The Dexter Brothers

Everyone knew the Dexter brothers. In school, they were royalty, and their kingdom was the football field, the crowd their subjects. While most people in our small town stayed and went to the community college nearby, the Dexter brothers all left, each with a full-ride football scholarship to play at some hotshot university on the other side of the country. I left too, but I only went one state away, far enough away to get out of the small town I grew up in.

Everyone warned me against him, but I chose to try to see the good in him. Now, I’m running home with what I could fit in my car and my two-year-old daughter with my tail tucked between my legs. But when I get home, I realize I can’t tell my parents about what my husband did. I would just be proving them right, and I couldn’t stand letting them down again. So, I create a web of lies, protect my pride, and distract them with their only grandchild.

Ten years ago, everyone left, leaving behind only memories. And while they chased better lives and bigger opportunities outside of this small town, I stayed. I stayed because I wouldn’t be like my mother; I wouldn’t leave my dad like she did.

I made a big mistake. In my defense, I had just caught my boyfriend cheating on me, and I'd had a few too many shots of tequila on an empty stomach. But when I try to refill my birth control three months later, I realize just how badly I've messed up.