The Childhood Nights

Introduction

All it takes is a second for someone's whole life to change. One moment for your reputation to be ruined, one second to be cheated on, a small fraction of time to die. Less than a minute to be told that you will never be able to have children, that you have cancer, that your mother or father is dead. That's all it takes: a second to fall in love. Your life is spent waiting for those miraculous minutes of your first love and your graduation from high school, but also dreading those seconds to tear it all down with your first heartbreak and the deaths of loved ones, and even yourself. One second for you to never hear someone's voice again, the cries of children for their mothers, or seeing a smile of pure joy. That's all it took for Gianna Collins to die: one tragic second.

For nine years, eight completely different personalities were inseparable. There was an artist, a jock, the misunderstood player, a writer, a cheerleader, a photographer, a brainiac, and the girl that was the glue that held them all together. Then freshmen year happened, and conflicts in all of their lives arose. Divorces, fights, deaths, lies, and of course, puberty, all piled on eight teenagers at once could never end well. None of them remained close, only the girl that held them all together still talked to each and every one of them. All it took was a split second for the glue to dry up, and be gone forever.

Main Characters - The Friends

Grayson Woods is the jock.

Axel Stevens is the bad boy.

Julian Griffin is the writer.

Hudson Young is the photographer.

Hadley Young is the cheerleader.

Kinsley Mason is the brainiac.

Embry Scott is the artist.

Gianna Collins was the glue that held them all together.

"We regret to inform students that your fellow classmate, Gianna Collins, passed away late last night in a car crash. A candle light memorial will be held on Wednesday night in the quad area. Anyone needing help after this tragedy is welcome into the counselor's office."

Nobody listened to the rest of the announcements. Some people in my homeroom class were crying. Others were staring in one place probably trying not to cry. I was numb. I wanted to cry but I couldn't. I didn't want to look like I didn't care, but tears wouldn't come out. I looked towards my brother and saw him already staring at me. Nobody in the entire class said a word.

Hudson walked up to my desk and hugged me.  He just held me against him, as if he was protecting me from what was yet to come.  Nothing could be worse than hearing that my old best friend was dead.

Both Hudson and I felt our phones vibrate. I pulled my phone out and saw a number that I hadn't seen in almost a year and a half.

Axel Stevens: Meet at the old table at lunch. We all need to talk about what happened.