Hello, I'm Brandi Broke. Life has been tough for my sons and I. My husband Stan passed away in a mysterious pool accident a few years ago. Ever since then I've been jumping from job to job, trying to make enough money to support my children. Some days are harder than others, but all in all, we're doing quite well. We may have a small home, but we all have big hearts.
Stan and I met back in our days at Pleasantview High School. Stan was one of the nerdiest kids in school, and was constantly getting bullied. My parents never had a lot of money, but I still managed to be one of the most popular kids in school, due to my charisma and place on the girl's varsity basketball team. One day I asked to leave chemistry to go to the bathroom, and found Stan in the hall. His books were scattered all over the floor, and he appeared to be crying a little. His shirts were usually meticulously tucked in, but today his was wrinkled, dirty and spilling out from under his sweater vest in random places. Even though my friends probably would have hung me out to dry for it, I felt like I had to help him.
"Your name is Stan, right?" I asked, startling him. He looked up with watery eyes.
"Y-yes." I still remember Stan looking up at me like a deer in headlights. "You can just...go wherever you were going. Don't worry about me." I approached Stan, and noticed a little trickle of blood running from his nose.
"No, I can't just walk by someone who's hurt. Who did this to you?" Stan shyed away.
"It doesn't matter. If I tell on them, they'll just do it two times worse tomorrow." I bent over and began to pick up Stan's books. "Don't help me out just because you feel sorry for me."
"That's not why I'm doing it!" I held Stan's monstrous pile of books, pencils and calculators out towards him. "Go in the bathroom and get cleaned up, I'll wait for you out here."
After that day, I realized that Stan was in three of my classes. I would say hello to him in Algebra 2, and sometimes ask him for help on problems I didn't understand, since math was his strongest subject. A few times he even slid his paper closer to the edge of the desk so I could copy! I started approached Stan in the hallways and striking up conversations with him. One particular coversation cemented our friendship.
"Brandi...those guys haven't bothered me since you started talking to me."
"Well, I guess I'll just have to keep hanging around you then!" I smiled and winked, and took hold of his hands.
Stan turned a bright red. "T-thanks."
Just a few weeks later, Stan officially asked me out, and I gladly accepted. I broke some huge barriers in the school that day, and our relationship really shook everybody up. We went to senior prom together, and then continued to date after we graduated. When Stan asked me to marry him in our junior year of college, I was so happy I could barely contain myself! Of course I said yes - it was one of the happiest days of my life.
TO BE CONTINUED.
