Society Killed the Teenager

Do me a favor and just Die

The night went on with a blur. It was like I was in fast-forward mode. Everything and everyone else went past me like bullet. All I could remember was the different colored strobe lights flashing on and off at the bodies dancing close together to the beat. People were holding a red cup filled with liquid, and I realized I was holding one too. We were dancing, and having fun. Then Hailey went up to me, saying that she wanted to go outside and have some fresh air. I don't know what made us do it, but Hailey was already behind the wheel of her car. We were laughing and singing along to some random song on the radio. I noticed that Hailey was still drinking from the red cup; I asked if I could take a sip and she gladly shared the drink with me. I returned the cup to her, she was laughing and I couldn't help but join in. We went into a cross road and that's where everything went wrong. There was a bright light coming from Hailey's side, there was the long sound of a car horn going off. And then there was nothing.

I woke up to a pristine white room filled with alien machines attached to my body. I tried to sit up, but excruciating pain blinded me from anything else.

"Hey..." Ashton's face was suddenly in front of me. "How are you feeling?"  I wanted to scream at him and punch him senseless. How was I feeling? I felt like crap of course, did he think i felt like bursting into some happy dance? Okay, that was a bit harsh, so I said the most sensible thing that came into my mind...

"What happened?" I asked as I looked around, my eyes zeroed in on the IV stuck to my hand. Then the hospital door almost flew out of its hinges.

"Jeannelle! Thank God you're awake!" my father burst out running up to the bed. I just ignored the man and asked Ashton again.

"What happened?" I asked my voice heavy and demanding.

"You..." He started, took a deep breath and proceeded to explain in a rush. "You and Hailey got into a car accident. Hailey was driving, both of you were drunk, you didn't know what you guys were doing, didn't pay attention when you got into that cross road and then... You almost died." 

"Hailey... Where's Hailey? Is she here too? What happened to her?" I asked as I tried to stretch my neck to look out the open door, hoping that she'll come around miraculously. She'll be smiling and waving her red hair around, humming some tune while listening to her iPod. She'll hug me and tell me about the guy she met last night, describing how hot she felt with him. Hailey's here. I just know it.

Well, she..." Ashton dropped his gaze. I looked at him, my heart was suddenly beating fast; some machine next to me was creating beeping sounds to every beat of my heart.

My father scoffed, "It serves her right, though." he said before turning on the flat screen TV.

"What happened to her?!" I asked my voice higher than usual.

"Ssshhh sshh, Jeannelle. It's okay." Ashton said, caressing my hand. Flickers came on and off in the back of my mind, everything happened too fast. I began to tear up while still staring at Ashton's face. His hands went up to my face, brushing the tears away.

"Jeannelle, Hailey's dead." I guess I should've seen it coming. How stupid could I be? Of course she's dead! That light that I saw, probably came from a truck, we were going so fast, we didn't see it. And now she's dead. She's dead and it's all my fault.

"Jeannelle. Come on honey, don't cry..." My father tried to hold my other hand. But I swatted his hand away. 

"Serves her right?" I quoted him, fixing my gaze at my father. His golden hair glistening by the light from the open window. "How do you think that it serves her right?!" I yelled, the beeping from the machine getting frantic.

"First of all you could've died-" he tried to explain.

"I wish I was dead! It would be so much better if I were dead!” I exclaimed, my hands balled into fists.