The past couple weeks of school were great. I made many friends quickly and I was getting A's in most of my classes. Life was great. The only problem was that I didn't know what to do about Jake. He was hitting on me every day. To add insult to injury his locker was right next to mine! I liked him a lot! But, I couldn't date him. I gave up that life. However, it felt like he was the man of my dreams.


It was the last week of school before Christmas break. I think it was Wednesday. In the middle of the day it started snowing! It was the first time it had snowed for that whole month of December. School had just let out and there had must have been about half an inch of snow stuck to the ground. It was extremely cold, so I think the roads were frozen. I think I'll save my mom the trouble and I'll just walk home today.


I heard Jake call my name from behind me. My heart began to race and I got butterflies.


“Hey Ashley! Wait up!” He called. I stopped walking.


He appeared in front of me. “Hey! Wow can you believe it's actually snowing! It's only about a week from Christmas.


I couldn't take my eyes off of his muscles. “Um, yea it's something isn't it?” I smiled at him.


“He laughed a little. “Well, I wanted to ask you something Ashley. We have been talking a lot you know. We went to camp for a while and I really couldn't say it then. But, now that we go to the same school I thought this would be a good time. I actually lo-...”


A horn from a car screeched from behind him.


A man yelled out of the big blue truck. “JAKE! LET'S GO! YOU GOTTA GET HOME NOW!”



Jake had a depressed expression on his face.


“I'm sorry Jake but I'll call you tonight. OK?”


He gave me a fake smile, “Yea, uh OK cool.” He turns around and walks to the truck in the parking lot with his head down.


That was the last time everything was normal.

“So Jake, how was camp?”


I had just come home from overnight camp in New York. My Dad drove me home and my mom was making dinner in the kitchen.


“It was great and she was there this year again.”


She was cutting onions. She spoke without looking at me. “Who Ashley? The girl you always talk about.”


I sat down in the swivel chair that stands at the island counter in the middle of our kitchen. “Of course Ashley! Who else is there? She's sweet, pretty, funny, awesome, nice, I could go on forever.


She chuckled at me. “OK son, please don't. Where is your father?”


“Probably in the living room drinking beer and watching T.V.” My mood changed drastically when the subject changed to my dad. All he does is sit there watching football or something like that while my mom does all of the work. “He's just drunk all the time and doesn't do anything.”


“Don't talk about your father like that Jake!”

I went up to my room and ignored my dad's sinister look as I walked up the stairs. The rest of my summer was bad. All I did was sit in my room all day if I wasn't getting bossed around by my dad. I just couldn't wait for school to start.

It was Monday and school had been in session for a couple weeks now. We all had our schedules and lockers. I even received a couple quizzes and test. It was the start of another normal school year.


My first class was English with my aunt Mrs. Harper. I call her Mrs. Harper even though she is my aunt. The class had just started reading To Kill a Mockingbird. I was sitting in my desk right behind an empty one. Kyle had just been expelled for breaking this kid's nose at lunch. How do you already get expelled from school when school just started? Some kids just aren't very smart.

Mrs. Harper was reading the beginning passage from the book. We had to read it last night, but I couldn't focus with my dad yelling at my mom. Not only that, but I couldn't get any sleep either. I was about to fall asleep now.


Then I heard the classroom door creek open. I saw a small person peek their head in. Mrs. Harper had stopped reading with her calming voice. The door opened all the way and it was unbelievable. I couldn't believe my eyes. Ashley from summer camp was standing in the doorway. I didn't want to be a fool and wave to her, but I couldn't help myself from smiling.


Mrs. Harper put the book and her desk and rushed over to Ashley.


“Come in, come in please! Class this is Ashley Hall. She is transferring from-.” She looked at Ashley.


“Um I lived in New Jersey” she said. Her voice was soft and light just like it was when she introduced herself at camp. It must get light and sweet like that when she gets nervous.


“Great! Well guys make sure you say hello to Ashley if you see her in the hall and help her out!” Mrs. Harper said to everybody.


She then said some things to Ashley and pointed to the desk in front of me. Ashley with her small body and pretty blonde hair walked over to the desk. She didn't acknowledge me. I don't think she saw me in the first place.


She sat in her desk without any books or anything. She looked left and right at Stephanie and Tyler. I had to get her attention somehow. Well, she was right in front of me. I could just tap her.

“Pssst” I made a noise to see if she would turn around. She looked around the room but didn't look at me. “Hey Ashley” I whispered. I tapped her shoulder. She turned around and looked at me. I gave a slight wave.


“Oh Jake! Hi!” She said loudly.


“Shhhhh” I whispered. “Hi, I can't believe you are here. What a coincidence.”


She gave me a confused look, “How is it a coincidence?”


“Oh well I was thinking abou-...”


The stupid school bell cut me off. Then Mrs. Harper called her. She quickly turned around in her seat. The rest of the kids in the class gathered their belongings and started rushing for the door. First period was over.


“Ashley come here please. I have your schedule.”


“She looked back at me. “How about we talk after school and catch up!” She said with excitement.


