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Always Be My Baby	By : GetYourShineOn Category: -Misc Cartoons > Het - Male/Female Views: 2736 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Braceface or it's characters and am making no money writing this story.

Chapter List
- 5
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When the Monday after the funeral came, Sharon returned to school. She really didn't feel like going in and just wanted to stay home and stay in bed all day again. But Helen convinced her that it would be best to get back into the swing of things and stop wallowing in her grief.
She also reminded Sharon that she didn't want to get too far behind in school. After all, it was her senior year. Everything she did from this point on was crucial to her getting accepted into NYU. Of course, Sharon wasn't so sure she wanted to go there anymore. The original plan included her, Alden, Maria and Brock. So what was the plan now? Just her, Maria and Brock?
Sharon could only imagine how awkward it would be to share an apartment with those 2 lovebirds. She'd be watching tv in the living room with Maria and Brock making out on the couch. She'd try to sleep in her room while the 2 of them were doing it in the next room. All while knowing she'd never be able to do those things with Alden ever again. And she couldn't see herself having another boyfriend by that point. She was too in love with Alden. It would feel like she was cheating on him, even though he's dead.
Alyson gave Sharon a ride that morning after she had gotten Connor. Alden and Alyson had been the only ones in their group who owned cars. Both of them got cars from their parents on their 16th birthdays. Maria and Connor had the same situation as Sharon, where their parents were making them earn the money to buy their own cars. Brock didn't even have his license. He had failed the driver's test twice. He usually walked to school with Maria in the morning.
The whole car ride to school was pretty silent. Sharon could tell they both wanted to talk to her, but weren't sure what to say. Is this how things were gonna be from now on? Were her friends just always gonna walk on eggshells around her now?
When they got to school and Sharon walked into the building, a huge crowd of students ran up to her. All telling her they were sorry for her loss and giving her hugs. It felt so weird. She was getting hugs from kids she had barely even spoken to. Kids who she thought weren't even aware of her existence. Right when she was about to enter her homeroom, Nina approached her with her posse, Claire and Lanie.
"Great. Just great." She thought. "Like I really want to see her right now."
"Sharon..." Nina said with a sigh. "Listen, I'm really sorry about Alden. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you, ok?"
"Sure..." Sharon replied suspiciously. Was Nina Harper actually being nice to her? She couldn't tell if this was genuine or not. She thought about this as she walked into her homeroom.
Later that week, a memorial service was held for Alden in the school auditorium. A plaque was also put up in the school hallway in the glass case where all the trophies and medals were. It had a picture of Alden and engraved below the picture it said "In Loving Memory of Alden Jones, January 17, 1988-September 4, 2005". He was a star athlete, so it really was no surprise they were honoring him this way.
Sharon struggled to get through the rest of the week. It was like she was there, but she wasn't. She'd go to her classes, but wouldn't pay any attention to what the teachers were saying. She had no idea how she was going to pass this semester. Never mind NYU. She was gonna have to repeat 12th grade at this rate.
She would eat lunch with her usual friends. Maria, Connor, Alyson and Brock. It was so awkward though. Every single one of them was thinking about Alden. They all missed him and wished he was there, eating lunch with them like he should've been. But they knew bringing him up would only upset Sharon more. So they tried to distract her by talking about their classes, what clubs and extracurricular activities they were getting involved in this year and what they would do for their internships when they had to start them later in the year.
Maria was trying to convince Sharon that she should join something to distract herself from Alden. She also brought up the point that colleges wanted to see that she was involved with her school, especially during her senior year. Sure, she was part of the Senior Mentor Program. But was that gonna be enough?
The next week, her birthday came. She had no plans. She couldn't imagine doing anything on her birthday without Alden. Her 14th birthday may have been a disaster due to the fact that she had a misunderstanding and thought she was getting a surprise party when she wasn't. But the 2 birthdays after that made up for it.
For her 15th birthday, Alden did end up surprising Sharon by taking her to the park for a picnic. He had made all the food himself and made sure it was all vegetarian. Of course, Richard decided to throw her an amazing party for her Sweet Sixteen. He had connections with a club owner because his band had played there many times. So he scored a great deal for Sharon's party to be held there. Her Sweet Sixteen turned out to be awesome and her friends were talking about it for weeks at school. She could tell even Nina was upset that she wasn't invited. That felt great!
But her best memory from her 16th birthday was still with Alden. The 2 of them had managed to sneak away from her party for about an hour and made out under a nearby gazebo after Alden had surprised her with a sapphire heart pendant necklace. Her birthstone. She actually considered going all the way with him that night, but still didn't feel ready yet. She had apologized to Alden for making him wait so long, but he told her that wasn't necessary. He understood how she felt and assured her she was worth the wait. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have a guy like him! And now he was gone forever.
Sharon woke up the morning of her 17th birthday with the same sense of dread she had every morning since Alden's death. It was a little worse than usual that day though. She also had a really weird feeling in her stomach. She couldn't quite explain it.
