Page 103 of Heart of a Rebel

It was darkness before I ever saw the light

It was darkness before the flames that lit up died

And it’s darkness still

But now I see the light

In you, with you

I saw the light

So I wrote this song for you, chaos so sweet

I wrote love for you, with the broken bones in me

I stand and burn for you, will you burn for me?

Tell me can you stand this wicked, wicked heat?

I was told you can’t go down in flames and come out the other side

I was told that stories end if the hero inside them dies

I was told many things I shouldn’t have survived

But I survive

I thrive

I thrive

So I wrote this song for you, chaos so sweet

I wrote love for you, with the broken bones in me

I stand and burn for you, will you burn for me?

Tell me can you stand this wicked, wicked heat?”

The song cuts out and I realize my eyes are closed as screams rip through the stadium.

“E-lo-ise, E-lo-ise.”

They’re desperate, needy, begging.

I used to think there was no feeling like it. And while I still draw in the energy they so freely hand over to me, that’s not what lights me up from the inside. Because now I have myself. And I’m no longer scared to reach down when needed and grab onto that girl I thought I lost years ago.

I draw strength from the voice I forgot how to use. For the words, I feared. For the past, I was running from.

Looking to the edge of the stage, I spot Adrian standing with his arms crossed over his chest, and he’s smiling. He probably received five phone calls in the time it took me to sing one song, but he’s standing there watching me instead of answering them.

He tips his chin up and it says so many things only he can offer me.

To start over, I had to burn it all down. And for the first time in my life, the heat feels incredible.

Epilogue

Eloise

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