his hands and peered down at me with determined eyes. “So, listen to me, eyes ahead.”
I nodded at him giving me his father’s tagline.
“Eyes ahead,” I confirmed with a firm nod and a smile.
My alarm went off on my phone, signaling it was eleven thirty, so we needed to start wrapping up to get home before curfew.
“Time goes by so fast,” he said, wrapping his hand around mine and leading me back toward the car.
Kedsey’s phone must have gone off because she and Noah were waiting at the car, looking like they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
“Let’s go. Kedsey’s mom called, and she’s about to call you.” Noah pointed to me, and at the same time, my phone rang.
I pulled it out of my pocket, noticing Kedsey’s home phone number. “Hi, Mrs. Bishop. Yep, we’re on our way home. Having a bite with the boys after the game. Sure will. Yep. Bye, Mrs. Bishop.”
I shook my head at Noah. “She sure doesn’t like you,” I commented as we climbed back into the car.
“Ever since she caught me in her house one night, I swear, the woman has hated me.” Noah held his hands up in the air.
“Dickhead, you were half-naked with your dick in Kedsey,” Crosby mentioned what Noah had failed to.
We all laughed.
“You should have seen her face of horror. Like I was stark naked, requesting her pussy.”
Kedsey slapped Noah on the shoulder.
“Ouch. You know it’s true. I mean, we’re two hot-blooded teenagers. Who’d be surprised we were fucking?”
He held his hands up, so she smacked his stomach.
“She’s my mother and supposed to believe in my virtue,” Kedsey chimed in.
We all laughed again.
“Sorry, babe. I took that virtue as soon as you sucked me off.”
Crosby held his hand up in the air. “Okay, way too much info, dude.” He glanced over at me and winked.
I was like a cat, wanting more of whatever he was going to give me. I loved this guy.
“Let’s get Kedsey home before you never get sucked off again,” I added.
Crosby rolled his eyes.
We pulled out of the gravel path overlooking our small town, and Crosby turned down the road. We drove for a while, singing and dancing to “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Kedsey unbuckled herself and leaned forward to sing the chorus with me.
We held the future in our hands. The boys were state champs, and we were going to college.
Then, Crosby slammed on the brakes, the car swerved, and soon, everything went black.
I found out later that I’d been unconscious for a good part of a day.
When I opened my eyes, Crosby was at my bedside, pacing back and forth, nibbling on his lip, like he did when he was nervous. A bandage was wrapped on the right side of his forehead. Scratches were on his face, and his left arm was in a sling.
“Hey,” I said, pulling him away from whatever was bothering him. I moved my hand, only to find a needle stuck in it. “What? Where are we?” I mumbled. I noticed the white sheets, white floor, and the turned off television hanging on the wall next to a dry-erase board stating my name and my doctor. My doctor? “Oh my God!” I screamed.
Crosby rushed over, grabbing my hand. “Calm down, baby. The accident?” he questioned, as though I should remember.
I didn’t. I remembered singing “Thrift Shop” with Kedsey’s cheek pressed along mine as we did our own rendition. Then, it all flashed in my eyes—the headlights, the squealing of tires.
He gripped my hand harder now, using both of his hands, and I saw it in his eyes before the words left his mouth.
“Noah and Kedsey…”
I shook my head. If he didn’t say it, it wasn’t true.
“They didn’t make it,” he finished.
A loud scream shattered in the room.
Nurses, my parents, and Crosby’s parents rushed into the room. Instantly, tears streamed down my face, and my body started to shake. Crosby climbed into the bed, ignoring the nurses’ protests. He held my head to his chest, and the sound of his beating heart calmed me until my body’s shakes were small trembles. My mom’s hand smoothed down my hair, and the two of them whispered how everything would be okay, but things were far from okay.
“I’m so sorry,” Jen says next to me.
I shrug, as though attending your friends’ funerals at the start of your adulthood isn’t a big deal. Like I have it all together, but I am displacing, like the therapist nagged.
“Crosby and I were in the car,”