Pead (trans; pain)

Sitting there surrounded by balloons and flowers were Jack and Alex. I stopped in shock and then laughing and giving them a quick wave, I went back to my seat. After what seemed like forever, they finally started calling people’s names. Smiling, I cheered along with everyone else as one by one we all went up onto the stage and got our diplomas. The only damper on the day came when it was Kayla’s turn to go up.


I inwardly groaned and thought back to all that had happened at prom. The day started out wonderfully. All us girls went over to Merry’s house to get ready because Merry’s mom owned a salon and had offered to do all our hair and make-up, free of charge. I got there at 11 to see if there was anything I could do to help but her mom, Jules told me to go sit and relax so Merry and I ended up just talking and chilling until everyone else go there.

As we were waiting for out turns with Jules and Mellissa, the make-up artist that Julia had asked for help, we sat around eating, talking and taking tons of pictures. When we were all finally dressed and ready and all the guys were waiting for us downstairs without limo, we all looked each other and smiling did a giant group hug.

We went to dinner at a nice restaurant and had a blast and when we finally got to prom, the night just got better. The music was blasting, people were dancing and it was just so amazing and beautiful. My date, Will and I spent I think 95% of the time on the dance floor and it is probably some of my favorite memories from high school. Will and I had known each other for a few years through school and because he lived next door. I knew that he had liked me but I had been too busy mooning over Kevin to ever really notice, so when he asked me to prom, I was surprised to say the least. I agreed and I am happy I did because we had so much fun together.

“I don’t wanna miss a thing” by Aerosmith is one of my favorite songs of all time, and Will knew that so when the song came up, he pulled me close and as we danced, he sang the song softly to me. It was one of the most romantic things anyone had ever done for me and after the song was over, I went on tip-toe and kissed him for the first time.

Prom ended at 1 am and we all piled into the limo to go Kevin’s house to get all the cars because we couldn’t afford to rent the limo for much longer. I went with Will and he helped me into his corolla and we followed the cars in front of us. Somehow we all ended up at a local elementary school and ran to the play ground and started swinging on the swings. We were there for more than 2 hours and only left when we saw a light go on, in a house across the street.

We then headed to a nearby town and went to breakfast at IHOP. We must have looked horribly over dressed in our dresses and tux’s because the waitresses started laughing when they saw us. I know that we made a lot of noise and ended up leaving IHOP at almost 5 in the morning.

Standing in the parking lot, Will pulled me aside and said “Don’t you have to go home? How are you going to explain being out so late to your parents?”

Laughing, I said “no. They know that I’m spending the night at Merry’s house so they are sleeping at home, worry free”

He pulled me into his arms and we stood there hugging, slightly apart from the rest of the group until I heard Kevin yell “hey you two, come back here”

I was wondering if it was just my imagination or did he sound slightly annoyed, when Will whispered in my ear, “he sounds jealous”

Laughing I tugged Will’s arm and we walked back to the group. “What was so important that we had to be here for” I asked Kevin, in mock anger

Everyone around us laughed and Kevin just looked more annoyed and almost snapped at me “we were all just discussing what we wanted to do next. Split up or do something else as a group”

“It's almost 5 in the morning” I said “I think it might be time for us to split up and head home”

Everyone agreed and Merry asked me “Do you want to ride with me and Caleb or is Will going to give you a ride to my house?”

I looked at Will and he said “I’ll give her a ride to your house but we might be a while”

“Okay” Merry said and waving bye to everyone we all got into our cars. Will started the car and asked “do you want me to take you home right now?”

“If you have something else in mind, its fine” I said “Jules doesn’t really care when we get home as long as the other knows where we are”

Smiling, Will drove on the highway and we settled into a comfortable silence only broken when one of us made a comment about the amazing night. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, Will was gently shaking me awake. Smiling, I let him help me out of the car and realized that we were near the ocean because I could smell and feel it.

He grabbed my hand and we walked in silence for a few minutes until we stopped at the top of cliff. Glancing down, I saw the dark ocean, restlessly violent and looking up, I saw the sun just starting to rise.

I smiled at him and he put his arms around me and we silently watched the sun come up. Looking into his eyes, I felt for the first time in a long time, butterflies in my stomach, for someone other than Kevin. I knew right then and there that there was something between Will and I and I wondered if I was going to take the chance because that meant, moving on from Kevin.

I saw his face coming closer to mine and suddenly the peace was shattered by both his cell phone and mine, ringing. I grabbed my purse and fished for my phone while Will grabbed his from his pocket.

I saw that I had a text message on mine from Merry and opened it. I stared in shock at the screen as my mind read over and over again “Kevin & Kayla were in a car wreck. They were hit by a drunk driver and both of them are in the hospital”…