It was the cool sunny morning of October 2, 1997; tests didn’t start until 12:15p.m. So I had gone with some friends to Christy’s house to waste the morning doing absolutely nothing. Our morning started out at 8:30 a.m. as we sat on Christy’s couch watching Top Gun and attempting to share a jug of chocolate milk. Before the movie could get to the interesting part, we were bored and like every time before, we decided to ride the roads. When we stepped into Chris’ car everything was great but what was about to happen was something none of us expected.

I had asked Chris the day before if I could drive his new car but something came up and he promised I could later. Today was later and as we left Christy’s house I drove carefully as Chris and I argued over what CD we were going to listen to and when we finally decided, I fussed because he played it to loud. We argued a lot but we were the best of friends and we trusted each other. We we’re soon back at Christy’s house and I told Chris to get out because I had a feeling to be alone for a minute. As he stepped out of the car he looked at me and said “I trust you – please be careful and don’t wreck it, if you do – please total it out – ok.” I laughed at him and told him that I wouldn’t wreck it and I put the car in reverse.

When I pulled out of Christy’s driveway I had a gut feeling but I didn’t think too much about it. Once I was on hwy 427 I decided I’d go to the little community store and then back to Christy’s house. But to my surprise I didn’t make it that far. As I topped a hill, not far from the store, I noticed a dog crossing the road and unfortunately he stopped in my lane. As I got closer, the dog never moved and I didn’t know what to do. My first instinct was to hit the brakes, so I did, the car slid onto the gravel on the right side of the road and as this happened, I jerked the wheel sending the car into a continuous spin and eventually into a tree that was across the ditch on the left side of the road – which was now to my right. As my fear increased, I shook harder, felt sick and began to cry. I slowly reached for the key and cranked the car and because I was in the driver’s seat and the damage was on passenger’s side, I didn’t know exactly how bad it was and at the moment I didn’t care to know. Luckily I was able to drive the car back to the store but it wasn’t easy.

When I approached the payphone I realized that I had no change on me and there was none to be found in Chris’ car. I grabbed a dollar bill and headed for the front door of the store. Trying to hold my emotions in, I asked for change. I walked out the door and straight to the payphone, as I picked it up and dropped the change in the operator asked that I deposit another $ 1.35. Realizing that I had no more change, I grabbed another dollar bill and headed for change again. Finally after all my trouble, I dialed Christy’s number and she answered. As I sat there crying and telling her what had happened I could hear Chris in the background ask where I was and when I heard him slam the front door, I knew he was on his way and that was my biggest fear. What felt like forever was only a few seconds before Chris arrived. As I sat there holding that silent payphone I heard Chris scream “how?” as he hit his knees. I knew Chris was mad and he had every right to be but when he sat down in front of me the look on his face told me that his only worry was about me. “The car can be fixed but are you ok?” that was the first complete sentence he made. As we both sat there and cried, he told me not to worry because as long as I was alright, everything would be ok. After explaining exactly what had happened, Chris took me and my car back to Christy’s house, where again I sat and explained to her what had happened.

Christy stayed calm for the most part but I couldn’t. As I lay there on her couch, in pain, I could hear her and Chris talking but it really didn’t make a lot of sense. It wasn’t long before Chris was sitting on the end of the couch asking me again if I was alright and telling me not to worry because everything will be ok. Chris left for school and as I sit there waiting on Christy; I began to wonder what would happen next. Christy and I went to school, took our tests and went on about our business as usual. Chris went home to show his parents the car and then to the insurance company. A year later, as I am writing this story, I still don’t know exactly what Chris told his parents or what they did, I just know he got the car fixed and everything went back to normal. I have also realized just how much this experience has changed my life and I hope it’s one that I don’t ever have to experience again but I know not to ever forget to think about the unexpected.