Mitch

Ever since that day, you've only been able to see half of the world. That wasn't even the worst part. It was also the last day you ever saw your best friend, the one person you felt closest to in this whole, stupid, small town. No biggie. As much as it pains you to remember everything that happened, you figure it's probably best to recollect your thoughts. You frown as you imagine walking into school tomorrow only to have tons of classmates getting in your face (well, half of it) and bugging you about what happened. Better have something to tell them, you think to yourself. You close your eyes, recalling every detail you could possibly remember.

It was the third week of September. The season was slowly changing from summer to fall, as you remember crushing stray leaves with your sneakers while you were on your way to school. Although you were running late for your first class, you kept a slower-than-normal pace, the result of both fatigue and lack of motivation. Who would've thought staying up past 3 in the morning studying would make you so tired? You wipe the sleep from your eyes as you neared the building.

You can't seem to recall anything between that and the end of the day, but it probably wasn't important anyway. You skip to the next point in your mental timeline, which was the last class of that day. It was a few minutes before class ended and you weren't doing anything particularly interesting, most likely staring at the clock that was off by a few seconds, when suddenly a familiar face came up next to you.

"Hey Mitch!" That cheerful voice could only belong to your best friend Jared, who you haven't seen since the last school year ended. You almost forgot he was in your class, since he looked so different than what you remembered. He had cut his long ginger hair - it used to go past his shoulders - so he looked like any other normal guy in school. You actually didn't think he would still talk to you after so long.

"I told you to stop calling me that," You sigh in fake annoyance, trying to hide your smile of relief. "Call me Luke. You know, my actual name."

"Whatever," Jared let out a chuckle, his mischievous grin as big as always. "Anyway, so you know how we haven't done anything together for like, a really long time?" You nod in reply.

"What say you get together with me and some of my friends this weekend?"

"Your friends..?" You said hesitantly. You weren't too sure about this; the people you always saw by Jared didn't exactly look that trustworthy.

"Oh don't worry, they're cool. They're not gonna beat cha up or anything." He joked. "C'mon, it'll be fun!" You let out a nervous laugh. Well, it's been months since we last seen each other, you thought.

"Okay, sure." You answered before you received a friendly slap on the back.

"Great! See ya!" He waved as he ran off, dashing out of the room just a few moments before the bell rang. You watched him go, almost wanting to bolt out with him as well. Instead you just swung your backpack over one shoulder and quietly follow everyone else in the room, a faint smile still on your face.

Before you knew it, the weekend had arrived. It was Saturday night; you used to spend those huddled up in your room playing video games until late hours of the night and eating whatever leftovers you could find in the house. It felt nice to have a change of pace, with you actually being around people. You were with Jared and 4 of his newer friends that he met over the summer - you assumed that would explain why you never got to see him much. His friends were the typical popular jocks that you never wanted anything to do with, but at least Jared was there so it was a little more bearable. For the most part you guys just hung out at Jared's house and did whatever since his parents weren't home. Eventually, one of his friends brought out several six packs of beer and in some way or another you all ended up drinking most of it. You were a bit reluctant at first, since you were all underaged and whatnot. But then you thought, what's the worst that could happen?

Later on that evening, someone thought it would be a great idea to drive somewhere - you can't even remember where - even though you were all intoxicated. Even then, you thought it was a pretty dumb idea, but now that you're sober it sounds even dumber. Everyone got into Jared's car, backed out of the driveway, and drove off anyway. You and Jared were in the front, while his jock friends filled in the back of the car.

Drunken laughter and loud music resonated in the vehicle, creating some strange feel-good atmosphere among you all. Everyone must've been laughing too much though, as no one paid attention to what was ahead of them. You only remember the sharp shards of glass and the sickness you felt as the car rolled off the road, spinning and crashing to the ground below. For the short time you were conscious, you could feel your head pounding against the window and blood staining your face. You remember the sharp stinging that covered your face and your arms that failed to protect you.

Then suddenly, you were at a hospital. You didn't even realize you went unconscious at all. You stare blankly at the half of the hospital room you can see, pressing your fingers on the rough bandages that cover your face as you try to recall what even happened in the first place. You felt a migraine coming, and your head was throbbing and making you disoriented. The pain slowly got worse as you kept silently asking yourself the same question: "How did this happen?".

You jump upon hearing your room door open with a small creak. A short, middle-aged woman entered the room, being cautious as to not disturb you too much.

"How're you doing, sweetie?" She asked gently, concern in her voice. It took you several moments to think of who this strange woman was. You kept searching in your mind to figure it out, only for her to answer for you.

"I'm your mother, Luke." She sat beside your hospital bed. "Listen, you've been in here for a couple days now and I'm not sure if you even remembered what happened." You gave her a confused look. You tried to ask her what was going on, only to have nothing come out of your mouth. It still really hurt to do anything.

"I suppose you don't then," She sighed, prepared to explain this devastating story. Her voice began to choke up as she went on. "You...were in an accident. The car drove off the road and it crashed. All of you were severely injured and...Jared..." She trailed off, trying so hard to muffle her sobs but to no avail. She broke down in front of you, and you could do nothing but stare at her. You couldn't cry, you couldn't scream, you couldn't feel anything. You knew what happened. Your closest friend was dead and you couldn't do anything to save him.

Eventually, you were released from the hospital about a week or two later, leaving behind the dull white room and half of your eyesight. One side of your face had been damaged greatly and you could now only see from one eye. That wasn't the worst of the pain though, you realized. Your life had been completely changed, the normal life you so wanted to keep.