"I can't…I can't do this anymore," Sam stood from the wooden floor, stumbling on his feet a little and having to grab the end of the bed to steady himself "I never realised how selfish you are, how self absorbed…you're a class A bitch!"
He gestured wildly; his face contorted into frown trying to focus on the girl before him as she stood to fast for his eyes to keep up.
"I'm selfish?" She screamed in his face, the smell of beer wafting between them, "How dare you? You are such a hypocrite, when was the last time you did anything for me?"
"I'm always doing stuff for you, I come to your house and cook you dinner, I take you anywhere you want to go and then I pick you back up at god knows what time of the morning even though I have school in the morning!" He shouted back.
"That stuff doesn't count!" She hissed, "I'm talking about flowers, presents and taking me on dates."
"That's seriously all our relationship is to you? Flowers and fucking candy?" Sam scoffed and shook his head in disbelief "How many times do I have to tell you that I can't afford to do those things all the time Leah, all my money is for college. You keep on about having a future together, but how exactly do you think that going to happen if I can't get a decent job to support us?"
"If all your money is for college how come you just bought a new car? What about me?" Leah crossed her arms over her chest.
"My mom gave me the money for that car; I have to pay her back!" He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to clear the alcohol fuelled rage that was building "I can't do this anymore, Leah. Every other fucking day is the same, the same arguments over and over again…We're finished."
"No were not!" She yelled, as he pulled his jacket from the back of a chair and tucked it under his arm, grabbing an open bottle of beer and chugging the last of its contents.
Sam wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and walked towards the door "See you around Leah." He pulled open the door and walked down the hall, casting a glance at her younger brother who stood in his doorway, sleepy eyed and confused.
"Don't you walk away from me Samuel Uley!" Leah screamed as she ran after him "You don't get to decide when were finished."
"I just did," He shrugged pulling open the door to his car and slipping in to the driver's seat, turning the key in the ignition and it roared into life.
"You'll regret this," She sneered, "come Monday you'll be begging me to take you back."
"Not this time, Leah." He slammed his door and sped out of the drive, flicking the button on his radio and loud music blared out from the speakers.
His headlights illuminated the dark road ahead, trees rushed past the window. He felt his eyelids becoming heavy and coughed and shook his head to clear the fog from his head.
A sharp ring cut through the music in the car. Stopping at the lights, Sam twisted in his seat to retrieve his phone from his pocket, Leah's image peering up at him from the screen.
He pressed the busy button and tossed it towards the passenger seat, but it bounced off and into the foot well, "Shit!" he exclaimed leaning over and reaching under the seat, trying to find it.
A car honked somewhere behind him, and Sam shot up and pressed on the gas pedal, speeding into the middle of an intersection. His breath caught when as he focused on the road in front of him and saw a small, blue car passing in front of him and time seemed to slow down as he glanced at the lights that were still red and back to the other car. The girl in the front seat looked over in realization, her face going from serene to terrified as Sam careened towards her.
Sam slammed on his breaks and shut his eyes, the sound of twisting metal biting into his ears as he braced his body against the seat. He felt his himself fly forward, a sharp pain shot across his chest and the sound of breaking glass followed by something warm running down his face.
The car seemed to spin for an eternity, finally coming to a stop on the other side of the road. Sam opened his eyes and felt a sharp pain shoot through his head, his right eye became obscured as it swelled. His breathing was fast and painful and his heart pounded, as he frantically searched for the release on his seatbelt.
"Stay still!" A voice yelled from outside and a hand reached through the broken window to hold him down against his seat.
"What? Let me up!" Sam grumbled at the stranger, resisting the pressure on his chest and he visibly winced at the pain it caused.
"It was a pretty bad smash, man! I think you should just stay still until an ambulance gets here, you might have hurt your neck or something" the man exclaimed, moving his hand to Sam's shoulder and pressing slightly harder.
Sam took a deep breath and looked around him "The other car? What happened, where is she?"
"Over there." The man pointed to his left.
