Chapter 4

SPOV

I woke up for the first time in four months smiling. I had a couple dreams about Joel. Joel. Joel, who single handily pulled me out of my depression in an hour of talking. I knew we could be great friends, but I needed to tell him about what I had been through in the last four months. I had gotten a text from him and that's what actually woke me up. "Hey Sara, hope you slept good. Wanna meet up for breakfast?" I got up and asked my mom, "what's up for breakfast mom?" "They have stuff in a room off the lobby. Why?" "Well, can I explain it on the way there, I need a shower." "Okay." I texted Joel back, "okay, bringing my mom with. Need a shower, see ya in 20." He replied right away, "Okay, see ya in 20 in the lobby." I replied "Okay," and got in the shower.

I showered quickly and got dressed in my favorite white v-neck, a skirt and leggings with my chucks to top it off. I walked into the room, mom asked me, "so why are you so dressed up Sara?" "Well, I'll explain on the way." We walked out of the room and started walking, "well mom, last night while I was in the lobby reading, I met this guy named Joel. And well, he was teh reason for my smile last night. We traded numbers, he texted asking what I was up to for breakfast. And well we're meeting up with him in the lobby. He doesn't know about Karly yet and please don't embarrass me." "Okay Sara, and by the way that's the most you've said to me in a long time."

We walked into the lobby and I spotted Joel and felt a smile spread across my face when my eyes met his. He smiled and started talking to the guys he was with. My guess was that they were his brothers. My mom and I walked over to him. When we got to him I said, "Mom, this is Joel, Joel, my mom." He shook my mom's hand and then said, "Sara, Sara's mom these are my brothers Josh and Luke," he pointed to them as he said their names, "Josh, Luke this is Sara and her mom." They shook my hand and my mom's hand. We decided to stay at the hotel and eat there. I guess Joel told them a little about me by the way they looked at me. We talked all through breakfast, just gettign to know each other. I texted Joel towards the end, "Can I talk to you later about something?" "Sure, how about we take a walk after breakfast?" "Okay."

JPOV

I woke up with a smile on my face and texted Sara. "Hey Sara. Hope you slept good. Wanna meet up for breakfast?" I was hoping she would say yes, it felt like she was someone I never knew I needed. I had been pretty depressed since my exgirlfriend Caitlin broke up with me. I thought she was the one. I was broken out of my thoughts by my phone vibrating, Sara had replied, "Okay, I'm bringing my mom with. Need to shower, see ya in 20." I replied back right away, "Okay, see ya in 20 in the lobby." She replied "Okay," and I went and took a quick shower and got dressed in my favorite white shirt and black jeans with my leather jacket and combat boots to top it off.

I explained to Josh and luke on the way to the lobby about Sara. "So guys last night when I said I didn't know what you were talking about. Well I lied, I met this girl named Sara last night. We're meeting up with her and her mom for breakfast." We sat down on a couch in the lobby to wait for Sara and her mom. When our eyes met we smiled at each other. We introduced the others to each other. We sat and ate breakfast and all of us got to know each other. Towards the end Sara texted me. "Can I talk to you later about something?" I replied, "Sure, how about we take a walk after breakfast?" "Okay." I started to wonder what it was about. Then a thought came into my head...

(oooo...CLIFFIE)

chapter 3

Joel POV

Man, here goes another GMA week. I had been going to these since

I was 10 and my sister started getting big. This year Luke and I

would have a chance. We had decided to stay at the Opryland

Hotel, just to be closer to all the things we were to do. I had actually

gone to the lobby to leave and get something to eat. That was until I

saw her. This girl with curly, strawberry blonde hair. I noticed she

was reading a book Rebecca had co-written.

I walked over to the couch she was sitting on and sat down next to

her. She looked up at me shyly through her long eyelashes, to

reveal very beautiful hazel eyes that held some sadness in them. I

wanted to know why they looked that way, but knew it wasn't right to

ask out right, so I introduced myself, "hi I'm Joel. What's your

name?" "Sara, it's nice to meet you Joel," she said with an accent

that sounded Texan. "Yeah same here Sara. So what are you here

for?" "GMA week, a vacation, with my mom." "Oh cool, me too.

What's that you're reading?" I noticed as she put her bookmark in

it's place that it was of that weird series called Twilight. She said,

"SHE by Rebecca St. James and Lynda Hunter Bjorklund." "Oh

cool, I've read all of Rebecca's books, she's my sister."

The look of recognition came across her face, she knew who I was. I

asked her, "do you have any siblings?" There was a sadness in her

eyes while saying, "no, I'm an only child. I know you have four

brothers and two sisters, thanks to this book...and the others I've

read." I chuckled a bit and replied, "yeah I remember the reprint of

the first devotional had wacky photos of us in it." "Yeah, but it was

still pretty cool to have them in there." "So, what showcases are

you going to this week?" "I really don't know my mom only told me

we were going to the Doves, and staying here." "Oh well my brother

Luke and I are playing one. I can get you into that one if you want," I

offered her. She said "sure that sounds like fun," she actually

smiled. She then looked at her phone for the time and said, "I

should really get back to my room, my mom will start to freak out if

I'm gone too long." "Oh well how about we trade numbers so we can

meet up through out the week?" "Sure." She gave me her cell as I

gave her mine and we put our numbers in each others phones.

