I Watched You Drive By

Sam

The last class of the day started with a loud ring and the students' sighs of relief could be heard throughout the halls. I was the very last person in Psychology class. Mr. Bylt frowned as I walked in and sat down. I shrugged my apology. "Meeting with Coach."
Mr. Bylt blinked slowly and turned to the blackboard. We all groaned when we saw the title: Notes. A notes day. The time is going to drag on. Lucky us.
There were sounds of movements as we all pulled out out notebooks. Yes. Lucky us, indeed.

Outside the rain that the clouds have been threatening all day finally started. Along with it thunder rumbled and the sky lite up every few minutes. We were all antsy, waiting for Coach Martin to deliver our fate: whether we practiced or not. The school day has been done for an hour now and none of us wanted to deal with rain on a Friday afternoon.
"Ten on practice," a voice murmured from my left. I glanced at Jay with a frown.
"Don't put that bullshit on us, man!"
He grinned. "You scared of losing?"
I shook my head as Dustin and Jake both smacked Jay upside the head. "Shut up!"
Coach Martin had us holed up in the gym, waiting for his instructions. He had been staring out the window when his hand came up suddenly. "Carter!" He waved his hand wildly. "Come here."
I ran up to the window. "What's up coach?"
Coach stared out the window for a few more seconds, and then he turned to me and stroked his chin. "What do you think? Practice or home?"
I didn't need to glance back at them to know that my friends were all staring at my back. I inclined my head a little for show, and you could almost hear the whole team hold their breaths. "Too much rain, coach. Let's go home."
There was a collective sigh as the coach shrugged. "Alright, you heard your Captain. Get your asses home and get some rest! Drive slowly." Then he hurried out the door, pulling his keys out of his back pocket.
"Woo!" We laughed as Jay dramatically fell to the floor. "We were all about to kill you, dude. Just letting you know that."
I grinned and picked up my bag filled with my unused equipment. "Just get home safely, all of you. You heard Coach."
There was a"Yes, Capt.!" from everyone as I ran out into the parking lot. The rain was coming down in sheets. I ran straight to the first spot where I had parked and got into my Rover. There was a towel in my bag so I used that to dry off.
The weather was too stressful today. The atmosphere it created didn't feel great and it ruined football practice. We had a game in a week and we did not have the pleasure of being lazy, even if it was just one day. We had to be ready for the first game of the school year against Caldwell Prep.
I sighed and put my car into drive before pulling out of my space. The other players were getting into their cars and leaving. I nodded to them as I drove out. Jay honked as he drove past and I honked back.
The rain didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon and I wanted to be home already. I took the main road toward my house and turned on my radio.
"Its going to be raining for a long time ,so make sure your family is ready!" The weatherman declared. "Lights and electricity may go out in a few hours. Get ready for the worst."
In front of me I saw the headlights of cars way down the road.
I sighed again and took the left road that led to Tommary Bridge. With this rain, the main road to my house would probably be full of traffic and I was not in the mood for that today. The Tommary Bridge shortcut would be a better journey anyway-
It happened too quickly. One second I was reaching for the button to change the radio and in the next there was a lone figure standing in the middle of the road. My headlights showed a girl wearing nothing but a T-shirt and jeans. I pushed down on my breakers and stopped short of prowling through her.
For a moment I could only hear the rain and my thudding heart. But the girl hardly looked into the windshield before she was running-- where to, I'm not sure, but she had a limp.
Did I hit her?
With my heart in my throat, I pulled my car to the side of the road and let myself breathe. The lone girl was on the bridge looking down at the water. She was almost dangerously close to the edge. That wasn't good in this weather.
I jumped out of my car. "Hey!" I yelled, but the girl didn't turn around. She stepped closer to the bridge. There was a place where the bridge was open because of construction. Signs were posted everywhere, but the rain made it hard to see them, and most of them were knocked down. If she doesn't know...
"Hey! Move away from there! There's a hole!" The girl showed no signs of hearing me. She took another step closer. Shit.
I started running.
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Shoutout to irismart01