Love Beyond High School

By Raino Arroyo

Embark on an unforgettable love story!

Get to know Marcos, a high school senior. Marcos was a brilliant student. Unfortunately, he didn't enjoy the fun and exciting parts that high school had to offer.

Soon that was all going to change. Marcos made up his mind to make his senior year of high school one to remember and to have some fun! Marcos's best friend, Zack, was the perfect guy to help him. Unlike Marcos, who was shy and quiet, Zack was loud and spontaneous.

Join Marcos as he navigates his senior year, finds love, and experiences loss. He will discover himself and the meaning of life. You'll fall in love with Marcos's gentle heart and powerful soul.

This story will take you places beyond anything you've read before!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984536914

Raino Arroyo

Raino Arroyo's interest in writing began at eight years old, when he won a poem contest about rabbits in the San Luis Obispo County District for elementary students. Later on, his young adult life, he wrote a poem titled To Be Free and submitted it to poetry.com. He won Editors Choice Award for his submission. LOVE BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL is Ciprianos first Novel.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

What a beautiful, clear, sunny day, I thought. The sun was shining with no clouds in sight. Most of my classmates of Morro Bay High School were outside, getting ready to go home after a long day of school, while others were hanging out and catching up with friends.

It was the first week of senior year. Thus, there was still lots of commotion in the halls. But that wasn’t the case for me. I was stuck in the library, busily working on my homework. I was pretty sure that by now it was no secret I’m a nerd. To be honest, nerd was probably an understatement. I had no life other than school.

Case in point: I had tons of homework. Most of the classes I was taking in high school were AP and honor classes that required a lot of work and time.

I was an excellent student. In fact, I had obtained the highest GPA in my class since my freshmen year in high school, and I had every intention of keeping it that way.

It was an incredible and outstanding accomplishment that many students would be very proud to achieve, and I was no exception. I felt extremely proud of myself for being a good student, mainly because of my parents. I loved my parents, and I felt great making them proud, especially my father.

My father always told me that with hard work and determination, anything was possible. My father didn’t just simply say that to me, but he also demonstrated it to me with his own success.

He was raised in a poor family that didn’t have much. He lived in a home that didn’t seem to provide a promising future for him. But remarkably, my father’s humble upbringing didn’t stop him from achieving his dreams and goals. In a way, poverty helped shape the person he was now.

My father was a man of justice. He witnessed a lot of corruption and violence because of his humble surroundings. My father didn’t have the power to fight for justice back then, but he vowed that one day he would. And sure enough, my father made that day a reality.

My father ultimately managed to graduate from Stanford University with a master’s degree in law. And now he was a thriving lawyer.

Knowing what my father accomplished and all the hard work it took him to get to his position in life inspired me to do my best in school. I felt like I had no other choice.

On top of that, my mother was also very successful. She was a well-known interior designer who traveled all around the world, designing rooms for top-of-the-line hotels and department stores. She traveled to China, Egypt, Paris, Italy, and Mexico—pretty much everywhere. My mother loved her job. She loved getting the opportunity to explore new sites all over the world. She didn’t view her job as work. Instead, she viewed it as a new adventure waiting to happen.

I felt incredibly fortunate that both my parents had successful careers and that they had the means to provide me with a comfortable lifestyle. Money wasn’t an obstacle for us.

We lived in a small and beautiful beach town named Cayucos. It was like time stood still there as the waves crashed peacefully and the cool ocean breeze filled the air.

Although Cayucos was very small and charming, there were times when I felt like it was too small. Everyone knew each other, and there weren’t many cool places to hang out if you were a teen. Nevertheless, Cayucos was where I lived. It was the place where I learned to love and the place I called home.

I felt incredibly fortunate to come from a successful family. Yet at the same time, I felt obligated to live up to my parents’ standards. I felt like I had a lot to prove to them—most of all to my father.

My father had very high expectations of me. He wanted me to grow up to be a lawyer just like him. I knew nothing in the world would make my father prouder or happier than that. I swear it was as if he had had that dream since I was born. It was all I could remember him talking about since I was a kid.

Being a lawyer was a great and highly prestigious career, and I knew I could become one if I wanted to. But it wasn’t me. It didn’t interest me at all, and I definitely didn’t have the same passion for it that my father did.

I already knew what I wanted to be. I wanted to be an author, but not just any author. I wanted to be one of the best. I wanted my books to be read and love by millions of people around the world. Being an author had been my dream ever since I was eight years old, and I still wanted it more than anything in the world.

I loved writing. It was my biggest passion. There wasn’t anything else I loved to do more than writing. I know this might sound a little cheesy and perhaps even overstated, but I honestly felt like I was born to write.

Unfortunately, my father strongly disapproved of my writing. He didn’t want to hear anything about it. He thought it was a complete waste of my time. He was convinced that I was capable of a lot more than just writing. He insisted that my writing wasn’t going to take me anywhere in my future. He constantly said to me, You can’t write your future, Marcos. You must work for it.

Overall, my father acted like my writing was nothing but a joke. He simply saw it as a pastime. He didn’t understand how much it truly meant to me. He didn’t take the time to even care.

It upset me deeply that my father disapproved of my writing, especially because I looked up to him more than any other person. He was a great man, and I was his only son. There was no way I could let him down.

So that’s why I tried to forget about my dream of being a writer and instead follow in my father’s footsteps of being a lawyer.

I stopped to take a quick break from my homework. My head couldn’t read another word, solve another math equation, or deal with any type of school material. As I relaxed, I couldn’t help staring out the library window.

