Tia finally put Angela to sleep. She was only a child, but she was having nightmares about her dad. Some kids in school were taunting Angela about her dead father Angel. Tia sighed. Kids were so cruel. Angela was only in the second grade, but she was accelerating fast. Tia kissed her and slowly shut the door to her bedroom.
She wanted a drink, but knew she couldn't. She was a mom now. A single mom, and a widow. Thinking about Angel, she teared up. They were together in high school, but broke up when Tia cheated on him with Trent. After she dropped out of the Peace Corps bootcamp, she was lost on what to do.
Her mom suggested she try going to a community college. So she signed up for that fall semester. She took some basic classes, and some electives, then after a year transferred to a university in Santa Barbara. She and Trent broke up after graduation. He went on attend a college in Arizona with his best friend Jeremy.
She was doing well for herself and was getting good grades, until she saw her high school sweetheart and ex, Angel Desmond. She was shy seeing him again, but wondered why he wasn't still at Stanford. When Angel saw her he looked really surprised. He went up to Tia and said hi. After a few days, it was like they never broke up.
Angel said he transferred to Santa Barbara because he couldn't afford to attend Stanford. Even with a full scholarship, the idiot thing he did back last year bit him in the ass. He had no savings. His gambling addiction forced him to drop out of college due to lack of money. He didn't have enough cash to keep up with day to day expenses. Luckily his father suggested he go back to college, this time at his alta matter.
Angel was a junior and Tia a sophomore when they rekindled their relationship. Tia apologized for cheating, and Angel forgave her. He said their parents were right, they were too young to go steady. They were happily dating, but were careless. Tia got pregnant in her junior year. When she saw the plus sign, she cried. She was terrified to tell Angel. He was studying for his medical entrance exam when she told him.
She was ashamed. She was sure Angel will force her to have a abortion. Being raised Catholic she knew she couldn't. Angel was in shock. But he assured Tia he wasn't angry. He could work at his father's company. Hearing that Tia cried. She shook her head. She told him not to throw away his future. He was so close to achieving his dream to become a doctor. She then called her mom, who sobbed over the phone. She agreed to help Tia raise her baby at least till Tia graduated.
Tia and Angel got married in Sweet Valley. It was a small intimate wedding, with her mom and Angel's family attending. It was beautiful. Her old friends, Elizabeth couldn't attend, neither could Jessica due to busy schedules. But Conner did. He flew from Nashville to see old friends. Their child was born a few months later. While Tia was giving birth, she was terrified about her baby. Her baby was born a few weeks early and spent the first few weeks in the NICU.
Both Angel and Tia were terrified. Poor Angela was sick. They named her Angela as a combination of their names thanks to Conner's suggestion. After a tense four weeks, she was allowed home. That baby was the love of Angel's life. He swore to graduate and become the best father and husband he could be.
Unfortunately, he died a week later. Tia almost fainted hearing the news. They realized they forgot to get diapers when grocery shopping that afternoon. Tia didn't want to be away from her newborn daughter, and suggested Angel to get diapers at the nearby convenience store. That was a decision that haunted Tia since. Angel was standing in line to pay when there was a robbery. Angel gave his life protecting the clerk and a elderly couple in the store.
When the police showed up at the door, she collapsed in sobs. Luckily her mom was there. She offered to watch Angela while she went to identify the body. Her in laws were in grief. They found comfort in their granddaughter, and wanted Tia and Angela to stay at their home. But Tia refused. They lived in Sweet Valley, and Tia wanted to finish her studies before she graduated.
She finished her degree in Chemistry and immediately got a job working in a medical lab. After six months, moved back to Sweet Valley to be closer to her and Angel's family. Angela was a colicky baby and was teething at eight months. When she heard of the high school reunion at Fowler Mansion, she asked Mr and Mrs Desmond to babysit. She needed a break.
Both were glad to babysit. They hadn't seen little Angela in months. When she got to the Fowler mansion, she was in awe. She's been here, all the way back in high school, but always gawked at the decor. Seeing her old cheerleading squad, she waved.
"Oh my god! Cherie! Gina!" She goes up to them and gives them a hug. Laughing, they all gossip about what everyone's been up too. Even Megan. Conner's little sis came up to join them.
