I had this idea a year and a half ago, but it ultimately didn't work out. I outlined this one quite a bit more carefully.

Hello, everybody, this is SnowLucario, and I wrote this all in the lobby of my hotel, somewhere in Latin America. It's been a pretty good vacation so far; eating a lot more healthily than I normally do.

I plan to update this story on Saturdays and Tuesdays, starting today. Enjoy.

Current music: Love Me - The 1975

Hello.

Before you read my story, you should probably know a little more about me. They always say that it's good to have a little bit of background, and believe me when I say that that is the case.

My name is Malcolm Bannock. It's a pretty formal-sounding name, and I really like it that way. My family has always been rather traditional in some ways.

I live in a small town somewhere in New England. You don't really need to know where; that's a bit personal.

At least, I used to live there. I don't live there anymore...nor do I live anywhere on the planet we like to call Earth. Could you even call it living if you're...well, I won't say it yet.

I used to be nineteen years old. I say used to because I am now, to put it one way, forever young.

At this point, you might be asking, "Malcolm, why you got a twelve-car garage and you only got six cars?"

Just kidding. It's more likely that you'd ask me, "Malcolm, why do you keep on talking that way? You make it sound like you're dead".

Well...that's the thing. I am dead. This is my story.

My alarm clock starting blaring at the regular time of 6:15 AM. Fortunately, I was a morning person much of the time, because I had to get up early for school today.

Good thing it's my last day, I thought. Otherwise, I just don't know what I'd do.

It was my last day of high school, and, while I did like the friends that I had made, I was glad that it was about to be over. I had a gap year planned, during which I would most likely get a job of some sort. But I wasn't worrying about that just yet.

Rolling over, I reached for my iPad and silenced my alarm, which was blaring "Devil In A Midnight Mass" at full volume. I did love that song, but it did hurt to have it play so loudly, since it's already a pretty loud song as is.

I got up and brushed my teeth before getting dressed for the day. I chose a pair of khaki pants and a fleece shirt. Since today was my graduation ceremony, I decided that it would make sense to be a bit more fancy than I normally would.

Once I was done with that, I decided that I should go upstairs. I had a purpose for this, of course; I wasn't just doing it because I felt like it.

I should probably go wake up Angelina, I thought.

Angelina Hawley was my best friend at school. I'd met her at the start of high school, and we'd gotten fairly close during that time. She was very friendly, and that was most definitely a quality I appreciated in any friend.

Even though she was my best friend, I decided that I'd wake her up by annoying her slightly. She absolutely hated the song "Brony Style (Ima Pedophile)", so I decided that I'd blast it on full volume.

I smiled to myself. The idea was just brilliant. The expression on her face was going to be absolutely priceless, and she wouldn't even be too mad at me afterwards.

With that, I started the walk up the stairs to the third floor of my house. Angelina had stayed over at my house that night in order to celebrate the fact that we were both about to graduate. Both of us couldn't wait to get our diplomas.

I turned on the song. I was going to barge into the guest room on the third floor and laugh as the song blasted out of my iPad. Yes, that was what I was going to do, and it would be epic.

Once I was on the third floor, I gingerly stepped towards the door behind which my friend was sleeping. Opening the door, I heard her shriek.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" she yelled at me, and I couldn't help but giggle at what I had done. (Yes, I'm sadistic like that).

"It's a song" I replied.

"Yeah, by Rucka Rucka Ali. You need to stop playing stuff like that to me; it's really offensive".

I laughed. "This is jokes. Not for kids".

Angelina shook her head, now starting to smile. "I see you're going into it like that. Very well, then".

I smiled. "Our last day of school. You looking forward to graduation?"

She nodded. "Very much so. I'll finally be free of everyone, including you".

I winked at her. "You'll always be stuck with me". Unless, of course, we went to different colleges, but I wasn't going to mention that part to her.

After that, I waited for her to get ready for the day. Once she had done that, we both went together downstairs, where my mother was making pancakes for breakfast.

"Good morning, guys" my mother said, motioning towards the griddle. "Congratulations on finishing high school".

"Good morning, Mrs. Bannock" said Angelina. She always liked to be formal, calling people by their last names whenever she knew them, even when it wasn't the most polite thing to do. I was somewhat annoyed by that whenever she did it, but I was sure she meant well.

