Lost, p.26
Lost, page 26
“Seriously,” Kieran said, catching Lysander’s eye. “I’m never leaving. You’re stuck with me now.”
“I’m sure Dad wouldn’t have a problem with that, but your mom might.”
“Screw my mom. She’s got a permanent stick up her—”
“You should move out here,” Jack cut in. He was stretched out, his back against the tree. “If not now, then after graduation. We can all go to college together. It’d be great!”
Lysander pictured it. The four of them studying useless degrees, partying on the weekends, trashing their dorm rooms together. Simply being stupid kids, having fun, the way they were supposed to.
It sounded like Heaven.
As the afternoon grew darker and the yard lights began to come on, laughter faded into gentle conversation and the smaller groups shifted to become one larger gathering. Pat and Brendan were working the grill overtime, their wives bringing out so many salads and sides Lysander doubted their party would be able to eat it all. The delectable scent of red meat permeated the air.
Lysander looked around at everyone, smiling and having a good time. The year itself hadn’t been the best, but summer had turned out to be worth the wait. He’d lost so much before coming to California — his mother, his sister, his life as he knew it. What had started as a plea for help had become his salvation, a lifeline he hadn’t known he needed. He couldn’t imagine his life anymore if he hadn’t. Where would he be? Alone in his old house, still wondering what had become of his sister?
Instead he had his friends, he had his family, and he had a future to look forward to. That was more than he could ever have hoped for.
“While we’ve got everybody here together, can we have your attention please?”
The teens turned to face Pat. If his words hadn’t asked for everybody’s attention, his booming voice would have made the demand clear. Vicky stood beside him, their hands joined, the tiniest of smiles on her pretty face. In the darkness, she looked almost radiant.
“We have an announcement to make,” Pat said, his own smile wide.
Pat’s and Vicky’s mothers both straightened up at once. Pat’s father sat back with a smile of his own on his face, one that said he knew something nobody else did. Vicky’s father had an eyebrow raised. His look said he had a fair idea of what was coming, but he wasn’t yet certain of whether or not to believe it.
Lysander thought he might know what was coming, too. Why Pat and Vicky had asked so many of them over that afternoon.
He looked over to his father and step-mother, both of whom looked like they were thinking along the same lines as him. Zack was already grinning like a maniac. Georgia had a hand to her mouth, and happy tears were prepped to fall from her eyes.
The yard was silent as everybody waited for the news to drop.
And then finally, it did.
“I’m pregnant,” Vicky announced, beaming as she added, “with twins.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I will be the first to admit this story isn’t the best.
Literally a week before I received the email from Silver Shell Publishing to tell me they were interested in Zack and Lysander’s story, I lost my most polished (though still not perfect) draft in a computer crash, and was left with a much rougher version to work with. Despite this, I decided to accept SSP’s offer and patch the story up as best I could in the time before they wanted to release. I did this as a lesson to myself: to always back-up my work with Google Drive, to prove to myself that I could get something done before a deadline, and to release something that I considered imperfect – because it was always going to be, no matter how long I worked on it. Such is the way of a writer.
I wrote Lost in my early twenties, at the tail end of my fanfiction days, and it’s definitely a product of its time: a commentary on people who were writing stories where the father fell head over heels for the child, and the child was their mirror image. Dakota is a manifestation of this. Lysander was supposed to be my scathing response. Despite this, there were those that genuinely enjoyed the story for what it was, who encouraged me to finish and to carry on with my writing afterward. This publication is for them, and for the younger me who thought becoming a “real” writer was an impossibility.
I’ve been on a number of writing sites over the years, and I wish I could remember the names of every person who ever commented on my work, because I want to thank all of you. As much as I love writing, I genuinely don’t know if I would have stuck with it this long if it hadn’t been for all the positive feedback I’ve received over the years and for the readers who literally followed me across sites. Steph V., I see you and I love you!
Special shout out to The Rebel Elite Book Club on Wattpad (@Rebel_Town) for their absolutely invaluable feedback on this story. Although this isn’t the version I managed to polish up nicely after taking all their feedback into account, the Rebels helped me to become a better writer, and I’m hoping that will show in future works I’m intending to release.
Thank you to Elle and the wonderful authors at Silver Shell Publishing for welcoming me into your fold and giving this story a home. Nicole Bea, you are one of the most inspiring, thoughtful, and helpful writing companions I could ever have asked for. Thank you for loving me (I had to) and for always being so helpful and supportive. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know that I would have published anything yet.
Thank you to my real world besties, Chanttel and Alex, for all the encouragement over the years. Even if you never read a word I write, your constant jokes about body counts and smutty scenes are appreciated!
Thank you Mum for introducing me to books. Here’s another one to take up space we don’t have!
Thank you to Perrin of The Author Buddy and Rachel of Christley Creatives for your amazing work on this book’s cover. You were both such a delight to work with, and I was always left smiling after reading your emails and messages. I’ll be back for more covers in the future!
Thank you again to all the indie authors who offered me support and advice on this journey. You guys have always been so wonderful.
And thank YOU for reading all of this drabble. What are you still doing here? Go check out some of the other works SSP has on offer!
ALSO FROM SILVER SHELL PUBLISHING
THE THINGS WE COULDN'T SAVE
by Nicole Bea
Clarke and Katie have been best friends since elementary school, sharing sleepovers, pizza bagel recipes, and their jobs at a failing ice cream shop. But Katie's new relationship with Nick, a street racer from a rival high school, leaves Clarke behind. She fills the Katie-shaped hole in her life with Nick's best friend and fellow racer, Zayne.
But this is not a love story.
As Clarke and Zayne fall for one another, Clarke's world is rocked with the thrill of street racing, binge drinking, and living in a moment where it feels like everything is changing. In her rush to become the version of herself Zayne says he loves, Clarke starts to lose touch with the person she is. Soon, Clarke's transformation into a girl who lives on the edge becomes an ultimatum: what is she willing to leave behind when summer ends?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Renée Shantel started writing at the age of eleven, for no better reason than she was tired of waiting for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to be released. She has entertained dreams of being published ever since. She has taken several short courses in creative writing, book editing and publishing, and managed to have her first short story published in May, 2017.
When not writing, she can be found shooting analogue photography, casually learning to play the piano, or smothering her cats with love.
Renée Shantel, Lost
