Wreckage

 

Chapter three

Wreckage

 

 

I still could not believe that I was going out with Trey Denton. I was going out with the most popular guy in the whole school. Everyone would be jealous. All the girls were in love Trey, and yet he chose me out of all the other girls that have been fawning over him for forever.

 

I dug frantically through my closet to find the perfect thing to wear. It could not be too nice or too casual; it had to be just right. I decided on some nice fitting jeans, tight but just loose enough to be considered modest. As Sierra always says, “modest is hottest.”

 

Finding a shirt to wear was nearly impossible. There was no way I was going to be wearing a t-shirt, I knew that much. After much deciphering, I decided to go for the layered look and wear a mid-sleeved baby blue shirt over a brown one. I wore my brown loafers that were the same shade of brown as my under shirt.  I also had on a beaded necklace that was brown and blue.  I let my hair, which was parted on the side, go naturally curly.  I applied a special hair gel that got rid of frizz and made my hair silky and shiny without making it sticky or anything like that.

 

I made sure that all of my football stuff was in my gym bag because after the junior varsity game, which is the one Trey and I were going to, is the varsity game against our rivals, the Panthers. I set my gym bag down by the door and went upstairs and grabbed my Coach purse.

 

On the way downstairs I heard the doorbell ring. Butterflies of nervousness in my stomach, I checked the mirror one last time to make sure my hair and make up were just right. I opened the front door with my most pretty smile pasted on my face and there stood Trey.

 

“Hey,” he said.

 

“Hi.”

 

“You look nice.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Ready to go?”

 

“Yeah,” I said, picking up my gym bag.

 

“Here I’ll take that,” he said, nodding towards the bag that was now in my hand. I certainly did not object; so I handed it over.

 

He tossed my bag in the backseat; we got into his car, and drove off to the school’s football field. We were on time and luckily got good seats. As I had assumed earlier, everyone was jealous. It was a pretty good game, and our team won.

 

The varsity game went just as well. It was a very easy, almost boring game. We won by a lot of points.

 

We all decided to go to Chili’s afterwards. The Chili’s employees must have been really excited when twenty-four football players arrived. Luckily, Chili’s was not too crowded. The employees were able to put enough tables together for everyone to sit.

 

We spent nearly two and a half hours at Chili’s! Then, Trey drove me home.  When I got home, I had to hit the books. I had a ton of homework. I did not go to bed until 12:46! Of course, I overslept.

 

I got to school, ran to my locker and practically threw my books out of it. Then, I ran up the stairs to Mr. Boldenschneiner’s class, and dived into my seat. The bell rang.

 

Since next week is Thanksgiving break, we are working hard to get everything all done. There are tests almost every day! Of course, I ace all of them. Not to get cocky or anything. Thanksgiving break is a week long, for our school. We are going to try the whole “camping thing” again. Hopefully, there will not be any trouble this time. . .

 

In a hurry, I packed quickly. This time camping was just going to be us girls. I drove on over to Raylie’s house.

 

That’s weird. Why are Zackarie’s, Trey’s, and Jaysson’s cars doing here?

 

            I step into the living room, confused. Raylie, Natalie, Parker, Mist, Sierra, Trey, Keith, Jaysson, my brother Zackarie, and Trevor are all standing there.

 

            "What are you guys doing here?" I ask the guys.

 

            "Well, apparently they think they're coming with us." Raylie spoke up.

 

            "Oh, but we are."  The teasing voice came from Keith.

 

            “Ah, come on, we can let them come, can’t we?” I asked.

 

            “Oh, alright,” they gave in. Raylie still did not want them to come.

 

            “We can all take my car again,” Trey said.

 

            “Trey, we won’t all fit in your car.” I said.

 

            “Yeah, really. Eleven people don’t fit in an eight-seated car. I guess you guys can’t come.” That was Raylie.

 

            “Now, hold on a minute. I’ll drive my car.” Trevor.

 

            So we load up our stuff into Trey's Hummer and Trevor’s white Nissan Sentra.  Now, wouldn’t you know it, once again, there is the controversy over who is sitting where. Finally situated, in the Hummer, Trey is driving, I am in the passenger seat; Zackarie and Sierra are in the very back seat; and in the back, but not very back, are Parker, Jaysson, and Mist. In Trevor’s car, Trevor is driving with Keith in the passenger seat, and Natalie and Raylie are in the back. With Trey leading the way, we start driving.

