Chapter 26 The Beginning (24)

EMILY'S POV

"Zach." I paused, unsure what to say next. I looked at Zach, ready to gauge his reactions. "Why did you come out here?"

Zach looked at Emily. He solemnly said, "I was worried about you."

Emily sighed. "Were you wondering what happened back there?"

Zach nodded. "Yeah, I was. I don't understand what happened but I want to make sure you are ok. I want you to be able to count on me."

Emily paused for a moment. She glanced at Zach and looked into his eyes for a few minutes before she continued, "I... I want to tell you. But I don't want you to see me differently or pity me or anything, and you cannot tell anyone else. Please."

"Of course." Zach said, he took Emily's hand and pulled her closer.

"When I was 8 I was in a car accident. My parents had been driving home from an amusement park with me in the back of the car. It was the first time I'd gone to the amusement park with just my parents. I'd gone to an amusement park twice before, once with friends and their families and once with my parents and older sister. My sister was only 15 at the time and had an event she had to go to at school, so it was just my parents and me. We had a fun, long day." I smiled with the memory of our fun time.

"When we finally started driving back home it was pretty late and was getting dark outside. We lived in the main part of California at the time, in City of Thousand Oaks, and the drive was only an hour and a half from the amusement park back to our house. I was very tired, as soon as my mom put me in the back of the car I fell asleep. Both of my parents gave me a kiss goodnight on my forehead before sitting in the front. My mom was in the passenger's seat and my dad was in the driver's seat. About thirty minutes from our neighborhood my dad was driving the car along a curved road, in a forest, when a large truck rammed into us from the front. It was very dark at the time and I remember waking up to my two bright lights, my mom screaming, a large, painful crash, then nothing, darkness. I came back into consciousness and was surrounded by bright red and blue lights, flashing sirens, unfamiliar people talking, unfamiliar people yelling, and unfamiliar people running around. I was so scared, and in pain because they hadn't gotten me out of the car yet. When they finally got me out if the car I was rushed to an ambulance, and then made unconscious by Propofol."

Zach wiped away my tears. I looked up at him, I didn't even realize I was crying. I smiled sadly and then went on with my story. "When I woke up, I was in a hospital and my sister and aunt were sitting beside me. I learned more about the crash, the driver in the truck didn't realize that there were any other cars on the road. He was taking a turn and had drifted into our lane, when my dad and the driver realized they were going to crash it was too late. My dad and the truck driver died on impact and my mom died on the way to the hospital, I was the only survivor. My sister and I didn't have any close relatives other than my aunt, so my aunt got custody of us. We then moved here to San Nicolas Island where my aunt lived. It was hard, and with it being a small island everyone gave me looks of pity, sympathetic words, little smiles, and stuff like that for several years. I was the orphan girl who survived a car crash for a long time, and it took a while for people to treat me normally. When my sister turned 18 three years later, my aunt bought another house. My aunt now lives in my great grandparents old house that she owned for a while, and the house I live in today is technically my sister's and mine. My aunt is still my legal guardian, but my sister is also considered one of my legal guardians. I basically live alone, but my sister visits twice a month and on holidays, I see my aunt a few times most months, and the whole island helps take care of me. With everyone's help, I am able to live independently at my aunt/sister's house. I don't like telling people because it makes me different and I don't want to be different. I can't help it that my life is messed up, so I don't go around reminding people about it." I finish talking.

I look up at Zach, waiting for his reaction. I am afraid he is going to treat me differently, or not want anything to do with me, or joke about me, or anything like that. I am a very negative thinker, and tend to overthink. My brain is running in twelve different directions and thinking a lot of thoughts when Zach says something.