Chapter 1: Tulips, Tears & Mysteries
They first met when they were twenty-eight, at their 10th High School Reunion. He had known about her in high school, and even before, but she hadn't even known he existed. She was Wanda Rhodenizer, the county beauty, with her long dark hair, her strikingly blue-green eyes, and her adorable country accent. He was just Jonathan Scott. All he had going for him was his school track record, which was nothing to brag about seeing as the only sport the school cared about was football.
Jon had loved Wanda ever since he first laid eyes on her in second grade. He spent years trying to get up the courage to talk to her, and finally, the summer before fifth grade, he decided to do it. He strutted into the school on the first day of school, with his new books in one hand and a freshly picked tulip, her favorite type of flower, in the other. He waited for her just inside the main entrance, but she hadn't arrived by the time the bell rang. He figured she must have gotten to school early, so he looked for her in the halls throughout the day. Finally, at the end of the day, when the tulip had wilted, he saw her best friend, Kathy.
"Hey, Kathy!" Jon yelled across the hall. "Kathy, wait up!"
Kathy turned around. "Yeah?" she asked.
"Do you know where Wanda is? I've been looking for her all day but I haven't seen her yet."
Kathy looked around uncomfortably, trying to find a way out of the conversation. "Umm…I—I don't know. Maybe…um…maybe she moved. Anyways, I gotta go. Bye!"
"But…you're her best friend. You should know where she—" Jon started to say, but Kathy turned and walked away.
Jon didn't see Wanda for the next six years, and he had given up hope on ever seeing her again. Then, on the first day of the last year of high school, Jon saw her. She was more beautiful than he had remembered, and she somehow seemed different, but in a good way.
He tried to talk to her all year, but things just kept getting in the way, and finally it was graduation day and she was gone
Jon thought about Wanda everyday for the next ten years. He joined the Marines, and sometimes the only thing that kept him going throughout the rigorous training was the senior yearbook picture of her that he kept in his hat.
After a few years of training Jon was being sent to war, and the day before he left for Lebanon he discovered that Wanda had gotten married, and was now pregnant with her first child. He hardly ate anything for the next few weeks, and he couldn't concentrate on the fighting, but slowly the pain faded, and he was able to rise through the military ranks and retire early, when he was only twenty-eight.
Jon arrived back home just in time for his 10th High School Reunion. He didn't want to go, but his brother and sisters forced him to, saying it would be good for him to get out of the house. Jon arrived at the reunion a little late, and hung out by the punch bowl for about an hour. He didn't see any of his old friends, and he was about to leave when he saw Wanda. She looked wonderful, and she hadn't aged a bit. He decided to leave all of his silly fears behind, and he walked right up to her.
"Hey, I'm Jon. I don't know if you remember me or not," he said.
Wanda considered for a moment, then answered, "No, I don't think I do, but hi anyways. I'm Wanda."
"I know," Jon said. "Do you want to sit down?"
"Sure," Wanda answered.
They talked for hours. It was like they had been best friends for years. Apparently Wanda had gotten divorced and was raising three young children by herself. Jon told her he thought that was very admirable, and would like to meet the kids sometime. After that, there was a light in Wanda's eyes like Jon had never seen before. He asked her out for dinner sometime, she accepted, and they were married a year and a half later.