It’s all a blur. I hear screeching of car breaks and explosions going off. I hear screaming beside me. I want to scream too, but nothing will come out. Heat overwhelms me. I try to move but I can’t. My legs are being pinched between two layers of thick heavy metal. My body has become numb. I look over to see if she is still there. I see her there with a big gash across her head and blood running down her nose. I try to reach for her but I can’t. Then everything goes black. It may sound like action adventure movie, but it’s not. It’s the day I lost one of my best friends.
“Hey Daisy, wait up!” Alicia calls after me while I walk to my car after 7th period for senior release. I stop and wait for her to catch up.

“Hear about the cross country meeting tomorrow for people that want to go out,” she asks.

“Yes and I’m super excited!!! My mom has an eye doctor appointment that I have to go to with her. I have to drive her home because they are going to dilate her eyes, so I won’t make it. So let coach know and just fill me on what happens, and I’ll be set for the season! Bring on the heat!”

I stop by my driver sidecar door and Alicia does her little dance where she runs in place and adds dance moves. I laugh, open the car door and throw my stuff in.
“Call me!” she yells.
“You know I always do,” and I get in my car and go. My car is an old, green Volkswagen Beetle. It has quite a few miles on it and there is rust growing up the left front wheel. Hanging from the window is a necklace with a daisy on it and the license plate says “Luv2Run” on it.

I stop by my house; Drop off my stuff, and head to work. I work at the little smoothie shack in the mall. The smoothie shack is one of the smallest shops in the mall. The walls are painted in bright green and orange stripes and have old posters hanging off them. The people are smiling like it was the greatest day of there lives cause they drank a smoothie. The cash register has to be one of the oldest cashiers on the planet. It’s one of those that you’ll find at a museum. It even has the little circle buttons like the old typewriter! My boss doesn’t want to get rid of it cause she thinks people will want to see it, and get a smoothie while there are at it. Once I arrive, I see Emily at the counter reading a Seventeen magazine. I walk up and open the counter door and ask, “Reading the latest gossip?” I toss my bag under the counter and sit on the chair next to Emily.
“No, just checking out the latest fashion. What do you think of this dress?” She points at a shadowy blue dress that goes about down to the knee and has sequence in a pattern down the thigh.
“Not my color, but I think it would look good on you.” I stand up and walk to the back and grab my apron.

“You think?” she asks as she helps me tie the back of the apron.

“Yeah. Has it been busy?”

“No. I had time to finish all my homework for tomorrow.” She takes off her apron and grabs her purse and clocks out. “Don’t forget that Emma’s not coming in so you’re going to have to lock up. See you later!”

“Bye.” I clock and in and go sit in front of the cashier. The mall is dead, only a couple stragglers. I pull out my newest book from underneath the counter, The Hunger Games. I check one last time for people, and I begin to read from where I left off. I read for about 20 min. until a couple of kids come up and order two smoothies.
After the two girls leave, I clean up the floor and counters, check how much supplies we have, and soon enough it’s time to shut down. I grab my stuff and start to close down. I lock up the gate and head out the door.

Outside it looks like it’s about to rain any second. The clouds are deep blue and are laying low like they’re about to start showering on me. I walk quickly to my car. I start digging my car keys out of my pocket when it starts raining like cats and dogs. I quickly find my key and get in my car. I start it up and drive away. When I finally make it to the highway, I turn on the radio. Then I see a guy walking down the sidewalk trying to cover the rain with his jacket. I’ve got the feeling to pull over, but I stop myself. He could be a creep; still it’s down pouring. Maybe I could give him my umbrella. I pull over and roll down my window. “Do you want a ride?” I ask.

“No, it’s alright my house is just up the street, but thanks.”

“Well can I at least offer you my umbrella?”

“No it’s all right I got my jacket,” he says.

“I think your jacket has a whole in it cause the rains going right through it.”

His hair is long, but not too long and is dripping wet. He has great cheekbones and a great white smile. I can’t tell his eye color but I’m sure they must be beautiful. I can’t help but think that he is pretty cute. If he looks this cute wet imagine what he’ll look like dry!! Then he laughs and I grab my yellow umbrella and give it to him. He takes it ands pops it open. The rain starts to drip down the side of the umbrella. “Thanks. The name’s Nate.”

“Daisy. Are you sure you just don’t want a ride home?’

“No it’s alright.”

“Ok.”

“Drive safe.”

“Will do! Nice meeting you.” I roll up my window and give him a wave and drive away.

