Cole's POV from Chapters 20-22

After the talk I had with Julia I feel much better and believe that we can move forward from the stuff I did when I was younger.

I just hope that I don't do anything to ruin it in the next couple of days.

I pull the car into the driveway or her house. I park the car before pulling the keys out of the ignition. "Your Mom is going to be happy that I'm here. Every time we ask her to make pizza I help her."

Julia is quiet as I told her that and I can see that she's thinking something, but I can't put my finger on what it would be.

I step out of the car and say. "I'll get you door." Rounding the car I open the door for her.

She picks up her bag from the floor before stepping out. "Thanks, Cole." She walks pass me and heads to the front door and opens it.

I close the door and lock it before entering the house. As I approach the kitchen I hear Mrs. Harris say. "Where Cole?"

"He's in his way." Julia says, as I enter the rom. She looks at everyone and says. "I didn't kill him..." whispering she says. "This time."

That's not nice.

Veronica laugh and all our attention turns to her. "What?" She asks.

Liam pulls her into his side. "What were you laughing at?"

She looks at Julia before shrugging. "Nothing," Veronica changes the subject by saying. "Mrs. Harris I heard you make the best pizzas around. Is there any chance you can show me how to make it?"

Mrs. Harris looks at Julia. "If Julia is fine with it then I'll let you help."

Julia doesn't look too happy about it, but because the type of person she is. She puts her feelings aside and says to Veronica. "It's fine. I'm going to go for a walk. Can someone call me when dinner is ready?" She grabs her phone and walks out of the house.

I help Mrs. Harris pull out all the ingredients for dinner and I start slicing the capsicum, onions, tomatoes, Danish salami for her.

She prepares the base with Veronica's help. She looks at me and says. "I remember the first time Julia helped me make pizza. She tried to flip the base over and it hit her head."

Veronica and I laugh at hearing what Julia was like the first time she made pizza with her Mom.

I wish she was here making it with us now, but I think I scared her away by telling her that it's one of my fav things to do with Mrs. Harris.

Looking up I see Julia walk into the kitchen. "Are you okay, Julia?"

"I'm fine." She places a letter on the table and says. "Dad gave this to me before he left me at the park."

"Okay," I roll the pin back and forth over the dough that's on the table. "Do you want to talk about what was written in it?"

She shakes her head. "Not right now, Cole. I need time to process everything I read. You're not going to believe who I ran into at the park."

I stop rolling the dough and look at her. "Who was there?"

"Georgie,"

Great! She's back in town. It's been years since I heard her name said around town.

The last I heard about her was she was getting an abortion after falling pregnant to someone she was with during a gang bang.

Veronica stops what she's doing and says. "The girl that ditched you because of him?"

"Yeah, the one and only. She still believes she's better than everyone. She called me a snake. Can you believe that?"

This year's reunion has gotten a lot more interesting. Georgie is the one that's going to be talked about the most as her activities are known around the town.

Veronica laughs. "I can't wait to meet that girl. I want to show her how a best friend should be treated. Why don't we get matching tattoos or something?"

Are they really that stupid? There's no way I want to see ink on Julia's body. It's perfect the way it is.

I look between them. "Are you serious? Matching tattoos? You don't need to prove to that girl or anyone else that..." I form fists with my hands and hit the table. "This is all my fault. The way you've been treated in this town. I wish I was able to change back time and make sure that this wasn't the way you were treated, but we both know it's impossible to change stuff that's happened."

Mrs. Harris places her hand on my shoulder. "What matters now is that you're making things right with my daughter. If you continue to lead the way the rest of the town will follow you by being nice to my daughter. Remember you're a leader amongst everyone and they're your followers. Just remember you weren't able to make my daughter follow you which is also another reason why you fell for her. She's not like everyone in town. She's her own person and has been truthful since the beginning."

A smile spreads across my face as I look at Mrs. Harris. "She has been." Turning towards Julia I say. "I'm glad you haven't changed, Julia."

I hear a phone vibrate followed by Julia saying. "Excuse me, I have to take this call." Putting the phone up to my ear I say.

Julia: Hey, Darcy.

She walks out of the room and I don't hear the rest of the conversation.

I put pizza sauce on the pizza and then add the vegetables, ham and salami.

Veronica adds the topping to her pizza as Julia walks back into the room with a smile on her face. "Was that Darcy?"

"Yeah," Julia's eyes lighten when she talks about Darcy.

I'm glad someone makes her happy.

"She keeps calling me without her parents knowing and her mother asked me to stop her from doing it again."

"How's she doing?" Veronica asks.

