A/N: Hey guys, new story! I have like, a million new ideas for some pretty cool stories, but I decided to do this one me what you think!
"Is this the moment when I look you in the eye?" ~ David Cook
Carly's POV
I woke up to bright lights shining in my face. I sat up quick, and instantly regretted it; head rush. I put my hand on my forehead and slammed my head back into the pillows, trying to make the room stop spinning. My whole body ached. I looked around, but no one was in the room with me. I could hear conversations streaming in from the hallway though. Beeping monitors were to my left and right, and an IV was in my wrist.
"W-what happened?" I murmured to myself, but barely anything came out. My throat was dry and it hurt to talk. I slowly sat up and shifted my position until my legs were dangling over the edge of the bed and my bare feet touched the cold tile floor.
I grabbed the IV pole and made my way into the bathroom, sticking my face under the sink to get a drink. I gasped when I looked into the mirror; bruises and cuts were all over my pale face. My dark hair was a curly mess. I couldn't even recognize myself! I looked down and saw that cuts and bruises were everywhere, and that's when I remembered; glass shattering, metal crunching, I remembered everything. I gripped onto the sides of the sink, but my knees buckled and I fell.
******
"Finally you're awake!" Aunt Heather said as I rubbed my tired eyes. "Um, honey? We need to talk about some things..."
"Okay...." I knew this was going to happen, I've been dreading it for the past 3 days.
"With your parents.......gone," She started cautiously, trying not to upset me. "You're going to come live withe me, in Indiana."
I just stared at her; I already figured as much. Just....moving from warm, sunny Florida to Indiana?! "O-okay, Aunt Heather."
She gave me a sad smile and sat at the edge of my hospital bed. "Hey!" She said, rummaging in her bag for something. "They found this in your car, they thought you might want it," She said, pulling out a light blue sweater. My breathing caught in my throat and tears formed in my eyes. Not THAT thing. I took the sweater from her with shaking hands and set it aside.
"Thanks," I choked out.
"Your welcome sweetie. And uh, the doctor said you're doing really good, so you can come home tomorrow."
*******
2 days later
"Honey, you can't wear all this in Indiana, you'll freeze!" Aunt Heather said as we were packing up my clothes. We were packing up my things from my house, it would be the last time I ever saw this place since.....you know. She picked up a tank top and a pair of short shorts, which is basically all my wardrobe is, and put them in my duffel bag. What do you expect, I live in Florida. It doesn't even get that cold in the winter!
"I guess we'll just have to go shopping then, get you some new clothes," she said. I nodded.
*******
2 Weeks later, Indiana
"Our mall has a really big Hollister store, do you want to go in there? I saw that that's where most of your clothes came from," My aunt said. Yes, I'm a prep. Well, I was a prep. But not anymore, not after what happened.
I shook my head. "No, I don't really like that store anymore."
"Oh. Well.....we can go wherever you want."
I nodded and tried to smile, but I just couldn't. I know my aunt is trying her best. And she's great, but going from no kids at all to raising your 16 year old orphaned niece all by yourself after your sister and her husband died in a car crash can be pretty tough. I shivered as we walked under an A/C vent. I was wearing my only pair of jeans, skinny jeans from Hot Topic, with a t-shirt and a hoodie and I was still freezing. What the heck?! It's snowing and these people have the AIR CONDITIONING on?? I miss Florida.
"I actually want to go into Hot Topic," I said. My aunt tried to hide her smile; she's not a fan of preppy stores, she shops in them for work clothes but she loves Hot Topic. She's been shopping there since she was a teenager, which wasn't that long ago. She's 24.
I ran a hand through my curly dark hair, looking through the skinny jeans. I already showed 2 pairs to Aunt Heather saying I was done and she said, "Are you kidding? I know you and you love shopping. And that's not even CLOSE to enough clothes!" So I found about 6 more pairs of skinny jeans, and I got 3 more pairs of jeans at a different store.
We were walking out of a store when I saw a girl wearing a light blue sweater, just like the one I have, and reality came back. My parents were dead, and it was all my fault. I dropped the million bags I was holding and wiped my eyes before the tears could fall and turned to my aunt. "Could we go home? I'm not feeling so good anymore."
****
I retreated to my room the second we got home. I already got a tour of the house and unpacked a few days ago. Aunt Heather said we could go shopping for new furniture and stuff like that whenever I wanted, but I didn't care about decorating my room right now. I threw my shopping bags down on my floor, plopped onto my bed, and sobbed.
****
Later that night
"Thank you so much!" I gushed, holding my new sweater. There was a huge sale at Hollister and it was the last day, so I begged my parents to take me to the mall.
"You're welcome, honey," My dad said, looking at me from the rearview mirror. "But put your seatbelt on! This is a busy street and a busy time of year, lots of traffic which means lots of accidents."
I rolled my eyes and put my seatbelt on. I took out my phone and started texting my friends, telling them that I got my sweater. I jumped when I heard my mom scream and my dad slam on the breaks as a big semi truck slammed into our car.....
I sat up, screaming. "It was just a dream, just a dream," I whispered to myself. But it wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare of what happened about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I guess I cried myself to sleep, because it was 2 AM now. The tears started falling again, and the guilt washed over me. I stumbled blindly in my dark room over to my bathroom door. I flipped the light switch and squinted, trying to adjust my eyes to the light. I grabbed a new razor from under the sink and slid it across my wrists.