 

 

"I have to go to the bathroom. Can we stop?"

 

            "Oh my gosh, Parker, there is no bathroom!  We're on the highway."  Trey says.  Then he groans.

 

            "What's your problem?" I ask.

 

            "Traffic," Trey says with another groan.  He hates traffic. 

           

             We have stopped moving. Great. Trey's not the only one who hates traffic. Gosh. I can barely hear myself think; Trey's music is turned up so loud! Oh good, we're moving again.

 

            Suddenly Trey slams on the breaks.  There is a loud screech as the Hummer skids to a halt. There is the terrible sound of metal scraping metal, as another Hummer behind us rear-ends us, pushing us into the Ford pickup in front of us.  Everyone is thrown forward.  Airbags are popping out. Trey groans as he tries to restart the Hummer. It is not working.  All of the sudden, a semi is driving all over the road.  It slams into us, pushing us down the hill. The semi takes off, and is soon long gone.  The Hummer is rolling, rolling, rolling. Everyone is being thrown around. Suddenly, I find myself flying through the air. I hit the ground with a great thud, and then everything is absolutely silent.

 

            I wake up all of the sudden; totally unaware of what is going on. I hear the wail of an ambulance’s siren from far off.  Raylie is looking at me.

 

            "What happened?" I ask. I try to sit up, but, since it hurts too badly, I only sit up half way. I look around. Apparently Trevor had pulled his car over and they all walked down the hill to see if everyone was alright.  Jaysson is in on the ground and out cold. Trey is pacing back and forth next to the crushed Hummer, talking on his cell phone. From a distance, everyone besides Jaysson (and me) looks fine.  But I did not see Sierra anywhere. Where's Sierra?

 

            The police, the fire department, and several ambulances all arrive. A paramedic rushes over to me and I am loaded onto a stretcher, and rushed to the hospital.

                       

I wake up and look around. I'm in the hospital. Trey's handsome blue eyes are staring into my hazel ones. He has a blue cast on his left arm.

 

            "Are you okay?" he asks. He looks very worried.

 

            “I’ll be alright. But it hurts really bad.”

 

  He sighs. "Jaquie, there's something I need to tell you. In the - in the car wreck, Sierra. Sierra was, she. Ahh."

 

            "Trey, what happened?" I ask, starting to worry. "Where's Sierra?"

 

            "Jacks, she, well she, Sierra's in a coma." Jacks? That is something only Trey would call me.

 

            "What?" I ask. "She couldn't have! No! I- I don't believe you!" I start crying. How could this happen?

 

            Trey has tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he says. "I really am sorry."

 

            "I know Trey; it's not your fault. What about Zackarie? Is he alright? Do he and Trevor know about Sierra? Have they gotten a hold of all our parents?

 

            "Yeah, they’ve gotten a hold of hers. They've gotten a hold of all our parents; except I last heard they can’t get a hold of your mom. The majority of our parents are coming as soon as possible. Zackarie’s fine, he just has a broken jaw and some broken ribs.  He and Trevor both know about Sierra."

 

            I let out a breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding. "Trey? What's- how? I mean- am I okay? I- I know that's a dumb question but-"

 

            "No, it's not a dumb question. Yeah you will be okay. I'm not totally sure what's going on, though. I do know your leg is sorta messed up. I don't if it’s fractured or what. Same with Jaysson, though. He has the exact same injury or whatever as you do. Speaking of Jaysson, I'm gonna go see him, okay?"

 

            "Alright."

 

            Trey leaves the room, and a nurse walks in.

 

            "How are you feeling?" she asks.

 

            "Like I was in a big car wreck." I said grumpily.

 

            The nurse sighed.  "Well, that's no surprise. I'll send in Dr. Kently; he will tell you what is going on."

 

            She walked out of the room. Five minutes later a doctor walked into the room.

 

            "I am Dr. Kently." he says. "You've damaged your leg pretty badly. I went ahead and did the surgery, and I have already gotten that taken care of. That’s why you are just now waking up. Your leg, most likely, will heal quickly, but you are going to have to use crutches for a couple of days. And you’ll have to wear a brace for a little while. I heard that you all got rear-ended by a sixteen year old girl and then got hit by a drunk man driving a semi truck. That’s pretty wild."

