Read Drifting into Darkness Online
Authors: J.M. La Rocca
Drifting into Darkness (34 page)
One year later
“Did you get all your books?” Mom asked as I walked into the kitchen.
I had just gotten back from A&M bookstore to get my schoolbooks. “Yep, I’m all set,” I said, as I walked to the fridge to get a coke.
After I got past my grieving from losing Landon, I did exactly what I told him I was going to do. I talked to my parents about my wish to go to art school. I told them I didn’t care what they thought. I’d almost lost my life so I was going to follow my dreams and be who I wanted to be. I talked the whole time, not letting them get a word in until I was done. To my surprise, they didn’t object. I think my accident scared them enough that they finally relented in their need to control me.
It could have also been the fact that my mom loved my drawings. She expressed how she was sad that I never thought to share my talent with her and encouraged me to draw the weeks after the accident. At first, it was hard to pick up a pencil to sketch, but I gradually got back into it.
“Your dad’s going to be home for dinner. Are you going to eat with us?” she asked as she was prepping one of her many chicken dishes.
“Nah,” I said after drinking some of my coke. “Lisa and I are going to a movie tonight, so I’m going to go head up to my place and take a shower.” I walked up to her and gave her a hug. She wrapped her arms around me, not touching me with her chicken fingers.
“Be careful,” she said with the look she’d been giving me for a little under a year.
When I finally started living, Mom turned into a freak about knowing where I was at all times and she had to touch me in some way when I left the house. The scare had really gotten to her and I knew it would take a while for things to go back to normal, but things were starting to calm down.
I walked into my place and set my coke on the counter before I headed to the shower. As the water cascaded over me, I thought about how much had changed since we’d moved to Texas. I was a firm believer in everything happening for a reason. I knew I was going down the path chosen for me, even though the path led me down the worst heartbreak I would probably ever have.
I missed Landon every day and thought about him often. Every time I made a life decision, he’d cross my mind. His life had influenced me to live mine to the fullest and I would never let go of the promise I’d made.
Over this past year, dating had been the furthest from my mind, but I was starting to feel ready. I knew it would take time. In my heart, I felt like I’d never find anyone like him again. He was the one for me and if I thought about it too much, it still made me cry. He took a part of my heart with him when he died, but I knew one day, my heart would be filled again.
Looking down at my wrist, I rubbed at the sun with a heart in the middle as I thought about him. A few months after his death, I took a drive to our pond and sat under the tree that held so many memories. It was one of the hardest things I had to do, but it was what I
needed
to do to say goodbye. I laid in the grass and stared out at the pond remembering that day. It would forever be the best and worst day of my life. I decided to get the tattoo that day. I wanted to see it every day, and every time I caught a glimpse of it, my smile got a little bit bigger.
I was his sunshine and now he was mine. He helped light the way to my future and he changed my life forever.
I love you, Landon.
~The End~
Please join the Drifting into Darkness Support Group if you feel you need it.
I’d love to hear from you.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/604523639631230/
Also, please leave a review. I love hearing from readers. <3
Acknowledgments
First I’d like to thank the readers for all of your love and support. Thank you for loving and sharing my work. I write because I love it and having other to share it with is a big bonus.
I’d also like to thank my husband, Tony, for believing in me and allowing me to follow my dreams. When I wrote my first book
Lifeless
he told me that he’d support my decision to quit school and follow my dreams. I couldn’t thank him enough.
To my beta readers: Stephanie Hiland, Dana Caponi, Erica Hatfield, Maureen Mayer, and TK Rapp, thank you so much for reading DiD and helping me make it what it is today. You girls rock my socks off.
To my sprinting partner Ilsa Madden-Mills, a lot of this book wouldn’t have been written if we weren’t competing against each other. Even though you wrote
Very Wicked Things
way faster than I wrote mine. I looked forward to your instant messages and your encouragements along the way. I’m so glad I finally got to meet you after a year of talking to each other by instant message and phone. I love ya to pieces.
To Emmy Montes, my other sprinting partner, you’ve helped me from the beginning when I started my first book and you are still helping me today. I love that we’ve grown closer and talk like old friends. I can’t wait to meet you next year so I can give you a big hug.
To all of my Author friends from Author Support 101, I love you guys and all the support that is shared. Without you I’m not sure where my sanity would be.
I’d also like to thank the Lazari’s at the Double L Farm in Loxley, AL, where I worked when I was fifteen. This book wouldn’t be what it is if I hadn’t had the experiences I did working on the farm. That also includes the creepy mexican guy that sang Elvis to me. Yes, that really did happen. Lol
To all the bloggers that have supported me throughout my writing journey, I love you hard. I’d name all of you, but there are so many. You know who you are because I talk to you and message you all the time. Without you, word of my books would never reach as many people. Your support means the world to me.
About the Author:
J.M. La Rocca wa
s born in Chicago, IL. At an early age, her family relocated to lower Alabama where she began her love for writing. She currently resides in Pensacola, FL with her husband and twin sons. As a stay at home mom, La Rocca was able to pursue her love for writing. It was always an unrealized dream to write her own books. With the love and support from her husband Tony, family, and friends, she set forth and fulfilled that dream.
Aside from writing she also loves to read, listen to music, drink wine, indulge on chocolate, chase her little ones around, and spend time with her family and friends.
Where you can find me:
Website:
http://www.jmlaroccabooks.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/jmlarocca1
Twitter: @jmlarocca1
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7056502.J_M_LaRocca
Go like my Amazon page to get notified whenever I release a book.
http://www.amazon.com/J.M.-La-Rocca/e/B00DUDKCGG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
Other works by J.M. La Rocca
Lifeless Series
Lifeless
My Beautiful
Untitled (Jules Story) (Lifeless 2.5) –
Coming Fall 2014
Table of Contents