I offered to walk her to her room which she accepted. We walked to

her froom in an awkward silence. I wanted to ask her about the

sadness in her eyes when I asked about siblings but knew it wasn't

the right time though, and I couldn't think of anything to say so we

were silent. When we got to her room I stuck out my hand for a

handshake, which she did. Truth be told, I wanted a hug more than

anything but didn't want to scare her off. I walked to the room I was

staying in with my two younger brothers, Josh and Luke. Josh took

one look at my face and asked, "what's her name, Joel?" I told him,

"I have no clue what you're talking about Josh." "Whatever Joel."

I went to take a shower to be able to think in peace. The first

thought that came into my mind was Sara's face when I asked about

siblings and the sadness in her eyes. I wanted to know why it was

there and more importantly I wanted to do anythign the have her not

in that pain. I never believed I could feel the hurt of someone else so

much. That I could even like her with only talking to her for only an

hour. I got out of the shower, dried off and got dressed. When I

walked out into the room, Luke took one look at my face and asked,

"so, what's her name?" My reply was, " I have no clue what you're

talking about Luke." "Whatever Joel." What was up with my

brothers? Well I ignored them and went to bed and dreamt of Sara.

Chapter 2

We got off the plane and walked into the Nashville Internation Airport. We got our luggage and our rental car. I had no idea where we would be staying, my mom had kept it a secret from me. My mom interrupted my thoughts, "Sara, we're going to be staying at the same hotel as a lot of your favorite bands this week. Even though a lot of them live in Franklin it's easier for them to stay in Nashville this week." "Really mom?!?" "Yes Sara. You are going to have a lot of fun this week, I promise. I also have a few surprises up my sleeve for you this week." "Oh my gosh, thanks mom," I felt excited and extremely happy for the first time since the accident.

My mom pulled into the hotel parking lot, I looked at the sign and exclaimed, "mom, does that say Gaylord Opryland Hotel?!" "Yes honey, it does, we're staying here for the week and a half." "Oh my gosh mom, this is huge for me. Thank you, I think this is exactally what I need." "You're welcome Sara. I'm so happy to see you so happy." "I'm happy to actually feel happy again mom." "I've missed that smile Sara." We got out of the car, got our luggage from the trunk and walked into the hotel. As my mom checked us in, I checked out the amazing lobby. I saw the guys from Leeland, Revieve, Third Day, Newsboys, and Stellar Kart and that was just in the lobby. My mom and I each got a key and we went to our room. I wasn't hungry so while my mom was eating I went into the lobby to sit and read "SHE" by Rebecca St. James and Lynda Hunter Bjorklund. I sat on the closest couch and started to read it.

This guy came over and sat down next to me. I looked up to see that he was really cute, had amazing brown eyes that reminded me too much of Karly's, short, brown, curly hair, and the most handsome smile I had ever seen. I was so lost in his face that it surprised me when I heard his voice. "Hi, I'm Joel. What's your name?," he asked in Australian accent. "Sara, it's nice to meet you Joel." "Yeah, same here Sara. So what are you here for?" "GMA week, vacation with my mom." "Oh cool, me too. So what are you reading?" I put the bookmark that had my favorite Cullen, Emmett, on it in its place and showed him the book. I said "SHE by Rebecca St. James and Lynda Hunter Bjorklund." "Oh cool, I've reaqd all of Rebecca's books, she's my sister."

I realized that is wher I had seen him before. He had sung backup for her since 1999. He asked me, "do you have any siblings?" I froze, I felt I didn't know him enough to tell him about Karly, so I lied, "no, I'm an only child. I know you have four brothers and two sisters, thanks to his book...and the others I've read." He chuckled and replied, "yeah, I remember to reprint of the first devotional had wacky pictures of us in it." "Yeah but it was still pretty cool to have them in there." "So, what showcases are you going to this week?" "I really don't know, my mom only told me we were going to the Doves, and staying here." "Oh well my brother Luke and I are playing one. I can get you into that one if you want." I said, "sure, that sounds like fun," with a smile on my face. I looked at my cell for the time and knew my mom would start to get worried about me. I said "I should really get back to my room, my mom will start to freak out if I'm gone too long." "Oh well how about we trade numbers so we can meet up through out the week?" "Sure" I said as I gave him my cell and he gave me his, so we could put our numbers in each others' phones.

Joel then offered to walk me to my room and I said sure. For one of the first times since the accident I felt truly happy. We walked to my room in silence, I didn't really know what to say to him. I noticed that on the way he was checking me out a couple times. He shook my hand we we made it to the room, I didn't want a handshake though, I wanted a hug, but I didn't want to scare him off so I took what I could get. I walked into the room all happy. My mom noticed and asked "what happened to make you this happy?" I just replied, "nothing," and went to bed, to sleep and dreamt of him.

