one."

As I walked him in to the living room I noticed how stiff he was, and the worry inside me doubled. As we set down on the couch Hunter refused to look me in the eye. We sat there for a moment him looking anywhere but me as I myself analyzed everything about him. He'd cut his hair it wasn't the shaggy mop that it used to be but instead he was in style with all the latest boy bands, hair gel and all. With his hair cut you could see his eyes better, Lord have mercy I loved his blue eyes. And now they where staring into me and it was like Hunter was looking inside my soul. In that moment he grabbed my hand and sighed.

"Laken, we are getting married."

It was like the world had flipped upside down and gravity was failing me, I felt the falling sensation from head to toe and my vision went dark. I could feel someone shaking me, then calling out my name and I opened my eyes to see Hunter, which meant this was not a dream.

"Are you all ri-"

"You don't just tell someone that you are getting married Hunter. It is common courtesy to ask for their hand not demand it! And most people tend to date a little while before hand, they also tend to be out of high school. Have you fallen on your head?! Did all that bull ridding finally get to you?!"

"Listen Laken I'm not thrilled to be getting married to you ei-"

"That was rude. I know that your mother raised you better than that! And if you don't want to marry me then why in tarnation are you here?!"

"Because neither of us have a choice in the matter Lay. Your grandmother said that she found a loop hole in your parents will and that if we don't get married she will keep your inheritance, she wants you out of her house. And my parents want me to stop making dangerous decisions, like bull riding and they thought that if I was accountable for someone else, someone like you, then I would have to change. And to make sure I went through with it Grandpa threatened to take my name off the ranch deed. He said he would rather sell the place then leave it in the hands of someone as reckless as I am."

We sat there then in utter silence after that. I tried to read his face again waiting for his serious demeanor to crack, this was Hunter after all. I thought maybe in a minute he will burst out laughing and tell me it was all a joke to get me rattled. But that didn't happen, and I could feel my eyes begin to water and breathing getting shaky. I sat there barely aware of my surroundings and not even caring that I was crying, ugly crying no doubt, in front of the boy that I had loved for half my life. And at this point I wasn't even sure what I was crying for; the fact that I was getting married, the fact that Hunter didn't actually want to be with me, or that my grandmother really was a monster. I felt someone pull me close, but I didn't want to open my eyes and see my knew reality. The smell of Chrome cologne hit me as I breathed deep breaths and began to calm down. And I knew it was Hunter, he had been my friend for years I was the one that bought him the cologne for Christmas. I looked up into his eyes and he flashed me a small grin. And I knew it was his way of telling me it was all going to be okay. I tried to force myself to smile back and in the process I managed a small chuckle.

"Hunter, what will the boys say?"

And this time it was his turn to freak out.

When the shock of what I said wore off Hunter followed me up to my room, kindly ignoring the stench of my grandmothers and I could here the clinking of her pouring herself another glass. When we entered my safe haven Hunter began to laugh.

"What exactly are you laughing at," I asked already knowing the answer. My room was absolutely covered with pictures in fact on one wall that was all there was. And if you looked you could tell they were pictures of us, and our friends. I loved my room because it helped me to remember all the good times, but I know exactly what Hunter was thinking.

"You are su-"

"Such a girl." I glared his way.

"You know Lay it would be nice if I could finish a sentence now and then."

I laughed because for as long as I could remember we were finishing each other's thoughts. We were so close it was like we could communicate without talking, we just knew how the other felt. That was until realized I liked him. Then that became all I could think about; did he like me back, did he know that I liked him, does he think I'm pretty, does he catch me staring, do the others notice? We were in elementary school when my crush first developed, he was pushing me on the swing set at the park and I could hear our mothers talk about how cute we were. Before then I had never thought of Hunter as cute, but after they said it that was the only way I thought of Hunter. And today at seventeen I'd have to say the years have been good to him. I turned to see Hunter analyzing my picture wall, smiling and chuckling at our memories together he truly was my best friend. He then pointed to a picture.

"I didn't know you had this one."

I got closer and saw he was pointing at the picture of us on the swings when we're eight the day I realized he was it for me. I smiled and told him that day was a fond memory. And with that he proceeded to help me pack.