The Accident: Based On A True Story

Chapter Three

My friend Keegan offered to take me home. Sarah said it was fine which was no surprise to me. She wont really speak to me and she's busy working on the arrangements for the funerals. I had to stay a few extra days. Today would mark six days since the accident but its time to head to back home. I dont want to go back though... going home means seeing pictures of everyone on the walls, Summer's toys strewn throughout the house, and Ryan's room which is cruelly mine as well.

Keegan and I drove past the same areas on the way home as I did that last time I was in the car.

"I can't breathe. Stop the car. Stop the car Keegan!"

Keegan pulled over and I quickly jumped out to get air, nearly hyperventilating. He jumped out to see if I was okay.

"Case, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just, I need a second." But a second wouldn't fix this and I'm sure he knew.

Keegan and I have went to school together since middle school when I had moved down here. He's a unique one. Smart and kind but has the looks of an all-star high school football player. Mysterious, he has a wisdom about him that guys double his age don't always have.

"Just take a second.", he said but I know the truth. A second nor billion seconds will never fix this.

"I'll be fine. Let's just go.", I said as we both got back in the car. I can tell that he knows everything isn't okay.

Driving home was weird.

"Do you wanna talk?", he asked.

"No." Why engage in anything that Ryan can't and Summer will never. I don't deserve friends.

We drove straight to my house in silence. Ryan would have loved this drive. We passed the building where future military members sign up. She always said she would join one day. She wanted to be a K9 handler in the army. I used to tell her how dangerous I thought that was and she would laugh and then reply, "I could die walking outside of our house. At least this way, I'd be able to protect others and die for a good reason. Plus, German Shepherds are real dogs. Not like those little gremlins some like to call Chihuahua's"

Ryan would have been great. The best.

But she didn't die protecting the country. She died in a car wreck before fulfilling any of her dreams... At my hands.

"We're here.", Keegan said as I kept trying to really process what's happening.

"Thanks."

"Do you want company? I'm free." I know he was trying to help but nothing can fix this.

"No. Thank you.", I told him as I tried to manage a smirk.

He waited in the car while I walked up to the house. The last time I was here it was loud and filled with a nuclear family.

It feels so empty now.

I got inside and was hoping to hear Summer sing that stupid song from Frozen so I could tell her, " No. I don't want to build a snowman." Or hear Ryan continuously talk as if it was never ending. It always liked me to hear about her day when I was usually there since we went to school together and had mutual friends. But none of that happened.

I'm alone and it's my fault.

The wall leading up the stairs to the second floor are lined with photos. I remember when her and David first moved here. The first photo on the wall was from their wedding day. It was a lot of fun. Summer was actually in the photo but none of us had known yet. Tall, brown eyes, and thick hair, Ryan and I were always jealous to be short and have finer hair. Not long after long, when they moved in this house, the photos on the wall of them and summer incorporated us.

After mom died, both David and Sarah refused to have us anywhere else. My mom used to always say, "Don't ever say half. You guys are all sisters." She must have told Sarah the same thing growing up because she never treated us any differently. When mom died, we were then hers. It was weird adjustment. But she provided for us better than anyone had before. Not disrespecting my mom, but she didn't have a lot even though she always tried her best.

The last picture on the wall is my favorite. Its all of us this past Christmas. Ryan got the German Shepherd she always wanted and David secretly got the German Shepherd he always wanted. I definitely think that played a role in getting him. Sarah's allergic. I'll never forget that time she looked like a blowfish after becoming a dog walker. The job lasted all of two hours.

But Sarah wanted us to be happy and we were.