Manhattan, New York.
The music coming out of the vehicle was loud, and the people inside were singing loudly along with the song. “You are gonna miss me when I’m gone. You are gonna miss me by my hair, and you are gonna miss me everywhere, you are gonna miss me when I am gone.” They all giggled after the music stopped and the next song played.
“Are we almost home, mom?” The little boy in the backseat asked.
His mother looked at him and nodded with a broad smile on her face. “Yes, Alex, we are almost home.” She blew him a kiss.
“Olive, have you spoken to Sky today?” The man in charge of the wheels asked.
“I forgot to do that.” She took out her phone and placed a call to Sky. She waited for Sky to pick up, but there was no response.
Her husband quickly glanced at her before focusing on the road. “What did she say?”
“She is not picking up. I think she is still in class.”
Her husband nodded.
“I want to see sister Sky.” Alex cried.
“You will get to see your big sister soon, okay?” Daniel said to his son which calmed the little boy down a little.
***
“Sky,” a male voice called.
Skylar turned around and saw her best friend running to meet her. “Axel, I told you to stop calling me like that.”
“Why?”
“People might start to think we are dating.”
“And is that a bad thing if they are thinking about it?” She rolled her eyes at him before continuing on her journey with Axel right beside her. “Guess what?” Skylar stopped and stared at him without saying a word. “I ran away from home.”
“Again?” Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. “How many times has it been now? Five times?” She raised up five fingers.
“This is the seventh time,” he answered shyly.
She shook her head in disbelief. “What did you do this time?”
“Well, it's still the same old story.”
“You brought girls into the house, again?”
“Just six to ten girls,” he answered with no guilt in his tone.
“Did you call six to ten girls, ‘just’?”
“Well, you know how I like them.” He winked at her and tried to hug her, but she moved away from him before he could come any closer.
“You are going to end up killing your parents or yourself one day with this attitude of yours.”
“Are you going to preach to me too?”
She folded her arms, “I am not preaching but telling you reality.”
“Well,”- he flipped his hair- “I am traveling out of the states.”
“What?”
“I won’t be attending college here like I said I would.”
“So, where are you going?” Skylar’s tone changed from hyper to sad.
“Harker Height, Texas.”
Skylar nodded. “Darn it!” She took out her phone from her bag and went through the contact list.
Worriedly, Axel moved closer to her and peeped at her phone. “What’s wrong?”
“I should have given my mom a call after I was done with the lecture, I can’t believe I forgot.” She scrolled through the recent calls and saw five missed calls from her mom. She was about to put a call through when her mom called again. Excitedly, she swiped the answer icon, “Hello, mom.” She spoke first.
“Is this Skylar?” A male voice asked.
“Yes, please, who are you, and what are you doing with my mom’s phone? Where is my mom?” Skylar panicked as she gripped her phone tighter.
Axel was watching her but waited till she was done with the call.
“Your mother was involved in an accident. She and the driver died but the little boy survived. He is in the hospital now but in critical condition. You need to get here as quickly as possible. I will text the location over to you.” As soon as the call ended, she waited for the message. Immediately the message arrived, and she read the address, she ran to the nearest bus stop.
“Sky!!!” Axel ran after her and he was quick to catch her before she boarded a taxi. He held her hand and turned her to face him only to find her crying. “What’s wrong?”
“I think my parents were involved in an accident,” she sobbed.
He held her hand tighter and gave her a hug, “I will go with you.”
They entered the taxi.
“Seton medical center,” she directed the driver.
She placed her hand on her chest while the other hand was hijacked by Axel. She prayed silently for this whole story to be false.
“Everything will be fine,” he said assuredly.
The car abruptly came to a halt, making the two students jerk up and down. “What was that about?” Axel asked.
“I am sorry,” the driver apologized. “It seems like an accident happened here.”
Skylar looked ahead and saw her dad’s car being pulled out of the road. She opened the door and went to the place where the vehicle was.
“My money!” the driver shouted. Axel got off from the taxi and paid the driver before running to meet her.
She pushed her way into the crowd as she saw how badly crushed her father’s car was.
“This pole fell on the car,” one of the people said as Skylar looked at the pole on the ground. “The driver was skilled enough to avoid a part of it, but he wasn’t fast enough to save himself and his family,” the woman added.
She felt her legs going numb all of a sudden, and she didn’t know if she could bear it anymore.
“The man and his wife were rushed to the hospital but unfortunately, they died before they got there,” another person said.
The people wailed and felt so sorry for the tragedy.
Skylar remembered her brother, who was the only survivor. She ran to the hospital and Axel ran after her, but he didn’t call her or stop her because he knew she was going through a lot.
She arrived at the hospital and met with a nurse. “I am looking for a boy that was rushed in. He is five years old, wearing a blue shirt and black trousers. He has gray eyes with…” She kept on describing her brother to the point that Axel had to pull her away and talk to the nurse himself.
“They rushed him in here with his parents but his mom and dad died on their way here. We got a call and that’s why we are here.” Axel explained to the nurse.
“Oh! Right now, he is in the surgery room, can you fill out this form?” She passed a form to Axel. “He is in a terrible state, it will only take a miracle if he can survive,” the nurse explained.
“And my parents?” Skylar asked.
“They are in the morgue right now. I am so sorry for your loss.”
Skylar couldn’t help but cry her heart out.
