The Broken Ones

Chapter Thirty Seven

"I'll drive us," Frankie announced. "I just got my green P's, I can have as many passengers as I want."

"Lucky," Alesia commented. "Red P's, one passenger only."

"Still on my L's," Valeriana stated.

"Me too," Johnny added.

"How many hours have you done?" Frankie asked as the four walked out of the library."

"One hundred and eleven," Johnny said proudly.

"Half an hour," Valeriana said with a nervous laugh. "It was the most stressful half an hour of my life!"

'Anxiety?" Alesia asked knowingly.

"Yep," Valeriana replied.

"Here is my car," Frankie announced as she stopped by a black four-wheel drive.

Alesia smiled. "Of course, it is black,"

"Have I become that predictable?" she said with a smile as she opened the driver's door.

Alesia laughed in response as she opened the passenger door and climb in while Valeriana and Johnny took the backseat.

"You know writing those essay have really helped me over these last few weeks," Alesia acknowledged as she tightened her seat belt.

Frankie started the engine and reversed the car out of the parking space.

"Maybe you should write an autobiography," Valeriana suggested. "You don't have to publish it."

Alesia looked out the car window. "I like that idea."

Alesia remained quiet for the rest the car ride. Frankie was silence as well but for a different reason, she was consecrating on the road ahead of her. Valeriana and Johnny talked in the backseat, they kept their voices quiet so they wouldn't be distracting to Frankie.

Frankie pulled up to the car park and turned off the engine. She looked over to Alesia. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Alesia nodded without a word she opened the door and exited the car. The other three followed her as she stepped out onto the golden sand of the beach trail. She followed the path all the way down to the beach.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Valeriana told her.

"I'm tired of living in fear," Alesia said as she bent over and removed her shoes and socks leaving them on the sand. She then rolled up the bottom of her loose jeans and walked towards the water. She stood on the wet sand and allowed the waves to wash over her feet. The cold water numbed her toes, but she wasn't afraid. Not anymore

Valeriana, Frankie and Johnny stood further away from the water edge as they watched their friend.

Alesia could remember the last time she had been here. That day with her mother and sister.

Frankston beach still looked the same.

She looked out over the water, over the waves and to the straight line that separated the sky and the blue water below. She wasn't ready to venture further out, but she knew that she would be one day. Alesia decided that today this would be enough.

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A/N: This was going to be ending of the novel but then I came up with an idea for an epilogue.

Frankston beach is a real place in Melbourne. I have swam there many times.

This chapter was also going to be part of the last chapter but it just got too long.

I was going to dedicate the epilogue to both channelpink20 and StarrySky7267 but I couldn't work at how to do it. So I have dedicated this chapter to channelpink20 and the epilogue to StarrySky7267