Finallly it was Friday night! I hate school so much. The scheduled times, and organized education, I cannot stand it! It takes all my might to sit through all of my classes and get good grades. I know it's necessary in order for me to get into a good college, so I can have a great life, but gosh it is just so horrible! Filled with ignorant, obnoxious teenagers, and adults too. Thankfully I was going to my best friend Dani's house. Everyone was going to be there. Not in the typical "high school drunk kids" party, but just hanging out at her house, video games, food, fun, movies, cops and robbers (yeah we still play it!). As we left school, we were still making our plans.
"So we'll go get the movies and stuff?" My best friend Nolana asked me as we closed our lockers.
"Yeah, you and Maggie can get that and Dani and I can get the food." My smile widened as I anticipated the night.
"I'll call the guys to make sure they know what's going on" Maggie said, flipping her hair as she began to dial Nel's number. "You would think that with all we have talked about it, they would remember!"
"Guess not, but we'll see you later!" Waving goodbye, Dani and I walked toward my car in the school parking lot.
"Why are you so excited about tonight? It's just Friday night" Dani's eyebrows furrowed as she thought.
"It's not just Friday night, it is the night," I pointed at the ground to exaggerate how important it was, "If Nel can convince Ryan to come tonight, I am so not leaving single!"
"Seriously?! When was this decided?" Dani said smirking as my plans hardly ever pulled through.
"This morning while I was eating my usual toast and eggs," I said, realizing it sounded a bit out there, "I decided to use a pair and make things happen!"
We slid into the leather interior of my car, fixing our outfits as I turned the keys in the ignition, bringing the car to life. I pulled out of the parking lot driving towards the exit. While I checked my mirrors and looked around I saw Dani. She stared out the window, watching our classmates leaving, parents picking up their kids, buses getting loaded, neither of us would have thought that would be the last time she saw them.
Driving down Route 83 we thought of what we wanted to get.
"Well we could go get like chips and stuff from like Wal-mart," I offered, not really focusing on the topic.
"Seeing as how I don't really have food at my house besides like, I don't know, Krispy Kremes and Ice Cream, I'm thinking we should get something for an actual meal..." Dani laughed cheerfully. Her house was always a mess but it was only her and her mother. They were the smallest, but happiest family I had ever known.
"Alright how about Pizza? it's not the top nutritious food but it's delicious," I began to salivate thinking of the toppings, stuffed crust and cinna-sticks I would most definitely be ordering.
"Haha sounds great, plus it's nice and cheap!" Dani's laughter rang through the air like windchimes on a cool spring day, oh how I would miss her laugh, "You know how I do!"
Turning up the radio, we jammed out to B96 belting out the choruses of songs we had heard hundreds of times, but never got sick of.








~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we got to her house, she put her key in the door only to have it whipped open by her cheery, dancing mother.
"Oh hey Bunny!" Her pet name she had given Dani made us all smile, "and hello to you, Janie my dahling!" Dani's mother jazzercised away from the door letting us in. Her outfit matched the color of the house, bright colors and a bit outdated, the spandex leotard and leg warmers somehow worked for her. The house was in better condition than it usually was. I'm pretty sure I was able to see a majority of the floor!
"Mom, did you clean?" Dani's joking astonishment was a bit serious as she put her hands on her hips with pride.
" Why yes I did, is that so odd for me to make my lovely abode a welcoming place for you and your friends?" Her mother replied with a jokingly hurt voice.
"Mom, I just texted you the plans like, half an hour ago, there is no way you cleaned the house that quickly!"
"Sure there is, I'm like lightning when I put my mind to it!"
"Sure Mom," Dani slapped her mother's arm playfully. "Come on, what's the real reason?"
Her mother held her hands, and brought her shoulders to her cheeks the way a five year old does when they have a crush, "Randy's coming over!"
"A hah! I knew it! That's why I can smell real food isn't it! What are you making pasta?" Dani quickly began toward the kitchen proud of her mother for putting so much effort into her new relationship.
Ever since her parent's had gotten a divorce, Dani had not seen her father much, and did not really care to anyway. He just was not the father type. He didn't say or do the right things, and he didn't seem to really care. Dani had thus put all of her attention toward her mother. She knew how hard her mother tried, and wanted her to be happy. Dani realized once she was in high school that she would be going away to college soon and her mother would have no one. Dani encouraged her mother to put herself out there and get a boyfriend.
"Why yes, it's spaghetti actually!" Her mother tilted up her nose, jokingly proud of her small cooking ability grown from microwavables to pasta.
"OOOh romantic!" I chimed in, laughing with Dani and her mother at the whole situation.
"It's alright, we won't bother you guys, after we eat he's taking me out for movie and probably dessert knowing him." Dani's mother was glowing with giddiness.
"You better be glad I like Randy, no one else would have my permission to keep you out so late!" Dani scolded her mother.
"Oh why of course my Queen, I will be home before the car turns into a pumpkin!" Dani's mother sang, spinning her way back to the kitchen.
"What freak!" Dani whispered, smiling at the thought of her mother's odd personality.
"She's just giddy, it's adorable!" I thought of how she reminded me of school girl on Valentine's day, trying to sneak a valentine into her crush's bag without him noticing.
"Yeah, whatever!" Dani laughed at the absurdity. "Ready to go get the food?"







