would want to be driving on a night like that one? In the corner of my eye, Autumn shifted slightly. Her auburn hair, previously pulled into a fancy bun, was free. Stupidly, I looked away from the road to see her better. She looked back at me, her ever-present smile not faltering for a second. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the car hit a puddle and spun out. “Shit!” I yelled, facing forward again. I lost complete control of the car. I fought desperately with the wheel to regain control, but it didn’t work. Autumn let out a startled cry. Auburn hair flew wildly just barely visible to me. Rain blurred the window and I couldn’t see where the car was headed. “Kat-!” Autumn started, words cut off by the car spinning off the road. It crashed into a tree head on. A large oak tree, though I only learned that after the fact. My airbag burst open and my face slammed into it. The moment felt like it dragged on forever. My world went black for several minutes after the accident, and I only came back to awareness when I heard sirens in the distance. A passing car watched us crash and called for help, though they didn’t stick around to watch it arrive. The moments following my regaining consciousness are forever burned into my memory. It’s funny how just a few minutes can make a night go from perfect to awful. I sat up dazed and in pain. My face was wet with something warm and sticky, blood from a broken nose. The world was spinning and I felt dizzy. My ribs ached alongside my nose. The seatbelt and airbag might have saved my life, but they left injuries in the process. Still, I was relatively uninjured and alive. As the world slowly stilled, I remember looking to my right. To Autumn. Her airbag wasn’t open. It never deployed. Blood was covering the front of the dashboard from where her face smashed off it. She wasn’t slumped over on the dashboard, though. She was leaned back in her seat like she bounced off the board. Auburn hair was hanging loosely around her. The ends of it were made darker by the blood mixed in. Her dress, previously
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