 

            "How long do I have to stay here?" I ask.

 

            "A week, at least." he answers. ” I could not contact your mom, but we got a hold of your older brother. Well, I've got more patients to see. I'll be back later."

 

            I certainly was not looking forward to spending Thanksgiving break in the hospital.

 

            Zackarie walked in the room.

 

            "Hey Jaquie," he said. "You okay?"

 

            "Yeah, I'm fine.”

 

“Did Trey tell you about Sierra?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, he did.”

 

“Jaquelyne, I’m so worried about her. What if she doesn’t wake up?” His voice cracked like he was getting ready to cry. I sighed and gave my little brother a hug.

 

“Hey, I’m pretty tired right now. Do you think you could come back later?"

            "Yeah," replied Zackarie.

 

            Boy. After five days, you really get tired of being stuck in the hospital. I look over at the digital alarm clock. It is eleven thirty p.m. Suddenly, I get an idea.  I push myself to the edge of the bed and hobble over to where a pair of crutches is laying. As quietly as you can move on crutches, I walked down the hall Jaysson's room. I turn the knob and open the door, and nearly run into Jaysson. Apparently, he has the same idea I do.

 

            "Hey!" he whispers, obviously surprised. "I was going to see you! I heard you were in the same condition I am. Looks like I heard right."

 

            "Hey, yourself! Yeah, you did hear right. I don't see why they don't let us go home. I'm honestly fine."

 

            I was happy to see my best friend. "Yeah, I know what you mean. There's hardly any pain at all."

 

            "Exactly! Why don't they let us go?”

 

            “You make it sound like we’re in prison,” Jaysson laughed.

 

“Hey Jay,” I ask, getting serious. ” do you wanna go down to Sierra's room?"

 

            "Sure," he says, lifting one eyebrow and shrugging.

 

            So we walk down to Sierra's hospital room. Or rather, we hobble over to Sierra's room.  I slowly open the door.  We walk in. Tears fill my eyes as I look at friend lying there.  Jaysson side-steps closer to me.  The two of us stood in silence.  I look up from staring at the floor, Jaysson’s eyes are widening. In confusion, I look over to where his gaze is. Sierra sat up suddenly.

 

            "Sierra! Oh my gosh Sierra I was so worried about you! We were afraid you wouldn't make it!" I say.

 

            Sierra grinned. "How long has it been?" she asks.

 

            "Five days," Jaysson spoke up.

 

            "Wow. Five days. Gosh! What's happened? How is everybody?"

 

            We answered her questions and filled her in on everything that has happened.  Then we quietly left her to get some sleep. About half way between Sierra's room and Jaysson's, a startled, white haired nurse appeared.

 

            "What are you two doing? You should be in bed, not wondering the halls; together. If you wanted to see each other you could have just told somebody and we could have arranged something."

 

            My best friend and I started laughing.  A guy and a girl, both on crutches, wandering the halls of a hospital together in the middle of the night? That certainly would look suspicious! Still laughing, we went our separate ways and went to bed.

 

I opened my eyes. The sun was shining really brightly. I guess I had forgotten to close the blinds the day before. I got out of bed. Trey walked in, without knocking.

 

“Hey, you should have knocked, you know. What’s up?” There was a look of sadness in his eye.

 

His voice was gentle. “That doesn’t matter. How are you doing? The news must of hit pretty hard.”

 

“What news?”

 

“You mean you haven’t heard?”

 

“Heard about what, Trey?”

 

“Sierra?”

 

“Yeah, isn’t great? I was right there when she woke up.” My voice was happy and excited.

 

But Trey looked confused. “No, Jacks. That’s what I came to tell you about. She didn’t make it.”

 

I started getting upset. “That can’t be, Jaysson and I went down to her room just last night; she woke up and was just fine.”

 

He walked over and stood by the window, looking slightly offended. “You and Jaysson?”

 

“Oh come on Trey, you know we’re just friends.” I snapped at him, then apologized; walking over to where he was still standing, looking out the window.

 

Sighing a slight sigh of relief, he continued in the same gentle voice that he had begun with. “I wouldn’t lie to you, sweetheart, you know that.”

 

I started to cry. “I know,” I said, “I just don’t want to believe you.”

