Always Remember

Here it goes, we’re going to try something totally new and you are going to get involved. I’m going to start a story and you, the readers, are going to roll with it. I’ll set the scene and let you take it wherever it needs to go. Each day or two, I will pick the best response as the next part of the story. After you add something to the story, pass the link onto your friends so they can add something to it as well. Who knows, maybe we’ll create something amazing.

It wasn’t all her fault, she hadn’t been the one driving, she hadn’t even wanted to go to that party, but because of her Ethan was dead.

It had happened the summer before her senior year and just the thought of that night chilled her to her core. He was her high school sweetheart, her best friend, and because of her he was dead. Ethan would never get to graduate and he would never get to live out the life he could have. They could have gotten married, had a family and lived happily ever after, but because of her their dreams were crushed. It was all her fault, Ethan died, he’s gone and he’s never coming back.

“Stop it Brooke, just stop it”, she thought to herself, “It’s not your fault you didn’t kill him. He was drunk, he wanted to drive home you couldn’t stop him”.

Why had she done this to herself yet again? It had been 6 months since the accident and she still couldn’t stop thinking about it. Every time she had just a little bit of peace Ethan was the first thing that popped into her mind. She couldn’t control it and because of it her whole life was spinning into a downward spiral. Her grades were suffering, her friends stopped hanging out with her (they just never knew what to say to her anymore) and everyone in town pitied her. Every time she sat down in class she would drift back to that night. She could still hear Ethan’s screams as the tractor trailer truck crashed into the side of his car. She could still hear him whisper, “I love you” as the light drained from his eyes and then he was gone.

If she had have just stopped him like she knew she should have, but he had argued with her about it and she didn’t want to start a fight, so she let him drive home. He had downed way more beers before and his house was only a mile away from the party down at the river, how much could really happen within a mile? So she let him drive, she had been drinking too and he had drove home drunk many times before, nothing bad had ever happened. But this night was different, something was off and he wasn’t thinking when he ran through that stop sign. Maybe if she hadn’t told him she was finally ready, he wouldn’t have been in such a rush. But he was in a rush and that stop sign was just one more obstacle between him and sex with her, so he blew straight through it. 

The sixteen wheeler couldn’t have possibly stopped in time, the impact was instant and Ethan’s car was hit so hard that it barrel rolled four times before finally coming to a stop, flipped upside-down. The only thing that saved her was her seatbelt, as it was, her injuries were so bad that she remained in the hospital for 3 weeks after the crash. She hadn’t even gotten to go to Ethan’s funeral; she was in surgery that day. If only he had have stopped, they would be spending their senior year together and everything would have been fine, if only she had have stopped him, he would still be alive.

The bell rang and fourth period AP English was over, she had spent the past hour and a half, in which she was supposed to be writing an essay on Folklore throughout the ages, going back to that dark part of her past. She had gone back to that part of her life she wanted to free herself from, but that chained her down and made her lay awake at night. She drudged into her computers class and found a station that was partially isolated from the rest of the class.

Five minutes had gone by, when all of a sudden she heard a knock on the door. When she looked up, she noticed a tall guy with a medium build and cocky grin standing in the doorway. He handed a slip to the computer teacher, Mr. Carlson, who then nodded at him (in the way only old men who think they are still cool can do) and cleared his throat as he normally did before he made an announcement.

“Class”, Mr. Carlson muttered “I’d like to introduce you all to our new student Josh, he’s a transfer student from New York. I hope all of you will make him feel welcome. Josh you can find a seat.”

Brooke looked back down and tried to finish her project. She was just making a new tab on the website she was designing when she noticed a shadow hanging over her. She looked up and her heart backflipped. He was standing right in front of her, and for the first time in a long time she didn’t mind being around another person. His deep brown eyes looked down at her and for one split second she remembered the person she was before Ethan’s accident.

Josh had an athletic build and chiseled body that sent tingles into the tips of her fingers.

“But wait,” Brooke thought to herself, “You can’t do this. Ethan is gone and he was your one and only, you can’t do this to him, you can’t like another guy”.

