The Crash

I remember how it was humid. A warm summer day where thin cotton t-shirts clung to the sweat beads on your back; one of the hottest days of the year. James from school was holding a summer party, a party that didn't have a reason behind it - other than to celebrate the end of school. Kayla and I decided to leave my house early to avoid traffic and get to the summer house with plenty of time to spare. We were ready to go when my dad asked for a picture of us. He was sentimental like that, always taking pictures of the two of us. All through our childhood when Kayla moved in he would always be around a corner taking pictures, I loved that quirk about him. The last thing he said to us was to drive safe. Ironic isn't it?

We were sailing down the main roads in no time. Our favourite songs blasting from the Spotify Premium account we shared, we shared most things; we were practically sisters. The air conditioning was no match for the sun beating down on us, soon all the windows were down to allow the natural breeze of the wind to cool us down. The further along we drove the less cars we passed on the roads; until it was only us, the music playing and the countryside landscapes.

I remember talking about the party, how Kayla wanted to hook up with her long term crush Tom, especially since when autumn came we would all be going our separate ways to our chosen universities. We talked about the summer months ahead, how we would have to finish packing by late August to get our boxes shipped to our flat. Kayla was the theorist of our group, she was always up to date with the latest conspiracies, always planning her dream lifestyle. We both wanted to go to different universities, but being together for 10 years was hard for us to just move away from each other. The universities we planned to go to were not too far from each other, so Kayla came up with the idea that to get a flat half way between each university so we weren't separated just yet. She had already found the perfect flat when she told me her plans.

We were going to do so much over the summer. The long stretch of road was so peaceful, the sounds of our singing and laughter swept away by the wind. The same wind which twisted our hair into knots behind us, but we didn't care, we were enjoying the journey as much as possible. There were hardly any cars, one or two every 5 minutes. When we turned a winding corner was when we saw the car.

The blur was coming towards us in our lane. Kayla was screaming at me to get out of the way. That one comment has always stuck in my mind, why wouldn't I try to get out of the way? It happened so slowly, yet so fast at the same time. I felt the panic in my chest, the feeling I needed to get the car under control, the reminder that my best friend - the only sister I had was sitting next to me screaming. This was not how I wanted it to end.

So I swerved. The car went past us, taking the wing mirror nearest Kayla with it. Supposedly swerving makes you lose control of your vehicle and cause more damage than there could have been. However, a head on collision seems worse to me than losing just a mirror. Of course that wasn't the end. I lost control of the car. My instinct saved us from our near death experience but it wasn't over. I didn't know at the time swerving would make any of this happen - I wanted to save Kayla.

The car spun along the road, no traction stopping us. We spun onto the opposite side of the road, the sudden stop forcing us forward in our seats. Our breathing was sporadic, the seatbelts biting our skin. Our eyes met and we laughed. Adrenaline was still coursing through our veins as we made sure we were okay, the experience had left us wide eyed but we were alright. We were fine.

Kayla had told me to check the car and make sure our tyres were okay, that the only damage we had was the wing mirror so we could get to the nearest garage. As I was checking the car for damage she had her head buried in her phone, looking on maps and telling our friends we were going to need a lift from the garage to get to the party.

The front of the car had limited damage, scratches here and there from the chaos but the main problem was the wing mirror. I walked passed Kayla as I went to the back of the car giving her a light tap on the arm. The tyres were all fine and I knew we would be able to get to a garage with minimal problems. We had been extremely lucky in the accident. Then I heard the horn.

The haunting sound was loud and my head shot up to see what was going on, I saw Kayla lift her head too in the corner of my eye. I heard her screams as metal collided with metal, as a lorry crashed into front of my car. As the lorry pushed the car backwards I was dragged under it.

The last thing I thought of before I was pulled into unconsciousness was my dad.

How he told us to drive safe.