Glory stood on her back porch watching the stars glitter like magic diamonds in the night sky. She wished she could take some of that magic and use it now. Tomorrow was the first day of her junior year. She was not looking forward to having to see all the judging faces as she walked, well limped, through the halls. At least the limp wasn’t as noticeable now, and was getting better each day.
A shooting star blazed across the sky. Glory closed her eyes and made a wish. “Please let me go back to that day. Please let me make everything better. Or if you can’t do that then take me and let her come back.” The words were just a whisper, but they held so much pain for a sixteen year old.
Over the summer Glory had done nothing but hang out with her friends Clara, Zoe, and Ellie. Her best friend though was Ellie. They had grown up together since they were in the same play group as toddlers. They called each other sisters. Then everything changed.
Glory and Ellie had gone to a fourth of July party. Glory could still remember how they had tried to look like they were nineteen instead of sixteen. She could remember the way the air smelled and the sound the crickets made. Both girls had too much to drink, but Ellie was worse off so Glory drove. They were driving along a curving road with trees on both sides. Glory took the turn too fast and the car rolled down an embankment. Glory’s right leg was crushed beneath the steering wheel. Ellie was thrown from the car and smashed into a tree. Glory could see her friend lying in a heap. She tried to move, but couldn’t. She began to sob until she passed out.
Glory was in the hospital for a couple of weeks. She had a few minor cuts and bruises, but her leg was broken in a couple of places. She still did physical therapy once a week. At least she could go to physical therapy. Ellie would never go anywhere again. No one would see her sunshine smile. No one would hear her laugh that was like a song. No one would ever look at her beautiful face again.
Tears began to roll down Glory’s cheeks. She brushed them away and stamped her foot giving a frustrated growl. She wasn’t sure if the crying was from missing Ellie or all the stuff that had happened since.
Everyone one blamed Glory for the crash. Ellie had been the most popular girl in school, but she wasn’t your typical popular girl. She was nice to everybody and everybody loved her. She had no enemies and could make anyone be a better person. One night of wanting to feel grown up had ended it all.
Clara and Zoe had stopped talking to Glory except to call her names when they saw her. They didn’t really hang out with each other either. Clara began to hang out with the dance squad more and Zoe hung out with the gossip hounds.
Glory was definitely dreading tomorrow. She had no friends and no hope. Things might have been easier if she could dance, but because of her leg she was kicked off of the Dance squad.
“Gloriana?” Her mother’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. “You better get to bed honey you have a big day tomorrow.”
“I know mom I was on my way.” She let out a small sigh and headed to bed.
Glory slipped her tennis shoes on. She wished she could wear sandal, but the limp made her trip if she did. She was wearing Jeans and her favorite black tee with the silver angel on it. She hoped it was a guardian angel and would help her get through the day. She took a deep breath and grabbed her bag. Her license had been taken away so she had to walk to school. She kept her head down and counted her footsteps, afraid to look at anyone or see the way they were looking at her.
She tried to arrive just as the bell rang so that she wouldn’t have too much time waiting around in the halls. Her first class was English. She was the first to arrive and took a seat in the back. Her hands were folded on her desk and she stared at them as if they would give her the strength to not get up and run from the room. She could feel the stares of the other students as if they were red hot pokers torturing her. Math and French followed. Again she sat in the back with her head down. No one said a word to her.
Her fourth class was gym. She hated getting sweaty when she still had three classes to go. Luckily she had a note excusing her from anything too extraneous. No one dressed the first day as it was just a day for the teachers to learn who there students were and lay down the rules. Glory sat at the end of one of the gym bleachers. She was staring at her shoes when she heard a familiar voice.
“Hmm seems there letting criminals in the school now.” Glory looked up to see Zoe walking past with two of her friends. She bit her lip and went back to staring at her shoes. The girls began to laugh and climbed up the bleachers to sit behind her. One of the girls kept lightly kicking Glory in the back of the head. Glory tried to ignore them, but the kicks kept getting harder. She finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“What is your problem?” She yelled while jumping to her feet.
“My problem is murderers being allowed to walk free.” The girl, Jenna, Snapped.
Glory opened her mouth to say something, and then shut it again. She grabbed her bag and left the gym as quickly as she could. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she found her self back at her empty home. Both her parents were at work and her siblings were at school. She went up to her room and crawled into bed pulling the blankets over her head. She was never going to school again.
