The car ride back home was quiet. I think Marissa was talking and music was
playing but I didn't hear either of them. I ran my fingers up and down the
beads of the Rosary. The little figure of Jesus on the cross always made me
laugh. As kid I wondered what that little man was doing on that huge
Addison sign.
Marissa nudged my arm to get my attention, and my eyes slowly came up from the Rosary to meet hers.
"So?" She asked inquisitively, and I shook my head in confusion.
"Where you listening to me?" She asked with a mix of concern and a pinch of annoyance in her voice.
"Sorry... what did you say??" I requested softly, shielding my eyes from the sun that was peeking beneath the visor.
"A lot." She told me with a laugh, turning her head back to the road.
I wondered why she was being so nice to me. Ever since my mental breakdown at the house the other day, she'd been all... there for me. I guess I was wondering a lot more then I had thought because without even thinking I came out with it.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I blinked, surprised by my own question.
She looked over at me, almost surprised herself.
"I'm nice to you..." She told me as a matter of fact, and then furrowed her brow debatably, "Right?"
"Yeah, but..." I began, pick and choosing my words wisely, "Just lately... you seem... genuinely concerned about my well-being... I mean, let's face it, we're not exactly friends. Our link is Ryan... the whole being neighbors since birth thing never really bonded us..."
She looked kind of upset... or maybe hungry, and I was about to apologize for whatever I said that made her offended... or hungry. But she cleared her throat and explained to me.
"I'm just on your side here, I guess. Even though Summer's my best friend... she really screwed up, and I'm not just going to look pasted that. I'm not the kind of person who takes sides in a relationship, simply because I'm a little closer to one of them. She was wrong here, and I'm just trying my best to do what I think is right."
What was she talking about? Summer was wrong? She cheated on me but so did I. We were both wrong. How could she just look pasted the fact that I messed up too? I was about to straighten out little Miss Cooper, when she yet again opened up her big flap she called her mouth.
"God..." She said, shaking her head sadly, "I can't believe she was doing that behind your back..."
My head lifted slightly, and I let her continue.
"And then she tried to throw all the guilt on you about Anna when she was with Luke the whole time." She persisted angrily.
Luke...
"What?" My voiced cracked, my heart jerked, and my body went cold.
What was Marissa saying? WHAT WAS SHE SAYING?!
"You, you knew didn't you? The letter- She told you. She told me she told you!" She explained panicky, horrified at what she had done.
Luke was scared of me that night. He was scared because of what he had been doing with Summer behind my back. He was scared because he though that I knew.
With all the commotion Marissa hadn't seen the other car swerve in our lane, and before she could get out of the way, he hit us.... hard. She lost control of the car and we spun momentarily, eventually stopping in the middle of the intersection, it was the same street I ran down after Summer.
The continuous sounds of metal colliding made me frantic as I scrabbled for the handle, but when I tried to open it, it jammed from of the impact of the other car. I was suddenly Claustrophobic and all I wanted to do was run. It didn't matter where I was going or where I would end up. I just wanted to be anywhere but here.
Cars were everywhere, and people were yelling. Babies cried, and horns were honking. But I couldn't get out. I needed to get out.
I turned around to see if Marissa was alright, and saw that she was bleeding from her forearm. The site of another person's blood always made me a little queasy. She had her hand wrapped tightly around the gash, stopping the trickle of blood.
"Marissa?" I asked, and she looked from her arm to look at me.
"I'm okay." She reassured me, while removing broken glass from the windshield off her clothes. She tried to open her door, but it was also jammed, and I could feel my throat closing like a heavy metal gate.
"Help! Help!" I cried, bringing my knees up to my chest, and thrusting my feet into the windshield. It cracked more but I still wasn't free. I continued to do this until my feet went though.
"Seth!" Marissa yelped, as I pulled back my bloody leg.
"It's okay." I told her, while taking off the first layer of shirts I was wearing, and wrapped the shirt around my fist and arm.
"Watch out." I ordered, as I cleared away the rest of the glass for us to get out safely. I climbed out onto the hood, and hopped out onto the ground on her side. I tried opening her door from the outside yet it was still not cooperating. I lifted myself back on the hood and reached inside to help Marissa out.
"Come on..." I said, and she grabbed my forearm, holding on with all her might. I pulled her out carefully, and we both stood on the hood for a minute, looking out at all the damage that had been done. No wonder helped us when I called. Cars were on fire, and people were hysterical. A car had gone through a building. Fortunately, it was still fairly early so the building was still pretty empty.
We hopped off the car, and tried making our way through the panic-stricken crowds. There were a couple of ambulances, one of which was blocking our only way out. A very pregnant woman was being strapped onto a gurney, while her husband and daughter were being pulled out of the wreckage.
In almost every direction someone was bleeding, and had to look down. I pressed the heel of my hand above my eye, and swallowed that climbing lump down my throat, making it feel sore and dry.
The EMT workers parked the woman right beside me, and I couldn't help but look. She was so scared and confused. What a hopeless feeling of not knowing if your family was alive or dead. I stood over her, and looked down at the Rosary still enveloped in my hand. I don't know why I still had it, I wasn't even Catholic. I leaned over slowly, and carefully placed it inside her hand, gently folding over her fingers. She looked at me like I was an angel, and I let her believe it. She smiled peacefully, as they placed her into the ambulance.