I started to get my stuff together. “Yea I have class anyway.” I said without looking at her. I left the classroom. Every time I get the courage to say I actually love her something interrupts me. I'll never get to tell her.

School will be let out in a couple days. It was almost winter break. I needed to make my move now. School had just ended and it was snowing. It had to be at least an inch of snow. It wasn't snowing hard. It was snowing lightly so this was even better.


I walked outside the double front doors of the school. I searched around the whole front of the school. I couldn't find her. She was wearing blue jeans and a pink jacket. It was a winter jacket but that's like every other girl in the school. Then I saw her right in front of me. I recognized her book bag that conveniently had Ashley written on it.


I uncontrollably smiled and ran over to her. Her back was facing me, so I had to get in front of her. My heart was beating faster than ever and my stomach felt tingly.


“Hey Ashley! Wait up!” I called to her. She stopped walking.


I stood in front of her. Her blue eyes almost put me into a trance.


“Hey! Wow can you believe it's actually snowing! It's only about a week from Christmas.”


“Why would I start a conversation with that?” I thought to myself.


She wasn't looking at me at first then she stared straight at me. “Um, yea it's something isn't it?” She smiled at me. Her smile was beautiful.


I gave a little chuckle. “Well, I wanted to ask you something Ashley. We have been talking a lot you know. We went to camp for a while and I really couldn't say it then. But, now that we go to the same school I thought this would be a good time. I actually lo-...”


A horn from a familiar car screeched from behind me.


A man that sounded like my dad yelled out to me. “JAKE! LET'S GO! YOU GOTTA GET HOME NOW!”



“Again, another interruption!” I thought, angrier than ever.


“I'm sorry Jake, but I'll call you tonight. OK?” she said to me.


I gave her a fake smile hoping she wouldn't notice. “Yea, uh OK cool.” I answered.


I spun around and walked sadly toward the car. I hoped into my dad’s dark blue Chevy pickup truck.


My dad speeds off down the street without hesitation. “What are you doin talkin to that girl! You aint got no business talkin to women.”


“Dad the roads are icy stop speeding.” I said calmly to him. He raced around the corner and reaches the highway. His truck engine is extremely loud.



Highway 67 is usually crowded but because of the ice, today it was empty.


My dad went full speed down the clear highway. “You don't tell me what to do little boy.” He looked at me and said, “I don't need help from a brat who can't-......”


The truck swerved down the road. My dad turned the wheel in different directions trying to get the car under control. I felt sick to my stomach. The car spun, but my dad didn’t take his foot off of the pedal. The engine roared and I see a truck in front of us. It wasn't a truck like ours, it was much bigger. Our truck sped uncontrollably down the highway spinning wildly. I was dizzy but I saw three open bottles of beer and an empty whiskey bottle. I didn't see those in here this morning. I looked out the windshield afraid of how this was going to turn out. It didn't feel like the truck was moving. I looked out my window. We were in the air, upside down. I felt my body fall out of the seat and the seat belt tighten against my chest. I took one last glance out of the window and the truck I noticed wasn't a regular delivery truck. It was a tanker and we were headed straight for it. I held on to my seat hoping I'll see the light of another day. I felt a crushing blow of glass. It pierced my skin and I felt pain. Then a rush of burning hot air comes over me and I felt nothing.

When I arrived home my mom was getting her keys.


“Hi mom” I said to her.


“Oh Ashley you walked home?”


“Yea I didn't want to make you drive on those roads. Too dangerous.” I closed the door.


She stood right next to the stairs staring at me. She walked over to me. There is a little stand next to the door with mail and keys on it. She picked up her keys and looked at me.


“We have to meet your dad at the hospital. Your uncle is hurt.” She opened the door and headed for the car. She left the door open for me so I followed her and closed the door behind me.


My mom drove to the nearest hospital slowly and carefully. Apparently it is easier to get to the hospital if you take Highway 67, but there was some kind of accident. All the ways onto the highway were blocked off. So, the GPS told us to take some back roads. We reached the hospital and my mom rushed inside looking for my dad. I followed.


My mom ran to the front desk. A nurse in a pink and white, floral gown greeted us.


“Hello Miss how can I help you?” She said pleasantly.


“I'm looking for Frank Simmons room.” My mom said in a hurried tone.


“Down the hall room 11.” The nurse answered and pointed to the hallway to our right.


My mom sprinted with her small legs down the hall. I walked on her trail.


My dad was standing right outside the room when we arrived. My mom ran to him and they hugged.


“Is he OK?” she asked him.


“The doctors say he should be fine.” He replied. “They are checking for any more serious internal injuries. I told him to not get into that bar fight. The woman was not worth it.


I thought it was something more serious than a bar fight. A lot of stress and build up inside of me went away. Frank was like my uncle. He and my dad were best friends ever since the sixth grade.