"Thanks, Angelina" my mother replied, flipping one of the pancakes that had turned golden brown on one side.

I looked at the pancakes, which appeared to be the ideal shade of golden brown for human consumption. "Those look delicious".

"Yeah" she said. "Sit down".

Angelina and I sat at opposite ends of the table. Even though we were merely platonic friends, I would be kidding myself if I didn't admit that I did have some feelings for her.

Were they merely platonic feelings, or were they feelings that I was romantically attracted to her? I didn't know, and I didn't want to ask her in order to test that theory out. I was a little scared to do that.

With my mother watching, we ate breakfast together, and I was right; they really were good pancakes.

While we were eating, my mother asked me if I wanted to do anything with Angelina after the graduation ceremony. Even though this was a small town, there was a good amount of things to do in the nearby city, which was much larger.

"I think we might go bowling" I said. I then turned to Angelina and asked, "Is that something you'd like to do as well?"

She nodded, and so we'd made our decision. We were going to go bowling after the graduation ceremony.

More time with Angelina...is that something I really want, if I'm obsessing over her this much?

I couldn't cancel on her now, because that would simply be considered rude. Instead, I followed Angelina out to the driveway, where she got into the passenger seat of my car, and I got in the driver's seat.

I'd had my license for two and a half years now, and I was very confident in my ability to reach my school without incident; after all, I'd done it hundreds of times before.

As it turned out, however, overconfidence can be a mistake. In my case, a fatal mistake.

As soon as both of us were buckled in, I started the engine and backed out of the driveway, checking for any squirrels that would be coming out of their hiding places. That was one thing you always had to be mindful of whenever you lived here, because my town is somewhat forested.

"Graduation, here we come" I said.

It was when we reached the bridge that everything went wrong.

Now, if you're a resident of my town, you're familiar with the bridge. Everybody drives across it on their commute, and, typically, not much of note happens on it. You drive across to the other side, and it's as simple as that. It's over a wide river, so there is a nice view, but you really shouldn't be looking at it if you're driving.

However, today, there was a lot more traffic than usual. It took only a few seconds to realize why this was.

The engine of a car on our side of the road had clearly burst into flames, setting up a large car fire. There was a fire engine in the middle of the bridge, and a firefighter was getting out in order to put the flames out.

I screamed in terror. If any of the flames spread to the bridge, the bridge could crumble very easily, sending ours and several other cars, as well as a fire engine, tumbling into the river below.

Angelina had remained remarkably calm through this, but she looked a lot more worried as soon as she saw that I was scared.

"It'll be fine" I said. "Sorry for screaming".

"It's okay" she replied. "Pay attention, Malcolm!"

I didn't realize it, but my attention had drifted away for a split second...which had been enough to crash into the burning car.

Angelina appeared to have been knocked unconscious immediately, which might have been the best thing for her, because there is no way she would have wanted to be conscious for the horrible events that occurred next.

I didn't know what to do. My car was on fire, and it was starting to get extremely hot inside of it. My heart was beating extremely quickly, as though it were trying to get in a lifetime of beats in the next few seconds.

Somewhere in my crazy mind, I decided that the best way for my car to cool off would be to drive off the bridge.

So I did that. Right into the water, fifty feet below.

The instant of free fall was terrifying; my stomach dropped far more than it even would on a roller coaster.

The car splashed into the water and began to sink.

Oh, fuck, I thought. Of course, cars don't float. My idiot brain should have realized that before I'd decided to drive off of a bridge.

I weighed my options. The car would fill with water very soon, and it would be very difficult to escape in that scenario. I did not know how deep the water was, but it was definitely deeper than I'd ever dived before.

I'm screwed. That was the only conclusion I could come to.

I could have tried to open the door, but my life would not have been worth living if I was known as the person who left Angelina to die in a car in the bottom of a river.

Soon, the car began to fill with water, and I was panicking more. I'm already terrified of confined spaces, and, when said confined space is becoming impossible to breathe inside, I'm even more terrified.

I looked over at Angelina. She wasn't breathing. Then again, neither was I, and I would be unconscious as well before long.

And dead very soon after that.

I felt my lungs begin to fill with ice, but I didn't know if it was due to the cold water filling my lungs or the dread that I would soon be deceased. And I could have prevented it, dammit.

There was that ice-cold realization that Angelina had died, that I would die, because of my stupid actions.

And then there was nothing.