It's a dream. It has to be a dream. People around me cry. Others sit in shock. I simply disbelieve. As the seconds pass more people begin to sob and Principle Turner has to speak louder to be heard. I turn my head slowly, surveying the scene. Many Freshmen and Sophomores still sit shocked, unable to comprehend the tragedy. Juniors cry and the Seniors weep. It seems impossible that two eighteen years olds are dead. Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis. The inseparable couple; young and in love.

Turner continues to speak telling how this happened. That last night two people who were alive now lie dead. How a drunk driver failed to stop at an intersection and collided with the car the couple were travelling in. How the police and medics found Lucas, with his arms wrapped around Brooke who was killed on impact, protecting his girlfriend to his last breath.

The drunk driver had been travelling far too fast and came from the right to smash directly into the side of the car where Brooke was sitting. Lucas fought his last breath before he was lifted away from Brooke, holding her tightly before joining her in a place we cannot follow.

Glancing to the seniors I see their numbers are greatly diminished. Members of the basketball team and the cheerleaders are sparse. Those who braved school have red rimmed eyes, even the guys. There all seem to be clinging to one another, trying to find strength together.

I look around at my classmates. The guys looked up to Lucas and the girls idolised Brooke. The captain of the basketball team and the captain of the cheerleaders; dead. It isn't real; it can't be real, yet as I convince myself of these thoughts, the truth flickers through my brain.

Turner is now talking about grief, about how school has been cancelled for the day, about the counsellors who are ready to speak to us all. I have tuned out again. I remember hearing last week from a friend that Brooke had been accepted into a fashion school in New York. Lucas, who had a love for literature and got brilliant marks as well as being an amazing player, had decided to attend NYU, as to be close to Brooke. My fellow freshmen girls and I had all swooned. If only we could someday find a love like the one they shared; it seemed almost fairytale like. But weren't fairytales meant to end with a happily-ever-after?

*~*~*~*~*~*

Hours later I return home. I'd frittered away the day at a friend's house, none of us knowing how to handle the situation. My parents are sitting in front of the TV when I walk into the living area the evening is just beginning.

"It's just past six o'clock, good evening and welcome. It is with heavy hearts that we bring you the news of the death of two students from Tree Hill High School," read the local newsreader. "Lucas Eugene Scott and Brooke Penelope Davis were killed last night at Blythe's Road intersection. It is believed that a drunk driver failed to stop and collided with the car carrying the two eighteen year olds."

I freeze up and stare blankly at the screen, listening intently despite my urge to run from the room.

"This tragedy has struck Tree Hill hard as Lucas and Brooke were two bright lights of the community. Lucas Scott was the captain of the state champion Tree Hill High School Raven basketball team while his girlfriend Brooke Davis captained the cheerleading team. Both students were seniors who had been accepted into prestige colleges with bright futures ahead of them."

The camera now flicked to school with pictures from our assembly this morning. Even in my blank state I find this strange, I hadn't noticed any media at school. Then I realise once the news hit us I hadn't been in a fit state to notice anything much. Now they are showing a video showing our faces, as the news was broken to us. The camera is sweeping across faces and I catch a glimpse of myself, white and immobile.

"This was the scene at the High School this morning as Principal Turner broke the news to his students that two among them were no more. The girls and boys all cried together, shocked at the news, unable to process the enormity of the tragedy."

My other has now taken me from my statue like pose and led my to the couch. She lies her arm around my shoulder and strokes my hair. I feel loved; lucky to be alive, guilty that Lucas and Brooke are not.

*~*~*~*~*~*

It's been three days since it happened and it still feels like a dream. Today is the memorial service for Brooke and Lucas. The two families have combined the funerals and are holding them together as well as inviting the whole school. It is obvious to anyone who knew the two teenagers that that is what they would have wanted.

I'm sitting with my fellows on the school field bleachers. The service is about to begin. The funeral director talks, then Mr Turner again, then family members. It is not until Haley, one of Brooke's closest friends and Lucas' brother Nathan's wife (yes wife!) speaks that I find my ears paying attention.

Nathan is standing beside her at the podium for support and both have swollen eyes. Haley begins, "I never imagined eulogising two of my best friends, I don't think that anybody could, however, I always remember how Lucas and Brooke used to say that things happen for a reason. It might seem hard for us to understand right now what that reason is, but I think they'd both tell us to have a little faith. Brooke would be smiling, her dimples showing and Lucas would be somewhere nearby, always ready with a helping hand…" Haley breaks off at this point, choking back tears and Nathan embraces her briefly.

" The news has been describing Lucas and Brooke as a couple but they were so much more than that. Anybody who saw them together would have realised that the way Lucas looked at Brooke her reciprocal glances were no less than love, pure and simple. As hard as it is for us to understand, as much as I wish I could reverse these last 72 hours, I know this is not possible. We must stand together now, as much for Lucas and Brooke as for ourselves, and unite to protect their memories. We were told that they were found together in the car. That Lucas died still protecting his Pretty Girl. Well Luke and Brooke C.. Cookie, I h… hope you're happy wherever you are right now and there is one thing that I am sure of. That wherever they are right now, they're together. So goodbye for now, Luke and Brooke, I hope I get to see you again someday. Until then, remember that true love does exist, Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis – the Angels of Tree Hill."

Haley breaks down sobbing after this speech and many others follow suit. I can't keep track as my own tears are rolling down my cheeks in streams. As I grasp the hands of my friends of on either side of me I have a bizarre thought. It's bizarre because it's hopeful; that Brooke and Lucas did get their fairytale, because they got what everybody is afraid of. They won the right to spend eternity with each other.

It is in this moment that my brain stops trying to fool me into believing that these last few days haven't happened. I have accepted their deaths but it's still and dream.

That's okay, I can deal with a bad dream every now and then, and nightmares won't plague me.