I never did find out her name or the state of her and her family's conditions. I thought about it a lot though, and I hoped everyday that she would never remember my face as her guardian angel. I was no angel. I was a walking curse.
Marissa nudged my arm to get my attention, and my eyes slowly came up from the Rosary to meet hers.
"So?" She asked inquisitively, and I shook my head in confusion.
"Where you listening to me?" She asked with a mix of concern and a pinch of annoyance in her voice.
"Sorry... what did you say??" I requested softly, shielding my eyes from the sun that was peeking beneath the visor.
"A lot." She told me with a laugh, turning her head back to the road.
I wondered why she was being so nice to me. Ever since my mental breakdown at the house the other day, she'd been all... there for me. I guess I was wondering a lot more then I had thought because without even thinking I came out with it.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I blinked, surprised by my own question.
She looked over at me, almost surprised herself.
"I'm nice to you..." She told me as a matter of fact, and then furrowed her brow debatably, "Right?"
"Yeah, but..." I began, pick and choosing my words wisely, "Just lately... you seem... genuinely concerned about my well-being... I mean, let's face it, we're not exactly friends. Our link is Ryan... the whole being neighbors since birth thing never really bonded us..."
She looked kind of upset... or maybe hungry, and I was about to apologize for whatever I said that made her offended... or hungry. But she cleared her throat and explained to me.
"I'm just on your side here, I guess. Even though Summer's my best friend... she really screwed up, and I'm not just going to look pasted that. I'm not the kind of person who takes sides in a relationship, simply because I'm a little closer to one of them. She was wrong here, and I'm just trying my best to do what I think is right."
What was she talking about? Summer was wrong? She cheated on me but so did I. We were both wrong. How could she just look pasted the fact that I messed up too? I was about to straighten out little Miss Cooper, when she yet again opened up her big flap she called her mouth.
"God..." She said, shaking her head sadly, "I can't believe she was doing that behind your back..."
My head lifted slightly, and I let her continue.
"And then she tried to throw all the guilt on you about Anna when she was with Luke the whole time." She persisted angrily.
Luke...
"What?" My voiced cracked, my heart jerked, and my body went cold.
What was Marissa saying? WHAT WAS SHE SAYING?!
"You, you knew didn't you? The letter- She told you. She told me she told you!" She explained panicky, horrified at what she had done.
Luke was scared of me that night. He was scared because of what he had been doing with Summer behind my back. He was scared because he though that I knew.
With all the commotion Marissa hadn't seen the other car swerve in our lane, and before she could get out of the way, he hit us.... hard. She lost control of the car and we spun momentarily, eventually stopping in the middle of the intersection, it was the same street I ran down after Summer.
The continuous sounds of metal colliding made me frantic as I scrabbled for the handle, but when I tried to open it, it jammed from of the impact of the other car. I was suddenly Claustrophobic and all I wanted to do was run. It didn't matter where I was going or where I would end up. I just wanted to be anywhere but here.
Cars were everywhere, and people were yelling. Babies cried, and horns were honking. But I couldn't get out. I needed to get out.
I turned around to see if Marissa was alright, and saw that she was bleeding from her forearm. The site of another person's blood always made me a little queasy. She had her hand wrapped tightly around the gash, stopping the trickle of blood.
"Marissa?" I asked, and she looked from her arm to look at me.
"I'm okay." She reassured me, while removing broken glass from the windshield off her clothes. She tried to open her door, but it was also jammed, and I could feel my throat closing like a heavy metal gate.
"Help! Help!" I cried, bringing my knees up to my chest, and thrusting my feet into the windshield. It cracked more but I still wasn't free. I continued to do this until my feet went though.
"Seth!" Marissa yelped, as I pulled back my bloody leg.
"It's okay." I told her, while taking off the first layer of shirts I was wearing, and wrapped the shirt around my fist and arm.
"Watch out." I ordered, as I cleared away the rest of the glass for us to get out safely. I climbed out onto the hood, and hopped out onto the ground on her side. I tried opening her door from the outside yet it was still not cooperating. I lifted myself back on the hood and reached inside to help Marissa out.
"Come on..." I said, and she grabbed my forearm, holding on with all her might. I pulled her out carefully, and we both stood on the hood for a minute, looking out at all the damage that had been done. No wonder helped us when I called. Cars were on fire, and people were hysterical. A car had gone through a building. Fortunately, it was still fairly early so the building was still pretty empty.
We hopped off the car, and tried making our way through the panic-stricken crowds. There were a couple of ambulances, one of which was blocking our only way out. A very pregnant woman was being strapped onto a gurney, while her husband and daughter were being pulled out of the wreckage.
In almost every direction someone was bleeding, and had to look down. I pressed the heel of my hand above my eye, and swallowed that climbing lump down my throat, making it feel sore and dry.
The EMT workers parked the woman right beside me, and I couldn't help but look. She was so scared and confused. What a hopeless feeling of not knowing if your family was alive or dead. I stood over her, and looked down at the Rosary still enveloped in my hand. I don't know why I still had it, I wasn't even Catholic. I leaned over slowly, and carefully placed it inside her hand, gently folding over her fingers. She looked at me like I was an angel, and I let her believe it. She smiled peacefully, as they placed her into the ambulance.
I never did find out her name or the state of her and her family's conditions. I thought about it a lot though, and I hoped everyday that she would never remember my face as her guardian angel. I was no angel. I was a walking curse.