A Life Never Lived

Alana met Matt in her first year at University of Central Florida. She was originally from Georgia, but when she graduated she applied for a bunch of colleges and scholarships and took the first one that offered her a full ride scholarship.

She was walking to her English Literature class when she met him, or rather, saw him. He was sitting by the fountain, lighting up what looked like a cigarette, but he knew it was marijuana. Alana smelled it and scrunched up her nose as she walked by. Matt was struck by her beauty, and followed her from a distance, his illegal substance all but forgotten at the bottom of the fountain.

Finally Alana turned around and faced her pursuer. “May I help you?”

He couldn’t help but stare at her. “Um, yeah. I know you don’t know me and I don’t know you, but I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me.”

Alana started to say no, but then took in his appearance. A beard that was who knows how old, that needed to be shaved, wrinkled clothes, probably slept in, and a pair of bloodshot eyes.

She felt almost sorry for him.

“I…I’ll think about it,” she said carefully. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a class to go to.”

She quickly sprinted away, glad for an excuse to leave. She knew she would have to face him sooner or later, but she preferred later.

The next day he approached her again, looking more well-kept than the day before. He sensed she was hesitant because of his appearance, so he dressed up a little the next day.

Alana felt bad that he went through all the trouble of dressing up just for her, so she accepted his offer, but while she waited for him to pick her up two days later she rehearsed polite ways to turn him down if he asked her out again.

When Matt finally arrived to pick her up she was surprised to see him driving a new Chevy truck. But as soon as she got in she had to roll down the windows to breath.

“Why does it smell like you dumped perfume everywhere?” she gasped as she rolled down the window. She turned and saw him calmly starting the car, paying no attention to the overpowering smell. “Geez, don’t you smell that?”

“Huh? Oh, that. I’m used to strong odors. I can roll down all the windows if that would help.”

Alana suddenly realized he was using perfume to mask the smell of drugs. She smiled.
She found it sweet that he would go through all this trouble to please her.

After that night Alana found herself falling for him, strangely. She had always hated drugs and cigarettes, but he always made a habit of not smoking around her. Alana tried numerous times to try and get him to quit, but he never did. Alana just shrugged it off, figuring he could do what he wanted to his body.

If was when he brought her home for Thanksgiving to meet his parents that she realized his addiction was affecting other people.

“Matt!” a boy exclaimed as soon as he walked through the door. He jumped on Matt, hugging him.

“Hey, Josh. How have you been?” he said, setting him down. Josh turned to see the blonde girl standing in the doorway.

“Who is she?” he asked. Matt laughed, wrapping an arm around Alana.

“This is my girlfriend, Alana.” Alana smiled and waved at the boy and he managed a small wave back, but his smile had faded.

“You’ll still have time to hang out with me, right Matt?”

“Of course. We can go hang out right now, if you want. Do you still have that football I gave you last year?” Josh nodded quickly then ran to his room. Matt turned to Alana.

“You don’t mind, right?” Alana shook her head.

“Of course not, I have to unpack anyway.”

After only a day there it was apparent to Alana that Josh basically worshipped his older brother Matt, and tried to do everything he did.

Alana walked outside and saw Matt standing on the sidewalk in the snow, all bundled up and smoking what looked like a cigarette. Only he and Alana knew his little secret. She walked up to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I really wish you wouldn’t do that,” she told him, referring to his drug. He only shrugged in response.

“At least I do it outside.” Alana let out a sigh. That was always the response he used against her. Either that or “I’m not hurting anybody else.”

Alana lifted her head and turned around, sensing somebody watching her. The house was a mere 10 feet away, and saw Josh watching them from his bedroom window. When she caught his gaze his eyes quickly dropped and the shade quickly fell back into place, covering the window.

It was the next day when she walked into Matt room, wanting to ask him where he wanted to go for lunch when she found Josh snooping around his suitcase, looking for something. Alana quickly ducked behind the doorframe, peeking in. She wondered what he was searching for. He finally pulled out a plastic bag filled with leaves. He opened it and took one out, sniffing it before putting it back into the bag, then pulled out a bag of his own and put a few leaves in it. He quickly stuffed Matt’s bag back into his suitcase and walked out of the room. When he saw Alana standing right outside the door he nearly jumped a foot and stumbled back, falling to the floor.

“Uh…” Josh trailed off, trying to think of an excuse that would get him out of trouble. “Don’t tell my parents.” He looked like a little boy sitting on the floor, begging her not to tell on him.

She let out a sigh.

“Alright, I won’t tell them if you give me your bag,” she compromised, holding out her hand. Josh shot her a glare and shook his head.

