Read Online From The Wreckage - Complete by Michele G Miller - Free Book Online Page A

night, too. Geez, I finally made it home, and I got to have my teary-eyed reunion with my family. But as I sat there with them, happy to be okay, I was also torn. I knew this event, this moment, would change me for the rest of my life. I knew I would no longer be the carefree girl I was a few hours before. I knew nobody would be the same after that night in Tyler."
    She sits forward, perches on the edge of her seat and looks at herself on the television. Her face, the stoic, serious face looking at her, is so different than it once was. She's seen so much; been through too much. She looks back at the camera lens, lowers her voice a little, almost for a dramatic effect, and continues. "You see, I knew everything was going to change because hell had come to call that night, and some didn't escape it." 

     

"I'm going to take a moment." 
    Jules stands. Walking over to the camera, she presses the pause button and releases a deep sigh when the red light quits flashing.
    Pulling out her cell, she scrolls through her contacts to the number she needs and sends a text.

     Jules: I'm making the video. It's harder than I thought.

    She presses ‘Send’ and makes her way to the kitchen for a drink. Pulling her favorite tumbler from the cabinet, she thinks about how her friends always laugh at her obsession with only drinking out of double insulated tumblers with lids and straws. Everyone knows which drink belongs to her, because she never leaves home without her signature cup. Her mom loves it because she uses the same cup all day and doesn’t dirty up ten, the way Jason always does.
    She smiles at the random memories and lets them ease the stress from her limbs as she pours some sweet tea and takes a refreshing sip. Whenever she begins to feel tight or overly stressed, she knows to remember the happy things. Some days are easier than others.
    As she screws on the lid to her cup, the cell phone buzzes and she swipes the screen to check her message.

    D.M.: I'm proud of you. It will be hard, but it will help you. I promise. 
    Jules: I'm trying
    D.M.: I'm here for you if you need an appointment. Just call.
    Jules: Thanks

    She takes a quick bathroom break and returns to the front room where the camera is set up. After one last stretch, Jules presses the Pause button and makes sure the video is recording again. Satisfied it is on, she sets her drink on the end table by the chair and sits back down. Realizing her shoes can’t be seen on camera, she kicks off her little ballet flats and curls a leg up underneath her to get comfortable.
    "Okay, so I think I’ll skip ahead a little for now. I can always come back. This is my story, after all." She winks at the screen with a grin. 
    "Oh, wait. If you were here, you'd be asking about two things right now. West, and when I first heard about you. Let me tell you about the next time I saw him, because that covers the part about you."

    Exhausted, Jules barely takes the time to stand under the shower and allow the warm stream of water to rinse the dried blood and dirt off her body and down the drain. She doesn’t realize how cut up she is until she stands in the mirror and looks at her battered body. Her cheek is swollen, her eyes are purple, and her arms and legs resemble someone who went into battle with an angry cat and lost. As she crawls into bed and drifts off to sleep, she wishes the few memories she did have could have swirled down the drain along with the water and grime. 
    It is mid-afternoon Saturday and she is lying in bed with the sun peeking through a crack in the blinds, when she hears the low murmur of West's voice, followed by a somewhat deeper tone, rising up through the foyer into her bedroom.
    Although the doorbell sounds several times that afternoon, she ignores it and buries deeper into her covers. Her body aches from the ordeal last night and her head is pounding something fierce again. Her dad pokes his head in sometime before the sun is up and kisses her on the