From The Wreckage (27 page)

"We have just enough time!"

"For?"

"Tradition, Juju. Tradition."

They pull into the Starbucks drive-thru along with the hordes of other patrons and Jules brightens. Maybe a frappe will get her day going. Candy Crenshaw and two other girls from Hillsdale walk out of the Starbucks and Katie waves.

"Jules! Katie!" Candy shrieks and bounces to the car.

"Whoa, she must have ordered a double," Jules mumbles to Katie.

"Y'all are heading to Rossview, aren't you?" Candy pouts. Jules thinks it looks a little disingenuous, and she wonders when she got so jaded with her friends. Candy has always been an annoyingly peppy attention seeker, but they never had an issue with one another.

"How are you doing, Jules?" Candy asks, and Jules snaps from her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I was saying I heard about you and Stuart. How are you? I can't believe the golden couple is no more. Everything is going to be so different this year."

"You think?" she mocks Candy's high-pitched voice, throwing in a fake laugh. Katie glares at her reproachfully, so Jules rolls her eyes and tries to offer up a more politically correct answer. "I'm good, thanks Candy. It was a mutual breakup and we're both moving on."

"That's not what I heard. I heard Stuart is devastated, although I'm sure those Houston girls will comfort him when he's ready."

The car behind them honks once and Candy steps back from the window when Katie points out that it’s time for them to move forward in line.

"Well girls, technically we're supposed to be enemies now, but let's hang soon, ‘kay?" The three of them wave gaily and rush away.

"For the love of all things holy,
please
run her over," Jules mutters as they walk in front of Katie's car; their little skirts flapping with the breeze.

"Jeez, Jules. When did you become so angry?"

"
Me
? Did you hear her?"

"It's Candy! You
know
she doesn’t have a brain. We ignore her rambling, remember?"

Static filters through the car window and Katie orders three grande mocha frappes with extra espresso.

"Three?"

Katie finally looks much like Jules feels. Her voice cracks slightly as she repeats "Tradition" again. They are silent as they pay and wait for their drinks.

"Hey
—
Candy said Stuart is devastated by our break-up, didn't she? Where would she hear a thing like that?"

"Come on, Jules. Don't bother thinking about it. You know gossip and Candy."

She eyes her friend skeptically but decides to let it go. A few other teens from Hillsdale come and go as they sit idling, and she finds herself wondering who will be at Rossview with them and who was sent to Robinson or the other two schools nearby.

"All right, so maybe I planned this a little too much," Katie admits once they get their drinks and right before they pull out of the Starbucks parking lot. She grabs her iPhone and fumbles with the screen to pull up her music. As if they share a mind, Jules feels a conflicted smile coming on. The speakers go live with the a cappella version of ‘Don't Stop Believing’ and she breaks out into laughter. This has been their song
—
hers, Katie's and Tanya's
—
for years, since the very first episode of Glee. What a fitting song to play today.

"I'm so glad you thought of this!" Jules shouts over the singing.

"One more stop." She grins back at her and Jules knows where they are headed. A quick glance at the clock shows they should have barely enough time, but Jules doesn’t care…she'll be late for today.

A few minutes later they pull into the memorial gardens where Tanya is buried. The winding road through the property is covered in huge shade trees, and flowers bloom along the way as they make it to the back of the property where the lake and Tanya's final resting place are located.

Jules gasps when they drive over a small ridge and she spots several cars she recognizes parked along the road in front of her.

"K!" she cries, and immediately feels the tears springing to her eyes. Katie slows to a stop at the curb behind Jeff's car and puts the vehicle in park.

"I couldn't start this day without her, Jules, and I was kinda banking on you feeling the same way." She twists in her seat, a stray tear running down her cheek under her sunglasses.

"I totally feel the same. Of course I do."

Grabbing the extra frappe, they climb out of the car. Katie waits for Jules to reach her side and they thread their arms together to walk towards the grave site.

"Can we try to hold it together, though? I don't want to start our first day at Ross resembling a raccoon," she teases. Katie flips her glasses up and reveals make-up free eyes with a wink. "You skank! You could have warned me we'd be doing this."

"Sorry. I brought my make-up though, so no worries."

Smiling and crying at the same time…that is something she never knew she could do until Tanya's death. She has laughed so hard at cheesy movies that she cried, but to cry because her heart and soul are devastated and yet be able to laugh too? Nope – that’s a first. Tommy's truck is parked in front of Jeff's car and Jules smiles, happy they are here for this too. She is thinking about how much Tanya would love all this attention when she passes Tommy's truck. There, sitting at the curb hidden by Tommy's monster truck, she spots a black motorbike and freezes.

"A little birdie may have told me," Katie hints, and Jules feels the last of her walls break down. She hurries towards the grave site, dragging Katie along since their arms are linked together. West is here,
for her!
Her whole body feels warm and the tears start to drip from her eyes. Her artfully applied mascara and eyeliner start to burn her eyes.

They walk around a large copse of trees and bushes, and there the girls find Jeff, Tommy and West standing before them. Tommy is kneeling down at the grave with his head low as if he’s talking to Tanya, and Katie lets out a choked sob when she sees him. Jeff and West stand back next to a tree; respectfully giving Tommy some privacy. Her eyes lock on West and she notices the way he leans casually against the tree with his feet crossed at the ankles. In his hand he holds a single rose.

Jeff turns towards Tommy and she hears his low voice before he starts towards her and Katie. Tommy stands and wipes his arm across his face before he turns to face them as well.