Once I get home, I shower and go down to talk to my mom. My dad left us when I was born. He was a big party animal and couldn’t stand the thought of taking care of a child, so one night he just left. No note no nothing. My mom’s sitting at the kitchen table reading the daily paper in her pajamas. I go to the fridge and grab a Pibb and sit down next to her. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?” I ask.

She sets down the paper and replies, “The appt. isn’t till 11 so you can sleep in and then go for a run or something. How was school?”


“Good. Cross-country meeting is tomorrow. Alicia is going to fill me in on everything.”

“Oh I’m sorry sweetheart. I’m making you miss out on the meeting for mean old’ mom.”

“No it’s alright. I get to miss out on chemistry so it’s all good.”

She smiles and kisses me on the forehead. “Good, now go get some shut eye.”

“I’ve got to call Alicia though.”

“You do it every night. I’m sure she’ll be ok.” She says with a laugh.

I let it go for the night and go get ready for bed. Once I’m finally lying in bed, I can’t sleep. My mind keeps coming back to the guy in the rain. Did he make it home? Am I going to she him again? Questions keep popping in my head. Finally, I fall asleep.

I wake up at 8 and go for a run down the road. It’s a sunny day but, it’s to hot for a run. I make the run short and quickly take a shower. Once I’m out, I put on decent clothes for the appointment. Mom is sitting on the couch wearing her usual “I’m going out” clothes. I walk up and sit next to her and ask, “Ready?” She gives me a nod and shuts off the TV.

We walk out the door that leads to the garage and get in the front seat. I turn on the car and crank the A-C. Once mom is buckled in beside me, I back out the drive way and head for the north side of town. The eye doctor is on the other side of town. It takes about 45min. to get there if the traffic is good. We pull onto the highway and it’s packed full. “Slow down, you’re on the car’s tail in front of us,” Mom says beside me.

“Chill out, we’re on the highway,” I respond

“I don’t care where we are. That is no reason to be on someone’s tail. Plus, I’d like to make it to the doctors alive!”

Just then the car stops abruptly in front of us and we BAM we’re conjoined into one. Then it’s like the domino affect has begun. Every car is slamming into us from behind. I remember us screaming and all the glass breaking. The car’s engine screams with excitement from the accident. Then everything goes fuzzy. I start to get a shortness of breath and it becomes extremely hot. I see a blur of orange and yellow beside me. Then it went black.

I wake up with cords going in and out of me. I hear a beeping noise. My right leg is wrapped up and is being held up. I can feel something wrapped around my head. I see a man in a white uniform walk in. “Can you hear me?” he asks in a polite tone. I nod my head and a pain shoots through my body. I grimace in pain. “Take it easy. Do you remember what happened?” I stop to think. Little bits and pieces come to me. Shards of metal and extreme heat. “You were in a accident a week ago…” My eyes fly open. I try to yell, “Mom!” but it comes out a blur of different words. “You’ve been in a coma for the past week. You’re mother died on scene. You were one of the few living and you just barely lived.” I close my eyes and breath slowly, in and out. I couldn’t hear what else he said cause I was distracted by the unbelievable. She’s gone. The girl that gave birth to me, the girl that changed my diapers, and the girl that taught me everything I know. I open my eyes a tear falls down my cheek. The doctor is looking at me with sadness in his eyes.

“I’ll leave you be. Just let me or a nurse know if you need anything” He exits the room and I start to cry harder. I sit for a second and look out the window. It’s dark out and you can see lights in the background from San Diego. I can faintly hear the car horns and sirens from cars going by. As you usual you can’t see the stars, but the moon is full and beautiful. I remember a time when I was little my mom, and I would sit on the beach at and watched the sun go down. She gave me a hug and looked me in the eyes and said, “Honey your beautiful and don’t forget it. You deserve the best there is. I love you.” I throw my face into my hands and start to cry with the thought of my mom. At first the crying is like a sprinkle, soon enough it’s a like a thunderstorm.

“Oh Daisy.” I look up to see Alicia walk in. She drops her bags in the chair and runs over and hugs me. “Let it sweetie, just let it out.” I cry on her shoulder for what seems like ever. Sob after sob. Hugging her I feel pain shoot through my head and back but I don’t stop. She lets go of me and looks at me holding on to my shoulders. I can see that she’s been crying too. On her right shoulder is a wet spot from where my head sat.

