Chapter 8

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Thomas Rossier as Ryan Williams.

-Aiden

I recall every detail. Everything slowed down as I fell to the ground. A splash of white metal connecting with the stone surface of a building. Explosions of glass particles shone in the light as they flew past me, cutting my skin. All of the sound around me mashed together into a muffled silence. The feeling of a strong force pushing me downward. Like the wind was carrying my body.

My head made contact with the ground. In that instant, everything seemed to speed up again.

I could see a blurry figure hovering over me while the rest of the world began to come back to me. "Tay? What happened?"

"Here, let's get you out of the street. By the way, it's not Tay." Wait a minute, I know this person.

I felt my body being lifted up and my vision slowly began coming back to me. I looked at the man who was carrying me. Great, just great. Exactly what I needed right now, was for Seth to be carrying me to safety.

I tried to struggle free from his grip, but he wasn't having it. Why would he even be doing this? I thought he'd be glad to see me die, and now I wish I did die. I'm not even entirely sure what happened. "Seth, what are you doing!? I can walk." I could see his jaw tensing up. "I think I can do whatever the fuck I want. Would you prefer me dropping you here, in the street?"

"No. Take me to Taylen. Asshole."

I muttered that last part under my breath, but he still heard it. These past few days I've been caring less about Seth's temper. It felt really good.

When we got to Tay, she was already crying with her knees to her chest on the sidewalk. I swear it's like she's the one who just survived death. She was shaking while staring off into the distance. She looked like she was in shock. "Uh Tay?" As soon as she heard my voice she was up on her feet. She ripped me from Seth's arms and slapped him square in the face. I didn't expect it, but I'm not mad.

Tay hugged me like I came back from the dead. I felt oddly at peace, I guess the whole thing hasn't settled in yet. Seth didn't look too happy. "What the fuck was that for?" No surprise, Taylen didn't even spare him a glance. She was still clinging to me. "Seth, I think you should leave. Let me make sure Tay is okay."

He looked at me like I was crazy. He turned around and gave me one last look before disappearing behind the crowd of people.

I brought my attention back to my best friend. "Hey, are you okay?" She slowly looked up at me. "Are you serious?? You just got hit by a car and you're asking me if I'm okay!?" I don't remember the car ever hitting me. "Tay, the car didn't hit me. I'm fine." She just looked at me like I was crazy.

The sound of sirens interrupted us as they came closer. Speaking of, I don't even know if the driver survived the crash. They just had to. I don't think I could live with myself if they died because of me.

I had to push that thought to the back of my mind now that the authorities are here. I'd probably have to give a statement along with Tay. I've never been in this situation, but I knew it was going to be a long process. Maybe I should've stood just a bit to the left when that car came flying by.

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Shortly after our interactions with the police, me and Taylen went back to her house. The police ensured me that the accident wasn't my fault. I couldn't remember much, but apparently the driver was heavily intoxicated and ran a red light, straight at me.

There was one thing my mind couldn't process, and that was that Seth was the one who saved me. The police went over the security footage from a nearby grocery store, and that's when we saw that Seth pushed me out of the way just in time for the car to pass me. I can't remember ever seeing him near us. The way he just showed up was mind boggling to me.

I'd have to confront him later. I'm so not looking forward to that. I probably also have to ask him if he took my underwear too.

Tay was pretty shaken up by the whole thing. Even though I was worried about her, it was still refreshing to see someone care this much about me.

We were currently sitting on the couch under a warm blanket. The weather was fine. The blanket was
comforting. Tay was sleeping peacefully with her head on my shoulder as I played with her hair.

It's so weird how you could wake up feeling like you're ready to take on the world, but then one unexpected event can just end your life right then and there. I was still waiting for this whole situation to hit me. It made me think about death a bit differently, but I feel fine.

I begged Tay's parents not to tell my parents what happened. If they found out, they would never let me visit her again. It took some convincing, but they agreed.

Slowly wiggling myself out from under Tay, I made my way to her bedroom. I've always loved her room. From the white coated walls to the creamy bedding. She had a few plants here and there and a somewhat neat desk. Out of everything what I envy most about her room is that it's completely personalized to her style. I've never had that.

I continued walking through her room and came to a stop in front of the window. The day was coming to an end. I opened the window and made my way through. The big window had a roof underneath it that connected to the rest of the roofing. We used to sit here all the time and talk about life.

This time it was just me, thinking about everything in my life up until this point. I don't want to go back home. I need to think of a solution to get out of there for good. I can't stay here, I don't want to burden Tay's family. Taking in another child is a lot. I can't put that on them.

Tay will help me figure it out. For now I should relax. It's been a crazy day. Just then I remembered something.

Or should I say someone. I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. I froze for a moment, in thought as I stared at the time. 6 pm.

I looked up and took in the sunset. It was beautiful, even though I prefer the sunrise. I brought my thoughts back to the fact that I escaped death today. If I don't start living my life the way I want to live it now, then I might never get the chance to.

I could wake up one day, any day, and I wouldn't know that it's my last day. Heck, any moment could be my last. I can't wait for my life to change anymore. I need to make the change happen and I had an idea of where to start.

I unlocked my phone and scrolled through my contact list. I brought the phone to my ear while I waited for an answer. Nothing. I called again, this time the wait was significantly shorter.

"Hello?" A small smile appeared on my lips. "Hello, Kyle. I was just wondering, are you free tomorrow?" There was a long pause at the other end. I like Ryan, a lot, but he's clearly straight and Kyle isn't. Kyle is going to be good for me.

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Hey y'all. Do you hate me yet? :)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!

(After posting chapter 7, I realized how messy it was. I'm so sorry for that. I might try to rewrite it and publish it again, but that won't be anytime soon as I'm very busy studying for my finals.)

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