Hey guys! Spencer might just get redemption in this chapter!
"I just... I feel the need to be just as good as everyone else." I tell Ezra as I pick at my fingernails absentmindedly as we both sit on his couch in his apartment. My legs are draped across his lap and I'm leaning against an armrest.
"You don't need to prove you're just as good as anyone, because you are. Being blind doesn't make you inferior; if anything it makes you more capable than anyone, you can do things that not everyone can do even without your sight." Ezra explains to me, resting his hand over my knee. I take a deep breath and sigh, because I know deep down under all the self doubt that he's probably right and I should just relax.
"You're really do need to start using your cane, or bring Shadow to school." He says.
"But I have Emily." I tell him.
"Do you really want to do that to her?" Ezra asks me.
"Do what?"
"She guides you everywhere, drives you everywhere, and does practically anything for you. If you would just use your cane or Shadow you could make everything a bit easier on her." Ezra tries to convince me. I don't know how to respond to this because he's absolutely right. I suddenly feel guilty for not even thinking about how this all could affect Emily.
"I guess you're right." I say.
"I'm always right." He snickers.
"I should get going, Emily's probably here." I tell him, standing up and heading for the door on my left.
"Aria." Ezra says. I sigh and stop, putting my hands on my hips and slowly pivoting on my heels to face him.
"You forgot this." He says calmly. I hear the cushions suck in air as he stands up and the light thumping of his shoes on the floor as he comes nearer. His warm, gentle hands take one of mine and press my folded up cane into it.
"I'll see you after school?" I ask him.
"Of course. Tell Emily you're staying after for extra credit or something." He tells me.
"Got it." I say, only unfolding my cane and touching the tip to the ground after I hear his annoyed intake of breath.
I open the door and walk out.
"Hey, you ready to go work on our math assignment?" Emily asks, linking her arm with mine. I think about what Ezra said, and I gently shake my arm loose.
"I'm fine, I can walk on my own." I tell her. The awkward silence that wraps around us makes me wonder if I've done something wrong.
"Ok... My car is this way. Follow my voice." She tells me. We walk across the parking lot in silence until my cane finally touches the car. I reach forward with my hand and press it against the car.
"That's the driver's side." Emily tells me, starting to lead me by my shoulder.
"I know." I tell her, walking around the car on my own and trailing my fingers along it. When I feel the crack under my fingertips, I reach down and curl my fingers around the handle.
I get into the car and fold up my cane.
"Can we work at my house tonight?" I ask, wanting to be in a more familiar territory if I'm not going to use Emily's help as much.
"Yeah, sure." Emily mumbles. She seems almost... angry.
"Is something wrong?" I ask.
"No. Just perfect." She says sarcastically.
"What is wrong with you today?" I ask her. I feel the car shift slightly off direction as she turns.
"What's wrong with me? What about-" I sense her emotions rising and I know she's not paying attention to the road. The rumble of the semi sounds too close.
"EYES ON THE ROAD!" I scream as the noise becomes overwhelming. I grip the sides of the seat as we swerve off to the side of the road. We run off the road and everything jerks around. When we finally come to a complete stop after an impact I slip into a panic. My head bangs into the headrest.
"Emily?" I call out. "Emily?!" I reach out towards the driver's seat. I hear coughing as her door is opened and she tumbles out, just out of my reach.
"I'm.." She coughs. "Alright." She tells me. I let out a sigh of relief.
"Aria, get out of the car!" She screams at me. I reach for my seatbelt instinctively because of the tone of her voice, but when I press the button I am not release. I feel around it with my hands. The latch is bent and the seatbelt is stuck inside. The door next to me opens and Emily's voice cuts through my thoughts.
"What are you doing, get out of the car!" She yells.
"It's stuck!" I yell back, yanking at the seat belt. I feel Emily's knuckles against my stomach as she yanks over and over on the seatbelt. I fully understand the situation when smoke fills my lungs and the heat makes me sweat.
"The car's going to explode!" Emily cries.
"Help!" Emily screams up at the road. "Please!" Her cries are frantic and interrupted by sobs. I twist in the seatbelt so that the shoulder strap is behind my back and I'm only restrained by the section around my waist.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Emily bawls as she wraps her arms around me and uselessly tries to pull me out. I find the seatbelt with my hands and pull as hard as I can to try and free it from the latch. Emily's hands overlap mine as she too starts pulling.
"Emily?!" A voice cries from further away.
"Spencer!" Emily cries. "Help!"
Spencer's POV
As I'm driving I quickly become annoyed at traffic on the road. A semi is at an angle and blocking all the lanes. A bright orange quickly attracts my attention down a hill on my right. A car is crashed into a tree and flames have burst from the engine. The car will explode any second. Wait... is that Emily's car? I jump out of mine and run down the hill. I catch sight of Emily leaning into the passenger door.
"Emily?!" I cry out.
"Spencer! Help!" She screams. She doesn't appear injured, but when she moves slightly, I realize the reason for sticking around the car instead of running like hell.
"Aria!" I choke when I see her panicked expression and the seatbelt holding her in the seat. I stare at Aria, and then the flames on the engine. If I go help her, we could all three die. If I grab Emily, I could save her. But Aria would die. I run towards the car and grab Emily's wrist, getting a sudden sense of repeated events.
"Aria!" Emily screams as Aria runs into the garage. Emily can't even take one step before I grab her wrist.
"What are you doing?! We have to get her out of there before that thing explodes!" Emily screams at me.
"No Emily! We have to go now! It was stupid of her to run in there!" I yell back at her. I can't risk Emily dying as well. Emily's eyes are watering and she tries to pull away, but Ali grabs her other wrist.
"Spencer's right. The police are going to show up any second." Ali says and we both try to pull Emily away. The firework suddenly goes off and all of our heads snap to face the garage. The windows light up with yellow and orange and flames leak out of the cracks, blackening everything in its path.
"Aria!" Emily screams.
I glance at the flames, a bomb waiting to go off. Then I look at Emily, who looks at her wrist in my hand and then up at my face in horror. And then I see Aria. She doesn't know what's going on. I look deep into her scared, grey, blind eyes and I know I can't leave her behind. I can't make the same mistake twice. I release Emily's wrist and run back to my car, grab a field hockey stick, and rush back down to the car. Several people get out of their cars and call 911.
"Get out of the way Emily!" I scream. She doesn't move, probably because she thinks I'm making her run, so I shove her away and go straight to Aria's rescue.
"Stay still, I'm getting you out." I tell her with tears in my eyes. Aria has started coughing and gasping for breath amid all the smoke. I bring the head of the stick down against the stuck seat belt contraption and it smashes to pieces, releasing the seat belt. I drop the stick and reach for her as she tries to get up. The car explodes with a deafening bang.
I KNOW! CLIFFHANGER! I gotta keep you people on your toes! Review and let me know how evil I am, and how much you want the next chapter, and I might just post it tonight!