Forever Remember: The Rose Code

Chapter 28 Whiter Than Snow

While I rested in the nurse's office for almost half an hour, I planned my speech for Mrs. Price. 

A few minutes before the end of last period, the nurse asked, "Do you need to call your parents for a ride home?"

"Yes. I should call my mother."               

She dialed my home number and handed me the phone.

"Hello," Mother answered.          

"Hi, Mom. It's Jasmine. Don't worry, but I almost fainted in Chorus 'cause I didn't eat lunch. I feel better now. Tyler is going to take me to his house after school. His mother wants to talk to me. Is that okay with you?"

"That's fine, but try to eat something first. I'll be praying for you. Be careful, Jasmine. Think before you speak." Even though my mother warned me to be cautious, she sounded confident in me, like she trusted me. Maybe, I finally have my mother's trust.

"I will. Thanks, Mom."

I ended the call and gave the phone to the nurse.

When the bell rang dismissing students from their last class, I left the nurse's office and went to my locker to grab my homework.

Melaney was at hers.

"Laney, can I borrow your notes from . . . all the classes we had together today?"

"Sure." She handed me her notebooks.

I put them in my backpack.

"I'll walk with you to Tyler's car," Melaney offered.

We walked together through the school and out the doors to the parking lot.

"Thanks, for everything. I am truly blessed to have you for a friend."

"Ditto," Melaney said, smiling. "I'll be praying for you."

"So is my mom. I might need divine intervention, so I don't faint again."

Melaney reached in the front pocket of her backpack and pulled out a KitKat bar. "I think this situation calls for the emergency chocolate stash."

"Definitely," I agreed, opening the wrapper and munching on the chocolaty goodness.

Tyler was leaning against the front bumper of his car. I swallowed the last bite of the bar. In a chocolate high, I almost forgot what I had to do next.

As I approached Tyler, he smirked at me and pointed to his lips.

I raised an eyebrow, wondering what his gesture meant, until Melaney said, "You have chocolate on your face."

"Oh." I wiped it off with the back of my hand and then licked my hand. Realizing I forgot my manners in front of Tyler, I giggled, half hysterically.

Melaney giggled too, indubitably at my crazed expression. "See you later, BFF," she said and headed for home. 

Tyler opened the passenger door for me.

For a split second, I wanted to run after Melaney and avoid meeting with Mrs. Price, but I took a deep breath and silently gave myself a Laney pep talk. You can do this.

I took my backpack off my shoulder and dropped it on the floor of the car. I clicked the fasteners of the seatbelt together and sat on the straps. I shouldn't care what Tyler thought of me. It was his mother's fault I was a psychotic mess. "Seatbelts make me claustrophobic," I explained.

"It's okay. I understand why." Tyler's voice overflowed with sympathy. He gently closed my door and then got in his seat and buckled the belt.

Tyler drove to his house in silence. Both  of us lost in our own thoughts. He didn't turn on the radio this time, but my mind still played, one step closer. One step closer to putting the past behind me and focusing on the future. One step closer to overcoming evil with good.

Tyler parked at the side entrance, not bothering to put his car in the garage. I jumped out of the car and waited for him to escort me inside. He held out both his hands and wrapped them around mine.

"What happened in our past hasn't changed the way I feel about you, Jasmine.  I want to spend every possible minute of my future with you. No matter what my mother does or says today. Believe me when I say I care about you."

I stared into his beautiful blue eyes, so full of hope. "I do believe you."

He pressed his lips softly against mine for only a second.

He led me into the house, past the library, down the hall, to the living room, where Mrs. Price sat on the beige leather couch in the center of the huge room.

"Thanks, Tyler, for everything. I'd like to talk to your mother alone," I requested. This was one thing I had to do by myself.

He nodded and left.

Unable to sit still, I stood in front of the matching chair next to the couch.

"I'm sorry," Mrs. Price began to say, but I didn't let her finish.

"I don't want to hear your apologies. Being sorry doesn't fix anything." My tone was so stern I almost sounded like Jonathan. "Nothing you say can bring my daddy back, but you can get help, so someone else doesn't lose a loved one."

She just stared at me and didn't say a word. Her expression was impassive. 

"That's all I want. For you to admit you have a problem and get help. If you are truly sorry, you will do this for me and for your family. Tyler loves you and worries about you, and I care about him, more than myself. Do you?"

She still didn't answer, and she couldn't look me in the eyes anymore. She studied the floor. 

I pulled the flash drive out of my pocket and held it up. "I have your recorded confession on this flash drive. Proof that you killed my father."

That got her attention.

Mrs. Price lifted her eyes and fixed them on the flash drive. All the color drained from her already pale face, which was now whiter than the new snow that fell on the day my daddy died. She shivered, maybe from fear. I held her life in my hands.

"I'm giving the flash drive to Tyler. He can decide what to do with it. I'm finally putting the past behind me. It's what Daddy would want me to do. It's what Tyler wants me to do. He wants to have a future with me, so I will forgive you. My past might have been sad, but my future will be happy."

At that moment, I realized happiness is the best revenge.

A/N: Video above is Overcomer by Mandisa.

"You might be down for a moment

feeling like it's hopeless.

That's when He reminds you.

That you're an overcomer.

You're an overcomer."

What have you had to overcome in your life?

Let me know in the comments.