Leading You Home

Eighteenth

"I can't believe we're doing this."

Bradley and I ran out of the school building like giddy children. There was barely anyone in the hallways, but we wouldn't have cared if there was. Not anymore. Hand-in-hand, we made our way to my lime-green Beetle and climbed in.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bradley asks before I start the car.

I stare at him, his golden eyes sparkling with excitement and a smidge of nervousness. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I've never been surer about anything in my life," he answers without hesitation.

I grin wildly. That's what I wanted to hear. "Me too."

The Beetle roars to life and my heart begins to hammer against my chest. Am I really doing this? Could all of this really be happening? Throughout the entire friendship, Carrie has always been the more outgoing one. The one to make the wild, spur-of-the-moment decisions. She likes to surprise people. I've stood on the sidelines watching, playing it safe and planning for the future. Bradley has brought out a different side of me, a side of me that has been hidden in Carrie's shadow.

We veer onto the road and head toward Chillicothe. All the while, we're both talking a mile a minute, discussing how to do this.

"Where do we even start?" I ask.

"At the very beginning. We'll tell her about the first night at the Turkey Festival...."

"And how I tried staying at Emma's but couldn't because she has cats...."

"So, with nowhere else to go, you came back to my house...."

I feel Bradley's eyes on my cheek. Looking over for a moment, I continue, "But I didn't want to tell her because I was worried how it might look, even though you two are broken up...."

"You were only going to stay a couple nights...."

"But one thing led to another...."

Glancing back at the road I see I've unintentionally weaved into the other lane. I quickly swerve back into my lane and feel that inkling of dread return to my stomach.

"Do you think she'll hate me?" I ask Bradley, who has laced my fingers with his.

"Maybe." I give him a wide-eyed look before starting out at the road again. "But not forever. She'll understand eventually."

"I don't know. This is Carrie we're talking about."

"Exactly!" He bursts, giving my hand a squeeze. "She'll find someone else. It doesn't take long for her to find a new relationship."

"Yeah. I guess you're right..." I mumble, taking a deep breath and staring out in front of me. The road seems to stretch the further we get away from the school, and the closer we get to Carrie. I can see her in the lobby of the Majestic, running over her lines confidently and waiting for her name to be called.

Bradley's fingers twine perfectly around mine. The feeling gives me courage, a thrill that compels me to go just a little over the speed limit. We zoom pass other cars, buses, and bicyclists all the while being trapped blissfully in my tiny Beetle without a thought of the world outside it. The further we go, and the more words that tumble out of our mouths seeping with anticipation and warmth, the less aware we become of our surroundings and the danger threatening to break in.

"Carrie is going in for an audition. We should wait until after to talk to her," I tell Bradley. He immediately nods. Underneath our excitement, both of us are aware that this will be difficult. We don't want to ruin Carrie's audition.

"We should've done this sooner," I tell Bradley, shaking my head at my own stupidity. "Maybe it wouldn't be so scary if I just came clean to her from the very start."

"All that matters is that we're doing this now. Finally." I nod. "We'll deal with whatever happens next."

"Together," I say. My gaze turns toward him long enough to make eye contact and to share the most hopeful grin I think I might ever see.

And then, so suddenly, his face changes and he's gripping for the wheel, swerving us off the road and throwing my Beetle upside down and up and down and up and down......

When the spinning finally stops, I can barely open my eyes. My arms are dangling above my head and something wet is running down the side of my face. Everything around me is silent, the only noise I can make out is glass falling. But what about Bradley? Where is he? Did he even have his seat belt on? I try to speak, to call his name but no noise surfaces. Only silence remains. Eventually I stop trying. Exhaustion and pain is all I can understand right now, and I give in to it, but my brain won't shut off. No matter how long I hang there, my subconscious won't stop operating.

Just as I'm finally drifting off, I hear noises. Through muffled ears, there is a ringing....or a siren. Yeah, that must be it. And then hands are on me, releasing me from the seat belt digging into my stomach, trying to keep my head up, trying to maneuver my legs. I try to help but none of my limbs work. I'm eventually freed of the car and placed on a stretcher. Through slit eye lids, I can see the puffy white clouds floating in the blue sky. My head swivels to the side just in time for me to catch a tiny glimpse of my Beetle flipped upside down in the grass, destroyed.

A small whimper escapes my throat. People swarm around me and push me through the grass. The clouds whiz by above me as my head continues to throb and I realize the true horror of what just happened. Several words are shared between the people standing above me. A women wraps a neck brace around my neck. Since I can't protest, something is placed to cover my nose and mouth forcing me to breathe in sweet air. My eyes, fully open now, dart all around. To the left of me is another stretcher and that's where I find Bradley.

"We're losing him!" shouts the paramedic pumping his chest. As the world begins to darken around me, I witness Bradley's arm fall limp over the stretcher.

And finally, my brain shuts off.