Shame (Ruin 3)

Funny, because out of all the people in my life, the one person who understood the most was Lisa. The most unlikely of partners. She sat quietly next to me and whispered, “I like laughing again.”

“It gets easier,” I whispered. “The laughter.”

She smiled and turned to face me. “I know.”

She’d been through hell. The media hadn’t been kind once the story had broken about Taylor and her involvement. We’d tried to protect her as much as we could, but in the end, she’d been made out to be a bully, just like he had been.

Tristan had done his best to defend her; even his father had defended her. But once the storm died down, she’d approached the media with her story. She’d bravely broken her silence. She’d spoken so eloquently that day, explaining the dangers of emotional bullying, how it turned into physical abuse, how she’d been raped. She’d left no stone unturned, and with all our help, had started her own non-profit in honor of online bullying.

“Tristan,” Lisa warned as he made his way around the pool with a squirt gun. “Don’t! Don’t you dare!”

“Do it, do it!” Gabe chanted, while Kiersten and Saylor squirted him in the face with the water guns.

It probably didn’t help that it was a chilling fifty-five degrees outside, hardly pool weather. Then again, the water was heated, so it wasn’t a huge chore to swim.

“I love you.” Tristan nodded. “But it’s time... for revenge.” He squirted her leg. “That was for hiding the label maker.”

Lisa burst out laughing.

He squirted her stomach. “And that was for making labels that had words like breasts on them when labeling chicken.”

“In my defense, it was still accurate.” Lisa laughed harder.

“She’s right.”

“Stay out of this, Michels!” Tristan roared then lunged for Lisa and pulled her into the pool. Her laughter was more than I could have hoped for.

Laughter meant healing.

Healing was more than just being cured of cancer or finding the one who actually saw you for you. It was more than getting over your past, embracing your future. Healing’s waking up every day when you’d rather stay in bed; healing’s when you smile instead of cry; healing’s when you can hold your head high, despite what demons try to pull it down. And life was full of it, full of opportunities to cut and run, rather than stay put and face the storm.

They never teach you that in school. They never teach you that the fish that survive are the ones that swim against the current.

My name is Wes Michels, and I’m a survivor.

Now it’s your turn to live, laugh, and love.

Live… like Kiersten and I chose to do.

Laugh… at all the little things along with way, like Gabe and Saylor did.

Love… like Lisa and Tristan were finally able to do.

Yeah, I chuckled as I watched my friends continue to tease and yell at one another.

Just thank God.

And live.

The End