Carol + Chad 4-eva! (California Dreamin' Series Book 1)

by Flynn-Shon,Jenn

  CAROL

  +

  CHAD

  4-eva!

  Jenn Flynn-Shon ©2016

  A Writesy Press Publication

  Published by Writesy Press, LLC

  Phoenix, AZ 85032

  www.writesypress.com

  All Rights Reserved.

  Copyright Jenn Flynn-Shon, 2016

  Carol + Chad 4-eva!, September, 2016

  ISBN 978-0-9885668-8-0

  Published in the United States of America

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and above listed publisher of this book.

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

  This book is a work of fiction. Any characters, or incidents described and detailed herein are the product of the Author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.

  Names, business establishments, product names, or otherwise, included herein are used in a fictitious manner and/or as a means of story development. No compensation has been provided to the Author or Publisher by said named organizations, or their assigned, for inclusion within this work of fiction.

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  PART I

  High School. Awesome.

  Tues. 9/7/87

  First day of school. Finally a sophomore. I thought it would be different than freshman year but it was pretty much the same. Classes were all so boring. Well except for Geometry. Last year when Kelly got Mr. Banks she told me I had to get him because he’d be the best teacher ever. My sister couldn’t have been more right! He’s kinda dorky but he’s a really good teacher. I was nervous I wouldn’t get it but he made it all really easy to understand. And at least Cherry is in class with me so we can study together. Kelly had Mr. Banks for junior Geometry. I can’t believe she graduates next June. It’s gonna be weird being in school without her.

  Wed. 11/25/87

  I’m totally in love!!! Well, I guess I’m not really in love but god Chad is hot. He’s in Kelly’s class. She brought me out to a party last weekend and he was there. He looked just like Michael J. Fox in acid washed jeans only with perfect, feathered black hair. I was way too shy to even talk to him, so I just hung out with Kelly and Ron, Brett, and Alyson. But then Mary got mad at Alyson because she was flirting with her boyfriend or something and all the girls left early so I had to go with them. Lame. I can’t keep up with my sister’s friends. I’ve never even had a boyfriend. Anyway, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Should be fun at nanas and at least we get to go to the game before dinner. I need to learn what a left tackle is. That’s what Chad plays.

  Sat. 1/23/88

  Happy birthday to meeeee! Finally my sweet sixteen. Nothing like Sixteen Candles though. Everyone remembered this morning and they all threw me a party this afternoon. It wasn’t supposed to be a surprise party, kind of hard to pull that off on the weekend since I don’t have a license yet and I’m always home. Nana came and a few friends. I got a lot of clothes and cash and a couple records. It was fun but I’m glad everyone is gone. I’m going to go listen to some music in Kelly’s room for a few hours then crash.

  Fri. 1/29/88

  Wow what a day! I got a 98 on my history quiz. Funny though, when I got the paper back and re-read the answers I wrote I barely remembered writing them. School is so stupid, I don’t feel like I’m learning anything. Just memorizing a bunch of stuff to pass a test and then forgetting it all with the next lesson. The only reason I even like going to school anymore is to see Chad. He got in line behind me for pizza today. I finally got up the courage to look him in his amazing blue eyes and I smiled at him. Ohmigod I was so weird. He said, “Hey, Carol, how’s it hangin’?” Isn’t that so cute?! I wonder if he likes me. My friend Jess works in the Principal’s office so she got me his schedule and I get to see him at least twice every day if I walk around the long way to history.

  Sat. 1/30/88

  Ohmigod I’m so psyched! Chad asked me out! For next Saturday night. I know that’s 7 days away but I already picked out my outfit. Those awesome white Jordache jeans with the cute little bows and zippers on the back ankle and the sweater I got for my birthday last week. Kelly said it’s a grown up sweater. And I haven’t worn it to school yet so he’s never seen it. I like the yellow and pink pastel stripes and my blue turtleneck looks perfect under it. I can even wear my long necklace Nana gave me. Then I can wear my white flats with the blue socks. It’s gonna be perfect! He called me after he got my number from Ron who got it from Mary. He says he wants to take me to Papa Pie’s. That’s the best pizza in town and all the cool kids hang out just down the street in the center. I never thought I’d be a part of that crowd except as Kelly’s little sister. I totally can’t wait!

  Sat. 2/6/88

  I just had the best time with Chad. He’s soooo cute and we talked all about him playing football and baseball in the spring. He’s a third baseman and thinks he might even be able to get a scholarship to play in college. I didn’t know how to answer when he asked what I wanted to go to school for. I mean that’s two years from now! After pizza we went to hang out with Kelly and Ron, Mary and Alyson in the center. There were some other seniors there too but I didn’t know them. A few girls who mostly hung out talking to each other. But after Mary and I got back from the store to get her smokes, Chad had his arm around one of them. I tried to not care but it seemed weird how fast he took his arm off her shoulders and came over to me. He kept glancing at her every few minutes. I didn’t want to ask, I felt weird so I bummed one of Mary’s smokes and laughed with everyone the rest of the night.

