Lindsey was the most popular senior at Elaine Prep. She was pretty, nice, intelligent, and was adored by all. She always seemed so happy. She had everything she wanted just a phone call away. She had the hottest guy in school, Jeremy Reed, as her boyfriend. She was known as James Herman, the multimillionaire's, precious little daughter. Lindsey was homecoming queen her freshman year and prom queen her junior year. Everyone who knew her thought that they knew everything about her, little did they know that she would amount to so much more before she would graduate.
On her eighteenth birthday a month into school, Jeremy came to her house and brought with him something that would change her life forever. Jeremy approached her very cautiously; he didn’t want her to know that he was coming. He very carefully came up behind her and wrapped her in a loving embrace. He was very careful with what he said; he didn’t want her to know what was going to happen. After they had a fun night with her family Jeremy had to leave. He took her hand in his and got down on one knee. Before Lindsey knew what was going on he pulled a ring out of his Varsity jacket. The ring had a breath taking diamond mounted in the middle with around thirty small diamonds shaped as hearts encrusting it. She was shocked. Jeremy was asking her to be his wife! She didn’t even have to think, yes, yes, yes a thousand times yes is all that would cross her mind. She had never been so happy in her life. As Jeremy placed the ring on her finger they kissed. Jeremy said he loved her so much and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Little did they know that something tragic was about to happen. Jeremy said he hated to leave, but he had to get home to study for a Physics test the next day. Lindsey watched Jeremy cross the road in astonishment of what had just occurred. As Jeremy turned to wave good-bye before he got into his truck, a fast approaching car smacked right into him. The driver was intoxicated and stumbled out of the car and tried to run away, but before he got too far he fell and hit his head on the cement. Lindsey cried as soon as she saw Jeremy lying on the ground limp and lifeless. She had never realized how literal his last words were to her. “I want to be with you for the rest of my life.” Those were the sad words that were now permanently etched in Lindsey’s mind.
After Jeremy’s death, it seemed like all Lindsey did was her schoolwork, to everyone else. She felt so alone and hurt. She had no one to turn to anymore. She had her friend Melissa Taylor, but it wasn’t the same. Lindsey decided she wanted to fill the empty void her life by working for the community. Soon she became a volunteer firefighter, an assistant nurse at the local hospital, and she helped in soup kitchens and pet shelters. She had asked everyone in the community to keep her doings as secret as possible because she felt that she needed to maintain her reputation in such a way. After school every day she went to every single one of the places she worked at and helped, when she would return to her house, she would go to her room until supper, then would excuse herself and return to her room. No one ever asked her what she was up to or what she was doing because they thought she left to have some space after a hard day and to mourn about Jeremy’s passing.
It was senior year homecoming. Lindsey has decided to go though she had no date. No one dared to ask her. She came down the spiraling marble staircase from her room to the lobby of her house. She was dressed in a beautiful pink dress and her long, blonde hair was curly and it bounced on her shoulders with every step she took. Her parents were in awe, they hadn’t seen her look so beautiful in a long time. It was strange to see her out of the sweatpants and t-shirts they found her in when they got home every night. Her mother placed a diamond necklace in her hand and told her that it was given to her by her mother, and now it was Lindsey’s to have and pass on. As her mother placed the necklace in Lindsey’s hand she noticed something that she hadn’t seen for a while. Jeremy’s ring. Her mother looked into Lindsey’s eyes and noticed a pain that she had never seen before. Lindsey quickly pulled her hand away and chocked backed the tears of being wounded and embarrassed. She then quickly gave her parents hugs then left out the door in a frantic rush. Her mother looked as if she didn't understand it hurt Lindsey to even think about explaining it. No one understands anything anymore she thinks to herself, it's not like they care anyways.
She slid into her 2013 black ford focus, as she pulled out the lane she thought she was going to cry. No she had to hold it in, not let anyone see her like that, no she had to be a women and "get over it" as her dad said. As she pulled into the parking lot of the school she immediately had a feeling that tonight wasn't going to be a good one. She had a strange feeling inside her gut about it. Lindsey just figured it was nerves because this would be the first time anyone saw her without Jeremy besides in school.
As she walked into the gym, all eyes turned towards her. Everyone was surprised to see her. Lindsey had never felt so uncomfortable in her life. With people whispering around her and jealous glares coming from some of the girls because their dates were paying more attention to her than to them she felt she might faint. Soon she spotted Melissa and quickly, but carefully walked towards her. As she passed the DJ, which happened to be one of Jeremy’s old friends, he accidentally dropped his glass of water, in astonishment, onto his equipment. Soon sparks were flying and one of the nearby tables caught fire. At once it seemed the entire gym quickly yelled fire and ran for the door. Lindsey calmly walked to her car, grabbed her cell phone and called the fire department.
When the fire department appeared on the scene, Lindsey walked over to them and told them what happened. When she did this no one was surprised that she was there telling them what happened, what surprised them was what she did next.
Lindsey grabbed her oxygen yank and walked inside the school. She walked into the gym and she heard a faint cry for help. Lindsey stopped dead in her tracks. She knew that voice, who did it belong to? Then it hit her, it was Melissa. Lindsey quickly yelled for her to hold on and she would help her. Lindsey kicked off her heels and ran back to the truck. As soon as she got there she grabbed her boots from the back, put on her helmet, and grabbed an axe while she put on her gloves. She ran back inside and yelled as loud as she could for Melissa to yell as loud as possible where she was at. She waited no response. Lindsey remembered that she had been by the table that caught fire and had stumbled over some cables lying on the ground. She quickly made her way through the objects scattered about and the flames surrounding her. She kept calling Melissa's name, but still there was no response. Lindsey finally found her. Melissa's leg had gotten trapped by a heavy speaker. Lindsey picked up the speaker entirely by herself, and freed Melissa's leg. She then picked her up and decided the best way to get out was to go back the way she came in from. Lindsey was at least three feet from the door when she heard a loud cracking noise. She looked to her right and saw a piece of the ceiling starting to come down. She saw a fellow firefighter at the door and he ran to her to take Melissa. As he did so the piece of the ceiling came down. He grabbed Melissa and ran hoping Lindsey would make it out with him. Lindsey was literally a step away from safety when the piece of the ceiling finally hit the ground. It hit the ground with such a force that it threw her backwards causing her to get trapped under a fallen table. The last thing Lindsey remembered was seeing a speaker falling down on top of her.
Lindsey awoke with a start. She tried to sit up. No that hurt too much. What was wrong with her? She looked around the room and saw flowers and cards all over the place. She thought to herself, good I'm not dead I'm just in the hospital. She looked over to the bed on the other side of the room. It was Melissa. Melissa seemed to be crying. Lindsey asked her what was wrong in a weak voice. Melissa looked up and saw that Lindsey wasn't dead and was so happy. Melissa looked over at her and said "thank you a million times for saving me no offense, but I was kind of surprised when I found out who came and got me" Lindsey told Melissa everything right then and there and they both cried a lot.
After about three weeks Lindsey was allowed to go back to school. As soon as she walked through the doors of Elaine prep she was given flowers and hugs and everyone was cheering for her. She felt amazing. That night at the graduation ceremony she was asked to tell her story. She did, and everyone wept uncontrollably, including her. From then on she was known as Lindsey the Legend.