1.
It started out a perfectly normal day. Just like pretty much every other day in my sixteen years of life. The alarm woke me up at six, like normal, and I hit the snooze button five times before finally waking up and realizing that-as always-I was late. I got dressed in my normal attire of jeans, the first shirt I could find that happened to be clean and a worn out looking pair of black converse, and still running a comb through my brown hair, grabbed my backpack, heading out the door. As normal, my well, seen-better-days but hey, very cool vintage red 1965 mustang, didn't start. So I started the too familiar walk to school, making me that much later. I cruised through the doors fifteen minutes late, getting that familiar frown from my teacher, Mrs. Abby as I walked into the classroom. I didn't even look her way as I sat down in the same seat I always did, behind Alyssa Rowgans, and next to my best friend, Will Tegar.
"Hey Man, where ya been?" He said, his voice barely over a whisper, as soon as Mrs. Abby had turned her back to us, writing on the green chalkboard.
"The normal," I muttered. "Slept too later, car didn't start..."
He nodded, he'd probably been able to guess what I had said, word for word. We had this conversation nearly every morning. "I can give you a ride home, if ya need it bro," he offered.
"Naw, thanks, but I'll walk. It's not that far." Okay, so it was eight blocks. But riding with Will also meant riding with Sara Embry, and even if she was my best friend's girl, she still drove me insane. I'd do pretty much anything to dodge that bullet. The idea of sitting-crammed in the backseat, of course-listening to her endless gossip and chatter about the stupidest things, like this shade of make-up, or what we color we thought she should paint her nails. But who would have known that that decision would have changed my life.
The rest of the day dragged on endlessly, moving from class to class. Lunch made me feel better though, especially about turning down Will's offer of a ride home. He and Sara went on, and I felt like a third wheel, staring a the cafeteria's blue and white walls-our school colors-ignoring them as I ate my school bought lunch.
"Matt!"
I turned to look over at Will, who was frowning at me. I wondered how many times he'd called my name and I hadn't answered.
"Dude, you were a million miles away," he said.
I shrugged.
"Did you hear about the new girl?"
"No?" I shrugged again.
"I heard that she's starting tomorrow," Sara said, her high pitched voice making me cringe. Sure, she was one of the prettiest girls in school, with her beach blond hair, blue eyes and great figure, but I couldn't get over the fact that she was also one of the the most annoying girls.
Of course she'd know about the new girl, and when she was starting. I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd known exactly how the girl looked, where she had lived before, where she'd been born, her grade point average and all of her hobbies, as well.
"That's nice," I said, with no real interest. A new girl was a new girl. She might be pretty, sure, but if that was the case she was sure to be pursed by half the guys in school, and wouldn't give me a second look, or else she'd be like Sara, an airhead.
I definitely wasn't getting my hopes up.
I stood up from the table, grabbing my lunch tray. "I'll see you guys later," I muttered, going over tot he trash can to toss my trash out before heading to my next class.
After school I got my books out of my locker, stuffing them into my bag, thinking of all the homework I had to do tonight when I got home. So much for trying to get my car to start tonight. I'd be lucky if I even had time to eat dinner.
I walked out of the school, after telling Will I'd see him later, once he'd offered me a ride again, which I declined. Again. I started walking down the sidewalk, staring down at the gray stone laid out in front of me, towards in my house. I was lost in my own thoughts, at the same time, not really thinking about anything.
My life seemed empty, almost meaningless. Sure, I had two pretty okay parents, and pretty cool little sister, even if she did get on my nerves, and a great best friend, even if his taste in girls made me cringe. But something was missing. There was an empty hole inside me, that I couldn't explain, couldn't figure out, couldn't shake. It was there, cold and hollow, gnawing at me. I didn't know what was missing, what was causing it, which just made it worse.
How could someone miss something, need something, so much and not have any idea what it was? It was so frustrating. I wasn't sure how long I'd been feeling like this, but now it hit me with a fierce hollow ache.
I glanced down at the ground, stepping onto the grass, around a missing broken piece of sidewalk, letting out a deep sigh.
And then I heard it. CRASH. It was loudest, most sickening sound I'd ever heard. Tires squealing against the asphalt road, the sound of metal crashing into metal. My teeth clamped down against each other, gritting in protest for the noise, and my heart started racing. I looked around quickly, my eyes darting, looking for the cause of the noise. There it was. Two cars, one a large red truck, the other a small black car, crashed into each other.
I stared, frozen to the spot, unable to make my legs move, or my brain work.
Do something! My brain finally commanded me, and I forced my legs to work again, running over to the wreck.
What do I do? What do I DO? My heart raced, my hands in mid-air, near the small black car, unsure of what to do. There were a few other people-two or three at the most-and they all seemed to kick into action at the same moment, most of them headed over to the red truck.
Something, it was almost like a mechanical pull, pulled me towards the passengers seat, and pulled it open-the dented door practically fell off when I touched it-and looked inside the car. There were two people, an older man in the drivers seat. His head was slumped against the window, his hands still resting on the steering wheel. I didn't see any blood.
There was a soft groaning sound, from the passenger seat. There was a girl, that much I could tell, sitting there, bent awkwardly, her face bloody. My stomach lurched, I'd never been a big fan of blood, but I managed, after a wave of nausea, to keep the contents of my stomach where they belonged. I reached for the girl, picking her up carefully out of the car. Maybe I should have waited for the paramedics, but I didn't stop to think about that. I carried her off to the side of the road, sitting down on the asphalt, holding her head in my lap, to keep it off the ground. Her brown hair was becoming soaked with blood, and the only thing I could make about her-between all the blood and wounds-was her eyes. They were amazing. They were green, the brightest green eyes I'd even seen. Even that was much was hard to tell though, as she drifted in and out of consciousness. I touched behind her ears, feeling for a pulse. She still had one, she was still alive. But looking at her...her bloody body and face, the way her arm was practically shattered...the way her eyes opened and closed as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Somehow...I just knew, she wasn't going to make it. Not even long enough for the ambulance to come, for the paramedics to work on her. I ran my fingers through her hair, as if to offer some sort of comfort, even though it was probably comfort for myself, rather than for her.
Her eyes opened, and stayed open, focusing on my face. "I'm new here," she muttered suddenly.
I stared. What? Did this mean she was better? Then scenes from a movie I'd once seen, played in my head. The woman had been hurt in a car wreck, something wrong with her brain. She'd been dying, but she'd stalked like it was a normal day, babbling about some random thing, like she wasn't just about to die.
My heart felt like it was in a vice, knowing that the same thing was happening here, right in front of my eyes.
"We just moved here from Indiana," she went on, unaware of her pain, of what was happening. "I hope I like it here, I'm really nervous about it...I've never been to a new school before. I'm starting tomorrow, at the high school."
Realization hit me then. This was the girl, the new student, the one that Sara and Will had been talking about-just hours ago-at lunch.
Her eyes focused again. "It'll be nice to know someone...what's your name?"
I swallowed the huge lump in my throat, unsure of whether I'd be able to speak or not. "Uh, Matthew, er, Matt."
She smiled, a wistful smile. "Matt," She repeated. My name had never sounded so good, her voice was sweet, almost musical sounding as he said it. "Matt," she said again. "It'll be good to have a friend." and then, still smiling, her eyes shut. And her heart stopped.
She was gone.