  Fri. 2/26/88

  When we were out tonight Chad said he loves blondes. Ohmigod! Does that mean he loves me? We’ve only been out a few times but we’ve been kissing non-stop for like two weeks straight after school. He’s such a good kisser. I mean, I know I don’t have anyone to compare him to but I can tell he’s just really good. He holds the back of my head and knows just how to tilt back and forth. His hand running through my hair feels so good. And he gave me the cutest teddy bear for Valentine’s Day! It sits up on its hind legs and has a little pink fuzzy heart in between the paws. When he kissed me goodnight he said he’d call tomorrow. I’m so in love!

  Fri. 3/11/88

  My heart is broken in about ten billion pieces. Chad dumped me today. Right after third period when we usually meet on the fifth floor near the bathrooms where I sneak away to smoke. But he met me before the stairs and pushed the orange door shut so nobody could get in. Then he said he just had to concentrate on baseball and graduation and he didn’t have time to date me. He walked away before I could even say anything. I didn’t cry in front of him but I skipped Spanish and smoked about a pack of Reds in the bathroom. Then at lunch I heard some senior say something about me being “frigid” and no wonder he dumped me and how nobody would ever date me because I won’t even let a guy get to 2nd base. He said he liked kissing me. I can’t stop crying right now. We only dated for, like, a minute. Jess is coming over in a
few minutes to sleep over. I want to cry again. I thought he really liked me.

  Sat. 8/6/88

  As if it wasn’t hard enough getting over Chad dumping me now he wants to be friends or something. All my friends were either away or busy last night so I randomly ended up hanging out with Mary down the center. About twenty minutes after we got there, Chad came down the street with his arm draped over the shoulders of that same girl he was talking to the night of our first date. Only, tonight, he started ignoring her to come talk to me.

  At first I thought it was okay but then I saw her face. I knew what she was feeling because it was the same face I made last winter when he did it to me. She was sad and confused. He walked over to the payphone and I grabbed Mary’s arm so we could take off. He’s tried calling this morning but I told everyone I’m not home for him. Maybe if he wasn’t with her we could talk but he’s not my boyfriend and no matter what he says he wants, I can’t just be friends with him.

  Sun. 1/22/89

  Ohmigod we all just had the BEST day! Of course it’s my birthday tomorrow (yippie!) so me and the girls all went out for dinner and ice cream tonight. Dinner was fine, we got pizza in the center. So glad Cherry drives now because it was freezing out and the wind literally made me cry. Not as hard as all of us were crying from laughter though after we got to Chip’s for ice cream and ended up laughing so hard we got thrown out! Jess invited this kid Paul from her Chem lab and he’s a riot. I don’t think any of us stopped laughing the whole afternoon. Chip himself came out from behind the counter to tell us to keep it down or he’d have to ask us to leave. When Jess was laughing so hard she actually fell out of the booth and onto the floor, Chip had no choice but to toss us. Cherry drove everyone home and she dropped Paul last.

  Mon. 6/5/89

  This week is going to be torture. There were so many damn snow days this winter that we still have classes all week. Even though graduation for seniors was yesterday. And it barely even snowed anyway, we totally could have gone to school. You can tell all the teachers are over it, nobody wants to be there. Summer break is so short and this year we get to go to The Cape for a whole month! Dad worked something out at his work where they let him take all his vacation time back-to-back. I can’t wait to start buying my summer clothes and packing.

  Falmouth is going to be so fun even though Kelly can only stay a week so she can get back to Arizona for work. She lives there full time now, I guess college is a lot cheaper when you live in the state where you go to school. It’s awesome she’s coming for the first week of August though, I miss her so much. Think I’ll apply to schools in Mass.

  Sat. 8/12/89

  Chad. Why does he keep showing up all over town? Didn’t he go to college? I’m seriously never going to get over him if I have to keep seeing him everywhere. Tonight it was at a party Billy was throwing to say goodbye to everyone before he ships out overseas. Germany or something for the Army. Cool kid, not sure I would have gone if Jess wasn’t interested in him but she is so we went. And of course there was Chad. He kept looking at me in the living room from the corner of the dining room where Billy put the keg. He never came over to talk to me and that was fine. I don’t want to talk to him anyway. I’m about to be a senior and there are too many things on my mind to be thinking about that guy. Once Jess saw Billy kissing some freshman we left and went for coffee in Woburn. Strange night. I was glad to get home kind of early. Chad staring at me like that was weird.

  Fri. 10/20/89

  I just got back from the mall, we had so much fun picking out Halloween costumes! Just me and the girls. Oh, and Paul. Jess is going as a gypsy because she said it will be more comfortable to be in big flowy clothes instead of trying to put on some tiny skirt or something. Cherry and her boyfriend Paul are going as Johnny and Baby. I totally laughed at Paul when he came out in the black tank top and pants. He looked like a pencil compared to Patrick Swayze. (Yum!)

