It was Saturday, raining, and Lauren was driving. But this wasn’t just another weekend drive through the rain. She wasn’t parking in the prairie and gazing at the lightning to calm her nerves. She wasn’t sneaking out to a crazy party, or headed to a hockey game. No, this drive was different. It was the drive that would change her life.

Passing mile 38, she was near the river (opening adjective). It was covered along the banks with burnt out fires and crushed bottles from past nights. These crazy summer flings weren’t uncommon in southern Colorado. It brought people together; it’s how she met Cameron.
Last summer he came into her life. It was unexpected and unplanned. It was some kind of perfect. As she walked down the banks, drink in hand, she saw him. He was nothing special. In fact, she’d seen him before. He was part of a pickup scrimmage she played a few weeks back. He seemed different today though. She knew there was something. As she went to go talk to him she straightened herself, trying not to appear desperate. As they got to talking they hit it off. As they sat there throwing rocks they never noticed the rest of the people slowing disappearing. He was the only one she noticed.

Weeks went by and their relationship progressed; falling harder every day. It was the summer romance you read about in fantasy novels. Many thought he was lucky to have her, she thought the same of him. They spent as much time together as any two could. The nights they stayed up, conversing, the two only grew closer (delayed adjective). They would talk for hours about everything and anything. She would go to his house and spend time with his family. She loved them, and they welcomed her. She would even help in his parents shop for a chance to see him. They took walks through the woods that neither of them will ever forget. Together forever, they both thought so.

As Lauren continued driving, the rain increased. Frustrated, she hit the dash with her fist so hard the glove box flew open: pens and road maps everywhere. She pulled over and struggled out of the car, she walked through the drenching down pour over to the passenger side. She opened the door and cleaned up the after affects of her frustration. As she put thing back together, a piece of paper caught in the storm and blew out the door into a puddle at her feet. She saw that it was a picture. Torn and water damaged, but still a picture. It was taken at a hockey arena not too far from where she was. That was a memorable day.

Thinking back though, there was nothing special about that calm july week as it started out. In an effort to spend more time with the most important people in her life, Cameron and her best friend Julie, she joined a hockey camp that they were both attending. It was a lot of grueling work, but she bettered her herself at hockey, which was her favorite sport, and afterwards got to spend time with her favorite people. On the final day of camp she had an intense make out session with Cameron before he had to leave. They raced up the hill and set at the top where no one was around. He told her that he loved her. She knew he meant it. He was the absolutely best thing that’s ever happened to her. As he held her on the grass, Julie came to say she was ready to leave. They had her take a picture because they wanted to remember this day. They tried a few but the conventional smile wasn’t cutting it. She looked at him and he made a face he commonly did to signal sarcasm. This made her laugh. As they sat their laughing together, Julie snapped a picture and grinned in approval. Never had she seen people so happy.
Lauren, weak and exhausted, passed yet another mile marker, further from home (absolute phrase). Home was sacred to her. She had lived in the same house since she was little, it symboled security and unchanged. She knew it would always be there, along with her parents who would stand by her every decision; they trusted her, sometimes too much.
On the weekend of Lauren and Cameron’s six month anniversary, Laurens parents left to Vegas for a long weekend on business. Lauren decided they should spend their anniversary together at her house and watch a movie. Cameron was 16 at the time, and had just got his license. Lauren was excited to have him drive himself over for the first time. They enjoyed the time together watching the newest drama’s off pay per view. Towards the end of the movie things changed and she was no longer tuned into the screen, what happened after that she blamed on a number of things.
She blamed it on the alcohol, mainly vodka, they had. She blamed it on her parents for leaving and trusting her wrongly. She blamed Cameron for coming over in his new car and looking so attractive. She blamed everything, but mostly she blamed herself. At 16, this isn’t where she wanted to be. This would change her life forever. When she woke the next morning, she was relieved to find that he was still there. Of course he was still there, why would he leave? He could never leave. As he got in his car and drove away, she fell, effortlessly, back asleep and visioned their future life together (delayed adverb).
The rain was now pouring down buckets. When Lauren was a little girl her mother told her that rain was God crying, and the lighting was him throwing punches to express his anger. She thought of this while she was driving and figured that God must be pretty well pissed off right then. This amount of anger, she visioned, must be like something she’d never seen. Then again, she had seen anger.
Words were thrown back and forth, then pillows, then chairs. As Lauren ran to her car, tears fell down her face. Cameron didn’t try to stop her. Surprisingly, He let her leave (opening adverb). His mother shook her head at him in disapproval as she viewed the ordeal from the kitchen. She may have been the only one who realized the magnitude of what just happened. Cameron walked down to his room and grabbed the pieces of the broken chair; gathering them into a trash can. He returned and set at his desk, where tears from his new ex still remained in puddles on the wood. He wiped them away with his sleeve and rested his head. He knew they were both fed up, but did he give up too easy?
As months passed, the seasons changed, along with both of them. As the birds flew south, so did their communication. The occasional drunk call or fight wasn’t uncommon. Cameron wanted to move on, but just couldn’t. Lauren had the occasional fling but it never lasted. After awhile she didn’t feel like dating anyone. She longed for Cameron back with her. He was the light in her life. Before him Lauren was one hit away from being clinically depressed. Cameron took that all away. After Cameron, however, the pain didn’t seem the same. In fact it was now physically affecting her. She would stay up all night doubled over the trash can. She missed a few days of school, then practices. Then weeks passed where no one heard from her aside from Julie. She didn’t know what was going on.
In an effort to help her out and stop her from completely disappearing off the grid, Julie tried to get her out as much as possible. In an effort to get her finally back into the social crowd, she convinced her to go to a college hockey game with her. After several outfit trials she settled with a skirt; her skinny jeans no longer fit. Lauren figured this was due to the overeating lately that was a part of her grievance.