Chapter 1

"Let's pack up and move to California, She's got lots of friends out there, We'll never get bored cause we can go boardin', Let's let the sunshine take us there". I was driving with my little sister Karly to go see the band Hawk Nelson. We were singing at the top of our lungs to their Letters to the President cd. It all happened so fast. The other driver was speeding and swirving through traffic going the other way.

The car slammed into the driver's side front tire and pushed us into the gaurd rail there. I had been screaming and then blacked out. When I came to I was surronded by fire trucks, ambulences, and squad cars. I looked for Karly, who was nowhere to be found. I tried to scream her name, but it got stuck in my throat. I has sharp pains in my left leg and arm and my head hurt like nothing I've ever felt before. They had to use the jaws of life to get me out.

They put a neck brace on me and put a back board behind me before removing me from the car. I asked the paramedic, "where's Karly? Where's my little sister?!". He didn't answer me. I asked again, "where's Karly? Where is my little sister?". It looked like I wasn't going to get an answer from him. It was getting hard to breathe, the air wasn't coming into my body at all. They put me into the ambulence and put an oxygen mask on my face. My body felt so weird, like my head was disconnected from my body. My leg and arm hurt so much more than I could handle, but those pains were slowly fading.


***three days later***


I felt so sore, like I had been sleeping for a long time and hadn't moved once during that time. I opened my eyes to a bright light overhead. I realized immeadiately that I was in a hospital, I had no clue what happened or how long I had been there. All I knew was that my arm and leg were in casts and my right side ribs hurt beyond words. I turned my head just a little, even though it hurt so much to do that and saw my mom sitting in the chair next to my bed. I started crying and said "mom, are you awake?" She turned her head towards me and started to cry. She said "Sara, I'm so happy your awake." "How long have I been sleeping?" I asked her as I gave her a
hug to comfort her. "You had a lot of injuries on the left side of your body, they had to keep you sedated for three days honey." "Three days? Where's Karly mom?" "Yes three days..." she stalled on answering my second question. I asked again "where's Karly mom?", staring her down to have her tell me.

She finally decided to answer me. "Sara, when the other car hit you Karly was thrown fifty feet from the car. She has a lot of injuries and they worked on her for a long tme. Honey, Karly died on the operating table." I just sat there in my hospital bed, shocked that my 14 year old sister was dead, because I was taking her to see a band that we both loved. I just started crying, and I couldn't stop even if I wanted to. I spent the next 2 weeks in that hospital bed and trying to get used to the casts on my arm and leg. I had broken my arm through both bones and my ankle and leg in a few places. My parents were able to take me home, even with me being so depressed from everything that had happened.

Over the next three months I went into a severe depression. I didn't want to do anything ever with anyone. My parents saw the depression worsening and brought it up with the doctor at one of my many appointments for my arm and leg. He referred me to a therapist and put me on some anti depressants. I talked to the therapist and took my pills, but I was still very depressed. My mom asked me one day, "Sara, how would you like to take a vacation to Nashville with me?" "Uh, sure mom, sounds like tons of fun," I said semi-sarcastically. She knew that was my sarcastic side and said, "I'm serious Sara, I got us thickest to go in to weeks and go to the Gospel
Music Association Awards, or I guess you called them The Dove Awards." "Oh wow mom, that actually does sound like fun," for the first time in three months I actually sounded excited. We left to weeks later, with the okay from the doctor to miss my appointments, for Nashville.

The start

so I AM DOING THIS FOR A COUPLE FRIENDS TO READ MY story.


(hawk Nelson song 'California' lyrics).  I was driving with my little sister Karly to go see the band Hawk Nelson.  We were singing at the top of our lungs to their Letters to the President cd.  It all happened so fast.  The other driver was speeding and swirving through traffic going the other way.

The car slammed into the driver's side front tire and pushed us into the gaurd rail there.  I had been screaming and then blacked out.  When I came to I was surronded by fire trucks, ambulences, and squad cars.  I looked for Karly, who was nowhere to be found.  I tried to scream her name, but it got stuck in my throat.  I has sharp pains in my right leg and arm and my head hurt like nothing I've ever felt before.  They had to use the jaws of life to get me out.

They put a neck brace on me and put a back board behind me before removing me from the car.  I asked the paramedic, "where's Karly? Where's my little sister?!".  He didn't answer me.  I asked again, "where's Karly? Where is my little sister?". It looked like I wasn't going to get an answer from him.  It was getting hard to breathe, the air wasn't coming into my body at all.  They put me into the ambulence and put an oxygen mask on my face.  My body felt so weird, like my head was disconnected from my body.  My leg and arm hurt so much more than I could handle, but those pains were slowly fading.


***three days later***

I felt so sore, like I had been sleeping for a long time and hadn't moved once during that time.  I opened my eyes to a bright light overhead.  (I will add more tomorrow on actual computer).