Nash Getting lit was probably the worst idea I’d had in a long time. But I was. We were. Lit, that is. And to make it worse, I was in the passenger side of a Porsche with an equally lit driver. Shit. We’d go to fucking jail if we were pulled over. If not jail, then my dad would just murder me with his bare hands. That made me laugh. The image of Dad strangling me to death. Why was that so damn funny? “Nothing like a blunt to make you feel better.” I had to agree, although this was still stupid. I just couldn’t seem to care at the moment. Life wasn’t so bad. The image of Tallulah kissing the fucking coach, however, wasn’t funny. Not even after several drags off that blunt. “Can’t believe she did it,” I said in response. He held the blunt back out to me. “Jesus, man. Take some more. Let that shit go.” I looked at it, thought about it, then shook my head no. I’d had enough already. No amount of weed was going to make me laugh at what I’d seen. “Where are we going?” I asked, ignoring the blunt. “Fuck if I know” was his response. Then he chuckled and took another pull from it. “You need more. You’re scowling again.” He was looking over at me. Not the road and that made me nervous. Maybe I did need more to lighten up. “Watch
the fucking road,” I snapped. He rolled his eyes. “Never knew a guy who could smoke the good stuff and be so damn uptight still. Where’s your humor? We need to go do something for the vlog. What about we go buy a shit ton of eggs and go egg el douchebag’s house?” Although the idea of egging Coach D’s house was tempting, putting it on a vlog would only get us caught. “We’ll have to pay for it. He can file charges when the evidence is on the vlog.” Haegan shrugged. “So.” So? The guy was either too damn high or crazy. Either way, he was driving this car, and I might need to wear my seat belt. I quickly snapped it on. He saw me and laughed. Loudly. “You don’t want a police record. Fine. I got a better idea.” He was still laughing as he said it. “What’s your idea?” I asked, not sure I’d be participating. “You scared of chickens?” “Chickens?” I asked for clarity. “Y ep. Motherfucking chickens.” I shrugged. “No. Who’s scared of chickens?” He smirked. “My mom. She’s terrified of them.” I wasn’t sure where this idea was going. “And?” “And I know where I can get about five chickens. Going to borrow them, take them home. Leave them in the kitchen and pour some oil behind me on the floor. Set up a camera. Mom come’s home, walks into the kitchen, slips and falls on her ass as the chickens go crazy, and she shits herself
screaming.” He is laughing so hard now he has his eyes closed. “Watch the damn road!” I yelled. He sped up and shot me a grin. “You need another smoke. Seriously.” I heard the horn then. It was loud, the tires screeching almost sounded like screams. Haegan yelled “FUCK!” and then the clash of the two vehicles slammed so hard my body jerked violently against the seat belt. It took my breath. Pain shot up my right arm, and the dash felt like it was in my lap. I inhaled de eply once I got my breath. The smell of burnt rubber filled the air. I shook my head trying to clear it and felt the pain there, too. Reaching up, I touched something wet and took my hand away to see blood covering my fingers. I was bleeding. Then I turned to see if Haegan was bleeding. If he was hurt. “You okay?” I asked. He didn’t move. His head was turned the other way, and he seemed limp. “Haegan, man? You good? I think my head’s bleeding.” Still no response. Nothing. My stomach dropped. I reached over to touch him, knowing before I did it what I would find. I shook his arm and his head fell forward, but not before I saw his eyes. Open and vacant. No life there. “HAEGAN!” I yelled his name, but I knew he couldn’t hear me. “NASH!” Someone yelled my name. “IS THAT YOU IN THERE? ARE YOU OKAY?” That voice belonged to my uncle Anthony. “Yes, sir, but... but Haegan isn’t,” I called back out to him.
“STAY STILL. PARAMEDICS ARE ON THEIR WAY! DON’T MOVE. OKAY?” “Yes, sir,” I r eplied. I couldn’t move even if I wanted to. I was pinned in. This all seemed unreal to me. Haegan wasn’t really dead. This shit didn’t happen. We weren’t even going that fast. Were we? I tried to turn my head to see out the window, but it was crushed against something. Glass was in my lap, and I saw my arm was cut in several places. I hadn’t noticed that before. My head was pounding now. It was harder to ke ep my eyes open. Haegan was limp. His chest wasn’t rising and falling. There was nothing. I’d never seen death before. Saw life go out of eyes like that. It was haunting. He’d just been laughing. Loving his life. His money, cars, fame. He was never sad or d epressed. The guy was always smiling or smirking. But not now. It was all gone. Did souls exist? Did his just leave his body and take all that with him? Seemed so basic to just have organs that shut down and with that took the life. There had to be more, didn’t there? Something inside that left when the body was no longer usable. I heard my uncle calling my name again, but I was weak. Tired. I was also scared that if I closed my eyes, the soul inside me could es cape. I didn’t want the vacancy staring out of me when my uncle got to me. This decision to get in a car and smoke weed had been not only stupid but fatal. It had been selfish. I had been selfish. Worried about me. Not about what could happen and who it would affect. “NASH!” My uncle called out again. I tried to r eply, but my voice was too quiet. I reached over to knock on
something, but I didn’t have the energy. I was slowly fading out when I felt the car shift. Heard the creaking of metal being moved. Then light came in, and the first face I saw was Uncle Anthony’s just before I gave up and closed my eyes. “Stay with us, Nash,” a voice that I didn’t recognize called out to me. I fought against the pull of sle ep, but my eyes wouldn’t open. I just nodded my head. Let them know I was there. Awake. “Do you know this one?” the same voice asked. “It’s the new kid. Haegan Baylor, I believe. He does the Internet video stuff. I’ve heard Ryker talk about him.” The other voice sighed. “We need to find his parents. He’s gone.” I knew that, but hearing someone else confirm it made it real. This wasn’t a dream. This was life. One that Haegan no longer got to live in. All the things he’d accomplished, and it was gone. Just that easily.