Lost and Found

Chapter Nine

Trust takes years to build. Seconds to break. And forever to repair -author unknown

***

"So you went back to him?" Layla asked mostly to herself.

The minute I got to her house I told her that we needed to talk. She got out ice cream and we walked to her bedroom. I explained to her about Ethan, my mini break down, and how I got back together with Paul.

I stood up from her bed. "What was I supposed to do? Everything he said about Ethan was true!" I exclaimed.

"Here's a solution. Not get back together with Paul!" Layla exclaimed, also jumping from the bed.

"It's not that easy!"

"Yes it is!"

"No, Layla. It really isn't! Not all of us just have perfect little relationships! You were lucky! You have Shawn! It kills me inside to see you two together! It's a reminder of what I don't have!"

I looked at Layla and knew that I hit a nerve. "Is that really what you think?" she asked me, a frown covering her face.

"Well, kinda. I love that you're happy. It's just...you know...I -"

"It should have been you. It really should have. If your family didn't die, it would have been." Slowly we fell back onto the bed.

"That's not true."

"You're gonna regret getting back together with Paul."

"Maybe."

Layla got up and just looked at me.

***

Hailey stood outside the house looking at me. Her hands were folded and she seemed closed off. "You need to come back," she told me.

"No," I said.

"Mom's falling apart."

"I don't care."

"You should."

"Well, I don't. Thank you for dropping off my stuff. Bye." With that, I shut the door.

It took a half an hour, but Layla and I successfully moved all the boxes to her room.

"You start unpacking," Layla told me. "I have to go meet Shawn."

"Okay," I responded. I watched as she left the house. At first, I felt weird. I had never been without her in her house. But soon my headphones were in and I was moving things from place to place.

After a while, my hands touched the box that I knew so well. I opened it slowly, afraid of what might be in it. Blindly, I pulled out two things. One was the address to my father's gravestone and the other was a picture taken by a stranger.

The picture was of Layla, Shawn, Jess, Ethan, and I sitting on a brick wall. None of us older than fourteen. Each one of us had Ice cream in our hands. I always loved this picture. Today I saw something new. That brown haired, blue eyed boy I stood beside for so long wasn't looking at the camera. His gaze was focused on me, who was right next to him. I was laughing about who knows what and his eyes followed my movement. Layla and Shawn wore perfect smiles. But Jessica was rolling her eyes at Ethan and me.

I felt like I wanted to smile and cry at the same time. Everything was so simple back then. Why did it have to change? Why did Jess have to walk away? Why did Ethan have to follow her footsteps, especially when I needed him most?

After much debate, I decided to put the photo in a frame. I put it in another box that I labeled "Bring to Colorado" while smiling. Then I did something that was very stupid.

"Hello?" Jess said on the third ring.

I took a deep breath as I laid down on the floor. You have to move forward sometime, I thought. "Hey, it's Juliette," I responded, my voice barely audible.

"Oh...did you need something?" Jessica asked. I could practically see the confusion in her brown eyes.

"A friend."
"Oh..."

"Can you hang out?"

"Um, are you sure?"

"I was unpacking my stuff and I thought about this quote. 'True friends don't hold

grudges because they understand the power of friendship is way more powerful than a

petty argument' -Trent Shelton."

I heard cries of happiness come from the phone. "He seems like a smart guy." I laughed and found myself wiping a tear from my own eye. "I miss you. This is all my fault."

"Let's talk about this in person."

"Where to?"

"Subway!" we exclaimed at the same time.

***

"This is heaven in a bun," Jess joked.

"Paul took me here on our first date," I responded.

Jessica put her food down. "You just ruined my appetite."

"Come on. What's so bad about Paul?"

Jess looked over at the wall, probably to collect her thoughts, and then looked back at me. "I don't exactly know. It's kinda like your mother, I just have a feeling that you can do so much better."

I looked down at my hands which I was now rubbing together. "I got that feeling at first as well," I confessed. "But he's a really great guy. The only thing that bugs me is that you flirted with him."

"I was really stupid." I wasn't buying anything she was saying.

"Okay," I mumbled as I snuck a look outside. Christmas was approaching fast. I wondered if Hailey and I would celebrate together.

I looked at Jess, who was now swaying back and forth to Jingle Bell Rock.

"'To go riding in a one horse-sleigh!'" we shouted at the same time before bursting out laughing.

"I'm going to Colorado," Jessica blurted out.

"Why?"

"They have a great law school and softball program."

"Jess-"

"I don't expect to be your roommate or anything. I mean it'd be great but I just want you back in my life. After I left it felt like I lost a sister." Watching one of the people who walked out on me come back meant everything to me. And she was following the plan we made when we were thirteen.

"I'd love to be your roommate," I said as a smiled filled my face. "One hundred and eighty-three days left."

Jess got up and pulled me into a hug. When she moved away from me she said, "Oh hey Ethan."

I froze and looked over at him. His hair was a mess and Arianna was with him. I surprised myself by saying, "Come join us."

Soon they did. Do you hear what I hear sung by Carrie Underwood was playing in the background. I looked around, if Hailey and Layla were here I'd be surrounded by everyone I cared. I listened to the song and a tiny bit of my heart started to believe in God once again. I could almost see my father and Piper smiling down at me.