Jules carries the extra frappe in her hand, but it doesn’t stop her from walking straight to West and throwing her arms around him. They don’t speak, neither of them, they simply hug. He wraps one arm tightly around her back, and the other takes its place at the base of her skull. She feels his chin resting on the top of her head, and through all the pain she feels, she also feels relief. West brings strength and relief with him every time he touches her.

"This isn't a bag you're wearing," he whispers, and she lets out a half-laugh, half-sob. Her chest hurts from holding it all in. "You look gorgeous, though."

She feels his lips press onto the top of her head and she tilts up so he can place another kiss on her forehead.

"I can't believe you're here."

West releases her head and wipes the tears from her cheek using his thumb. "I care about you, why
wouldn't
I be here?"

"You were playing with me this morning?" she asks; thinking about his text earlier asking to pick her up.

"Was I?" he wonders aloud, with his bad boy smile locked firmly in place. "My bad. Actually, had you told me you wanted me, I would have come."

Slowly she stretches up and kisses his lips. "I did want you, but I knew Katie would need me today just as much as I needed her."

"I missed you this weekend. Next home game you're coming with us."

"Deal."

He smiles at her with that sexy smile that could stop time, however, she has something more important to do today. She pulls away reluctantly and turns towards the others. Katie stands encircled in Jeff's arms, waiting on her with her eyes fixed on the grave. The headstone hasn't come in yet, but there is a plaque and piles of flowers covering the fresh, grassy mound.

Holding hands, they place the frappe amongst the flowers and stand back in silence.

"It's not going to be the same without you, Ya-ya," Jules whispers.

"You'd be proud, though. Juju's already picking up your bitchiness. What'd you do? Possess her?" Katie quips with a watery smile at Jules.

"Help us all now," Tommy mutters behind them and the five of them laugh lightly.

This is it. Life after the storm, life without their third musketeer. It will be different for sure, but as she looks at West's hand tightly clasping hers, she feels a peace come over her. Peace, and a spark of courage telling her she can make it.

"To senior year and to Tanya," Katie toasts, and holds her frappe up.

Jules taps it with her own and they all chime in. "To Tanya."

Epilogue

"That morning, standing there toasting Tanya, was a profound one. The first day of school suddenly made things crystal clear to me. Life as we knew it was gone. We didn't speak much as we walked to our cars and loaded back up to head for Rossview. New year, new school, new reality," Jules huffs, almost disdainful of the story. "Yeah, life as we knew it was gone."

Pulling a tissue from the box on the floor by her feet, Jules wipes the tears away at the memories. She looks at the clock on the wall and is surprised at how long she's been telling her story. She stands to stretch, takes a sip of her tea and talks randomly to the camera, though she knows it will be edited out.

"It's funny how, now that I'm at this part of the story, I'm finding it harder to tell."

She paces the floor a few times; her right hand rubbing over her left. She used to have a habit of twirling the band she wore on her ring finger. The ring is no longer there, but the habit is hard to break.

"Sorry, I guess I could have paused this," she speaks to the nameless faces who will edit the video down into a pretty package for their film project. She sighs. "All right, let me finish."

She settles back in her chair and tucks both legs under her this time as she begins again...

"If you've seen one high school, you would think you've pretty much seen them all, right? Rossview is pretty comparable to Hillsdale. A typical-looking Texas school; two story building with a sprawling campus that looks eerily similar to a jail on the outside. Inside, though? Well
that’s
a whole other ball game."

“Guilt. A painful, lonely feeling. It seeps into your pores slowly as you go through life day by day. Like a disease, it blackens your heart with thoughts and memories of what you did, or in my case, what you didn’t do.”

Surviving the storm was only the beginning for Jules. Surviving the guilt? That is something only love can help her overcome.

Out of Ruins

From The Wreckage, book 2

Coming - July 17, 2014

A Note from the Author…

Hi! Thank you so much for picking up From The Wreckage! First, I want to say that while there IS a real Tyler, Texas, this story features my own version of Tyler, Texas. In other words, it is totally made up and anything resembling any one or thing real is purely a coincidence.

Second, if you enjoyed Jules and West’s story, I’d love for you to take a moment and write a quick review on the site where you purchased the book or on other online book sites such as Goodreads or LibraryThing. It's super easy and it helps me out a bunch since I'm an Indie author and we need all the help we can get. I appreciate any time you take to leave a review and always try my best to read all of them. Also, share! Word of mouth is out biggest marketing tool so please tell your friends to check From The Wreckage out, I would appreciate it beyond belief.

I love to hear from readers so feel free to chat me up on Twitter or my Facebook page. Check out my Pinterest page too for cool pics, quotes and other things that show you more of my creative side and inspirations when writing my stories.

Most of all, keep reading! I hope that you will try out my other titles, but also those of other Indie authors. There are a ton of amazing stories out there waiting to be discovered by you!

Acknowledgments

Every time I finish a novel I feel as if I could write another one just to thank all of the people who keep me ticking every day. I could never thank everyone who touches me on a daily basis in one way or another. I can’t even begin to try.

BUT, I shall…

To all of the people who buy, read and review my books, thank you. Plain and simple. I am especially touched by those who take the time to send me notes on Facebook. I can’t tell you how I feel when I see a new note telling me what you think of a character or a new review talking about the storyline. A million thanks to each of you.

My super fans and street team - Chele’s Belles - these ladies help give me advice when I’m stuck, they BETA for me, they check out the teasers I create and help pimp me out.