  Anyway, my costume is lame, ma bought it last week. I spent all my babysitting money on smokes, tickets and a dress for the semi-formal so I can’t complain. But it’s a princess dress and mask. Purple tulle skirt and the mask totally smells like spray paint. I told her I already have blonde hair so I don’t need a fake, plastic face and hair. She thinks I’m still 10 and won’t let me wear makeup. It’s Halloween! Whatever. All we’re doing is trick or treating anyway. I have a huge trig quiz on Wed. so I have to study all night.

  Tues. 12/26/89

  My head is pounding, I spent the whole day reading through college packages for the four schools I’m deciding between. My top choice is Babson, the campus is gorgeous and they have a great accounting program. Cherry thinks I’m crazy staying here. Her school is U. of Washington. Or as she calls it ‘UDub’. It’s where her brother went 5 years ago, and her dad, too. She didn’t even apply anywhere else. Her family said they’ll move if she gets in since she’s the last kid. Sucks. I’ll miss her.

  Good thing I’m off this week, gives me time to complete my apps and get them in the mail. Mary’s younger brother Jack keeps asking me out. He’s in my class but between school and work I can’t imagine having a boyfriend, too. I was thinking about Chad yesterday. Being in the middle of all this college crap is hard. Maybe he was smart to dump me before graduation. Even if he broke up with me because I wouldn’t have sex (or maybe that was just some dumb rumor that died as soon as he graduated), I get why he did it. I’ll probably go to prom with Jack. He’s funny and fun to hang with.

  Tues. 3/20/90

  I can’t believe we had to shop for prom dresses on a Monday but we’re all working now so yesterday was the only day we had to go. We all found something at the mall. Cherry got this slinky thing. It’s like she’s wearing black sequined cling-wrap with fringe (which, apparently, Paul told her he’ll rip off her before the end of the night). She looks crazy good, of course. Jess got a shimmery olive green dress with a bow on the left shoulder strap. It doesn’t have a right strap and she’s going to wear her hair pulled over to the side. Mine is sapphire blue and made from this crinkly but stretchy fabric. The sleeves are puffy and sit right on my shoulders. I love it! Only two more months!

  Fri. 5/18/90

  Senior prom is tonight. Ma even let me skip half the day so I could go get my hair done with the girls. Now I’m afraid to move my head for the next hour until Jack gets here with the limo and everyone. Too bad my dress goes on over my head. Bad planning. Oh well. When Kelly used to talk about “senioritis” I thought she was being lazy but I get it. Now that I know I’m in at Babson I feel like I just want to slack off the next couple weeks. Even Mrs. Fantonia had us doing nothing but journal balancing all week.

  I really like accounting and I’m so glad I took the class so I could be sure it’s what I wanted to study in college. Math just makes sense to me. And I met a CPA at the job fair last fall who seemed nice and really professional. She was definitely older than ma but not quite as old as nana I don’t think. Her name was Rhoda. She was dressed plain in a tan skirt and white blouse with a blue scarf she had under the collar like a men’s tie, but it was flowy. Her outfit surprised me because she told me she makes $35,000 a year! Wow. I can’t even imagine making that much money. I mean, I make about $40 a week babysitting. That would be like having 17.5 weekly babysitting jobs but only having to work at one of them. I can’t wait to graduate college and start working, I’ll spend all my money on clothes!

  Sat. 5/19/90

  Today is weird. It should be any other Saturday afternoon right now but I can’t bring myself to lie out on a chaise in the yard today. Sitting there getting a tan with a magazine sounds like the stupidest thing ever now. All I want to do is curl up in my room and listen to music. I don’t even want to cry. After I got off the phone with Jess I came in here and just sat on my bed. For the past half hour I just sat there, staring at the pillow in my lap, pulling loose threads out of the faded yellow case.

  Jess heard from Scott. Then she called me. Frankie Martin and Sully died last night. I think his
real name was Pat Sullivan. They got wasted at prom and had their limo take them down to the Charles. Them and George went jumping off some bridge near Harvard Square. George is in ICU. The other two guys drowned. Drowned. My god. I didn’t know those guys very well, we didn’t have any classes together or common friends but I feel like I should be sad. They were weeks away from getting out of high school. Going to work or college. Meeting new people. Living a real life for the first time.

  Maybe I’m in shock but I think they were morons for doing something so stupid. I can’t understand what makes someone do that kind of stuff. Alcohol? I’ve been drunk before. All I wanted to do was eat toast and sleep. Frankie has a sister. Had, I guess. She graduated last year. I think her name’s Paula. I don’t even know what I’d do if Kelly died. I’d die too from a broken heart.

  Saturday June 2, 1990

  See that date right there? I’m writing in detail to make it formal. Official. The biggest day of my life so far. Three short hours and I never have to walk the halls of high school again. I’ll be sad in a way because I know there are so many people I’ll never see again. I guess that’s how life works though. Cherry got into Washington, her whole family is leaving at the end of June. She wants me to visit over break in December. We’ll see, I don’t have a job yet. Jess is going to Framingham State so she’ll only be like a half hour from Babson. We made a pact to get dinner every Thursday because neither of us plan to take morning classes on Fridays if we can help it.