by Brianna Popsickle

Created on: November 04, 2009

She was awakened by her parents, it was 3:30 a.m.

There's a call for you, it's the police.

She wasn't prepared for what she heard next.

It's me. I'm in big trouble. I need your help. I need you to call my sister.

It was her boyfriend of almost two years. He sounded scared.

Dale had been arrested for stealing from his employer. Details were sketchy. All she knew was it had to be a mistake. He would never do such a thing. His employer treated him like a son. He could never do that.

She hung up the phone in shock. She had been with him just hours earlier. They had gone out to eat and to the drive-in. She didn't understand what could have happened.

She would find out over the next few days

She had met Dale when she was just seventeen. He was her girlfriend's older brother. She would go swimming at her friends and he'd be there teasing his sister like big brothers do. He was three years older than her. He was very outgoing and confident. He had a witty sense of humor and his eyes lit up when he smiled. He was always smiling. He made her smile. He made her blush.

It wasn't long and he asked her out. They became inseparable. They would spend days at the beach, going to the movies or just hanging out. Like all teens in a small town they spent Friday nights driving up and down the main street in his new van, while Styx and Supertramp blared on the radio. He started going to church with her on Sundays. His family welcomed her into their home, and Dale quickly became part of her family too.

He was her first love. Sometimes she felt like he knew her better than she knew herself. He nicknamed her Sister Rita, among other names, poking fun at her for being a shy Catholic girl. He was anything but shy, having been an 'army brat' moving from place to place all his life.

They dated just over a year and upon graduation she accepted a job in a city two hours away. Dale wasn't happy about it. His family had moved to the city previously and with her gone he'd be alone. Her job offer was too good to refuse and he couldn't leave his. She moved to the city to live with her sister.

Although she missed Dale, she enjoyed her new job and began meeting new people. Almost everyday through the week she'd receive funny I Miss You Cards or a long letter from him. They kept Bell in business. She would go home most weekends to see him. Sometimes he'd give her gifts like perfume or ornaments. He'd tell her they'd been given to him by a salesman at work, as part of

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