Ashley's Crash

                “This is not a good idea, Ashley! You know what almost happened last time!”

                “Would you quit worrying, April? I know what I’m doing,” Ashley shouted at her friend. They had been best friends for years. Ashley had always been the independent, hard-headed, boy-crazy one while April had always been the quiet, down-to-earth type of one. April was a little more sensitive then Ashley though.

                “No, because I think you are making the biggest mistake of your life,” April said calmer then she had before. She wanted to maintain the calm, cool, and collective attitude with her best friend. Ashley didn’t want to hear anything of it.

                “April, how many times have I done this before? About a thousand,” she said while gulping the last of her beer down. Ashley was drinking illegally of course since she was still under the drinking age. April didn’t approve of her drinking and Ashley knew that.

                “I know, but it is very dangerous now. And no you haven’t done this a thousand times. You have only done that once and you almost died. Do you think I want to hear the news that my best friend died in a car crash? No, I really don’t want to hear that. I’ve told you before that I would not get into the car with you when you have been drinking. I should have told your mother a long time ago that you have been drinking,” she said with a disapproving look in her eyes. Ashley wanted to go to her boyfriend, Todd’s house for the night. She wanted to sleep over there because she didn’t want to be at home. Ashley had gotten grounded because her mother had found out that she was drinking. She didn’t know who told her, but now she does.

                “You’re the one who told her? I trusted you, April! Why did you tell her,” Ashley said angrily and kicked the side of her car.

                “To make sure that you didn’t do anything stupid. Like drinking and driving again. You almost died last time, remember?”

                “Yes, I remember, but you didn’t have to go and get me grounded,” she said with a frown on her face. She tried to pick up another can of beer, but April stopped her.

                “You are not drinking another beer,” April said. Ashley glared at her and she took the can away from her and got into the car. Before April could try to stop Ashley from speeding down the road she pulled away.

                April got angrily into her car and followed her best friend to her boyfriend’s house. Ashley was now worried about her best friend. Her mother and father went out to dinner that night. They didn’t know that Ashley was gone.

                The only person that knew was Ashley who had went over earlier in the day. She knew that Ashley wasn’t really supposed to have anyone over. She only went over to see what Ashley was doing and she knew that it was going to be something bad.

                She saw that Ashley’s car was starting to swerve on the road. That was not a good sign and there was a big truck in front of her. The truck was holding gas in it and April knew that if Ashley hit that truck horrible things would happen.

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                Ashley could see the truck in front of her and decided that she was going to use the back roads to get to her boyfriend’s house. That would take her a little longer to get to Todd’s house, but she didn’t care. She wanted to get to his house to get away from her parents.

                She picked up her phone that was sitting right next to her and saw that April was calling. She ignored the call because she was mad at her best friend. She thought her brother had told her Mom that she had been drinking. Her younger brother knew that she had been drinking, but he knew how his older sister was and didn’t want to tell on her. He would have gotten the stuffing knocked out of him. She would never hit her best friend though and her brother knew that.

                She received another call from someone and she saw that it was Todd.

                “Hey Todd, what’s going on,” she said to her boyfriend.

                “Nothing, where are you right now,” he asked. Todd was waiting for Ashley to get over to his place. He loved when Ashley wanted to sleep over. She only would sleep over his house when she got into a fight with her parents. She hated to be in the house and would leave. Her parents never knew she left until the morning.

                “I have to take the back roads because there was a stupid truck filled with oil in front of me,” Ashley said. She knew that it was dangerous to be talking on the phone, but she didn’t care. She was in love with Todd and that was how it was going to stay.

                “Well why don’t you cut him off,” Todd asked.

                “Are you crazy? I’m not trying to kill myself,” Ashley responded. She heard Todd laughing and she had a smile on her face.

                “I was just joking, honey. You know I would never tell you to do that, Ash,” Todd responded. Ashley just laughed right along with him. She wasn’t paying attention to the road at that point. She didn’t notice that she was in the wrong lane. She realized when she heard a car horn beep. She couldn’t stop her car in time. Todd heard everything in the background and he was worried.

                “Ashley,” Todd said into the phone, but he didn’t get an answer from her.

                A few seconds later April got out of her car along with the other driver from the car. The other driver called the police to report the accident. April tapped on her window, but Ashley wasn’t moving.

                “Excuse me, miss, do you think I can borrow your cell phone? I want to call the ambulance for my friend.” The lady handed her cell phone over to April and she dialed 9-1-1. April told the whole story and they said someone will be there right away. April looked at the damage done to Ashley’s car. She saw that the whole front of her car was smashed in. April couldn’t look at Ashley lying limp in the car. She didn’t know if she was dead or alive.

                She didn’t know what she would do without her best friend. She didn’t want to think about that now. April went over to her own car to get her cell phone. She was getting a call from an unknown number, but she answered the phone anyway.

                “Hello, how may I help you,” she said politely to the person on the phone.

                “April, it’s Todd, do you know if Ashley is okay,” he asked in a hurry.

                “I don’t know, Todd. I seriously don’t know, but I called an ambulance they should be here soon. Do you want me to come pick you up? I know you want to be here,” April said.

                “Yes, please hurry,” Todd said while putting some clothes on. April could hear the worry in his voice. She knew that Todd truly cared for Ashley. He was the one who cared about Ashley’s life. He was furious when he found out she was drinking. He tried to understand, but he couldn’t.

                “I’ll be there in two minutes. Miss I will be right back I’m picking up her boyfriend. Are you going to stay here,” she asked. She hung up the phone on Todd.

                “Yes, dear, I will be here,” she said. April smiled a small smile and jumped into her car. She drove off and it literally took two minutes to get to Todd’s house. Todd was standing outside waiting for her. He had a frown plastered on his face. He jumped in the car and on the way there they didn’t say a word at all. They got there and Todd had a horrified look on his face. He saw that the ambulance had gotten there. They had gotten Ashley out of the car.

                While on the way to the hospital the ambulance tried to jump start Ashley’s heart. They couldn’t revive her. She became a DOA. Her family was called. April was the one to call them. She was holding Todd as he cried.

                April was crying herself, but silently. She knew she should have made Ashley stay home that night. She didn’t know what else to do or say. She lost her best and she blamed herself…it was her fault that she crashed.