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On our way to get the pizzas, Maggie and Nolana had called so we stopped by the video store to pick them up.
"So our choices are either Dark Night, or Up" Nolana said cheerfully, proud of he choices.
"I wanted to get Saw, but somebody just has to be afraid of horror movies!" Maggie eyed Nolana dissapprovingly.
"Hey don't be hating, I would probably end up passing out or crying if you had gotten Saw!" My smile shrinking as my tone saddened. "We are definitely not watching Up!"
"Aww why not? It's so cute!" Dani protested my objection, crossing her arms dramatically.
"One, because I will ball my eyes out like I always do, and two, because I want to watch my sexy baby!" I shrieked as I thought of his sexiness.
"Eww Christian Bale?" Maggie stuck her tongue out. "I mean yeah he's a stud, but the way he talks when he's Batman is so ridiculous, I can't take him seriously!"
"Ugh not him!" I was appalled at her forgetfullness. "How could you forget about Heath?"
"Maybe because he has white makeup, red lipstick, and green hair? I mean, It is a possibility..." Nolana added snarkily.
"Or you know because he's dead!" Dani stated simply as common knowledge.
"Just because he died, his shmexiness and talent do not need to ever be forgotten!" I triumphantly added defending my baby's honor. Ever since I had seen A Knight's Tale, Heath Ledger had been my big celebrity crush.
We continued on our way to the pizza place where our large Hawaiian, pepperoni, and sausage pizzas (with stuffed crust and cinnamon sticks of course) were awaiting our arrival. As I turned on the radio and set the cruise control so I could dance without jerking my foot on the accelerator, I remembered the excitement of the night.
"So did you ever get ahold of the guys?" I failed at asking non chalantly.
"Ummm yeah, Nels called me back but they didn't really give me an answer..." Maggie said tentatively, worried I would freak.
Well I did. "Seriously? Oh my Gosh I am so sick of him doing that!"
"He only does it to bug you, you know that right?" Nolana always had to be the logical one .
"Whatever, they'll show up, they always do!" Dani yelled as i turned up our favorite song by Katy Perry as it came on the radio.
We made our way toward the pizza place, dancing and singing the lyrics loud and proud, even though half of us were off tune . As we pulled up to the inetersection I needed to turn left at, we all saw the traffic.
"Seriously? No way are we waiting in this!" Nolana screamed over the radio's extreme volume.
"Yeah, the pizza will be frozen by the time we get through this!" Maggie whined from the backseat.
"Ugh okay! I'll go around!"
As we wound through the back streets looking for an outlet, my nerves got the best of me.
"Could one of you guys please try calling the guys again?" I pleaded, hoping one of them would pick up their phones.
"Yeah, yeah I got it." Dani said grudgingly. "Seriously you are obsessed!"
"But she might get a boyfriend!" Nolana and Maggie shrieked with excitement at my hope for the night.
"Hey, so are you guys coming tonight?" Dani yelled into the phone as I had forgotten to turn down the volume on the radio. "Really? It's not that difficult to give a straight answer."
We paused waiting for Dani to say more into the phone.
"Yeah he's doing that thing again where he acts like a p****!" Dani declared loudly for all of us, including Nels, to hear.
I pulled up to the corner where I would be able to get onto the road without bothering with a congested intersection.
"Hold on let me text him" I picked up my phone and looked both ways down the road. Realizing I had my chance at that moment to turn left as cars were coming, I quickly gunned the engine, turning onto the road, and looked down at my phone to start texting Ryan.