Cherie was now a proud owner of a yoga studio. The recession didn't hurt her business, she was living in the Orange County area. She said she was busy dating around and having fun. Gina was working at Sephora, she said college life wasn't for her. She said she was living her 20s and was still figuring things out. Nowadays she was living in Florida, having met some guy in her travels. On her social media, announced she just adopted a puppy. Megan was in her junior year at SVU and joined a sorority called something Pi's. She was living in Arizona, now married to Evan Plummer, Tia and Conner's best friend.
Megan Fox and Will Simmons also showed up. Everyone was surprised to see them sporting wedding bands. They told their former classmates they returned from Vegas. People were polite to them, but they only had a quickie wedding because Melissa was hiding the fact she was battling breast cancer. Melissa was way more humble these days, she was working as a high school teacher at Big Mesa. Will also got his teaching degree, he was working at the same school teaching as well. Tia and everyone was shock when Melissa apologized to Jessica at the party. Jessica forgave her and they had a good talk. Melissa was cancer free now, having successfully gone into remission. They couldn't have children, but considered their students their family.
Josh Radinsky and Matt Wells couldn't make it, Josh was attending school in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. Matt was living with his girlfriend in Utah. Now both were doing fine, their Twitters say they had good lives. Having lost touch, Tia had no idea what they were up to now.
Jade Wu was a student at Berkeley. She got a full scholarship having accelerating her classes at Sweet Valley High and taking extra credit courses at a local college when she was a sophomore. That was why she skipped junior year. Nowadays was teaching ballet since she was forced to retire after injuring her ankle in a cycling accident. Other than that, she was very secretive about her life.
Andy Marsden flew to Sweet Valley from NYU, he was here visiting friends when he heard about the "reunion." He and Dave Niles went their seperate ways after a few months. He and his new husband nowadays announced they were adopting a baby girl. Dave was now working as a financial planner in Washington. He was still single according to Facebook.
Trent Meynor was at the pool doing goofy tricks. His personality hadn't changed much, he was still a party animal. Giving Tia a hug, he gave his sympathies. He heard about Angel, and gave his condolences. He said he was considering the Coast Guard Academy of California. These days was now a Civil Engineer.
Jeremy Aames was working on the grill, he felt bad for the caterers working their asses off for these crazy party goers. Lila tried assuring him that they were being well payed and could handle themselves. But she knew why he was keeping busy. His ex fiancee Amy Sutton was making out with her new fiance, Nicolas. Amy got worse after high school. She literally turned into a wannabe socialite. She spent her days kissing Lila and Bruce's butts. Lila distanced her self from Amy, she found her annoying. Nowadays was trying to audition to be in some stupid reality TV show with her reluctant husband. At least Jeremy was doing okay, he was engaged to a Boston girl named Chloe Murphy.
Six Hansen couldn't make it, she was in labor with her twins. She was in a relationship with her college boyfriend, a guy named Brian Rainey. They were no longer together, but had a shared custody agreement. She and Tia talked frequently, since they were single moms.
Tia wanted to forget about her problems for the night. She was nursing a Pepsi, she was still breastfeeding Angela and didn't want a stronger drink. When she saw Elizabeth run out, she was wondering why. When she saw her twin and Todd chasing her, she figured it out. They were a subject of gossip that night.
After a few hours she wanted to go home. She was tired and missed her daughter. Giving her old friends a hug, including Conner she went to the Desmonds and picked up Angela. She went to her moms and spent the night. Her brothers were glad to see their niece and helped Tia take care of her needs. Nowadays, they still did, even with families of their own.
Sitting on her couch, she was checking in her emails. She smiled at Conner's news. He said he had an ongoing gig at a popular coffee shop. Tia joked that he was the next Phoebe from Friends. Conner was a good singer and a talented musician. She couldn't understand why he didn't pursue his dreams. All his life he talked about becoming the next Garth Brooks. That is why he moved to Nashville after high school graduation. Conner moved to NYC after he finished college, presumably to trying his hand in Broadway.
When she heard Angela crying she got up to check up on her. God she needed to take her to see a child psychologist. Those nightmares are not common for someone that young.