Beautiful Things//O2l/Kian Lawley By Emily

Chapter One: Detriot

"Alexis, come on we are going to be late!" My best friend Cameron called from downstairs.
"Ya, hold on I'm coming!" I said grabbing my purse, I checked to make sure my car keys were there, and took one last glance in the mirror.
I ran down the stairs, taking two steps at a time before I jumped the last three. Cameron stood by the door with her hands on her hips with an impatient look on her face.
"Are you ready now?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes smiling at her annoyance. "Come on." I grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door into the warm sun.
I took a deep breath and smiled at the sweet smell of summer. My first day free of high school, it felt amazing.
I walked down the front door steps and over to my light blue jeep I had gotten for my birthday last year.
Cameron jumped in the passenger seat, slipping down the visor to fix her long curly blue hair.
I thought she was crazy to have wanted her hair turquoise blue, but now I actually thought it fit her well.
"Are you meeting Jeremy later?" I asked as she flipped the visor back up and buckled her seat belt.
"No, he wanted to hang out but I told him I was busy." She turned away from me and focused on the flowers on the tree next to my mailbox.
Cameron and Jeremy had been dating for almost a year now and she seemed to be pushing him away.
"Cammie what's wrong? You used to spend every waking moment with him. What changed?" I tried to get her to look at me but she wouldn't.
"I guess I did." She replied while still looking out the car window.
I gave her a worried look, even though she couldn't see it, before I started the car.
********
When we got to Detroit, it was crowded. People were roaming the sidewalks and cars packed the road.
I frowned, wondering why it was so busy. After being stuck in traffic, which took forever, we finally made it to Cameron's street. I turned my blinker on before turning into her dark neighborhood.
The houses were run down, the roads and driveways were cracked, and even the grass looked grey.
Flowers didn't grow and the leaves that covered the trees looked wilted and sad, which only made the place look even gloomier.
I pulled into her driveway as far as I could without running over her little brother, Evan, who was spray painting something on the broken cement.
"Evan, what the hell!" Cameron yelled, jumping out of the car to look at what her eleven year old bother was painting. I got out as well, interested in his unusual art work.
He looked up at us with a smile and crawled backwards so we could see his masterpiece.
"What do ya think?" He smirked throwing the can of spray paint into the dead bush next to the garage. His picture consisted of a stick figure with a gun chasing what seemed to be some sort of small stick figure animal, maybe a cat or a bunny.
"You're such an idiot." Cameron said rolling her eyes and grabbing her brother by the arm. "Do you know what dad is going to do to you when he sees this?!"
Cameron's father was a drug dealer and a part time gas station worker who didn't put up with anything.
Evan looked up at his sister with realization. I looked at the two of them worried. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Cameron smiled shaking her head. "The best thing you can do now is leave before he gets home."
I nodded giving her a hug and getting back in my car. I started the engine and pulled out of her driveway.
When I pulled out of her neighborhood there was a long line of cars in front of me.
Why was it so busy on a Thursday? I glanced at the clock, 5:30pm, it was dinner time.
As if on cue my stomach growled making me think back to when I last ate.
I turned into the next lane, deciding to grab something to eat before heading home.
After looking around for a good fifteen minutes I decided to stop at a Coney Island so I didn't starve to death.
I walked inside, admiring the peace and quite. There was only a few other people there. At one table sat a younger couple with a baby and at a booth there were three guys all on their phones. I rolled my eyes at them laughing a little.
"Hi, table for one?" The lady behind the counter asked.
"Yes please." I smiled at her stepping all the way through the door and following her to a table in the corner.
After ordering an ice tea and a salad I pulled my phone out checking for any new messages.
One new message blinked on the screen. I opened it, it was from Jeremy. It read...

Hey Alexis, I was just wondering if you have talked to Cammie lately, she seems to be avoiding me and I'm not sure why.

I sighed wondering if I should tell him she spent the night last night or not.
I decided to tell him she was just tired and needed a little alone time, then I shut my phone off to eat.
I looked around the restaurant, the couple with the baby had left and one of the boys at the booth was looking at me. I looked away quickly turning to look in the reflection of the window to see if he was still looking, he wasn't so I turned back around.
After I ate, I paid and got up to leave. At that exact same time the boys stood up and started walking towards the exit. I walked faster, hoping to get out the door before they did. I succeeded and walked to my car and got in.
I started the car and backed up out of the parking lot. I heard a car honk and I looked over, but it was too late.
A car hit the side of mine, turning my car on its side. I gripped the wheel and tried to gain control. Pain shot through my chest, knocking the wind out of me. Finally, my car stopped skidding and the only things I heard were shouting and a car's alarm.
I blinked my eyes, trying to focus on something. As my vision came back slowly, I looked up through the car door window. It was now shattered from the wreck.
The boy that was looking at me in the restaurant ran to the car looking in the window. I could see the worry and fear in his eyes.
"Can you breathe?" He asked jumping up onto the side of my car. I nodded slowly and tried to unbuckle the seat belt. Pain shot through my arm making me gasp.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, be careful." He pulled out a pocket knife reaching in my car. He grabbed my waist, and gently cut the seat belt. He reached up to put the pocket knife back in his pocket and ended up cutting himself on the glass from the shattered window. He winced a little as the blood dripped down his arm.
He reached back down and slowly lifted me up. "Tell me if I'm hurting you." He said pulling me out of the car. The warm air hit me, filling my lungs. I blinked slowly, feeling my adrenaline kick in. He held me with one arm under my back and one under my legs. He carried me like a baby over to the sidewalk.
I looked over at all the cars. A man was looking at the car that crashed into mine, his temple was bleeding so I assumed it was his car. I tried standing up which only resulted with me having a wave of nausea. I sat back down to try and catch my breath.
The boy watched me closely, probably making sure I wasn't dying. His friend ran over and sat next to me.
"Did you check to see if anything is broken, Kian?" He asked. The boy that pulled me out of the car shook his head getting closer to me and crouched down to look at me.
He took my arm gently and looked at me with a small smirk. "Tell me if anything hurts." He slowly moved my right hand and fingers, then my wrist, then my elbow. He repeated the same with my left arm and both of my legs.
He sighed, "I don't think anything is broken, you're lucky." I gave him a weak smile.
I could hear sirens getting closer. After a few minutes an ambulance arrived taking me and the guy from the other car to the hospital.