FicWad

Found my way to the highway, I don't wanna tell you the state I'm in
I've had too much to smoke, too much to drink, where have I been?
I feel like the stars are getting closer and the sky is closing in
And I don't know where to begin

We're all looking for something, to take away the pain

Running. My eyes watered as my body thrust forward into take off. My heart pounded so hard in my chest, I could feel its vibrations ringing through my earphone-clad ears. My vision was blurred in focus on nothing in particular.
Was I running from something…or was I running to? I didn’t even know the answer to this common thought I pondered as I jogged moderately down the damp city streets, drenched modestly in a mixture of sweat and rain.
I don’t remember when running became a daily morning ritual for me, but all I knew was that I had to run when my emotions were stirred, and commonly for me, this occurred most frequently in the morning.
Still pacing, more lightly now, I paused at the nearest stop sign and took a quick break. My bare arms and hands were moist with the humidity presenting itself in see-through chrysalis droplets. Every one gleaming uniquely as I shook myself to regain my vision back for a minute before taking off towards the direction I came. I’d already been gone over forty-five minutes and I was already positive that my roommates would be hysteric if I wasn’t home by the time they woke up.
As I made my way across another empty street, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the reflection in a large window. Turning and walking towards it, I concentrated hard on myself in the mirror, as I tried to pick apart the person I’d become.
My bangs were starting to curl over my sweatband into tangled knots. I curiously looked down at my clothes. They didn’t seem like any old clothes, at least not to me but as I stared into my reflection, it occurred to me what other people might see when they looked at me. And that was a scary thought in itself.
Aside from the wrinkled sweatpants and hoody draped over my body, I couldn’t help but be disgusted by the pale faced red haired girl staring back at me, with her dark circles epitomizing the lack of sleep I’d undergone for a long time.
Groaning, I took off again and hurried this time until I finally reached my house. Sighing, I grimaced at the sight of the all too familiar place I was a resident of. It wasn’t much to look at but I called it home along with two others.
Walking inside, I could hear the television blasting from the other room as I crept in quietly placing my sweatband on the end table. Peeking into the tiny living room, I acknowledged my female roommate Sarah with, “You’re up awfully early today,” while opening and closing the empty cupboards as hunger devoured my throbbing stomach.
Glancing up with sharp eyes, she stated, “You should go buy groceries today.”
I blinked at her momentarily before exhaling an exhausted sigh and replying, “Do you ever ask yourself exactly what your share is in supplying this little family of ours?”
And then she smiled one of her infamously smug grins as she unnecessarily enthused, “Not usually.”
Another groan of irritation escaped me as I snatched my keys from the counter and muttered a discrete, “Thanks for the consideration.”
It took me a moment for my thoughts to granulate as I sat in the car, planning my route ahead of time to avoid traffic. Living in California was never really easy when it came to traffic. It was near impossible to avoid.
And so I found myself driving along, humming to the tune that played on the radio as it’s melody bounced off the inner barriers of my car doors. I wondered about how beautiful the most simplest things in life were to me, while narrowly watching the road. Maybe it was just me…but I know I wasn’t always so impartially amazed by such regular day to day things. Perhaps, I was even disgusted with how things used to be growing up for me. But it’s not like I could exactly remember either…
However plain as they may seem, these were the exact thoughts rambling on and on through my head when it happened.
The control I had on my car had fallen out my hands for that brief moment as it collided into oncoming traffic. When everything I thought I once knew had come to a halting stop, with the sound of shattering glass penetrating the soft center core of my eardrums.
My heart had pulsated so loud that I could’ve just stopped breathing from the realization of what was happening. I made a huge mistake. A incorrect delay of mind and sight as my vehicle loosely faltered into another car.
My vision fell to black but my thoughts continued to race as if searching for any clearer explanation of what happened just moments ago. But I couldn’t find the words.