As they were talking, I heard voices coming from down the hall. I heard sirens outside. Someone was going to be wheeled in. The voices down the hall got louder and closer. Then four doctors raced a stretcher around the corner. The doctors were speaking to each other across the person on the stretcher. It looked like a scene from a movie. I couldn't quite see the person on the stretcher. Not that I would know him anyway. I just got to this place. Then the person was wheeled by me and I immediately knew who he was. It was Jake.


I followed the stretcher all the way down the long corridor. The doctors wheeled it faster and faster. I followed them all the way to the room. When we finally arrived at the emergency room door. A nurse that was wheeling Jake stopped me from going in.


“I can't let you in Miss this is serious. Unless you are family you will just have to wait.” Another stretcher with a bigger guy rushed from behind me and burst through the emergency room doors. This person had a white sheet over them.


I tried to look to see what was wrong with him before the doors closed. But, I couldn't see him. “But, I have to see him what's going on!” I cried.


“Miss you will just have to wait. You can see him after the doctors are done. They will take good care of him.


Another stretcher is quickly wheeled past us and into the emergency room.


The nurse lightly grabs my hand and leads me to the front desk. I sit in a chair by the back window looking out into the sunset lit parking lot.


“I can't leave him. I will stay here until I get to see him.” I think to myself.


I slept in that hospital for hours. Then the same nurse that led me here came back seven hours later. It was around eleven o'clock at night.


“I found your parents. They were looking for you. They are with Mr. Simmons. However, Jake is ready to see you. He is a little tired and weak so be careful around him.


I nodded fearing the worse of what I was going to see, she led me down the hall and into an elevator. We waited and stepped in. She pressed button three and we sat in the elevator in silence. After about a minute we left the elevator and walked down another empty hallway. She led me to a closed door with the number 44 written on it.


She stepped to the side and gestured to the door. “He is right in here. Take all the time you need. She smiled at me and then left for the elevator.


I hesitated to open the door even though I wanted to run in there and cry into him. I feared the worse but I liked him a lot and I think he likes me too. But, at a time like this it wouldn't have been good to walk in there and tell him I love him. Or would it?


I reached for the brass door knob. It was cold but I ignored it. I slowly turned the knob and opened the door. The room had a giant window facing me. The night was actually pretty. There was a chair in the room with someone sitting in it. It was a woman. She was holding Jake's hand. She looked at me as I entered the room. She softly put Jake's hand on the bed and walked over to me.


“You must be Ashley.” She whispered. “Jake talks about you all the time. Oh look at me going on and embarrassing him. Did you come in here to see him? He's asleep but he is bound to wake up soon. I can leave you with him for a while.” She talked quickly with a quivering smile. She was scared I could tell.


She left the room and closed the door behind her. I walked over to Jake. He was wrapped in this linen cloth. I could see the burns on his face and down his right arm.


I gasped but covered my mouth. Then I began to talk. I couldn't stop and I didn’t want to.


“Jake, oh Jake. You are so sweet. On the first day of the camp you were so awesome. We had been partners in everything. I didn't want to let you go. When I transferred to this school hoping for a new start I didn't expect to see you. I got butterflies when I saw you behind me. Every time you wanted to say you liked me, you got interrupted and it was cute. Now I just wish it hadn't been you in that crash. Maybe if I had done something, said something, it might have been avoided.” I felt the tears build up in my eyes. “I don't want to lose you Jake. You were there for me every time I was down. Ashley's smile brightens the world. You used to always tell me that and it made me smile. The things I have to say to you now could go on forever.” I chuckled, “What do I look like talking to a sleeping person. Quite silly isn't it? I guess I have been wanting to say this to you for a while. I think you have been wanting to say the same thing.” I heard the beeping sound of his heart monitor in the background. “I just wanted to tell you that I love you Jake. More than you will ever know. My feelings are-..”


“Unexplainable” he finishes my sentence.


His hand reaches for mine and he holds on gently. “I know Ashley that's how I've felt for a long time.


I gave him a smile brighter than I ever have. “You heard all that?”


He tried to smile “Of course I did. I'm not dead.” He said softly.


“How are you? Are you going to be OK?” I questioned.


“It's painful but they say I have third degree burns. But, I can tough it out. I guess all that football training paid off huh?”


“That's horrible! I'm so sorry!”


“No need to be beautiful. The worst of it all is they say that I'm going to be.....”


“What Jake? What's wrong?”


He coughs hard a couple times. “They say that I'm am paralyzed from the waist down. I can't even feel my legs right now.”


I couldn't hold back the tears. “Oh my God Jake.”


“Before you say anything I just want to tell you something without any interruptions this time. Ashley.....-”


I heard the heart monitor change. It didn't sound the same as before. This time it was getting slower. His hand let go of mine and fell. Doctors rushed in and I stepped back.


“He's slipping doctor!” one doctor yelled.


“He’s in a coma!” another one yelled.

He walks through the door and throws down his briefcase. She looks at him and smiles. Even after ten years of marriage, just looking at him still gives her butterflies. She smiles at him and he says, “Your smile brightens the world.” Just as he leans in…

“Are you guys coming!?” Little Jake yells and runs in between them.


Sometimes life has its interruptions.