My fingers tap on the steering wheel in time to the song. The radio's volume is at full blast, filling the car with electrifying music. We wiggle in our seats and sing all the lines we can remember. Lyddie skips over a few words, and she laughs at herself for it. I can't help myself, and I laugh too. The song dies away just as we are gasping for breath. Another tune starts, and we repeat this cycle.
After what feels like an hour or so, our voices are raspy and I reach over to shut off the radio. Lyddie looks out her window, and gazes at the setting sun.
The road is empty and quite in the night. Stars gaze down at us that we don't normally see because of all the lights. It is nice to have a break from all the hectic-ness of our everyday lives. I am lost in thought about what I'm condemning us back to when we get home, until Lyddie breaks the silence.
"The country is so beautiful." She states.
"I know, the grass is really green here." I say peacefully.
A few moments go by, and all we can hear is the humming of my engine. I glance at Lyddie, and I know something is on her mind. "What is it?" I ask.
"I feel sort of bad, Seph. I know I haven't really been around since Daniel and I got together and I know it bothers you sometimes. I'm just sorry I didn't see how hurt you were before. I'm glad we could do this together, and I promise to make more time for you and everyone else."
A smile creeps across my lips. "Yeah, I'm sorry too. I should have realized how excited you were, and that you were finally happy since Billy moved. I'm just glad we could be away from all that today, this was really fun. Maybe next time, we should bring Lana and Faith. They've been busy too."
Her expression changes and I can see curiosity brewing within her. I should have kept my big mouth shut. It isn't my secret to tell. Before I can come up with a suitable lie, she speaks.
"Really, how?" she questions. "They've both been at school, and they come over your house almost every day, how could they be busy?"
Her eyes bore holes in my flesh, I can feel her stare. I know she is waiting for an answer, and if I stall to long, she will suspect my dishonesty. I sigh, and spit out the truth.
"Lana has a lot of things with her family going on right now. She could use time away from that."
Lyddie leans closer to the driver's side of the car. "Is it her…?" she trails off, not wanting to say the rest of the sentence, but I can see the words in her eyes.
Instinctively, I quickly turn my gaze to the road, and focus my attention on the asphalt. I close my eyes for an instant and take a deep breath before answering. "Yes, it's her mom. She's being put on trial for child abuse." I turn right on to the next road. The sound of crunching pebbles underneath my tires seems so much louder in the silence.
"What about Faith?" she asks desperately, wanting to break the awkward tension that is now settling between us. I veer ahead with the conversation, plowing straight through the uncomfortable quiet.
"She's not doing as badly. In fact, she just needs a break from all the studying her parents are forcing her to do."
"Sucks to be her."
"Yeah. By the way, how have you been doing with your Finals Prep class?"
She instantly perks up at my curiosity. "Great! I don't think I'll have a problem at all."
"Wish I could say the same." I muse "Geography and English are killing me."
"Want some help?" she offers. "I mean, my parents actually might think it's cool that you come over, 'cause they think I don't study at all."
Before I know it, I am giggling with her and it feels as if the tension from moments before is dissipating through the car doors and is releasing into the world. The steering wheel tightens a bit as I turn a sharp left.
"Whoa!" Lyddie calls, holding on to the handle above her seat.
"Sorry, it was tight."
After that, we just stare out of the window, into the blackness. The night is surprisingly calm, and we have not passed anybody on the road since four miles ago. I mess with Lyddie a little and turn, making zig-zags with the car that make her giggle like a seven-year-old.
"Stop!" she yells playfully. "Cut it out Sephone!"
I mock her 'cries' "Awww…Is poor Lyddie afraid?" I turn to her and stick out my lower lip. She gasps dramatically.
"Well!" she faces her own window again, whipping her ponytail around. My face just barely escapes the 'fury' of the natural whip. Slowly, I straighten out the car.
"Awwww, don't be mad Lyd!" I say, only being half-serious because I know she isn't really mad.
She whips around again and smiles ever so hugely. "I'm not!"
Once again, we both laugh.
We joke around a little more, and then I notice myself getting sleepy. I glance down at the clock and it reads around eight p.m. A groan of frustration emits from my mouth.
"What?"
"It's only eight!" I whine. "And I'm tired already!"
"Want me to drive?"
"No, that's okay. We'll be home soon. Are you co-"
A bright white light shines abruptly through the passenger window, and Lyddie screams. The other vehicle comes closer, and I swerve to try to avoid it. Another scream sounds, though I don't know if from Lyddie or me. Crunching metal sounds, seemingly from a distance and little slivers of glass cut my arms, face, and hands. There is a screech, I hit something hard once, twice, three times and am on the pavement. Blood is everywhere, covering my arms. Who does it belong to? My hands sting, yet I have no strength to move anything to examine myself. My eyes are heavy. I am on my back, without warning or intention, I roll over and wretch. I close my eyes, wishing the pain would stop.
A voice that seems unfamiliar to me screams in what I assume to be horrid agony. With force, I push my eyelids open. Bright light blinds me instantly, the scream sounds again. Breathing heavily, my body somehow manages to come off the road and stand. Hunched over like cripple, I step forward. Another scream, and I find myself on the asphalt again. My shirts tears as I drag myself to my newly mashed-up car. With the last of the strength within me, I pull myself up, using the hood for support.
Tear pouring down my face from pain, I struggle to walk. Pieces of my car are strewn everywhere. I see a faint outline of a man emerging from the space where his door had been seconds ago. My brain suddenly registers the screams from before. Then I remember Lyddie. My eyes follow the trail of blood, shining crimson against my white hood. I don't want to look up, but I do.
Lyddie's face is unrecognizable. Blood pours from a long gash in her cheek and above her left eye. She screams for the fifth time, and I can see her arm and leg caught in the crunched metal. As fast as I can, I walk to her side, trying to sooth her. Tears cascade down her face, lightening the blood.
"Lyddie," I say as calmly as possible, though my voice is shaky and weak. "Shush, Lyddie, shhh… We'll be okay, it'll be alright."
These words have no meaning, or heart. Hoping is not enough for something to come true, no matter how badly you want it. My heart races with the fear of lying here for some time until we are rescued. I cannot see any help ever coming, and I have never felt so abandoned in my entire life. Paranoia and vulnerability creep through my veins, threatening to poison my mind. This is something I cannot take, and I fall heavily on my side.
Voices bring me back to consciousness. A finger pulls my eyelid back, and another light is the only thing I see. I try to sit up, but hands push me back down. It is then that I realize everything stings, and some things feel as if they have been beaten with a sledgehammer. I scream, wanting those hands to make my pain go away. My fingers reach out, trying to catch them and bring them to my other arm. I howl in pain as a large jolt of it shoots up into my shoulder. I hear a faint sound of beeping and my world goes black.
I am waking up, I can feel it. I toss and turn to get more comfortable. Wait, I'm moving? I'm moving! My eyes shoot open, and I am horrified to find that I have no vision. I see only blurs.
"Help!" My throat feels dry and it burns. I begin coughing immediately.
I hear a distant voice. "Shhh! Relax, you're okay. Calm down." I feel a soothing hand on my head, and my heart slows. Something cold touches my skin, again, and again. I force my eyelids to move, and the lines of my surroundings become more and more defined.
I am in a white walled room, with a couch and a chair pushed up against the east side. A man in a white coat stands over me, looking at various machines that make different beeping noises. I know where I am, and I am deathly afraid of here. I just wish I could remember why I'm in a hospital.