It was the end of the first day of school. I was in a hurry, because I was late for the auditions being held for our school's production of 'Romeo and Juliet.' I was turning the corner and all of the sudden something big was looming in my way. Me and my books both went flying.
"I'm sorry! Are you okay?" A hand was shoved into my face. I slowly looked up at his face and all I could do was stare. He had short spiked blonde hair, a deep tan, and these beautiful, piercing eyes.
Slowly I took his hand and pulled myself up, all the while staring into those beautiful eyes. "I'm-I'm
sorry...I didn't mean-" I looked away. "I'm such a klutz." I reached down and began to pick up my
books. The guy bent down and helped me. "Thanks," I said shyly.
"So, where were you heading off to in such a hurry?" He smiled a gorgeous smile.
My face slowly began to turn pink and as I continued to talk, I felt it slowly darken to a shade of
red. "Drama auditions. I'm late and I don't wanna lose my nerve." I looked down at my face,
allowing my hair to cover my flushed face.
"Really? That's cool...I just auditioned myself. By the way my name's Eric Calhoun." He held out his hand.
Once again I put my hand into his. "Savanah....Savanah Smith."
"Savanah...What a beautiful name...Well, it's nice to meet you." He didn't let go right away and I
could feel tingles running up and down my arm. When he did let go he glanced at his watch. "Well, I
have to go, but good luck." As I started to walk by him he stopped me. "Can I have your number?" I
looked up at him, surprised. He just smiled at me. I was still in shock as I wrote my number and
name on his hand. "Thanks." I walked off in a daze.
He didn't call me that night...not that I expected him to. But Eric was full of surprises, as I would find out later. The next day at school I heard rumors about our new quarterback. He was supposedly really cute. I didn't find out what his name was until lunch time and when I found out I was so surprised...I bet you could never guess who it was...Yup...good guess, it was Eric. That's when I made up my mind that he wouldn't ever call me. He'd have all the beautiful girls lined up to date him so he wouldn't want anyone as plain as me. But that night I was surprised when the phone rang and it was Eric. He even asked me out. We went out on a few dates and to a few "in-crowd" parties and all of the sudden I was popular.
It was a dream come true for me. And the dream just kept getting better and better. At first I didn't notice it, but Eric wasn't dating anyone else when we were just in the "dating" stage. Eventually all of them just left him alone and then we became "boyfriend and girlfriend." And we even starred in
'Romeo and Juliet' together. We were spending all or time together and loving every minute of it. I
even began to think about the future with him...ya know, forever....But I was about to learn that
nothing lasted forever.
My dream became a nightmare at the very end of the school year. It was six days until graduation
and it was prom. We were celebrating our soon-to-be freedom. If only we'd known how the night
would turn out...Maybe we could've prevented it.
We were on our way to Chris's after-prom party when tragedy struck. As we drove down Main
Street, we were singing along to 'California Girls' by the Beach Boys. We were having fun and had
no idea of what was about to happen. We were only a block away from the party, when a car came
speeding off of the street we were about to turn on to.
It's headlights weren't on and it was going to fast for us to do anything. It hit Eric's side of the car and pushed us from the left turn lane into someone's house. By the time we hit the house I was
unconscious. The last thing I remember is hearing Eric whispering my name. That whisper would
haunt me forever.
"Savanah?" It was very faint. "Savanah...Baby?"
When I came to I was still in the car. I don't know how long had passed, but I knew that it couldn't have been that long. I glanced down and saw that my white dress was now spotted with scarlet. The entire area where my stomach is was soaked with blood. I glanced at Eric and found that he looked worse than I did. There was blood everywhere and his face...I will never forget his face...I started at the face that had once been so beautiful, that was now mutilated beyond recognition. I tried to scream, but I couldn't take a deep enough breath. I had started sobbing without realizing it. I tried to scream again, but ended up passing it.
I didn't wake up until hours later. My parents were sitting in chairs on either side of the hospital bed. As my eyes opened, they both jumped up and I noticed the tears in their eyes. I couldn't remember what had happened...and I wouldn't be able to until nearly a year later.
Since I had no idea what happened, I asked. "What happened?" My mom looked at me and began to sob. She tried to control herself, but couldn't succeed and ran from the room.
My dad took my hand and took a deep breath before looking me in the eye. "You were in a car
accident....You and Eric...You were on your way to Chris's party when you were hit by a drunk
driver....The drunk driver was Chris. He was driving him and his cousin, Alex, to the store for more
beer for the party."
Tears filled my eyes and I could feel the dread filling my stomach. "WHERE'S ERIC?!?! HOW IS HE?!?! I WANNA SEE HIM?!?!"
My dad looked away. "He...He...ummm...He's dead, Savanah....He died on the way to the
hospital...Brian and Kevin are fine...There was no damage." My dad kept talking, but I tuned him
out. I just kept crying and calling out Eric's name.
It's been exactly a year tonight and I'm sure that you're wondering WHY I'm telling you this. Well,
this is my final gift to the world...It's mine and Eric's story. I want everyone to read it and learn from
it, since I won't be around to tell it. I won't be around because tonight I was hit by a drunk woman
on her way home from a business dinner. And I was told that I only had an hour left to live. So,
please...Don't drink and drive. Do it for all of those people who have been killed or seriously injured
by drunk drivers...One day it might be you or one of your friends....You never know, because
drinking and driving can only cause pain.