Just as Brooke was about to turn back to her work and forget she ever saw Josh, he spoke, “Hey, is this seat taken?”

Brooke sat there frozen in her seat. Her heart was screaming, “YES” at the top of its lungs, but her head was telling her she couldn’t, not after what had happened to Ethan. She didn’t know what to say to him. He looked irresistible in his ripped jeans and black t-shirt. It was something that Ethan would have never worn. He was more of a sweater and slacks kind of guy. He was preppy; he played sports and was a big man on campus. 

Brooke looked up, suddenly realizing that she was taking way too long to answer. Josh was just standing there with a puzzled look on his face, which was understandable. He should be confused, how would he know that asking to sit next to her would cause her such an inner turmoil.

Brooke realized she needed to answer him soon or he might think she was crazy. She heard the words come out of her mouth, but she didn’t even know what she was saying, when she said, “No the seats not taken, at least not until you sit down”.

Brooke was in shock, she had never flirted so blatantly before, in fact her former self would have been mortified, but in a way she kind of liked it.

“Wait Brooke aren’t you forgetting someone?” she said to herself.

If she could give into temptation that easily, she didn’t know what else Josh would make her want to do, this new Brooke was beginning to scare her. She couldn’t let herself forget all about Ethan, at least not after one guy simply asked her if he could sit down. She decided that she needed to focus on her work and not talk to Josh at all, it was just too risky. Every once in a while she found herself glancing over to look at him. She couldn’t stop herself, he was just so different from anyone she had ever met before.

But wait, he was looking at her too. Every time she glanced over she noticed his eyes were glued to her. Apparently he couldn’t keep his eyes off her either. His eyes looked like they were penetrating her soul. He looked at her in a way that no one, even Ethan, had ever looked at her before. It was as if he truly understood her and they had only just met. He moved his hand and it brushed hers. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought it was going to jump out of her chest. She needed to get out of there before she screamed.

When the bell rang Brooke grabbed her things and got out of there as quickly as possible. She was zigzagging through the hallway when she heard someone call her name. When she turned around she saw Ariana, her best friend, pre accident.

They had stayed close for the few weeks after Ethan had died and Ariana had come to visit her when she was in the hospital, but when Brooke started pulling away from the social aspects of life she had once been involved in, Ariana couldn’t handle it.

Brooke had thought that Ariana was her best friend, but it turned out Ariana was only there for her when the problems involved planning a dance or a wardrobe malfunction. Brooke realized that Ariana could never be the friend she needed in order to get her through the tough times in her life, so she pulled away. Brooke isolated herself from Ariana and the rest of her old group of friends. Sometimes when she walked through the hallway she would see Ariana and they would smile in each other’s direction, but they hadn’t spoken in 3 months, so the fact that Ariana was trying to talk to her was a bit of a shock.

Brooke opened her mouth to talk, but before she could get the words to come out, Ariana stopped her. “Look, I know we haven’t talked in a while and I know that’s partially my fault, but I really miss hanging out with you. We used to have so much fun together, well…before the accident. I still can’t believe it ever happened. Ethan was such a good guy and it’s so sad, but it’s way past time to move on. So anyways, I’m having a little party at my house and I sooo totally want you to come. It’s gonna be so much fun”.

The way Ariana talked about the accident so nonchalantly sickened Brooke to her core. Every fiber of her being was enraged. Ariana hadn’t lost her boyfriend in the accident. She hadn’t been in the hospital for three weeks and she hadn’t lost the one person in her life she could depend on.

Ariana and Ethan barely knew each other. If Brooke and Ethan hadn’t been dating, Ariana would have never even talked to Ethan. Brooke needed to get out of there, her heart was racing. She couldn’t breath, it felt like all the air in the hall was sucked out by a vacuum. She needed to leave, but she knew that once Ariana got an idea in her head there was no letting go.

Brooke quickly said yes, not because she wanted to go, but in order to get Ariana off her back. Ariana told her the details, but Brooke wasn’t listening. As soon as Ariana left, Brooke bolted to the door. 

