Overcomer

By Alyssa Emery

Imagine you woke up in a hospital covered in burn scars with no idea who you are. Lilly Smith doesn't have to imagine it because it's her reality. Lilly and her single parent mother are in a tragic fire that destroys Lilly's childhood home, takes her memories, and her mother. Her estranged aunt is granted custody of Lilly till she turns eighteen in two years and because of this Lilly must move across an ocean to Paris to live with her aunt. Follow Lilly on her journey of learning a new language, discovering who she is, finding love, and uncovering her parents secrets.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alyssa Emery
• Release date: Jun 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370073733

Alyssa Emery

Hello! My name is Alyssa and I am a Sophomore in high school. I've self published one book and am currently writing my second. I have two dogs, am a total book lover, obsessed with Netflix, and I've been writing since the third grade

Book preview

Overcomer

Alyssa Emery

Cover Illustrated By

Kayla Homeier

Copyright © 2016 Alyssa Emery

Cover Illustration Copyright © 2016 Kayla Homeier

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means - except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews - without permission from its publisher

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author

Copyright © 2016 Alyssa Emery

All rights reserved.

ISBN-10: 1530533686

ISBN-13: 978-1530533688

To my friends and family for supporting me and dealing with my rants about writing

CONTENTS

Overcomer

Alyssa J. Emery

Cover Design By

Kayla Homeier

1

I woke up in a hospital. It took me a minute to realize that’s where I was, but looking around and seeing doctors coming in and out gave it away. When a nurse walked in to check on me I asked what happened and she went to get a doctor. Hello, Miss Smith. How are you today? Smith? Who’s Smith?

Smith? Is that my name? The doctor, Dr. Maxwell, gave the nurse a look, and she walked out of the room. Dr. Maxwell sat down next to me.

Do you know your name? I shook my head no and he let out a sigh Your name is Lilly Smith. You’re sixteen years old and you were in a terrible fire,

That’s when I noticed them, scars, all over my body. I felt the tears roll down my face as they burned the cuts on my cheek and lip.

Why don’t I remember anything? Dr. Maxwell grabbed some x-rays and showed them to me. They were of my brain.

Do you see this right here? He pointed at something I didn’t even know the name of, but I nodded. During the fire, you hit your head on something, plus inhaled a lot of fumes that has damaged your memory. We couldn’t know how bad it was until you woke up, but no one thought it would be this bad. I knew asking this question would only lead to more bad new, but I had to ask.

Parents, Where are my parents? Dr. Maxwell sighed, and I already knew the answer that was coming.

Your father died when you were three, and your mother didn’t survive the fire. I’m so sorry.

I asked Dr. Maxwell to leave so I could process things, but in reality, I was freaking out. Where was I going to go? Would I be put in the foster system? What if my new parents are rude? Can I live on my own at sixteen? Those were the questions racing through my head before a woman I hadn’t seen walked in. Who are you? Not my smoothest line, but I’m alone in the hospital and a strange woman walked in. She could be a psycho trying to kill me.

Hello, Lilly. I know it’s been a long time. I haven’t seen you since your dad died, So, I should to know her.

Ok, well you still haven’t answered my question. The woman smiled.

I’m your Aunt Rose. I live in Paris. That’s why I haven't seen you in so long, I thought she had an accent, guess I was right.

So, why are you here now? I asked. Rose sat down next to my bed.

Instead of going into the system, you’re going to come to Paris to live with me, She told me and waited for a reaction. I wasn’t even sure how to react. I was moving to Paris.

The next day someone from the fire department came by and dropped off a journal that belonged to my mother. Inside, I found a photograph of my mom, dad, and someone older that Rose didn’t know.

I got out of the hospital a week later, and the first thing I wanted to do was go shopping. I didn’t get any clothes back from the fire department, so I assumed there was nothing left. I was wearing one of Rose’s shirts and yoga pants with sneakers. We left for the airport once all the papers were signed. Rose had a bakery back in France that was below the apartment she lived in, correction we lived in.

When we got to the bakery, Rose ushered me upstairs and showed me to the spare bedroom that was mine now. I watched tv for a bit before going back downstairs to see if I could help with anything.

Hey, Rose? I can test out my skills, see if I'm any good and help out with something. Rose smiled at me and had a look on her face.

You remind me of your mom so much. She’s the one who taught me to bake. Anyways, you can ice those cupcakes. There’s already a dozen done so you should get the pattern. Find me or my assistant, Mia, if you need anything. I nodded and she gave me one more smile before going back to the front to help customers. I started to hum as I iced. This was fun. I wonder if I ever baked with my mom.

Can I have one? I screamed and dropped the cupcake that I held in my hand to the floor and turned around. Some kid that looked a bit older than me was standing in the doorway laughing his butt off.

He spoke English when he asked for one but then started speaking French, Pardon. Je m’appelle Anthony. Comment tu t'appelles? I was so confused. I have tried to learn some French on the way here. Rose walked in and I was so thankful. When she saw the boy, she gave him a hug and they started talking. I think they were talking about me.

Lilly, Anthony didn’t mean to scare you. He was looking for me, Rose said confirming my suspicions. I nodded and got back to icing cupcakes.

About an hour later, Rose came back and looked shocked when she saw me.

You’re still here? Go upstairs and eat something. Then brush up on your French and go to bed, I nodded and finished boxing a few cupcakes. Once I was done, I went upstairs and took a shower. I was sweaty and covered in flour from a prank Anthony thought would be hilarious. I felt better as soon as I got out of the shower. Turns out, Anthony helps out at the bakery sometimes. He’s actually a pretty cool guy when he’s not speaking French to tease me or pouring flour on me. What’s that saying? He’s nicer once you get to know him.

After heating up some pasta, I grabbed the book Rose gave me and began studying. Even when I thought I was getting something I would listen to it, and I would be completely wrong. Rose came up from the bakery around ten and went to bed. It was now one in the morning and I was still frustrated and confused as hell. I was never gonna get this right.

Rose came out of her room around three, and I wanted to pass out. She laughed at the sight of me sprawled across the couch. Why don’t you go to bed and work on this in the morning? Rose suggested. I nodded and went to bed, leaving the books and coffee on the table.

I had just begun to fall asleep when something small with four paws started walking on my bed. I jumped up and screamed. Rose burst into my room to see what was going on.

What is going on? Are you okay? She asked and that’s when she saw that demon on my bed and she started to laugh. Are you scared of Leah? I nodded and crossed my arms. This was not a laughing matter. Rose explained that Leah was her pet chihuahua. I can’t believe I have to live with that thing. Here’s the thing, I’m terrified of small dogs. Absolutely terrified of them. In my mind, they are small demonic creatures that should be in a zoo, not a house.

I find it strange that I remember small things about me, but not a lot. I know I don’t like small dogs, but love German shepherds. I prefer tea rather than coffee and my favorite color is purple. It’s strange how I remember those things, but not the important things. It still takes me a minute to respond when someone says my name.

After Rose left my room and took Leah