Hey y'all!
Wow, long time no see or read, right? It's been a while and I sincerely apologize for that. Sophomore year has been extremely difficult especially with all these advanced classes. Seriously it's way harder than last year like wow who would've guessed that I would actually have to try in school it's so weird. Plus it doesn't help that my Spanish teacher hates me. She's failing me, and I'm not bad at Spanish. I can speak decently fluently. I mean, I'm not perfect but I can hold a lengthy conversation. I don't know. You probably don't want to listen to me rant and just read the new chapter.
XOXO
-JB11
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.
Everything Changes: Chapter 6
TT
A Month Into the School Year
Kori laid on her stomach a top her bed, propped up on her elbows and balancing a phone between her shoulder and her ear; chattering happily to her best friend, Rachel. They'd only known each other for what, a month? and already they knew each other so well. When Kori had gotten home, her phone was already ringing with a call from the raven haired girl.
"So, what are you hiding?" Raven's voice crackled through the phone's speaker.
"Nothing, just Roy finally asked me on our first official date as a couple!" squealed Kori. The two had been inseparable since they first meet four weeks ago. They'd gone on a few frozen yogurt and dinner dates in the past weeks before Roy had finally worked up enough nerve to ask her to be his girlfriend. He'd texted her that morning asking if she wanted to go see a movie that Saturday night. And of course, she said yes.
"That's so exciting. I'm happy for you." To anyone else, Rachel may have sounded bored and uninterested, but Kori could tell that she really was happy for her.
"Thanks! I'm excited too!"
"Well, I got to go. Ms. Merlin gave me a ton of homework tonight. She wants a two page essay cause Garfield mouthed off to her today." She always made an effort to call Gar by his full name. She never really ever explained why.
"Ugh, sounds gross. I'll talk to you later. Good luck!" Kori said flopping over onto her back.
"Yeah, I'll see you later tomorrow. I've got a doctor's appointment in the morning."
"Okay, see you tomorrow!" She never did.
6:43 a.m.
It was definitely not summer time anymore. The morning fog was lasting just a little bit longer and the sky was staying darker, longer. Kori shivered in the damp air, standing close to Karen at the bus stop. Ryan came running up to them as the bus pulled into the stop. His shoes untied and his backpack flying behind him, hanging off of one shoulder.
"What took so long?" Kori laughed at his disheveled appearance.
"Slept…in…late," he gasped. "Good thing…I didn't…miss…the bus." The three climbed on the bus and Kori and Karen made their way to their regular seats by their friends.
The bus ride was average, nothing would have suggested anything out of the ordinary until the bus and the truck collided.
The combination of loud chatter and slick roads may have been too much for the bus driver, or the truck driver may have been distracted, whatever the cause, the large truck rammed into the front of the bus on the driver's side. The bus was thrown around, metal crunched, sparks flew and a fire started.
The mingled screams and wails from the children told Kori she was still alive. Nursing her badly bruised forehead, Kori stumbled towards the back of the bus where Victor and Richard were helping kids out of the bus and Gar corralled the students at the side of the road. Kori, one of the first kids out waited for Ryan to get out. Some kids were in tears, others with shocked looks on their face. Almost all the kids had cuts and bruises.
When Victor and Richard had helped the last kid out, Kori paled and a feeling of panic overwhelmed her. She sprinted after Richard and Victor who were yelling "Call 9-1-1!" Kori ran up to the line of scared kids.
"Where's my brother?" she asked and when no one answered she yelled frantically, "Where's my brother?" No one answered again, and the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.
"No, no, no, no, no," over and over again before she was screaming. "No! No! NO!" Kori ran to the bus, the entire front half a burning hulk of twisted metal. All she knew was she had to get to her brother.
Victor and Gar stood in her path. "We can't let you go back there," Gar said firmly.
"I'm sorry, Kori," Victor added as if saying those words would make it any better.
"No, I have to get to my brother!" Kori cried her voice a high pitch scream. Kori started to run again. Victor and Garfield tried to hold her back, but she just pushed past them. A few more strides and she felt strong arms encircle her waist and pull her away from the flaming bus. "Let me go! I have to help Ryan! Stop!" Kori struggled against her captor in a fit of hysteria. Then she was lifted up and carried back to the other students kicking and clawing at the air.
Soon the entire bus was afire and Kori's heart shattered into a million tiny pieces as she knew that it was hopeless. Her screams turned to sobs of "Ryan, Ryan, Ryan."
Richard put Kori down to stand when she began her heart wrenching wails. Kori turned into his chest and soaked his shirt in her tears. Kori clung to him and cried until the authorities pried Kori off of Richard.
Kori was loaded on a stretcher and held down by unfamiliar hands. Thrashing and screaming for her brother, Kori vaguely heard one of the paramedics shout, "We need to sedate her. If we don't calm her down, she could lose even more blood." Kori felt the chill in her veins as the medicine spread through her body. Before her eyes closed, Kori caught a last fleeting glance of the burning bus and Richard's silhouette ablaze.