 

“Aww, come here.”

 

And so I did, drawing myself close to him. He took me up in his arms and held me close, and lightly kissed me on my head. We have never kissed before (besides him kissing my head like just now or my hand), and I have still have not had my “first kiss.” Still crying, I laid my head against his chest and we stood in silence for a while. A short moment after I had calmed down we drew apart. There was a knock on the door and Dr. Kently walked in.

 

“Well, Miss Bordeaux, it seems I was wrong. You will be able to leave this afternoon. You’re recovering much faster than expected.”

 

            I forced a half smile, obviously still greatly distressed.

 

            Zackarie and Trevor were both extremely distraught. Zackarie started going into a state of depression, which worried my mom.                           

 

Well, Thanksgiving break is supposed to be fun, but after the funeral, the rest of the week I had to stay at home, recover, and sleep.

 

I went to bed on time because I had to go back to school. Beep beep beep beep!  Click.  The awful noise finally stopped as I hit the snooze button on my alarm clock.  I was not ready to get up.  Just five more minutes. 

           

            "Jaquelyne Claire Eustice Anne Bordeaux!!"

           

            Uh-oh. That's Mom.  How late have I slept? Boy I'm in for it now! I leaped out bed. Boy, I thought. I'm gonna be late again!

 

            I got ready as quick as any one with crutches could possibly get ready. I must have set a record!

 

            I got to school and got my books for first hour.  I took the stairs very slowly. I got to Mr. Boldenschneiner room and as soon as I got to my seat the bell rang. I smiled.  I was back in routine. Unsurprisingly, I passed notes the whole time. This time they were to Jaysson.

           

            Hey! Jaysson! So, how’s it feel to get back in school?

Better than citting in a hospital

Jay, you spelled sitting wrong.   See if I care Jk I know how to spell it I just was testing you yeah right. Like I’m supposed to blieve that.  Na really im serious ok maybe im not wat does it matter ne way Jay use punctuation! I can never tell wat it’s supposed to say. It gets way confusing!  Well Jaq wat can ya say u r always confused   JAYSSON!  What OMG! Can’t blieve u! What Nvm! I am so hungry! do u have ne food in your locker?  Yea I got food u can get can get some after class i got cheez itz oreos u name it i got it i even hav marshmellows   marshmellows? who keeps marshmellows in their locker?   gosh i do ok deal with it who cares ne way   

 

 

 

 

There was a new girl at school. Her hair was a cross between a strawberry blonde and a light shade of red; and was straight and thin. She had bright green eyes. At lunch I saw her sitting all alone, so I left my homies to go sit with her.

 

“Hey,” I said. “My name’s Jaquelyne Bordeaux, but most people call me Jaquie. What’s your name?”

 

“Are you French?” the girl asked.

 

I grinned. “Yeah.”

 

“I thought so. My name’s Kristiana Peyton Stubbeman,” she answered, surprisingly outgoing and confident, especially for a newcomer.

 

“Where you from?” asked Trey, coming to sit by me.

 

“Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.” Kristiana answered, looking at Trey with interest.

 

“I lived there for about five months.”  Whoa. What’s a girl from Pennsylvania doing in Los Angelus, California?

 

As if reading my mind, she added, “Really? My dad is in the military, so we move around a lot.”

 

“Oh,” I said. I could relate to moving around a lot.  There was an awkward silence

 

“I remember when you first moved here,” Trey said to me, breaking that awkward silence. “It was second quarter of ninth grade. Came from Las Vegas, Nevada.”

 

The sound of my last home place on my boyfriend’s lips sounded so nice. Las Vegas. I missed that place so much. I soon found myself day dreaming about Nevada, but then Trey’s voice broke into my thoughts.

 

“Hey, Jacks, Kristiana is trying to ask you something.”

 

“Why did you move here from Las Vegas?” she asked.

 

I quickly got angry. “My mom,” I said. “Every time she gets upset about something we would have to move.  She runs away from everything, and every time she gets hurt or makes a mistake, we have to pay. We have lived in literally twenty different places.”

 

“Wow. I’m sorry. So where all have you lived, and for how long?” Kristiana asked.

 

“Umm, let’s see. We lived in Paris, France for nine years.”

 

“That explains your accent.”

