Click In

The sense of an almost out-of-body experience felt too real on a sweaty mid-August night. Back when I believed terrible things don’t happen to someone like me, I was inevitable to any damage. That belief quickly changed as a night of soccer, swimsuits, and taco bell turned into crying and a 911 call.

I was walking home from soccer practice when I heard my name being called, confused I looked around to see my fellow teammates in a car. They yell at me to get in, and I awkwardly do. They inform me there is a school-wide fall sports meeting at the high school and that I must come with them, I agree and we went off. I laugh now when thinking how that small decision would leave a larger mark on me. Before heading to the meeting a taco bell stop was made unsurprisingly. The meeting was quick and easy. My mom was there and asked if I would like to come home or was gonna hang out with the girls. I obviously say yes as I was honored to be hanging out with this specific group of girls. We land another stop at taco bell and eventually arrive at one of the girl’s pools. We swim and talk for a while, while I realize I really enjoy the presence of these girls, but maybe feel a bit like an outsider. When we finish swimming we decide another food trip is needed. The mother of the girl whose house we are at asks where we are going and we lyingly tell her to drop the girls off. There were five of us, one freshman, two sophomores, one of which is me, one junior, and one senior. Our senior friend had been driving all night but we decided that we would switch it up and go in our junior friend’s janky, most likely decades-old Honda. We all excitedly hop and smush in. I reach over to click my seat belt but after a few tries can’t get it to punch in, I forget it and decide not to wear my seat belt. We go off and the driver decides to go a different way exclaiming she likes to go the fast way. All windows are down and music is blasting. My hair is blowing in every direction as one of the girls yells “It’s like we’re in a jeep!” We all laugh and one of the girls says “Let’s open the sunroof”. The two girls begin trying to open up the roof but struggle as it was dark and the old car isn’t definite how to open it. I recall saying, “Sid focus on the road” and then shortly after a strong scream saying “SID” and then entering what I recall as watching a movie. Whether I experienced an out-of-body experience or just simply lost consciousness I’m unsure. I do remember waking up on the forestry ground next to a body of water. I stand up feeling extremely disoriented with the car next to me. I look in to see three girls in the car and one laying on the other side of the vehicle as the car was on a slant next to a bridge. I look in and see my fellow sophomore in extreme pain, I look down to see her leg in the completely incorrect direction. That image is still photographic in my memory. I remember her screaming “My leg, my leg”. The driver Sidney was out for a while but when she awoke cried and screamed about how sorry she was. She quickly realized that she must call 911, and she did so in a blur I can’t quite remember. As for the girl in the passenger seat, she cried and kept exclaiming, “My moms gonna kill me”. I recall telling her not to worry. I quickly realized I was physically unharmed, except for the blowing goose egg on the top of my forehead. I entered a mode that almost felt motherly, I did my very best to soothe the girls I knew were in aching pain, knowing I was still out of it myself. I recall Sidney screaming as she realized cars above us on the road couldn’t see us. Panicked we all started screaming for help. They must have found us as the next thing I remember is a police officer climbing down and helping me. Before being removed I remember telling the officer I’m okay but am just worried about my girls. This statement was talked about many times after the accident. As for Lucia the senior on the other side of the car I didn’t hear any word from her this whole time. I enter an ambulance in complete shock and fear. The rest of the night is routine and unimportant. In the end, I experienced only a minor concussion. As for the other girls, Sidney the driver received minor injuries. Anni the sophomore, hip was completely displaced and chipped. Olivia the freshman’s back was broken and the top of her head was all cut up from smashed glass. Lucia the senior experienced life-threatening injuries. She had major spinal fractures and was at risk for paralyzation. She eventually entered a seven-hour surgery. The most painful part of hearing about Lucia is that we were unable to communicate directly with her as she couldn’t be on her phone at all. Another painful fact was that these girls devoted to soccer would be out the entire season. I felt extremely guilty and lonely during the aftermath. I had been the only girl to essentially receive no injuries and I made the horrible decision to not wear my seat belt. I also felt selfish for feeling that way.

In the end, all girls recovered successfully. Sadly, we were never able to get together ever after the incident, as we were all at such different stages of life. I learned that bad things can happen to any person. Believing your inevitable to consequences of bad actions is one of the most ignorant things you can do. The regret I felt for being so careless and immature has stayed with me after that bad decision. Not putting your seatbelt on can be seen as such a small, irrelevant decision but in the end can change people’s lives. Not all people receive the luck I did when accidents happen, and making that small movement to click in can change lives and respect those who didn’t in the past.