“Alright, then I’m sure your parents would be interested in knowing that you have marijuana.”

Finally Josh stood up and threw the bag at her, sulking back to his room. It was then Alana knew that Matt needed to stop.

Alana approached Matt after dinner than evening, dragging him out to the gazebo in the backyard as soon as they table was being cleared.

“I’m freezing Alana. Couldn’t you have waited a minute for me to get a coat or something?” he said as he tried to warm himself up. All he had on was a long sleeved sweater, and Alana was freezing too, but she knew this needed to be addressed immediately.

“You need to stop smoking that marijuana,” she said bluntly. Matt rolled his eyes.

“I thought we’ve been through this. It’s not hurting anyo-”

“Yes it is!” Alana interrupted him. “I caught your little brother trying to steal some of your marijuana around lunchtime today.” Matt froze as a look of fear came over him.

“He did?” If there was one thing Matt cared for more than anything else in the world it was Josh. Alana nodded in response.

“Alright, then I’ll hide it better. I have a hidden box in my dresser that no one knows about, I’ll just hide it there until we leave, problem solved.” he said, smiling at Alana. Alana just let out a frustrated sigh.

“No, that’s not good enough! Even if you do hide it, it’s not gonna be enough. Don’t you get it? He wants to be like you, whether what you’re doing is good or bad. He’ll just go out and buy some if he has to. Don’t you realize the choices you make are influencing a 12 year old’s life?” Alana practically yelled at him. She threw her hands up in exasperation.

“I give up, I’ve tried all I can. Just…just do whatever you want…” she mumbled as she stood up and walked inside. She left the following morning, going back to UCF. She spent the rest of her vacation sitting on the couch watching Christmas show re-runs, ordering Chinese food on Christmas Day. It was her favorite food.

Alana knew her room mate wouldn’t be home until after New Year’s Eve, so she was all alone. Most of her nights she spent crying. No matter what problems Matt had she loved him-flaws and all. But she didn’t want to get too far involved with somebody who did drugs. She wondered why she let it go on this long anyway. As soon as New Years Eve passed her roommate came back and she resumed her classes as normal.

It was about three months after the new year when she saw Matt sitting on the fountain edge like he did the first day she met him. The only difference was his eyes were no longer red, and he seemed…different somehow. When he saw her pass by his eyes lit up and he ran over to her.

“Hey, Alana,” he greeted her with a smile.

“Hello,” she replied coolly. He looked down at his shoes, sensing her indifferent attitude.

“I know, I know. You don’t like that I do drugs. But haven’t you wondered why I’ve been gone for so long?” he finally looked up and met her gaze. “I’ve been in rehab for the past 3 months. It’s…it’s been hard. Especially the withdrawal symptoms.” he stepped forward and grabbed her hands in his own. “It was even harder without you by my side, but I’m trying to change. I just want a second chance.”

Alana looked at him and saw he was honestly trying to overcome his addiction. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. For the first time in a long time she could press her nose against his clothes and not have to smell the marijuana.

“Alright.”

Alana and Matt grew up and got married. Matt was able to undo the damage he had done and convince his little brother Josh that a life of drugs was not a road he wanted to go down.
Josh grew up and became a major, then the governor of Minnesota, the state where he grew up in. After he turned 38 he decided to run for president, and with all the good he had done for the state behind him he gathered a lot of followers. A lot of people were drawn to his honesty and genuine nature, especially in the uncertain times coming before what many thought would be World War 3.

Josh won the presidency, beating out his opponent Colton Mitchell. He successfully avoided bringing America into the war that quickly following his being elected. He almost had to declare war when a German pilot tried to bomb New York City. A young pilot Air Force pilot named Jamie Brunswick was sent to stop the plane and managed to shoot down the plane before it reached its target. Josh was outraged at the attempted bombing and sent a message to Germany, declaring their neutral state and stating that any further attempted attacks would be a declaration of war. The Germans remembered their loss to the Americans in the 1940’s and left America out of the war after that. After the war President Josh Brunswick managed to help the economy grow by selling supplies to the war ravaged countries that lost, and helping rebuild their homes and cities.

Millions of lives were saved, once again because of Alana. It was more subtle this time, but it all boiled down to her. She saved her future husband from a life of drugs, and he in turn saved his brother from a lifestyle that would have destroyed his hopes of become a president, or even a governor. Millions of American lives were saved because of Alana influence on Matt, and Matt’s influence on Josh, and Josh’s decisions as a president that saved the country from a war that would have crushed their fragile economy. Again, many people didn’t know it, but they owed a lot to Alana.