Two weeks later, I am finally leaving the hospital after surgeries and physical therapy. Alicia stopped in the hospital everyday after school and helped me with homework and walking down the hallways. Now I can leave but my future in XC is slim and I have to walk in crutches.


“Ready?” Alicia asks me as I finish picking up my stuff that Alicia brought me.
We have finally decided the plan for me. I’m going to stay with Alicia and her parents. After we have all of our stuff, we head down the hallway. I say bye to all the nurses, which we have gotten to know very well and head down the elevator. When we reach the lobby, I see out the windows that the sun is setting and the sky is a beautiful mix of pink, purple, and orange. I am just exiting the building when I think I see Nate.
“Nate?” I ask. He turns his head and sees me in my crutches.
“Hey Daisy right?” He asks with a smile.

“Yeah. What are you doing here?” I ask out of curiosity.

“My sister was in an accident a couple of weeks ago and I’ve coming to see how she is. She was running late for work and was trying to call her boss and rear-ended a car. What about you and what happened to your leg?”

“My leg fell of and they had to sew it back on.” I try to say it with a straight face without laughing.

“Uhhhhh… That’s abnormal.” He says with a questionable look.

“No, I was in a accident a couple of weeks ago and injured my leg. I don’t think it’s really that possible for a leg to fall off that easily.” I didn’t want to tell him the whole thing that happened I barely knew the guy.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Well, hope you feel better soon.”

“Thanks,” I say and I can see out of the corner of my eye I can see Alicia giving me a questionable look. I start to crutch away with Alicia when Nate yells my name. “Daisy!”
I turn around, “Yeah?” I ask.
“Here’s my number give me a call, maybe we can hang out.” He runs up to me and hands me a slip of paper with his number on it.

“Ok.” I smile. Once Nate enters the building Alicia goes crazy asking questions. “OMG! What was that about and who was that?”

I tell her the story of how we met and she’s just stricken that it was meant to be. I assure her that she is insane. “You’re going to still call him aren’t you? “ Alicia asks.

“No. I can’t,” I say.

“What do you mean you can’t? A guy just gave you his number without you asking for it! You call!” Alicia’s hands are moving everywhere trying to prove a point.

“Alicia my life is a little insane right now. I’m finally getting over the fact that my mom is gone and I have to plan her funeral! You know how hard that is going to be for me? I don’t need some guy constantly bugging me! Please understand that fact.”

“Oh, Daisy, you know that everyone is here to help you through this time. You’re not the only one going through this. We are all here to help. I’m not going to let you do this on your own. Maybe we can get Nate to help somehow, like if you need a break and just want to chill maybe you to can hang out.”

“I don’t know…” I’m not a hundred percent sure about this idea.

“Come on it would be great and you know it,” she says with a smile while giving me a little nudge on the shoulder.

“Fine. I’ll call him.”

“Yes!!!!” She screams and a couple of elderly people getting of our car looks at us and we start to burst in laughter.

By the time we reach my house, the sun has set and the moon is shinning. It’s an alluring crescent moon. Alicia drops me off at my house, “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay with you tonight?”

“No I’m alright,” I assure her and she drives off. I have finally convinced her that I can stay at my house for the night.

I enter the house and it’s silent. I hear the clock ticking in the kitchen and the purr of the air conditioning running. I drop my stuff off on the kitchen table and walk around the house. I look in the bathroom and see my mom’s hair curler lying where it usually sits. I can just picture my mom standing there looking in the mirror curling her hair. I smile just by thinking the thought. I walk down the hallway to her bedroom. I walk in and sit on the neatly made bed and look around. Everything is put away neatly and it smells like fresh flowers. On top of her dresser I see pictures in frames across the top. I get up and lift my favorite one up. It’s in a glass frame that has black spirals and says love in silver and the picture is of my mom and I when I was the fall year of kindergarten. My mom is hugging me and I’m laughing. My mom looks so happy, like she has no worries in the world. I’m missing my front two teeth and I’m I wrapping my arms around mom. I set the picture down and walk to the door and take a deep breath. I take one last look at the room and shut the door. I go to my room and lay down. Soon enough I fall asleep.

When I wake up its Saturday morning. I do my morning routine and see the home phone and find the sheet of paper I got yesterday with black ink on it. I find it and decide everything is going to be fine. I’ve finally really thought about what Alicia said. I’m fortunate to have people this kind willing to help around me. I’m not going to take it for grant age though. So I dial the number, and hear a dialing tone until a voice comes on.

“Hello,” he answers

“Hey Nate it’s Daisy.”