PROLOGUE: The Accident

We find out what exactly happened to Alicia's boyfriend, Johnny.

I sit at the steps in Johnny’s house. They lead right to the bathroom, where Johnny is doing his hair.

          “How aren’t you done yet?” I yell up to him. We have an 8:30 reservation at Russell’s and it’s already 7:10. With New York City traffic on a Friday night, we should have left at least twenty minutes ago.

          “Come on! You’ve been in there for almo-“

          At that moment, Johnny comes rushing down the stairs.

          “I’m sorry, I just want to be sure I look good for you.” He swallows me up in a hug and kisses my cheek. He turns to his dad, who is sitting on the couch only about five feet away.

          “We’ll be out late. Is it alright if I’m back around twelve, twelve-thirty?”       

          “Of course; be safe though Jonathan. People can get a bit crazy here, you know that. Watch for the cops too, they love giving out tickets on Fridays.” Mr. Ramirez answers in a serious tone, but with a smile. Johnny nods and grabs his coat. We head out to his car and I look out the window. I see Mr. Ramirez looking out the window waving. I smile and wave back at his as we drive off.

***

We’ve been gone for forty minutes and still haven’t reached the restaurant, which is only twenty minutes from Johnny’s house. This traffic is at a complete stand still. Johnny honks the car horn, making me jump. He curses, and reaches into his pocket.

“Sorry about that Alicia. Here, I got you something.” As Johnny hands me a jewelry box, I smile to myself. I already have an idea as to what it is. The box is engraved and says my full name, Alicia Julie Rivera, in a beautiful script font.

          I look up, lean over, and give Johnny a kiss on the cheek. I go back to sit down and resume opening my present. Turns out, I was right. Inside the box is not only the birthstone necklace I have been mentioning for the past seven months, but there is also a key. A key I’m assuming is what I’ll use to open the little safe Johnny gave me in school today.

          He said I’d find out what was in it later tonight. I should have brought it with me.

          “Alicia, I’m really sorry. We should have left earlier. This traffic is awful.”

          I don’t think Johnny noticed I opened the box. I put it down on the dashboard and climb to the driver’s seat. Since there are absolutely no cars moving, I don’t worry about my actions.  I’m sitting on Johnny’s lap in seconds.

          “I don’t care about missing the reservations Johnny.” I peck his lips with a kiss, “I love you. All I care about is being able to spend my eighteenth birthday with you. Let’s just go eat at a pizzeria!”

          He smiles at me and tilts his head. “Are you sure? We could try to make it to a different restaurant.”

          “I’m sure. Let’s get pizza! I do love it after all.” I smile and reach for the jewelry box holding my present. “Thank you for my presents too. I don’t know what the key will lead me to but I’m excited to find out.”

          He laughs, “Trust me, you’ll love it.”

          “I’m sure I will!”

          “OK, I’m going to pull into Sal’s Pizza, it is right up the street from here.”

          With that, I climb back into the passenger’s seat and buckle in. When we park, I get out and run to his door. He gets out and I keep him there holding him against his little car.

“This is one of the best birthdays ever.” I whisper to him.

He smiles, “Oh really?”

I give him a kiss. Not just any kiss though, a passionate one; a kiss so passionate that when I pull away he whispers, “Wow.”

I laugh and look up to his face. I stare into his eyes, the same eyes I’ve been looking into for the past three years. They are a stunning emerald green and have little black lines extending from the pupil. Johnny’s eyes resemble a black sun in a green outer space. They are gorgeous, captivating, and mine. I could easily stare at them for hours.

I can’t help but kiss him again, only this time slowly and delicately. I pull away after what feels like forever and we walk over to the pizzeria’s door, hand in hand.

***

 “Hello?” I answer my cell phone. My voice is ridiculously groggy. It’s seven twenty two on a Sunday morning and my head is pounding.

“Hey Alicia! It’s Johnny.”

I sit up in my bed and clear my throat. “Oh! Hey, what’s up?”

“Well, I know it’s early but since it’s still your birthday weekend I was thinking we’d go get some breakfast together. I leave to Delaware at eleven with my dad though, that’s why we have to go so early.”

Johnny always goes to Delaware for a week in October. It’s so he can visit his mom while his dad goes to visit an old high school buddy of his.

“That sounds great Johnny! When will you get here?”

“Right around eight, is that good?”

“Yeah that’s fine. See you soon!”

“Alright, love you.”

“Love you too.” I hang up, jump out of bed, and head straight to my closet so I can find something comfortable to wear.

I see my favorite red and black plaid shirt and some black skinny jeans and throw that on. I push on some combat boots and head to my bathroom. My hair is still straitened from Friday so I just comb through it, retouch it with my flat iron, and head out the front door of my house. Since my parents are gone for one of my mom’s work retreats, the drive way is only half full, with only my car, which is parked all the way to the backyard. I sit in the big empty space, waiting for Johnny.

I still cannot believe they left me, I think to myself. My parents were never all that great, but to leave on the eve of my eighteenth birthday! That’s just messed up. I notice Johnny’s car approaching from a few houses away and I stop thinking about my parents.

He waves at me and I wave back. I notice another car speeding up an intersecting street and yell to Johnny to watch out at the intersection. I don’t think he hears me because he just keeps driving along. I see the other car has a stop sign coming up anyway so I don’t call out again. Only, the car speeds past the sign and heads straight for Johnny’s car. I yell again to him, this time more urgently. As he turns his head towards me, the other car collides with Johnny.

I scream so loud that my body shakes. “Johnny!”

I run over to the scene to see if he’s ok and notice that the other driver is dangling from his car, lifeless. I look away and run straight to Johnny, who’s lying on the ground next to his car. It looks as if he was able to crawl out of the car but couldn’t move anymore.

“Oh my God! Johnny!” He is drenched in his own blood. I pick his head up into my lap and check his pulse. He’s still here.

“Are you OK Johnny? Johnny? Answer me baby, please! Can you hear me?” His eyes open slowly and he lets out a cough. For a second I think I have him, but then I look up. A huge shard of the car door is jammed into his lower abdomen. I know he can’t possibly survive that.

“I hear you.” He lets out those three little words with such a small voice. I cannot help but burst into tears. He must be in so much pain.

I hear him gasping, it seems like he wants to say more.

“What is it Johnny?” I start to caress his face. He has always loved when I do that.

I seems to have grabbed his voice, “I-I love you.” He coughs up blood right after he says ‘you.’

“I love you too.” I say.

“Come closer.” He tries to raise his right arm. He doesn’t realize it has been crushed. He lets out a small cry from the pain and tears start to form in his eyes.

I wipe them away and lean in closer. He kisses me; maybe the sweetest kiss I have ever gotten. I pull back and try to smile.

“Stay with me.” He asks and then coughs again, only this time, it seems to be glass.

“I will, I promise. I love you too much to ever leave you.” My tears still come down hard.

 “I’ll never leave you either. I love you too.”

I smile at him. He smiles back, coughs yet again, and right before he takes his last breath, we lock eyes. Those beautiful eyes, I will never forget them. They are gone now; his eyelids hide them so that I am the last to see them - his eyes.

Author's Note

Any thoughts? :) Be very honest in your reviews please.

Reviews

[Taylor Jade]

I really like this, especially the end of the chapter.
I wish you would expand more on the characters and describe them though, I had a hard time picturing them in my head. I dunno, I like to imagine the characters xD
This is really good though :D