 

“Yeah. Then we moved to New York City, lived there for one year. We lived in Philadelphia, as I said earlier, for five months. Umm, oh yeah. Stonybrook, Pennsylvania for five months. Baltimore, Maryland for six months. Winchester, Virginia; Charleston, West Virginia; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri five months each, in that order.”

 

“Sounds like you don’t stay in one place for too long.”

 

“Nope. I lived in Nashville, Tennessee for three months.”

 

Trey spoke up, “Hey, I lived in Nashville, the first eleven years of my life.”   

 

I laughed. Trey had told me that before, but it is very hard to imagine this big-time Californian surfer living in Nashville, Tennessee. The only evidence that he ever lived there is his major hick accent.  

 

I continued telling where I have previously lived. “I lived in Hoover, Alabama for four months. New Orleans for four months, also. Houston, Texas three months; Dallas five; and Amarillo four. We lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico for two months. “

 

“Only two months?” Kristiana asked, astonished.

 

“Yep.” I answered. “I lived in Phoenix, Arizona for…let’s see...about four months and then we moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. We lived in Vegas for seven months, and then moved here. We’ve lived here for about two and a half years.”

 

“Wow. That’s pretty crazy,” Kristiana said.

 

“I agree,” Trey spoke up.

 

 “Hey, Trey, remember that one year when they tried to put me into French class?”

 

“Yeah, I remember that. Pretty funny.” he replied.

 

“They tried to put you in French class?” Kristiana asked.

 

“Yeah, I went to class the first day without saying any thing, just for kicks.”

 

“Yeah, turned out she knew more French than the teacher,” Trey added, laughing a little.

 

Kristiana joined in on the laughing. “That’s pretty funny. So what’d you do, just start rapidly speaking in French?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Nice,” she answered, laughing again. “Say something in French.”

 

“Quelque chose en français.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“Something in French, what you told me to say.”

 

Kristiana laughed. “Say something else, and not literally.”

 

“Trey est mon ami. Ainsi vous ne pouvez pas le prendre, il est le mien!”

 

”What does that mean?”

 

“Trey is my boyfriend. So you can’t take him, he’s mine!” I translated. “Yeah, I saw you eyeing him.” I added.

 

Kristiana laughed. “Sorry. But, hey, that’s pretty impressive.” She said.

 

“Hey, you ought to say that more often. You know, like all of those times where you find girls flirting with me, and trying to get my attention.”

 

“I’ll remember that, Trey.”

 

“Hey, how’d you get that scar? And what happened to your leg?”

 

I grinned, and quickly told her the story.

 

            The lunch bell rang and we left for fifth hour, and mine is now Home Economics. Home Economics is so boring. And so not cool. Jaysson got stuck in it, too.

 

            “Dude! This is so cramping my style,” he said.

 

            “Dude! What style?” I asked.

 

            Jaysson shot me a look and opened his mouth to say something. But before he could, the teacher walked in.

 

            The bell rang. The rest of class hours went by normally. Football was interesting, though. All the guys were glad to see Jaysson and I back, but, of course, we were still on crutches and could not practice. Trey, with his broken arm, could not practice either. So the three of us sat on the bleachers and talked and watched the guys practice. Since there was a game right after practice, they practiced hard.

 

            Oh I wish I could play! We are losing so badly! That's a new record for the lowest score ever. Forty-eight to five. No joke. FORTY-EIGHT TO FIVE! What is wrong with our team? We can not play football! Oh come on Trev, make the touchdown. Trevor! How could you screw that up?! Oh my goodness!

 

            The team left the field ashamed and embarrassed. Boy, Coach is gonna make them practice really hard tomorrow!

 

            "Well Jaysson, I'll see ya later. I gotta drive Trey home."

 

            "See ya Jaquelyne. So are you just gonna drive him around now, or what?"

 

            "Well he did help pay for my car in the first place. I could at least let him ride in it."

 

            "Yeah, but didn't I also help pay for it?"

 

            "Yes."

 

            "You didn't drive me around when I didn't have my own car."

 

            "You had a rental! Oh my gosh stop distracting me! I have to go!"

 

            Jaysson laughed. "Well, I'll see ya tomorrow."

 

            "Yeah, see ya."

 

            I hop into the driver's seat; Trey hops into the passenger’s seat. I drove him home.