"How was school today Steven?" My dad said.
It was the last day of 8th grade and I was determined to get into National Honors Society. I started imagining what high school was going to be like. I wasn't really worried about popularity, I mean I get along with just about everybody. All I wanted was to have friends that would stick by me no matter what. Like some of my best mates, Taylor, Sean, and Michael.
"Steven, did you hear me?"
"Sorry dad. Spaced out again." I chuckled and said, "What was the question again?"
"I said, How was school today, you knucklehead!" He ruffled my hair and smiled at me.
"It was great! I can't wait for it to start back up again."
"Well, look who's excited for high school!" We both laughed and he drove away from the school I'd miss in the future. "Well how about some dinner at that Burger place we like. As a reward for passing with great grades son?"
"That sounds good," I said with a huge smile.
"I don't think mom will be able to make it, she's working overtime again." He patted me on the shoulder, "is that alright with you?"
"Yeah, I mean there will be other times right?" I smiled and looked out the window. My mom was either always working or out with friends. I missed seeing her sometimes. We went home and me and my dad played video games for about 4 hours to pass the time, and we drove to the restaurant .
*About 1 Hour Later*
"Wasn't that good? Oh, sometimes your mother doesn't know what she's missing."
"No, she doesn't.. " I laughed a little to hide the nervousness in my voice.
"Well, we should get going now." We hopped back into the car and drove down. We were listening to Green Day when my dads phone started ringing.
"Hello? - No we're on our way home. - We were out getting dinner! -"
I could hear screaming on the other line. The screaming verified it was my mother.
"How was I supposed to know, you're never home! - Well maybe that's the best for all of us! - " My parents kept yelling back and forth, so I looked out the window, trying not to pay attention "Why is it so important now!? You are almost never here and now you're mad at me?! What else was I supposed to do?! I'm not going to say 'oh yeah, mom can't be here. It's not like she ever is. We're just going to wait up for her so we can do nothing for the rest of the night. It's not like she remembered today was your promotion!'- "If you didn't forget, then why didn't take the day off?- Like hell, you need the extra hours!- "
A tear rolled down my cheek and i wiped it away. I looked up at the front window and screamed, "DAD YOU'RE IN THE WRONG LANE!!"
I closed my eyes and tried protecting myself. I felt the car jerk a little and I heard the sound of crying tires and busting glass. I knew that was the other car because we were still skidding. I didn't dare open my eyes because i was terrified. Next thing you know, we hit something, maybe a car, and then we went flying. We flipped around at least 5 times and by then, the air bag was suffocating me, so i grabbed my dads pocketknife from the door and stabbed it, in fear of me dying before we landed. We landed upside down and I saw my life flash. I opened my eyes, and saw tiny shards of glass everywhere, a few in my arm. I looked at my hands and they were full of blood from when my head banged into the window and shattered it. I felt the warm blood trickling down my face, like tears. I turned to my left and saw my dad.
"Steven?" He choked and spit up blood.
"Dad. Are you okay?" I cried. I unbuckled myself as fast as i could to help him.
"No Steven. Don't cry i'm fine. I'm fine, see?" He forced a smile to his mouth and reached out. I took his hand and he continued, "Steven, no matter what happens, just know I love you."
"No dad, don't say that. We're going to be okay, c'mon lets get out of here."
I crawled out from the shattered window and got scraped by the dirt and glass covering the earth beneath me. I stumbled to the other side. I heard people come rushing to help me and my vision went blurry. There was a ringing in my ears, and i felt the calm throbbing pulses of blood rushing through my cuts. I felt my legs getting heavier and I heard a thud. I wondered if it was me hitting the ground but I wasn't too sure. I thought this was it. I thought this was the beauty of death. I looked up and there were people looking over me. I couldn't make out their faces due to the darkness and dizziness in my eyes.
I looked up at the stars and my dad's voice rang through my mind , " No matter what..." That was the last thing I thought.. Then suddenly, everything went black.
...
"DAD!"
I woke up to the same dream almost every night. I always ended up crying because then I can't fall back asleep. It's kind of a torture, especially after that dream. Because then I'm forced to stay up and think about that night, when everything fell apart for me. That night was 3 years ago.
My name is Steven. I'm 16 and I'm halfway through my Jr. Year in high-school and this is not what I expected. After dad passed, everything fell apart. It was like I was standing on the grave of everything I've loved. That's why there is so much hate and torture.
Well, here's more about me. My friends we're there for me until about 4th quarter freshman year. That was when my mom remarried. Josh was his name. And unfortunately for me, he had two sons my age. They instantly hated me and treated me bad. My mom never did anything about it and I hated her for that. I hated her for quite a couple of things. Like how she blamed dad for the car crash, how she didn't go to his funeral, or how she married again so soon. What hurt the most is when I found out why she married Josh so soon. It turns out she was always gone because they were dating a year before my dad passed. Josh knew. His sons, Manny and Evan knew. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if all of Canada knew.
A lot about me has changed since dads passed. Like I said, my friends abandoned me, mom and Josh's marriage went bad after 5 months but they're still together, all hope was lost for me, and my brother Nick was never around.
But hey, you win some, you lose some, right? One thing stayed the same though. Mom is never home still. But now, she is gone for 2-3 months at a time. 3 weeks if she's in a good mood. There's not much else to say other than I get beat up a lot by kids at school, Manny and Evan, and Josh. Mostly Josh. I don't get why he always beats up on me when he gets drunk. He just says its because I screwed his whole marriage up. I swear, Josh could get an award for being biggest douche of the year. He says that I should've died with my dad, so everything would've been perfect. Sometimes I feel that way too. If I had died with my dad that night, all of this would have still happened, except for the marriage fallout, Josh's drinking problem, and I would've died knowing my dad was right beside me the entire time. Even after death. But that didn't happen, I guess I'll be forced to walk down this dark tunnel, without turning back.. The tunnel that holds aching memories, shattered glass, and broken dreams.. Buts okay. This place knows me.. Its the only place I feel welcome in. The only place where I belong..