She didn't bother dressing up. She just wore a solid dark green t-shirt that brought out her bright green eyes, a pair of blue jeans and white sneakers. She wore her hair the same way she always did. Before she went downstairs for breakfast, she walked over to her jewelry box on her dresser and pulled out the necklace Alden gave her. She put it on. Then she grasped the sapphire heart pendent and held onto it for a minute. She was flooded by memories of looking into his soulful blue eyes.
"Oh Alden." She whispered. "How could you leave me like this?"
When she got downstairs for breakfast that morning, she was greeted by her whole family wishing her a happy birthday. She politely thanked them, but kinda wished her birthday wouldn't even be acknowledged today. Something she wasn't expecting to feel until her 30th birthday.
At school, she discovered that her friends had decorated her locker. There was pink paper covering the front of it spelling out "Happy Birthday Sharon!" in silver glitter. The inside of her locker was decorated with purple streamers. Admittedly, this did make her smile. She was then greeted by Maria, Connor, Alyson and Brock all wishing her a happy birthday and giving her birthday hugs. It was nice to know her friends cared.
The moment school ended, Sharon's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was her stepbrother, Griffin. His mom, Lauren, had married Sharon's father, Richard, over the summer. She answered it.
"Hey Griffin."
"Happy Birthday, sis!"
"Thank you."
"So, I was thinking. You know how Lauren and Richard are away on their belated honeymoon this week? And they've left me to apartment-sit while they're gone?"
Griffin was a year older than Sharon, so he graduated high school last year. He was taking a semester off from college to travel and work on his music. But he was back in Elkford for the week to take care of Richard and Lauren's apartment while they were gone. After all, he didn't want to turn down easy money.
"I still can't believe they trusted you enough to leave you alone there for a whole week. Especially since my mom told them about what happened last time my brothers and I were left alone."
"Well, I'm 18 now. That makes me an adult. Besides, I never got busted for throwing a wild house party like you did."
"No, you just got kicked out of boarding school and talked me into smoking." She started laughing and realized it had been a long time since she did that.
"Haha, very funny." Griffin responded dryly, but was actually smiling. He had to admit, it was good to hear his stepsister joking around again. "Anyway, why don't you come over and keep me company for a bit? Since it's your birthday, we can watch any chick flick you want. Just tell me what you want to see and I'll go out and get the DVD if we don't already have it here. I'll pick up some cupcakes and veggie burgers for you too."
"I don't know. I kind of just wanted to spend my birthday by myself. I have a ton of homework to catch up on and I'm afraid of falling behind. Why don't you invite Nina over instead?"
There was dead silence for at least a minute. Then Sharon remembered.
"Oh, Griffin. I'm sorry. I forgot you guys broke up. You still never told me why, by the way."
"Yeah, I don't really feel like sharing those details. I know the 2 of you had your differences, but I really loved her."
"I know."
Sharon felt really bad for bringing Nina up. She had totally forgotten how they had broken up shortly after Richard and Lauren's wedding. At first, Sharon assumed it had to do with Nina being unhappy about him postponing college. But he insisted that wasn't it. He didn't want to talk about the real reason. Sharon thought she'd be happy about their breakup because it meant Nina would no longer be hanging around her family. But she hated seeing her stepbrother so miserable. She couldn't help but remember how her grandmother would always tell her to watch out what you wish for.
"Maybe he needs my company more than I need his." She thought.
"Can we watch Clueless?" She asked, with a smile on her face. It was her all-time favorite movie. She had so many memories of watching it with Alden dozens of times while the 2 of them cuddled up together on her living room couch. She actually got him into it, even though it was a chick flick. He always talked about how the actress, Alicia Silverstone, reminded him of her. She still wasn't sure why...
"Whatever you want, Birthday Girl." Griffin replied. "So meet me here in about an hour?"
"Ok, see you then." She said as she ended the call and shoved her phone back into her jeans pocket.
An hour later, Sharon had arrived at Richard and Lauren's apartment. The first thing she saw was all the lights turned off.
"Griffin..." She said with a sigh, as she reached for the switch to turn them on. "While I'm sure dad and Lauren will appreciate you helping them save money on the electric bills and I appreciate you saving electricity to help out the environment, I'm not sure that walking around in the dark..."
"Surprise!" She jumped back as she heard a whole chorus of people shout this out once the lights flipped on. Right away, she noticed Maria, Brock, Connor, Alyson, Carmen, Tracy, as well as some other kids at school she was friends with. Some older kids who had already graduated were there too, as Sharon had managed to keep in touch with most of her friends from her Freshman year. She couldn't believe her stepbrother had set this whole thing up for her! She almost felt like crying.
"Happy Birthday, Sharon!" Griffin said, as he swung an arm around her shoulder. "Were you surprised?"
"I have to say, I honestly was." She replied, with her hand still over her pounding heart.
"Awesome!" He said with a smile. "Listen, I know how much you would have wanted Adam and Dion to be here. I contacted them both. But unfortunately, they couldn't come back home for your birthday. Adam has a college wrestling tournament tonight that he just can't miss and Dion is busy helping the magazine he's interning with meet a strict deadline for tomorrow. But you'll see them both soon. Adam's gonna come home for Christmas break and Dion's actually gonna be back for a few days during the American Thanksgiving break since his school is in New York. I think that's coming up..."