“Hello? Please wake up,” a deep voice pleaded gently out of the blackness that had overwhelmed me for what felt like hours. On the outside of the blackness, I could feel myself being moved before being place on a solid surface with a ‘thud’.
Moistly, my eyes flickered open with a bright flash of light that felt similar whenever you open your eyes abruptly first thing in the morning because your stupid roommate blinded you with a flick of the light switch. The light burned as I tilted my head to the side as a way to shield whatever vision I’d finally been able to reacquire.
Above me, I could see a blurry vision of some building I’d passed while driving. But there were a few people stand around me. By how much time had seemed to pass, I was hoping I’d be in an ambulance by now but no, I was still on the ground. Below waist, I could feel my fingers starting to twitch into motion as I pressed all my strength into adjusting my fallen position.
“Ah, you’re finally awake,” a person’s voice greeted from right beside me, sounding utterly relieved. Exhaling a sharp breath, I winced at the sudden amount of pain stinging my lower abdomen. My vision was clear but I was terrified to look at the damage. But between my fingers, I could already feel the wet liquid drizzling lightly as the wound had started to bleed.
“How long was I out for…?” an unfamiliar voice came from my lips.
“Umm, you’ve been out for like five minutes. But, the ambulance is here so you’re going to be okay,” the gentle voice of a man omitted before grabbing my hand and guiltily admitting, “I’m so sorry about hitting your car. I was being so stupid…”
Blinking a few times, I finally had enough of my mind back to bravely glance down at the large glass shard that had cut into my mid-torso. Then, I gazed up into two dark brown eyes staring back at me, filled with worry, guilt, and stress caused by this little scenario. The man was…very attractive to say the least…with his dark rooted hair and shiny patch of blonde bangs. This much I noticed before I thought up the only appropriate reply I could think of.
“I’ll be fine,” I graveled roughly, my voice cracking a bit. His concerned expression switched now to a little smile as a man in white made his way over to my impaired condition.
“I really am sorry,” the man from before still pressed now as he supportably kneeled beside me as the man in white started picking at the glass in my cheek with massive tweezers. He cleaned and sterilized the wounds before he started to stitch up the deep glass wound that hadn’t made it quite far enough to hit anything valuable. The man in white explained to me that it’d heal in a week’s rest. Looking over at the man from the other car, I muttered dazedly, “Don’t worry about it. I’m not very concerned about my car at the moment.”
He sighed, still not seeming very appeased with my statement before he suddenly lit up and enthused, “I can make it up to you!”
Standing up, he helped me into a standing position before walking us over to a parked cop car off in a parking lot beside the road. Quickly, I called Sarah from a pay phone, vaguely explaining many details before hanging up and looking over at the guy who’d been somewhat responsible for all this…and he looked fairly content about the whole thing.
Shaking my head, I asked him seriously, “Why are you being so calm and collected? Your car…looks worse than mine does right now.”
He momentary looked over at the pile of disheveled pile of scrap metal with an uneasy expression before he smirked halfly and muttered, “Well, it’s not exactly my car.”
Immediately, I broke into a hissed burst of laughter, panting out between my giggles, “That…makes sense.”
He grinned in satisfaction before he admitted at the sight of both our vehicles being towed away, “Hmm, it appears we’re both stuck waiting here for now.”
“Guess so,” I replied, grumbling under my breath about my stitches. Nervously, he chuckled and said, “My name’s Jade, by the way and I promise that this whole mess was not my intent when I walked out the door this morning.”
“I’m Jess,” I snickered, “And I was just trying to get groceries for me and my roommates.”
Jade stared distantly at the passing cars on the street, before lowly emitted, “I’m really sorry…I ruined your day.”
That line had me hysterical. If there was anything I hadn’t planned for today, it was definitely not getting into a car accident and meeting him…but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The only bad thing was paying for the insurance it would take to fix my car and feeling as crappy as I did now due to my newly frail condition…
“You didn’t ruin my day,” I explained as I tuned out of my head and noticed the confused look on his face in reaction to my estranged laughter, “To be honest, this wasn’t what I expected but, it could be worse.”
He bit his lip before saying, “I wasn’t kidding when I said I could make it up to you…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, somewhat curious and somewhat weirded out. But what he said next was what surprised me the most.
“It means, I might end up being the highlight of your week,” he murmured before sliding out a folded up piece of paper from his pocket and a permanent marker from his clip as he scribbled something on it. Then, just as a taxi pulled up into the parking lot, he handed me the paper and hurried off saying, “Later,” before he got into the taxi and took off. Sighing, I placed the paper in my pocket without reading it quite yet as I watched Sarah’s car pull up to me.
Oh, this will be good.