As they were about to leave Julie remembered one key thing. She turned and asked Lauren if they should stash a few spare tampons in her purse, just in case. Lauren agreed hastily. Though it was bazaar she had been longing for her period. She hadn’t had one in over two months and she was beginning to wonder if she had something wrong with her. Julie always assured her that she was just irregular because she was a teenager. Lauren agreed. What else could it be?
By now the rain was calming down and Lauren was nearing a small town. She was starving. She hadn’t eaten since she had left home. As she pulled off at the near exit, she began looking for the nearest fast food joint. She wasn’t planning on wasting any time. She found a Dairy Queen and figured this would have to hold her over. She pulled up to the window and ordered two double cheese burgers and a large fry. The operator signaled her ahead and told her the total amount. When she pulled up to the final window, the guy working inside gave her the most peculiar look. Ignoring the odd stare, she stretched herself over to the passenger side to look for some loose change; she liked exact change. As she scavenged threw her belongings, the waiting Dairy Queen employee pointed out the tattoo that was now visible on her lower back. He said curiously, “It’s Japanese isn’t it?”
Startled by this statement, Lauren quickly at up and snapped, “What are you talking about?”
“The tattoo on your back. It’s Japanese. I know because my wife has one kind of like it. Those types of symbols usually mean different signs like hope or love.”
“mine is a little deeper than that” Lauren smirked,” here’s your money”, handing her three dimes two pennies, and a nickel. The man took the change and replied, “Thanks. So what made you get it? I can tell it’s new. The pen marks are still around it.”
“Yeah I got it yesterday, it hurts like hell though.”
“I bet. So I really don’t mean to pry, but what does it mean? It a very interesting pattern.”
“It stands for my life and an aspect of it. I used to have so much of this from everything. Later someone started to supply it for me. Now I have to keep it for myself.”
“Now what would that be?”
“Strength.”

It was now rounding three months without Cameron. She had given up talking to him. Every time she did it just caused her more pain. She couldn’t handle him at the moment anyways. She had bigger problems at hand. First off, she had now gained almost ten pounds and still hadn’t had her period. Julie and her had been talking alot and they both knew. She couldn’t hold it off anymore. Soon she would have to know. Julie asked if she wanted her to go with her. Lauren declined kindly; she had to do this alone. Before she left her house she grabbed some cash for the store. She grabbed some cash for what she needed. She grabbed cash for a pregnancy test.
As she walked down the aisle she couldn’t help but shake. She was worried someone would see her, but she was far more worried about the results. As she stood there and tried to decide which test to pick, she thought about how this would be the first of many decisions. First of all, telling her parents. All of that built up trust and reliance thrown down the drain. She didn’t know how they would handle this, if they did handle this. If they didn’t just turn her away right there and send her packing, as if she had somewhere to go.
She finally made her choice. She went home and set up in the bathroom. Luckily, no one was home. She read the directions over and over again just to be sure. And she finally got it down. It was actually quite simple; One stripe for no baby and two for a baby. As she sat there and waited for the result she thought of everything this would mean. If two lines showed up, it wouldn’t be only two lines. There was so much in-between. Between the lines there was her division 1 scholarship along with her entire hockey career. There was school, friends and her social life hanging in the balance between these lines. Two lines meant two jobs, less time for school, and no time with friends. These two lines crushed your body below them, never to be the same again. These lines held her life as she knew it. She almost prayed that only one would appear.
When the moment came, she readied herself. She moved into the kitchen and sat down in her favorite seat. Then, once she was situated, she slowly slid the cover off. She couldn’t get herself to open her eyes. She counted down from five. 5, 4, 3, 2.…1. She opened her eyes. She dropped the test and was completely speechless. Her whole life ,everything, would change if she saw two lines. So, as she ran to the phone in great distress, the test laid there on the ground, with a small screen and a cover. Displaying two pink lines.