Heart pounding, Brooke stepped out into the courtyard. She couldn’t get her breathing to regulate and she felt the panic attack rush over her. She tried to take deep breaths like her doctor had told her, but she still found herself gasping for air. “In two, three, four, out two, three, four.”

She repeated the calming technique to herself as her chest heaved with great effort. She was getting her heart to slow and along with it so did her breathing. When Brooks had recovered she gave herself a minute to compose herself and she went back into school. She went to the office and signed herself out. She needed a break from school, and it wasn’t as if she would miss anything important while she was gone, she didn’t learn anything when she was there anyways.

Brooke got in her car and just drove for a while. Driving always cleared her head and she really needed to think. She couldn’t keep living like this, she couldn’t keep fleeing every time Ethan was brought up, but she still couldn’t forgive herself for what happened that night and until she forgave herself, she couldn’t move on with her life.

After driving around for an hour and stopping at the park that she and Ethan used to have picnics in, Brooke finally decided to go home. It wasn’t until she had been parked in her driveway for a few minutes that she noticed the moving truck next door.

She had seen the for sale sign up for months outside of the little cookie cutter house next door to hers and she didn’t know that anyone had bought it yet, but she guessed someone must have for the sign was gone and people were moving in.

Getting out of the car, she approached her house when she noticed a flash of brown hair flash by the moving truck. She had seen that hair color before, but she just couldn’t tell where she had seen it. It wasn’t just your ordinary shade of brown either. It was an inviting shade that both enticed you and made you want to stay away at the same time.

Just then it clicked. She remembered where she had seen that hair color before, but before she could run into the house he saw her and it was too late. Josh was her new neighbor. Brooke wanted to just give a quick wave and go into the house so she could forget all about the day she had just had, but she couldn’t Josh was already walking towards her.

“Hey, you’re Brooke right?” he asked in a tone only someone who is truly intrigued can speak in.

Brooke tried to say yes, but she was so shocked to discover Josh was her new neighbor, that all she could do to respond was nod her head.

“You’re in my computers class right?” he asked.

Again, all Brooke could do was nod in response.

“Ya, I thought I’d seen you before and I never forget a face. Especially faces that are as adorable as yours”

Brooke was blushing she knew that for sure, this guy was definitely a flirt, and that meant trouble. If he had have just been a hot guy with no personality that would have been one thing, but this guy was a charmer. He knew what he was doing, and even though this would have made most girls be apprehensive about letting him get to close, it just made Brooke more attracted to him.

“Thanks”, Brooke said as she was finally able to say something, “Like I’ve never heard that line before”.

Although it was extremely hard to resist Brooke had to stay strong and if she acted like she wasn’t interested she thought he might leave her alone. Little did she know to him this meant a challenge, and just like he never forgot a face, Josh never backed down from a challenge.

A quick smirk spread across Josh’s face, but he slowly regained his composure. “Oh don’t worry that’s not all I’ve got, I can go all night” Josh said as he winked.

“More like 45 seconds” Brooke said under her breath, but just loud enough for Josh to hear.

Brooke needed to go inside before she did or said anything she’d really regret. She turned around and walked inside her house leaving Josh standing there on her front porch. It took all of the strength she could muster not to just turn around and grab him by his shirt and make out with him on the spot, but she knew she couldn’t because Ethan was still there in the back of her mind. Josh was something she couldn’t let herself have; leaving him alone was a sacrifice she would have to make.

Brooke didn’t notice, but as she walked away, Josh looked a little stunned. He wasn’t too stunned as he still had time to take a quick look at her ass as she walked away, but still he was surprised. Most girls didn’t talk to him like that; just as his chase would begin the girl would crumble under his charm. Then they’d get clingy so he’d move onto the next girl that came his way. So, when Brooke didn’t immediately fall for him (so he thought) he was impressed. If there was one thing Josh liked in a girl (which there wasn’t, there were many things Josh liked about girls) it was someone who could keep him on his toes. He liked the chase and Brooke wouldn’t be as easy to catch as all the others.

As she walked up the stairs to her room Brooke caught herself doing something she hadn’t done in a very long time, she was smiling. This was one guy she was going to have a lot of trouble resisting…

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