My uncle met me at the airport in Seattle that afternoon. "Hey Eden, I'm glad you're finally here." He said as he hugged me. He had nicknamed me that when I was younger. He said that it was because I was always so at peace that you rarely saw me upset. That peace had been destroyed. The love of my life ripped from my arms and all of my friends turned on me. "Hey Uncle Jay. How are you?" I said once he let go. "Better now that I have my favorite niece back." He said. I frowned and looked down. "Do we really have to still pretend about that?" I asked. My uncle was actually my father. My mother had dated him and gotten pregnant and after they split started dating is brother. She had pretended that he was my uncle until about two years ago. I remember that day like it was yesterday.
The pain of their words ripping and tearing at my heart. The pain was so intense that I ran from the house and ended up sitting in the park in pouring rain. My parents called around and Emmett came looking for me after hearing I was gone for so long. When he found me, he hugged me close in the backseat of his car with the heater on high. I cried my heart out and he just held on until the tears stopped. I stayed at his place for three days until my mother got fed up and brought me home. To say our relationship was never the same would have been and understatement.
"I am okay with whatever you want." He said. The Tennessee drawl was only slightly present as he spoke. "I kind of just really need my dad right now." I said softly as tears welled in my eyes. He hugged me to his chest and shushed me. I wiped at my eyes and stepped back. "Can we go home?" I asked. He nodded and helped me with my bags. I sat back quietly until he asked me how I was doing. I burst into tears and spilled all the things I had been holding in. "No one would believe me daddy. I wasn't driving the car. Emmett was and he just disappeared along with the other driver. I was the only one there in a car accident that I didn't cause and no one would believe me." I said between sobs.
"I believe you sweetheart. It's okay now and you're safe." He said. He allowed me to cry until we got home. "Aria Keahi Carson, you listen to me and listen well. I do not blame you for what happened. It was not your fault. You loved that boy and you mourn him but you don't let it control you ever. You are smart and beautiful. He would want you to be happy and you need to do that in respect of his memory. You came here to start over so start over." He said. I nodded and wiped my face. "Thank you." I said softly. He nodded and then let me into the house and showed me my room. I set out to buy paint and things to paint my room the way I wanted. It took three days to get it the black with beautifully intricate hand drawn flowers and skylines. My dad surprised me with a car so that I wouldn't have to rely on him to get around. I thanked him and headed off to bed.
Tomorrow was Monday and I would start at my new high school. It wasn't so bad seeing as it was still the beginning of the year. My only issue would be with meeting new people. No matter how much pain they had caused me, my old friends meant the world to me and now they had to be replaced and that was the last thing I wanted. My phone lit up with a new text message and I unlocked it to read it.
"Aria, I know it's too late now that you're gone but I'm sorry. I know I should have never believed what people were saying about you. Hell, I was your best friend and I should have stuck by you. I remember seeing how in love you and Emmett were and I know now that you would never do anything to hurt him. I should have just believed you and now it's too late. Maybe somehow you can find a way to forgive me and we can be friends again."-Bree
I sighed hard as my heart ripped a little bit more and locked my phone back. I wanted to text her back but I knew if I did then I would never truly forgive her and we would never be able to be friends without that. I rolled over to face away from the window and fell into a dreamless sleep. I knew when I woke up; I would have to pretend to be happy and got to school.