"It's in late November." Sharon informed him. "And don't worry. You've already done so much and I appreciate it all! I think it's the nicest thing you've ever done for me. You really didn't have to, you know."
Griffin shrugged. "Well, I know you've been having a rough time lately. How you've been depressed since Alden's death earlier this month. And I knew not having him around on your birthday was only gonna make it harder. So I wanted to do something nice for you. I figured being surrounded by friends would help cheer you up a bit. So I tried to contact as many of them as I could."
"Aren't you worried about getting in trouble with my dad and Lauren though? I mean they did trust you to watch this apartment. And you remember what happened with the party I threw..."
Griffin grinned. "You're worth the risk. Besides, this is for a good cause. The whole point of it is to get you out of your funk. So they'd have to cut me some slack for that, right?"
Sharon shrugged. "I guess." She gave her stepbrother a hug. "Thank you for this, Griffin! I'm really glad you're part of our family now."
"Ditto, little sis. And you're welcome."
Sharon walked around the apartment to greet all of her guests. Josh was the first one she found. She gave her little brother a hug. He was now 13 and almost as tall as she was. She couldn't believe it! Her baby brother was now the same age she was when she and Alden first got together.
"Happy Birthday, Sharon!" He exclaimed.
"Thanks Josh."
"And don't worry. I won't breathe a word about this to mom, dad, Lauren or David."
"I trust you."
"It's just so cool to be at a party with high school kids! Especially high school girls..."
Sharon then noticed Josh eying a classmate of hers named Jessica. Jessica was a pretty girl with long strawberry blonde hair, green eyes and freckles. She was the only cheerleader Sharon was friends with. While Sharon wasn't as close to her as she was with her main crew, the girls did get along well. Jessica moved to Elkford at the beginning of 10th grade and immediately felt sorry for Sharon when she saw the way Nina treated her. So she befriended Sharon as a way of apologizing for her. Nina threatened to have Jessica kicked off the cheerleading squad for hanging out with "losers like Braceface", but realized that would have been a stupid move due to how talented Jessica was. So she kept her on the team, all while bitching at her over her friendship with Sharon. But she knew how to put Nina in her place. It was nice to see someone stand up to her for once.
"Jessica Brady? Josh, she's 17!"
"So? Age doesn't mean anything when it comes to love! Besides, I'm sure I can sway her when she hears the way I play piano!"
"How about her." Sharon said as she pointed to Tracy. "Her name is Tracy and I'm actually mentoring her this year. She's only 1 year older than you, so it's not a big difference. She's really nice and she plays violin. You play the piano! And she likes classical music. So you already have some things in common with her."
"Eh, I don't know. She's cute, but she's not really my type. I need more of a challenge."
Josh then walked away from Sharon and over to Jessica to introduce himself. Sharon laughed and shook her head. Looks like his teenage hormones had kicked in. She couldn't help but think he was like a male version of herself at that age. He seemed to have a thing for older girls, while she used to have a thing for older boys (other than Alden, of course). She should've seen this coming when he got his first crush on Alyson 3 years ago. Thankfully, he's accepted her relationship with Connor since then.
Speaking of older boys Sharon used to have a crush on, Tony Sporali was actually at the party. Sharon was surprised he was there when Adam wasn't. He was more his friend than hers. Then again, he had a huge appetite just like Adam did. So he probably came just for the food. Adam's longtime girlfriend, Hannah Corbett, was also there. But that was really no surprise since she and Sharon had always been pretty close.
Griffin walked over to Sharon as she was chatting with Maria about school. He had a can of beer in his hand. He held it out to her.
"Since this is a pretty calm group, I thought it would be ok to have some booze at this party. I don't expect anyone here to get too wild and trash the place. And I'll have plenty of time to clean up later. Would you like a beer?"
"No thanks. I'm good."
"I'll take it then." Maria said as she held out her hand towards Griffin. He handed it to her.
This was quite a change from how things were 4 years ago. When Sharon got drunk while she was at a concert for her dad's band and Maria was the sensible one trying to stop her. But Sharon had a better idea of what her limit was now. While she wouldn't normally mind kicking back with a single beer, she instinctively felt like she shouldn't be drinking right now, for some reason. Plus, her stomach was starting to feel a little off. She didn't want to risk upsetting it further.
Sharon continued to mingle with her party guests. She still couldn't believe how many people showed up for this. She was definitely grateful. This was exactly the kind of surprise party she was expecting to get on her 14th birthday. Only, she expected Alden to be part of it. Just like he should've been now. She was starting to feel sad again.
She knew she wasn't enjoying her surprise party as much as she should've been. Besides Alden, there was something else she was supposed to have that she didn't at the moment. Her period.
And the plot thickens! For those of you who are fans of Dion and Adam (I am too), don't worry. They'll be back to give our girl all the support she needs in this story! I'm just waiting for the right time to reintroduce them. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to comment and let me know what you think of how the story is progressing so far. I'm interested in all feedback, good or bad.
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Always Be My Baby