The car door opened and was quickly shut.
“Thank you for picking me up, Josh. I really need you right now.” Darian said in a shaky voice. Her eyes were red and puffy, an obvious sign of a fight with her boyfriend Lance.
“No prob, Darian. It’s what I’m here for. What did Lance do this time?” Josh asked. He saw her mouth hesitate before answering.
“He cheated on me with that whore, Riley Thompson! She is such a slut it isn’t even funny! I thought he was oone of the good ones, Josh, I really did. I cant believe he was so eager just to give it up! He never even pressured me!” Darian yelled as her body shook with fury.
Josh was at a loss for words, which was a rare occurrence. He just stared at Darian’s shaking figure with his light brown, mournful eyes. He pushed a perfect ringlet away from her face and embraced her. He put all his passion into that hug, but it didn’t seem to register with Darian. She pulled away and sat back in her seat.
“Josh, can you drive? I want to get out of this horrible town.”
“Of course!” Josh said as he put his white Honad Civic into reverse and backed out of her driveway, “I think we need to get your mind off of Lance. He is not worth tearing yourself up. He is a jerk and you can do SO much better. “ Josh said, sending a little prayer up to God as he finished speaking.
“That sounds like an excellent idea! I know the perfect place to go!”
“Where to, Boss?”
“The river, where we first met.”
“You got it!” Josh said as he turned off Darian’s street and made his way towards Crawford Bridge.
Darian began to ramble on about the rest of her day while Josh just drove and listened. If you had to pick one of Josh’s most important traits, it would have to be his great ability to listen. She could have been talking about her period and he would just sit patiently and listen until she was done.
“How much longer?” Darian asked.
“Five to ten minutes, mas o menos.” Josh replied with some Latin flare.
“Godd. I wanna put my feet in the water and just relax. Do you remember the day we met?”
Perfectly Hosh thought, but said, “Refresh my memory.”
“Of all the things you can remember, you cant remember that day, Josh Jacobs? Well, I was in a summer dress and walking along the riverbank, when I saw you skipping rocks. Your hair was all disheveled and you were wearing your cute, little Harry Potter glasses. ‘Hiya’ you said. As a complete lady, I politely said hi back, but I didn’t like you at first.
“Well, that’s something I’ve never heard!”
“Oh, shut up, I’m trying to tell a story! Anyway, I didn’t like you because you were dirty like a normal seven-year-old boy, but once you said, ‘Hey, you’re pretty!’, I knew we would be great friends. I remember those long, summer days we used to spend playing knights in the forest. You thought I was weird for wanting to be a knight, while I was a girl. You said it was improper for a girl to be a knight and someday you would save me from the dragon. You said I belonged as a princess that needed protecting. That’s the day I knew you would be my best friend forever.”
By the time Darian had finished telling the story of their youth, it had begun to pour.
“You sure you still wanna go to the river?” Josh asked.
“Warning: There are hurricane conditions outside. Please stay indoors and stay off the roads” the man on the radio said.
“Great, a perfect and to a perfect day” DArian said with heavy sarcasm.
We’ll be fi…” Josh said as he began to hydroplane and the wind knocked the car onto its side.
Darkness. Darkness and water, that’s all that Josh saw and felt. He unbuckled himself and painfully climbed out of his wrecked car. It took awhile for him to catch his bearings, but when he did, he leapt back inside the car.
He saw Darian’s face covered in blood. She had a huge gash, stretching from her left temple to her chin.
“Darian! Darian, can you hear me?” Josh yelled.
Darian softly mumbled a reply as she began to regain consciousness.
“Wha…? What happened?” Darian asked as she looked around.
“We…we hydroplaned and the car flipped over.”
“I see.” Darian said as she stretched her arms to see if there were broken bones. When she did the same with her legs, she yelped in pain. Her leg was caught between the seat and the door.
“Can you unbuckle yourself?” Josh asked with a hint of panic in his voice.
“No, it’s…it’s stuck!” Darian replied. She viciously tore at the seat belt but it didn’t budge.
“Here, i’ll try to cut it.” Josh said in a calming voice. He grabbed a jagged piece of glass and began to furiously cut at the seat belt. The only result from his effort was a cut hand.
“It’s going to be fine, Darian. I’ll get you out of this. I promise.” Josh whispered. He didn’t even believe his own words. He frantically got out of the car and began to search for something else sharp when he was blinded by a bright light.
No. Oh God, No! Josh thought as the car hit his wrecked car and sent the car through the railing of the railing of the bridge and into the frigid waters below.
“DARIAN!!!!” Josh yelled. He ran to the unknown car, but it had already started to speed down the street. Josh couldn’t decide what to do, so he leapt off the side of the bridge after Darian.
The waters were freezing and he writhed in pain once he was submerged beneath them. He agonizingly reached the car and he saw Darian’s lifeless body floating; the seat belt had snapped and he saw the large piece of glass sticking out of her abdomen.
He grabbed her body and swan back to the water’s surface. He broke through the water and took a huge gulp of air. He struggled to reach the river’s bank, but he made it and set Darian’s body upon the wet, cold earth. He began to do CPR , but it obviously wasn’t working. He tried again, and again, and again, but nothing happened. He struck his fist as hard as he could against her chest and water spewed out of Darian’s ajar mouth. Her eyes fluttered open and she starred straight into his eyes and said, “I love you, Josh Jacobs. I always have and I always will.”
After she took a deep breath, she brought his face to hers and kissed him. Josh was breathless and Darian’s eyes fluttered shut. He held her body and tears streamed down his face while he tried to convince himself everything was alright, but it wasn’t.
He heard the ambulance wailing in the distance, but it was too late. The very piece of glass that he tried to save her with had taken her from him. Josh just layed there in her pool of blood with her lifeless body in his arms. Damn you, Lance Scott, Josh thought, Damn you.