He spotted the car, a mangled heap on its roof on the other side of the intersection "Oh my god! What did I do?" He breathed out as it all went black.
"Sir…" A muffled voice rang in his ears, and he felt someone tugging at his clothes. "Sir? Can you tell me your name?"
Sam wheezed and tried to open his eyes, suddenly feeling a pressure round his mouth he frantically reached up to his face and tugged.
"Sir it's an oxygen mask, you need to leave it alone." The voice sounded clearer than before, and bright lights burned his good eye. "Can you tell me your name?"
He reached for the mask again, lifting it slowly from his mouth. "S…Sam Uley."
"Okay Sam, do you know where you are?" he shook his head. "Try not to move Sam, we're still assessing your injuries. You are in Forks Community Hospital you had an accident. Can you remember anything?"
"I was…I was driving." He breathed, his voice muffled by the mask. "I stopped at the lights…my phone rang…I thought they'd changed…I." His voice cracked and a sob racked through him followed by a growl as pain shot over his chest.
"What have we got here?" A male voice asked.
"This is Sam Uley, seventeen from Clallum Bay, involved in an RTA with one other vehicle. His head made contact with the windscreen and he has severe chest pain, decreased breath sounds on left side. Definitely broken ribs possible Hemothorax." The first voice replied.
"Where is she?" Sam rasped as he heard a door open and close. "The girl, is she here? Is she okay?"
"You said he's only seventeen?" The man ignored him.
"That's what his licence said."
"His bloods just came back." He sighed. "He's over twice the legal limit."
"Doctor Sullivan, we need you in resus, the other drivers' crashing." An urgent voice burst into the room.
"Set him up with some pain relief, get an X-ray and then page me." The doctor instructed. "What the hell was he thinking?"
Four months later.
"Samuel Uley, you did a very foolish thing." The judge peered down at him "You not only endangered your own life but the sheer stupidity of your actions caused an accident that your victim was lucky to survive…You yourself are lucky that this was a first offence otherwise there would have been no hesitation on taking this case to Adult court!"
Sam nodded in understanding, and fidgeted with his clasped hands.
"I am sentencing you to thirty-six weeks in a juvenile detention centre," Sam felt his stomach fall at the judges words "you must serve a minimum of twenty weeks, early release will be given in view of good behaviour…I hope you have learned your lesson Mister Uley?"
His eyes stung with tears and he nodded "Yes sir." Somewhere behind him, he could hear the whimpering of his mother and the calming whispers of his Sue Clearwater. He turned towards them, catching his mother's tear reddened eyes and she shook her head and buried her face back into her friends shoulder.
"Come on son," Chief Swan took his elbow and led him from the small dock and out of the courtroom and to a waiting cruiser, shielding the top of his head as he slipped into the back. He reached for the cuffs at Sam's wrists. "I can trust you not to try anything, right?" Sam nodded.
"You're going to Green Hill School; it's in Chehalis so it's going to be a bit of a drive." The chief told him as he took his place behind the wheel "It's an okay place, you'll be able to finish your GED while you're there and if you behave they'll give you some vocational training… They specialize in young adults with chemical dependencies."
"I don't have a chemical dependency!" Sam growled. "It was mistake, a stupid mistake and god only knows how much I wish I had just walked home that night, but I am not an alcoholic! Come on Charlie, you know me."
"All the same," He shrugged pulling away from the curb. "It was alcohol that helped you into this mess; you will have to undergo some sort of counselling about it."
"Do you know how she's doing?" Sam blurted.
"They requested anonymity, you know I can't…" He shook his head and breathed deeply.
"Please Charlie," Sam begged "I just want to know something, this is tearing me apart…Every night I close my eyes and all I can see is her face right before I hit her."
"She's okay," Charlie whispered "I saw that wreck and quite frankly you're both lucky you escaped with your lives."
"Who is she?" Sam asked quietly, knowing the answer.
"I can't tell you that, so please don't ask me again?" Charlie stared at the road ahead and Sam slunk deeper into his seat.