Peyton was a great member of this school. She had just turned sixteen when the car she was in was hit by a semi and killed her on impact. She left behind her friends, her family, and a great legacy around this school. Peyton was kind to everyone, always willing to volunteer and sign up for clubs and extra-curricular activities. She will be missed.
I stare at this article in the school newspaper, realizing that this is the only thing left of Peyton in this school, a measly five sentence article on her death. Whoever wrote this clearly didn't know Peyton, not like I did. I know what really happened that night, that night of Peyton's sixteenth birthday. Thinking back to it, I remember the crazy birthday party we had for her.
...
"Yeah, party!" Susi yelled as she piled into Peyton's car passenger seat.
I laughed at her. "Susi, we just left the party."
"Shut u-up," she hiccupped, pointing at me.
I rolled my eyes as Peyton climbed into the front seat and Emily sat in the back next to me. All four of us had gone to a party, why, I had no idea, but Peyton wanted to go and was invited, so she went and brought us along, as well as downing a lot of alcohol. Susi and Emily had joined in on the drinking, but I refrained, knowing that one of us needed to be sober to get home alive.
Now, I knew that Peyton shouldn't have been driving, as she was drunk, but she was the only one of us who had her temps, and she was risking getting caught to drive us to this party.
"You guys ready to go?" she slurred.
"Yeah," Emily said.
She wasn't really loud when she was drunk, I noticed. She was one who was quiet and sad and cried easily. Susi was the opposite. When she was sober, she was reserved but get a drop of alcohol in her and she was loud and
the life of the party. I couldn't tell what kind Peyton was yet, and I had never been drunk, so I didn't know what I was.
Peyton wasn't the kind of person to get drunk, but she was told by the populars that it was cool, so she did. I knew that hanging out with them was a bad idea, but I went along, went to the party and watched my friends get wasted.
"Beep beep!" Peyton honked her horn at someone, making them leap out of the way.
As she careened out of the street, I noticed she wasn't wearing a seat belt.
"Peyton," I said gently. "Put your seat belt on."
"No," she whined. "I barely ever wear my seat belt!"
I just left her alone, hoping that we could get to Peyton's house before anything bad happened. Luckily, Peyton only lived about four blocks away. We were just turning the corner, Susi and Peyton yelling loudly, cheering about how awesome the party was, when it happened.
Out of the darkness, a truck came barreling through the intersection, not even stopping for the stop sign and hit us, right on the driver's side. My eyes were snapped shut and my neck was jolted forward by the seatbelt and I banged my head on Peyton's seat.
Then, it stopped. I opened my eyes and say Emily moaning slightly in her seat, hanging by her seat belt. Susi wasn't moving, but I could see her breathing.
"Peyton?" I rasped out, waiting to hear her reply. "Peyton?"
I waited for her response, my heart in my throat when I could hear nothing.
"Peyton!" I shouted, banging weakly on her seat, trying to get her to answer me.
I could hear Susi stirring, whimpering, "oh God, oh God," but I ignored her, more concerned about the person that wasn't answering me.
"Peyton?" I asked again, hoping, but knowing deep, deep inside me that she wasn't going to answer me.
Susi started helping me, shaking the seat and Emily was groaning loudly, telling us to shut up, but Peyton wasn't answering. She would
never answer again.
