Forever 17

1

September 19th, 2009. 

The day that forever altered all of our lives. 

I remember it like any other, it was quiet that morning. An eerie stillness settled in to my surroundings, which looking back I did not pay much attention to, I now wish I had taken notice. I can recall every decision I made, every sound I heard, every interaction I had that morning. It felt...ordinary. Nothing could have prepared me for the events which were about to unfold a mere few hours to come. 

I had never really given much thought on how myself or anyone I loved would die. I think when we are young we just assume everyone we know is going to be around as long as we are. We push thoughts of death to the back of our minds, unable to grasp the cruel reality that we won't all be around forever and that there will come a day in which we will have to bid goodbye. I guess I just didn't expect ours to be so soon. 

It was a tragedy. Our small town, Hallow, was entirely rocked to its core. Things like this just didn't happen here. 

'A freak accident' the news outlets called it, 'A community left reeling from the death of local young person'. What would they know? How could they ever understand the weight and depth of the loss left when they never even knew her?

Alice had been walking to school that morning, which was a typical morning for her. She walked with a little cheerful bounce in her step, which totally encapsulated her vivacious personality. She was like personified sunshine; the kindest soul I ever had the pleasure of knowing. She was close enough to school for it to be within her line of sight when some stupid idiot driver came flying around a corner and lost control of his car going 80mph. He hit her. 

It later came out that the guy was heavily intoxicated, both drunk and high out of his mind.

 She died on impact, he walked away with only a broken arm. 

I was about to leave for school when I got the call from Adrian, Alice's boyfriend. He was hysterical. I could not understand anything he was trying to tell me over the phone through his sobbing and frantic mumbling. I knew that something bad had happened. "She's dead!", he sobbed, "Alice is dead, Diana". 

My heart sank to my feet. My breathing stopped as I felt every emotion drain from my body, apart from sheer terror. A ringing in my ears becoming imminently louder as the moments carried on. 

 "What do you mean she's dead Adrian?" I asked in a perplexed tone, "How could she be dead, I only just spoke to her last night on the phone. She couldn't be dead". 

My mind went totally blank, refusing to uptake any of the information which was being relayed to me in this moment. I remember I kept thinking this doesn't make any sense, how could a person you just seen a day earlier be gone? I was in such deep denial I didn't want to believe what he was saying. 

"Please, Diana. The staff at the hospital told her parents we could only see her for a while before they would have to take her away. Oliver, Josh and I are already here. Come as fast as you can, we will explain once you get here." He hastily spoke to me between sobs before hanging up the phone.

I don't remember much of what happened after that. I think I went into a sort of autopilot mode. It felt like time had sped up around me and I was stuck in the same position, unable to so much as think after receiving the news I just had. 

My parents rushed to the hospital with me in tow, still totally numb and zoned out from what was going on. 

I remember arriving to the hospital, the strong clinical smell breaching my nose. I always disliked the smell of the hospital. The bright white walls and floors paired with the fluorescent lights felt like an attack on my eyes. In a way it's almost ironic for a place so bright when there is so much darkness, death and despair etched into every corner of the building. 

 We found out where Alice and her family was and made our way there. With every step I felt the anticipation rising in my body, my heart jumping up 10bpm each time and feeling increasingly nauseated at the realisation that I was about to encounter the lifeless body of one of my dearest friends. 

It was quiet, and still. Similar to how my day had begun that morning. 

Then I saw her.

Even in death, she was still the most beautiful and delicate girl I had ever laid eyes upon. 

My lip quivered, tears springing to my eyes as I choked back a sob which threatened to escape my lips. 

"Oh...Alice," I whispered to nobody in particular, "What happened?".

I approached the bed in which she had been laid and took her soft hand into my own. Her eyes were closed, and if you were not paying attention to the lack of rise and fall of her chest, you would almost think she was sleeping. 

However she was not, she was dead. 

To be continued...