I'm seventeen. I still haven't gotten over losing Julie. But I made some new friends. So I wasn't lonely.
"Hey dad, I'm going to drive to the store to pick up some iced tea. You want anything?" I ask.
"Maybe some milk, I think we're out."
"Okay."
I hop in the car and start it. I pull out of the driveway and notice that the wheel is making funny noises. I ignore it and keep driving. But as I'm on the highway, somebody in a small car smashes into my truck. The seatbelt snaps, my airbag doesn't come out, and I smash through the window and tumble over the side of the highway.
Then I black out.
♦Some time later♦
I wake up and see the sky. It's black, and the wind is howling. I look around and pull my hood tight around my face. Where the hell am I?
I find a place under the highway where I stay for the night.
When I wake up, I take a walk. After about 35 minutes, something catches my eye.
It's a girl. Her arm looks injured. I take a close look at her and feel her shoulder. I can tell it hurts her, so I stop. I run my finger along a scar on her wrist, and I have a flashback-it's less than a second long and all I see is a mirror shattering.
I try to pull out the bullet from her shoulder. She squirms, so I hold her down. "Don't move, it'll hurt more." I say. She finally opens her eyes. "Close your eyes. It might hurt a little." She obeys. "1...2...here we go, try to ignore the pain...3!" I pull out the bullet and she lets out an ear-piercing scream.
I put a wet handkerchief on her injury and wrap her with my damp hoodie.
We talk a little bit, and she starts crying. I have another vision, this time it was a girl, about 13, crying.
I hug her and tell her it's okay.
We talk a while, and it turns out her mom is really screwed up. That brought me to another vision of me laying on the floor and a woman screaming and kicking me.
I think me and this girl have a lot in common.
I run to go get us some food. Everyone gives me weird looks. I look at the hotdog wrapped in aluminum foil, and I see my reflection. "Ooohh. That's why."
I run back to find out her eyes were red and puffy.
She thanks me, but bites her lip
"Have you been crying?" I ask.
"I...no...yes...for private reasons."
"Not the scars? Please."
She shakes her head.
I hand her a hotdog. "Best thing there."
♦some moar time later♦
I climb into a tree. I try to remember.
I talk to myself a little. I start to cry a little.
"No, you're stronger than this..."
"Sky?" Hayden says, which scares the crap outta me. I almost fall out of the tree.
"Why are you up?" she asks quietly.
"Why are you?!" I snap, but then I wish I could have said it nicer.
"I heard you talking..." She says, clearly startled by my reaction.
"Oh...I...just..." Now I know how she felt when I came back with the food.
She simply says okay and goes back to sleep.