"Miserable," Looking at Veronica she says. "She hates that I'm not there and every time we're on the phone she makes it clear how much she misses me." Julia takes a seat on the stool. "I miss her too, but the attachment she has to me is because I saved her life."

Mrs. Harris moves over to the chair across from Julia. "Are you going to tell us where you were when the tsunami hit?"

Why's she pushing her daughter into telling us the story? I would prefer to hear it when she's good and ready, but I can't go against what Mrs. Harris wants to know.

Julia ignores the question. "Aren't you going to put the pizzas in the oven? They can't cook themselves by staying on the bench."

Antwon jumps onto the bench. "We want to know what happened to you on the Island. That's why dinners not being put in. If we put it in now we'll forget about it because we're busy listening to you."

"Veronica, can you please put dinner in the oven and then I'll tell you what happened? It's about time that I tell those close to me what happened."

Veronica puts the pizza in the oven before she walks over to the kitchen table and sits next to Liam.

Julia look at her hands. "When the tsunami hit I was at the beach."

Shit! That's not the area I would have liked to be on when the tsunami struck.

Mrs. Harris covers her mouth with her hands. "Oh, god." She pulls Julia into her arms and hugs her. "What happened next?" She drops her arms from around her daughter and continues to listen to the story.

"There was another teacher at the beach with her kids as well. We heard some noises that sounded like a plane and I looked up to see a wave heading to the beach. One of my students Darcy was close to the water and the other teacher told me to leave her. I couldn't do that. So, I grabbed her hand and we ran. We didn't get too far before we were swept up in the wave and dragged across the water. I got hurt, but Darcy was fine. When I came through I was in the hospital without Darcy and I started to panic because she wasn't with me. When the nurse came into my room I was told that she was alright and with her parents." Julia looks at the oven. "Sometimes, I get nightmares about my experience and it scares me."

Talking about it right now isn't going to help. She might have problems sleeping tonight because she told us about her experience.

Mrs. Harris stands up from her seat and wraps her arms around Julia. "I'm glad you're here with us now, Julia. When you want to talk we'll be here to listen."

Dad walks into the kitchen and looks around at everyone. "What did I miss?"

Antwon stands up from the table and walks over to Julia. "Thanks for telling us what happened."

Looking at Mr. Harris she says. "I told everyone what happened to me on the Island. How about in a couple of days you and I go out for ice cream and I can tell you my story."

He nods. "That's a date, pumpkin."

The table is set for dinner with the four pizzas set in the middle of the table. Julia takes a seat next to Veronica and I'm across from her.

I reach across the table and grab the same slice of pizza as Julia. "You can have it." I say.

She shakes her head. "I don't want to eat anything your hands has been all over. I'll get another slice." She moves her hand to a different slice of the same pizza and puts it on the plate. She grabs two slices of garlic bread and puts it on the plate.

Mrs. Harris looks around the table. "What's everyone's plans for tomorrow?"

Liam and Antwon say at the same time. "Work,"

A smile spreads across my face. "I'm working on a mustang and a BMW."

Liam turns towards me. "Really? I need to check out the classic car."

I shake my head. "The mustang will be getting worked on after the shop closes. The owner doesn't want people to see it. He trusts me to work on it only."

"That sucks." Antwon says. "So, how do you know the owner of the car?"

"He was friends with my parents before they died. When I was growing up he showed me all I needed to know about an engine and from that encounter I wanted to be a mechanic." I turn my head towards Julia and say. "I love to get down and dirty."

Mrs. Harris looks across the table at Julia. "What about you, Julia?"

"I have no plans." Julia's phone goes off and she pulls it out of pocket and puts it on the table.

"We have a strict no phone rule at the kitchen table, Julia. You'll need to put it away." Mrs. Harris says.

No, she doesn't. Why is she being mean to Julia now?

Looking around the table Julia sees everyone's phone in front of them untouched. "You all have your phones out. It seems as if I'm not part of this family with the way you all act. Maybe, I should stay somewhere else."

She shouldn't have to leave the house. I know Mrs. Harris was upset when she left all those years ago, but what's gotten her so upset that she's pushing her daughter away now?

Mr. Harris looks at Julia and guilt flashes in his eyes. "Sweetheart, we can bend the rules for Julia. She hasn't been here in a while and we need to include her again." He reaches across the table and touches Julia's hand. "I don't want to lose my little girl again."

Mrs. Harris sighs. "It's hard to get used to Julia being back again after she's been gone for so long."

Julia pushes her plate away and says. "I'll be in room." She stands up and walks away, leaving everyone in silence.