Stealing Promises by Brina Courtney Page B

person, she liked to let people know she was there. When Victoria didn’t move she said, “Don’t you want to come in the water?”
    Victoria shook her head and put her focus on her book. The water scared her now. She had become afraid of death-- it had recently become so real to her. Only her toes had touched water since May. Her parents had tried to get her in their pool, but she couldn’t even bring herself to do that. It was all too much. Too frightening.
    Instead of running to the water like Victoria expected, Claire plopped down on the blanket and looked at her intently.
    “Hey Tor?” Victoria realized she wasn’t going to finish her book so she closed it and faced her friend.
    “ Yeah?”
    Claire started running her hand through her short hair. A telltale sign something was bothering her. She took a deep breath and said, “Did you know they put a memorial for Levi at the cemetery near Feddler’s Park?”
    When Victoria didn’t respond Claire continued with, “I heard it’s really beautiful. You should go see it sometime.”
    Victoria just kept staring at Claire. She had no words. The nightmares had finally totally ended, and although she couldn’t forget that night, she had gotten pretty good at not thinking about it. Finally she spoke.
    “I have to go home now.” She grabbed her book and was running to her car before Claire could catch up and see her tears.
    She slammed her car door and called Kate. She needed her support right now. After telling her the information that Claire had just given her she said, “Should I go? I mean, I don’t think I’m ready to go by myself. I’m not strong enough yet.”
    Kate sighed, “Then you shouldn’t go yet. Because the first time you go, you ought to be alone. It should be a private moment for the two of you.”
    Victoria agreed, but to her that meant she wasn’t going anytime soon. She had been leaning on Kate and Claire for support. She still wasn’t sure she could make things work on her own.
    “Can we talk about something tomorrow? Meet at the park in town?”
    “ Sure, what’s up?”
    “ Maybe something, I want to do some research first to be sure.”
    She hung up the phone quickly and drove back to her parents’ house. After a few hours on the computer she decided that going back to school might be a good idea. But she would have to get her transcripts together quickly. She had taken a formal leave of absence but she didn’t want to totally give up on school just because of what happened to her. A fresh start was important. She had learned through her intensive therapy with Kate that if she moved on she wasn’t escaping. She would use her past to impact her future. There were moments when she would relapse into the darkness that almost took her life, but for the most part she had begun to move on.
    The next day at the park she passed a few brochures to Kate on colleges she had found online. The local library had tons of information that was all easily accessible.
    “ What do you think about this?”
    Kate looked surprised. “I’ve told you to start looking a thousand times. What changed?”
    “ Claire might have a job near this one.” She passed her the glossy paper that had a beautiful picture of a cathedral on the front. Wadsworth University was calling Victoria’s name. “But I’m not sure I want to be a lawyer anymore.”
    Kate sighed.
    “I saw the news last night, Kate. You can’t hide it from me.”
    “ I thought it would make you want to be a lawyer even more. Putting people like him behind bars, killers. People who hurt others. I’m surprised that has turned you the other way.”
    Victoria shook her head, “I don’t know. I just don’t think I can face people like that every day. I’m not strong enough yet. And another three years of school? I don’t think I’m prepared for that either. Part of me wonders if I ever was, or if I was just in love with the notion of the glory of it all.”
    “ I see--do you have any idea