Second Hand Heart

Chapter 1

Wherever Tristan, my boyfriend, and I went people would always tell us we were the lucky ones and that it was so rare to find the right one at such a young age. I always believed them, who wouldn't? He was the perfect epitome of the boy next door.

When his family moved next door to us in the fourth grade we hit it off instantly like a house of fire. We hung out every day and were practically joined at the hip. Fast forward to the summer going into our sophomore year, he kissed me at a lake near our house. I didn't know how to react, so I bolted. Things were awkward but as the days went on I discovered I had feelings for him. I told him I liked him, expecting him to reject me and laugh it off but much to my surprise he felt the same.

We'd been dating since.

It was a Saturday, the first day of summer break. Apparently a kid in our grade was going to throw a ragging party to celebrate the end of high school for us.

Of course Tristan and I were going to go. We were very popular throughout high school. He was the captain of our soccer team and I was the columnist of our schools newspaper. Much to our surprise we were even voted Prom King and Queen.

It was so surreal to think that high school was over. It had gone by so quick. One minute Tristan and I were walking in to our first day of high school, dreading it and the next we were at our graduation.

We were lucky enough to both be accepted into our dream college, Harvard. After the summer we were both going to pack our bags and move from Portland all the way to Boston. We knew the move would be a big change but as long as we had each other it was fine. He was majoring in sports science and me in English.

"Are you ready, babe?" Tristan asked as he leaned over to tie his shoe lace. His looks never failed to amaze me. It was as if the more time I spent with him the more handsome he got. He wore a tight fitted maroon shirt that hugged his toned arms and chest. Alongside that he wore dark skinny jeans and his famous white Chuck Taylors. His light brown hair sat there perfectly untouched. It was getting longer but it suited him. Heck he could have a pink mohawk and he'd still look like a Greek god.

"Yeah, just give me a second." I mumbled trying to apply my final layer of mascara. Once I finished applying I looked at myself in the full body mirror attached to my wall. My wavy blonde hair cascaded down my shoulders. It was tied up half up half down, reaching below my boobs. The black mascara I wore brought the blue in my eyes. As for my outfit, I wore a white summer dress that reached just below my knees along with my tan sandals.

"You look flawless." Tristan said as he came behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, placing a kiss on my cheek. I could smell his intoxicating aftershave he had been using since eighth grade.

"So do you." I turned around and planted a kiss on his lips. "We should get going." I reminded him as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Do we have to? I'd rather stay home with you and watch Netflix." He groaned.

"Come on, this is our last high school party. We'll probably never see half these people again!" I insisted. Normally he'd jump at the opportunity to go to a party. He loved being the centre of attention. Everyone loved it too. He was so charismatic and witty. He would have the room in stitches without even trying.

"I don't know, babe. I have a funny feeling about this party. It's probably going to be boring." He told me. He stood there creasing his eyebrows. I laughed at him, rolling my eyes.

"Let's just give it a shot. If it's boring we can leave and get takeaway and binge watch Grey's Anatomy." I told him. He laughed and agreed to try it out.

We walked out my front door and to his car. He opened my door for me and I got in. He jogged around to his side. He backed out the drive way and set journey to the party. The drive to the party was about was about 20 minutes.

Once we turned into the street you could already hear the blasting music from the speakers. We parked down the street and walked over to the house, hand in hand. It was crazy to see that half the people were already drunk even though it was only 8.

Once we got in the house we located the kitchen to find the booze. We didn't drink normally but he decided to tonight as it was a celebration. We had already asked Tony, the host, if we could crash in his spare bedroom. Without a doubt he agreed.

We walked to the living room and found our group of friends: Mia, Thomas, Damian, Christian and Catherine. The night went by in a blur. We danced the entire evening and laughed until our stomachs hurt, reminiscing about our high school career. At around two, Mia and Thomas had already left.

"I'm exhausted, can we get to bed?" He mumbled in my ear. Nodding my head, we climbed the stairs and walked to our room. We opened the door and were instantly hit with the smell of vomit. There lay a junior in a pile of his own puke. I groaned and took Tristan's hand to find another room. In the other room there was a couple making out on the bed.

I sighed in frustration; my hands made their way to my hair and tugged.

"It's alright. Let's just drive home." He slurred. I wasn't keen on the idea of driving on a busy road this early in the morning but I didn't have a choice. It was either that or sleeping in a room that smelt like vomit or the other one that smelt of sex.

"Okay but I'm driving, you're still tipsy." I told him as we walked out the front door. I stopped drinking an hour ago, as I had enough. He slurred something along the lines of "whatever".

We got to the car and I strapped him into the passenger seat. I walked over the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition. I adjusted the mirrors and accelerated.

We were about halfway when it started pouring with rain. Everything was silent; the only sound that could be heard was Tristan's soft snores and the sound of the rain hitting the windscreen.

I looked out the windscreen; all could be seen was the long road ahead and streetlamps. There were no other cars, just us. I had trouble keeping my eyes open so I turned on the radio. Some upbeat pop song played in the background. 

Things were going well until some animal ran across the road right in front of us. I swerved the car, trying my best to avoid the animal. Before I could fathom what was going on, we were rolling. It all happened in slow motion. I looked over at Tristan who was slumped in a weird angle due to the airbag that shot out when the car hit the ground. 

I screamed out in pain, feeling a sharp object piercing into my upper thigh. I tried pulling myself out the car, only getting halfway. 

The last thing I heard was Tristan screaming my name. I tried to help him before everything around me went black.