That Summer

Eleven

Chapter Eleven ~ "Accident"

•Quinn Shoenfield•

Guilt. At some point, every person has done something they are not very proud of and the guilt eats them alive.

Well, that's exactly what happened to me. Guilt had consumed me and I could not even think straight without remembering every single detail of that evening. How his car and the other driver's hit the border and burst into flames. How the firefighters had wrenched his limp body out of the flaming car. How bloody his leather jacket and whirt shirt were and how his arm was twisted in a weird angle. But most of all, I remembered how pale and lifeless Kade looked when they took him on that wretched stretcher.

"Quinn," Kyra sighed, for the umpteenth time. "It was not your fault. It was nobody's fault. No one knew what was going to happen."

"I was the one who told him to take part. Heck, I was the one who suggested we even go to that stupid car race." I groaned. "It's my fault. He's still not out of the hospital. It's been three days, Ky!"

"At least he's conscious now," Kyra muttered. "But if you feel that bad, why don't you go pay him a visit?" She suggested.

"And do what? He hates me, Ky. Heck, we fought even before the race started." I grumbled. "If I go, it'll just be super awkward."

"Hmm . . . go with a peace offering," Kyra suggested.

"A peace offering?" I echoed.

"Yeah, like a gift or something. And then apologise, I guess." Kyra shrugged.

"Apologise for what exactly?" I narrowed my eyes.

"For whatever it is that you'll fought about." She rolled her eyes.

"But I wasn't wrong. He was accusing me for no reason!" I exclaimed.

Kyra narrowed her eyes at me, "Do you want him to feel worse? Just swallow your pride for once, Quinn, and do something nice for someone, for a change."

"For a change? I'm always nice, Kyra." I defended myself.

"To who?" Kyra laughed. "Other than me, you're not nice to people in general, Quinn, let's face it."

"Fine," I sighed in defeat. "I'll swallow my pride and apologise."

"Good girl," Kyra smirked in victory.

•••

"Hey, uh, I think one of my friends came here around three days ago-" I began, hesitantly.

"For the race?"

"Yeah, he rented a car but it got crashed?" I said.

"Oh, you mean Kade? You're Kade's friend, right?" The guy asked.

"Yeah, I'm Quinn," I introduced.

"Curt," He shrugged. "How may I help you?"

"How do I pay for the replacement or the insurance of the car?" I inquired.

"Insurance." Curt said. "And that was an extremely expensive car. The insurance is a lot of money."

"How much is it? I'd like to pay it now." I said, unfazed.

"It needs to be paid in cheque." Curt said.

"So, I'll pay it," I rolled my eyes. "How much?"

"$50,000." Curt replied. "You can bring the cheque tomorrow, if you'd like."

"I can't give it now?" I asked, confused.

"You have that kind of money with you now?" He gaped.