James’ Turn


“Hey! Colby! Wanna come over after school and we can do our homework then play CoD?” I asked my vest friend, Colby, who was currently dating Pason, Lily’s best friend.
Umm....Yeah, sure James. Its just that Pason and I are meeting at a party tonight so I really kinda can’t.” Colby said, but I could tell he was happy about missing the homework part. I’m the worst at homework. It might be that I just can’t do it, or I don’t understand it, I don’t know. I have to copy off anyone’s homework I can get my hands on.
“Hey! James! You wanna bring Lily to the party? It’s at the Shooting Star club. Anyone who’s anyone is gonna be there.” Colby told me.
“Umm...Yeah. Sure. I’ll ask Lily if she want’s to go.” I said as I turned and walked in the direction on Lily’s locker with the intention of scaring her.
“Hey, baby.” I said in a smooth tone.
Emily threw her books in the air with surprise. “God James! You scared me!!” As she looked from her books on the floor to me.
“Sorry about that.” I said, trying not to laugh. “So I was just talking to Colby and-”
“Please stop hanging out with him.” Emily said as she stood back up from retrieving her books. “I think he’s a bad influence on you.” She said as she tried to walk away.
“Hey. Just hear me out. We’re all going to a party tonight. Colby, Pason, Emily, Matt. Do you wanna go with me?” I asked, not afraid of her rejection.
“Yeah, I’ll go. But I’m not drinking, and I’m not having sex with you.” She said, obviously still upset about me scaring her.
“Ok. I’ll give you a ride home. Meet you in the car?”
“Fine. But I just have to drop my papers off at the art room upstairs.”
“Kk Meet you there.” I said as I watched her turn and walk away.

When I got out to my car, I drove it up to the doors got out and waited.
“Hey James.” Said a voice behind me. And two lithe arms wrapped around me.
I turned and saw it was my ex-girlfriend, Brittany. “Hi Brittany. What do you want?”
“Only some of you.” she said she she came up to me and kissed me.
“What are you doing?” I mumbled.
She pulled away and said, “Getting you back from that b****, Lily. She’s cheating on you James. And I can prove it.” Brittany said as she walked away.
“Man, that was weird. And even for Brittany.” I said to myself.
Hours passed and I didn’t see any sign of Lily. I decided she had gotten a ride with her mom and was already home. I tried to call her cell, but it went straight to voicemail.
I left a message saying, “Lily. Where did you go? I was waiting for you but you never came. I just wanted to check in on you to make sure you’re ok.” I said and I hung up.

A few hours later I tried calling Lily again. And to my surprise, she answered.
“What do you want James?” She asked me and I could tell she was crying.
“Lily, what happened? Why didn’t you meet me? Is everything alright?” I asked.
“NO! EVERYTHING IS CERTAINLY NOT ALRIGHT! I SAW YOU WITH BRITTANY!!! I THOUGHT YOU WERE OVER HER JAMES! SO UNTIL YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHICH ONE OF US YOU LIKE MOST, WE’RE OVER!!!!!” And then I heard a click.
“Wha-?” I said looking at my phone in utter disbelief.

The rest I’m sure you know. I get Lily back, and Emily and Pason ask her to go to a party. So here’s what happened.

It was a saturday night and Emily, Pason, and Lily had gone to a club. But I didn’t know that Emily was drunk and she was driving. At around one in the morning, I got a terrified phone call from Pason.

“James! We were in a car crash! Emily is dead and Lily is knocked out. Please come! I didn’t know who else to call. All our parents weren’t around and...” she broke off, crying.

“Ok. I’m on my way over!” I say as I snap my phone shut and hop into my car.
When I get there, it’s not a pretty sight. The car had hit the guardrail, fell over a cliff, and smashed into the rocks below. I was amazed that Pason and Lily were still alive. When I got down the cliff, the car was surrounded with yellow and black ‘CAUTION’ tape. The car looked pretty messed up too. The whole front end-(hood, tires, windshield) were missing. I saw the police zipping up a body bag-Emily. I saw Pason just then. Tears streaming down her face, her nice sandy blond hair stained with blood. I saw her looking into the back of an ambulance. I knew who was in there. It was my Lily. I quickly ran over to the ambulance and looked in. Lily’s perfect face had little bits of glass in it. Her scalp and hair were part way off because the windshield had gone beneath her scalp. I couldn’t even look at her legs without feeling nauseated. I couldn’t bear to see her like this. I just wanted her to get better and wake up. My gaze dropped as they closed the doors of the ambulance and whisked Lily away to the hospital.


Over the next three weeks, the doctors had sewn Lily up with about 50 stitches in her head. And around 20 all together in her arms. The doctors called and said that I could come and visit if I wanted to. Of course I wanted to visit, so I got into my car and sped over to the hospital.

“She is experiencing some short-term memory loss, so she might not remember you.” said one of the doctors.

“That’s fine. As long as she’s still living and breathing, that’s all that matters.” I said as I walked past him and into Lily’s room. She was sitting up, for the most part, which seemed good.

“Oh, hi! I don’t mean to sound rude, but who are you and umm....why are you here?” asked Lily.

“Umm...I’m your boyfriend, James. You were in a crash, and I almost lost you.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” she said. Those words made me come crashing back down to reality. I thought she would remember me.

“Yes you do! It’s me!” I said. My voice cracking. I started crying.

“I’m just kidding. I remember you. But do you know where I am? I can’t seem to remember what happened.”

“Well, you were on your way back from a party...” I continued on and told her the story of what happened. How Pason had called me, and how awful she had looked. And about Emily.

“Oh.” was all she said.


Two weeks later the doctors put her into physical therapy. In the crash, Lily had lost one of her legs. The paramedics had found it, but it was crushed beneath the car. Lily was given a prosthetic, and was told to practice walking on it. I stayed almost everyday and helped her walk.


She was eventually let out and she could fully walk on her new leg. It was time for high school graduation and I couldn’t wait. The next day was graduation and we knew what colleges we were going to. We were both getting in to USM. She wanted to be a marine biologist, and I wanted to work in the FBI field.


“And now, our graduation seniors...” Principal Franklin announced. We all went up one by one, and got our diplomas.

“And now we have a special award. This award goes to the student that has lived through a car crash-but only just. She has also improved greatly since she lost her leg. Lily Marie Scott, I am proud to present you with the first ever, Lily Award! We acknowledge your hard work and your determination. Come get your prize!” The crowd erupted with clapping, shouts and screams. Everyone was proud of Lily and what she had accomplished. I was proud. Proud to be her boyfriend, proud that she was still living, and most of all, proud that she was mine.

After graduation, I saw Lily being surrounded by guys and girls all from our class congratulating her. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her with her friends. The funeral for Emily was that weekend and I hoped it wouldn’t bring her down too much. But when I saw her laughing with her new found friends, I realized how happy she was. And nothing could change that. Evidently, she saw me and pushed her way out of the crowd. She ran awkwardly over to me where I picked her up and hugged her tight.

“Wow. I had no idea that was coming. I’m really proud of you.” I said, putting her down.

“Yeah. I know. I wasn’t either.” she said. “I have to go now. I’ll text you later.” and with that, she walked off, leaving me looking like a fool with a grin on my face that was slowly fading.