I saw in plain sight all the fun my classmates were having. I saw a group of guys playing hacky sack in a big circle. It seemed like a lot of fun but very difficult to do.

Meanwhile, some girls were simply sitting on the school’s benches, chatting and laughing away. Several other guys were even running around and chasing one another. All of them seemed to be having fun—a lot more than I was, that’s for sure. Seeing all the fun my classmates were having made me realize how much I was really missing in high school.

I was a compete outcast. It was like I didn’t even exist. I hardly had any friends, and I didn’t take advantage of the fun and exciting activities high school had to offer. It was all schoolwork but no fun for me. I never went to a single football game, let alone to a school dance. I didn’t even have a girlfriend.

It was quite sad. I had been in high school for three years, and I couldn’t remember one exciting thing I had done. Not even one, I thought. I was somewhat aware of my lack of social life in high school, but I never really paid too much attention to it.

But looking out the library window, my eyes were opened. I was a high school senior now! I only had one year left. And I was going to make it count, I promised myself.

Granted, I was still going to keep up with my grades as usual, but I also wanted to have fun and enjoy high school. After all, I was only going to be a teenager once in my life. It was about time for me to start acting like one and start enjoying high school. Luckily, I had my friend I knew could help with that.

His name was Zack, and he was my best friend. He was seventeen years old like me, but he was just a couple of months older. That was probably the only thing Zack and I shared in common. And as far as the looks department went, Zack was white, tall, and firmly built. He had beach-blue eyes and light sun-brown hair. Zack looked like a total jock, and boy, was he one too. Zack loved sports, and he was a great athlete. He was the star football player of our school, and he also played basketball and ran track.

Like I said, I didn’t have friends in high school … or out of high school for that matter. But that was fine. Having only Zack as my friend was more than enough for me. I loved Zack.

He was an incredible guy and an even better friend. He always smiled when I talked to him, and he had an amazing attitude toward life. I swear I never had a dull moment when I was around Zack. He was just such a nice and cool person. If anyone could help me live up my senior year to the fullest, it was Zack.

When it came to personalities, Zack and I couldn’t have been any more different. Zack was loud, spontaneous, and extremely outgoing. Almost everyone in our high school knew him. It was mostly because of all the sports he played and his magnetic attitude. Zack was just the cool guy that everyone wanted to be friends with.

In contrast, I was very cautious and shy. It was hard for me to put myself out there and make big decisions. I carefully approached my life with two open eyes.

There were some times when I wished I could be a little bit more like Zack. It seemed like he wasn’t afraid of doing anything. He lived life to the fullest with no worries. Even as a kid, Zack was extremely brave.

I remember when Zack and I used to be kids. We frequently went to the beach. Zack swam far into the ocean. He went far enough from shore that he couldn’t touch the bottom with his feet. It was there where the waves were gigantic and dangerous.

Come on! Marcos, don’t be such a baby. Nothing bad will happen. I remembered how Zack used to egg me on when I was afraid to go as far into the ocean as he could.

No, and I’m not a baby. I just don’t think it’s a good idea—that’s all. I’d rather stay here where it’s safe. I mean, what if something bad happens? I used to tell Zack in a fearful voice as I looked at the gigantic waves crashing in the distance.

Nothing … bad will happen. Trust me, Zack said to me. And with those reassuring words, Zack always managed to convince me to go as far as he did into the ocean.

Our personalities didn’t change that much since those early days. I still was the shy and fearful one while Zack was the outgoing and brave one.

But despite my timid ways, I didn’t care. My decision was all made up. I really wanted to change, and I wasn’t going to let my insecurities get in the way.

An hour passed, and I was still in the library working on my homework. I felt exhausted and ready for a nap.

Despite it only being the first week back to school, I was surprised at all the homework my teachers had assigned. I took a deep breath to ease my tired brain after a long day in school and homework I had just finished. I also stood up to stretch my aching body from sitting down all day. I felt so good stretching my arms into the air.

On that relaxing note, I decided to call it a day and began packing up. As I was putting homework away, I heard Zack calling my name not too far away from me. I immediately recognized his voice.

I knew I could find you here, Marcos, Zack said as he sat on the empty chair beside me.

Yeah, I was working on my homework, I said to him. Once I finished packing all of my school materials, I sat down next to Zack so we could talk.

I had so much homework, Zack. But thank God I almost got it all done. I just have a little bit left to do, I told Zack with a huge sigh of relief.

Man, you’re so smart, Marcos. I, like, never do my homework, Zack said as he lightly pushed me.

You’re smart too, Zack, I pointed out in a friendly voice. You just need to apply yourself more to your schoolwork, that’s all, I suggested, knowing that Zack was indeed smart. He was just lazy when it came to his schoolwork.

No, I’m not, and that’s okay, Zack said with no remorse in his voice. School is just not for me. Besides, there are a lot of other ways to be successful in life. School isn’t the only way, he quickly pointed out like he always did whenever we had this discussion.

I guess you’re right, Zack. School isn’t the only way to be successful in life, I agreed with him. But you should at the very least graduate from high school. I don’t want to graduate high school without you. You are my only friend, Zack. I would feel very sad if we didn’t graduate together. Thinking about that scenario made me miserable.

Don’t worry, Marcos. I am not that stupid, Zack said and broke out laughing. We are definitely going to graduate high school together I promise.

Good, I said and smiled. At least we will graduate together. Besides, I know that you are going to be successful, Zack. With or without school.

Thank you, Marcos, Zack said, happy. You are like the only person who honestly says that to me. I’m glad you don’t only view life in one way. You see the whole picture.

Well, you know what they say. Great minds think alike, I told Zack, using one of my favorite quotes.

"You got