Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I do not make any money off of them.

Chapter 11- Ruthie

7 years later…

She hadn't thought about him for awhile, and for some reason she didn't know why she was now. Of course as much as she'd hurt, she still loved him. Crazy wasn't it? He'd broken her heart at prom, unintentionally of course, but she still had it broken one more time when he left without even saying goodbye to her at all. She had no idea where he got his scholarship to for a long time. His father must have taken pity on her or something because he told her eventually and always kept her informed of Martin's going ons. She hadn't talked to Beau Brewer in quite awhile, she liked him, he was really sweet and easygoing, and she imagined that that's what Martin would be like when he was older, which was a good thing, a very good thing. She decided she'd visit Beau tomorrow but for right now she was going to get back to writing her newest novel. She'd penned them under a different name and never wanted her picture on the books. No one except her close family knew that she was the romance novelist Corrina Turner.

She turned on the radio only to find nothing she liked. She flipped through stations until she settled on one with a tune she liked, but didn't recognize.

I've been cheated by you since I don't know when
So I made up my mind, it must come to an end
Look at me now, will I ever learn?
I don't know how but I suddenly lose control
There's a fire within my soul
Just one look and I can hear a bell ring
One more look and I forget everything, o-o-o-oh

Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again?
My my, just how much I've missed you
Yes, I've been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mamma mia, now I really know,
My my, I could never let you go.

I've been angry and sad about the things that you do
I can't count all the times that I've told you we're through
And when you go, when you slam the door
I think you know that you won't be away too long
You know that I'm not that strong.
Just one look and I can hear a bell ring
One more look and I forget everything, o-o-o-oh

Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again?
My my, just how much I've missed you
Yes, I've been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mamma mia, even if I say
Bye bye, leave me now or never
mamma mia, it's a game we play
Bye bye doesn't mean forever

Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again?
My my, just how much I've missed you
Yes, I've been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go
Mamma mia, now I really know
My my, I could never let you go

The song made her think of Martin and their relationship again. 'Ugh, why can't I get away from him?' She forced herself to think of the upcoming school year. She was excited for the beginning of another school year. She couldn't wait to get some new students and she loved that she'd immediately gotten a job at her alma mater. She loved teaching English to her freshman and sophomores. She rarely saw the passion for English that she had in her students but there was one or two last year.

She'd moved out of her parents house when she had enough money to. The whole romance book thing was a side project that she did to have money during the summer too. They weren't cheesy like most novels in that genre, but they were beautiful and sad, but always romantic. It was like living vicariously through her books. Ever since prom night she dated a lot, to try and forget Martin. She didn't go to her junior or even senior prom though. Not because of the lack of invitations, but because prom was a bad memory and a good one, and she didn't want to tarnish one and repeat another.

There was Michael, whom she dated during her entire stay at Camp Cayson. They were both counselors, and he was really sweet and he'd kissed her on their second "date." They "dated" for their two month stay there, but when it came time to leave they both knew it was just a summer thing. They'd decided to become friends, and still were to this day, although they'd made out and stuff like that they had no feelings toward each other anymore. One day about a year and half later they were talking and she admitted that she was using him, and had wanted to get a guy out of her mind. Funnily enough he had the same reason, he'd been trying to get over a girl, the laughed and started talking about something else.

After Michael there was Jake, they'd dated about two months as well before they both realized that he was gay. She hadn't talked to him in a year, but he'd called her when he found his partner and had asked her to come be his maid of honor at the wedding. The last she'd heard about them was that they were trying to adopt a child from Darfur.

After Jake she was single the rest of her junior year. Sure she went on some dates, but no actually dating any guy in particular. But her senior year there was a whole list of guys, no one special. There was Greg, Brad, Josh, and Ryan. She went to USC at Berkeley and there was where she met Peter Petrowski again. They dated for two and a half years, and then both finally realized that as much as they loved each other, they just weren't right together. She heard that last year Peter had married a girl named Kelly he met about a month after their breakup. She was thrilled for him when she heard the news, he deserved someone that special to him.

Her senior year she met a guy named Russ, who was almost perfect, (no one is perfect). They dated her senior year, he was two years older than her and he was in the Army, but she honestly thought they were in love, but he knew different. One day he confronted her and told her that he knew that she loved him, but there was someone who'd always have her whole heart and he knew it wasn't him. He told her loved her and that he probably always will. A month or two after that he was shipped out to Iraq. He'd been back for a little bit, but he'd met someone not long after he was back from his tour and he decided not to reup (reenlist) and he married her. Her name was Adriana and she saw their wedding announcement in the paper, and saw that she was beautiful and saw how happy he was, but she wanted to cry because she hadn't found anyone to love her the way these guys had and she wondered if she ever would.

A/N: The song that's playing is "Mama Mia!" by ABBA. Please R&R! We're nearing the end, so soon you'll find out what happens.