~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was such a mistake. I could never take it back. It happened and now I had to deal with it.
After all this time, you think I would have learned but apparently not. I was hurt, but I would live. She did not even have a chance. She was dead.









~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My phone was shoved out of my hands as the impact of my car against a Semi made my hand grab for the steering wheel, but that was pointless. The sound of crunching metal and skidding tires tore apart my ears. My head smashed into the window just as Katy Perry's last lyrics escaped the speakers. The Semi's huge white trailer sped by my eyes as I saw the truck for the first time. It all happened too fast. I tried to regain control of my car as it had crossed the median and was headed straight into oncoming traffic. Just hardly I pulled back into the right side, only to be thrown into the steering wheel as the traffic behind us took no caution to what had happened in front of them. The screams of my friends that I heard for the eternal ten seconds would control my nightmares for years. As my destroyed car came to a halt on the parkway in the right lane, the only thing I could think of was how angry my mom would be when I had to call her, or rather, when the cops called her as I was unable to locate my phone. I was in a panic. The shock of what had happened had yet to reach me as I whipped my head around trying to figure out what had just happened. My head jerked to a stop as my eyes skimmed and then returned to an image that no amount of therapy could ever make me forget. Dani sat in the seat next to me, blood running down the side of her body, her arms bending at an unnatural angle, and her torso slumped forward as her head rested on the airbag.
"Dani, come on, Dani!" I cried out. Knowing it was hopeless.
"Did she pass out too? I think Maggie fainted!" Nolana nervously laughed as her nerves were audible through her shaky voice. "You're okay right?"
I looked back at my friend, a slight bruise forming on her cheek from hitting the side of the car. My tears flooded my eyes and poured down my cheeks. I looked at Maggie whose eyes were fluttering as she awoke, a dazed expression on her face. Nolana seemed hurt, and worried, but had not yet realized the magnitude of the situation. As she gazed at my expression, she slowly leaned forward. Her fingers slowly curled around the seat in front of her as she painfully scooted forward to see around the back of the chair so she could see in front.
Nolana's shriek could have broken glass. As she also tried to wake Dani up, her blubbering words slowly turned to desperate sobs. She slid down the back seat, curling into Maggie who began to pet her hair as her own tears slid down her face.
I carefully undid my seatbelt, agonizingly moving my body as the effects of the crash set into my body. I tried to put my fingers to Dani's neck to find a pulse, but my hand would not move. My fingers could not articulate the necessary movement.
"I'm so sorry!" I cried out as I hugged Dani, knowing she could never accept my apology. As my hug was not returned by my best friend, sitting there motionless, blood soaking her clothing, I simply closed my eyes.








~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next fewher shaky voice. "You're okay right?"
I looked back at my friend, a slight bruise forming on her cheek from hitting the side of the car. My tears flooded my eyes and poured down my cheeks. I looked at Maggie whose eyes were fluttering as she awoke, a dazed expression on her face. Nolana seemed hurt, and worried, but had not yet realized the magnitude of the situation. As she gazed at my expression, she slowly leaned forward. Her fingers slowly curled around the seat in front of her as she painfully scooted forward to see around the back of the chair so she could see in front.
Nolana's shriek could have broken glass. As she also tried to wake Dani up, her blubbering words slowly turned to desperate sobs. She slid down the back seat, curling into Maggie who began to pet her hair as her own tears slid down her face.
I carefully undid my seatbelt, agonizingly moving my body as the effects of the crash set into my body. I tried to put my fingers to Dani's neck to find a pulse, but my hand would not move. My fingers could not articulate the necessary movement.
"I'm so sorry!" I cried out as I hugged Dani, knowing she could never accept my apology. As my hug was not returned by my best friend, sitting there motionless, blood soaking her clothing, I simply closed my eyes.