Stefano's Peach

Prologue

Kalera

“I don’t know guys. We should probably just give up. I mean, there is no way we are going to find the money to get out of here,” I say to my sister and our friends as we sit at the Almont Coffee Shop, the only place to get coffee, tea, donuts, and such in our small fishing town. The five of us come here every Saturday, to talk, vent, or lament on the life we foresee but are trying so hard to circumvent.

“I get it, Kalera. You are probably right, but do we just give up? Look what giving up got mama,” my twin sister, Tori, says. I look at her, understanding and concern mimicking her own.

“I know, Tori. Trust me, but I want to be realistic. What are our other options?” I ask looking around at my friends, Gwendolyn, Narina, and Kaylee. We all grew up together. Cradle to graduation, not exactly uncommon in a town like this. See, we live in Almont, Oregon, population 1500. In a town as small as ours, everyone grows up together, marries the guy next door, has babies, and dies never having seen anything different. The circle continues.

“We all got accepted, already. I mean, we applied for financial aid. Right?” Narina asks, sipping her chamomile tea. She is correct. At the end of our junior year, we all decided we wanted to try to follow our dreams. We applied to New York University, got in, and applied to be roommates. Once we realized we got in and looked up the financial aid information, it became clear that even if we went to college, we would be stuck the rest of our lives paying it off and would more than likely still end up here. Hence the conversation.

“True Narina, but do you want to spend four years in school only to have to come back here because the student loans are holding us down?” I hear the frustration in Gwendolyn’s voice. We all just seem to nod our heads, in agreement with the fact that there seems to be no out. I am about to tell the girls we should go home and sleep on it when the one and only person to ever make it out walks into the shop.

“Oh my God. Is that...Laurie?” my sister gasps. I nod unable to speak. Lauren Stillwell. She was a year ahead of us in high school. Popular, cheerleader, Almont born and bred. Then one day, before the end of the summer, she was gone. The rumor was that she got up and left one night, with no warning. People were speculating she had gotten pregnant by the mayor or something equally as shocking. Then one day, her little sister told us she went to college. To say we were all stunned is an understatement. Now, sitting here looking at her, I can't help but feel like I am seeing a celebrity walk in. She looks... beautiful. Her hair is shiny and long. Her skin, glowing. Don’t get me started on how expensive her clothes look.

“Wow. She looks beautiful.” She sure does, I think agreeing with Narina, silently. She turns from the counter and sees us.

“Hey girls. How are you?” she asks, her smile big and bright. She pulls out a chair and sits next to me. “You graduated already, right?”

“Yea. Graduation was last week,” Tori answers.

“Awesome. Well, congratulations. So what are your plans now?” She looks at each of us, sipping her drink, her face knowing, and anticipatory. Almost like she knows something we don’t but is waiting for the right time to tell us.

“We would like to go to school, but... well... you know how it is...no way out.”

“Not true. I got out.” Her smile suddenly becomes almost mischievous.

“Yeah... how did you do that?” Gwendolyn asks, scooting her chair closer to the table. I half expected her to pull out a notepad.

“I don’t think you girls are ready to hear it. But listen, never give up. There is always a way to follow your dreams.” She gets up and I find my sister and friends and I looking at one another, seeing our one chance of making it out about to walk out the door and we all speak at the same time.

“Wait!!” We shout out, not caring that people are staring at us. She looks at us, eyes big, surprised at our outburst. “Please... tell us,” I beg her. She hesitates and I begin to think she is going to continue to walk out the door but she surprises us and sits back down, taking a second before answering.

“Listen, I know what you are going through, wanting to see something outside of this... drab... dreary town. To know what it is like to maybe have a chance at a future. Find love with someone other than the next-door neighbor who has been the neighbor of everyone in your bloodline for the past 100 years. I know what all of that feels like, but to know there is no way out. So, what I am about to tell you, you have to have an open mind.” Well crap. Now I feel like we should have an attorney present or something. “One day, in my last year of school, I was looking through the ads of the paper where the college I wanted to go to was and saw this ad for a couple needing a surrogate. Of course, I thought it was a crazy idea, but I decided what do I have to lose anyway? So I called the clinic, they paid for me to come there, take the physical, and put me on the list. While I was waiting, I got a job and found a little studio apartment close to campus. Within six weeks, I got a call from the clinic saying a couple wanted to meet me. The rest as they say is history.'' The silence at the table is deafening. We are all looking at one another not sure we are hearing what she is saying.