The Ride That Changed Everything

The Ride That Changed Everything

‘Today has got to be the most boring day in the world.’ Kittie Conoly thought to herself just as she heard her cell phone ring. “Hello.” She answered dully.

“Hey girl! What are you doin’ tonight?” She heard her best friend Riley Carlson on the other end.

“Nothin’ you?” Kittie said flipping another page in her magazine.

“I’m goin’ crusin’. I wondered if you wanted to come along?” Riley’s voice sounded hopeful.

“Is Sammy coming along?” Kittie asked referring to their other best friend Samantha Williams.

“I didn’t plan on it, but I guess I could call her.” Riley’s disappointments was evident in her voice.

“No don’t worry about it. So when will you be here?”

Riley sounded happier, “It’ll be about a half an hour. I have to throw another load of clothes in the wash before I can go.”

“All right, see ya when you get here.”

“Yeah see ya.”

Since Kittie had been sweats all day, she thought that it was time to change. She grabbed a pair of jeans with embroidered flowers on them and left on the sweat shirt. ‘Hey it’s winter in Minnesota.’ she thought to herself.

* * *

An hour later Kittie and Riley were sitting in Riley’s parent’s van talking about college. “So really where do you want to go to college?” Kittie asked.

“I don’t know.” Riley answered turning a corner. “Somewhere out of state.”

“I want to go somewhere warmer. Like Florida of California, I would even take going back to Virginia.” Kittie said looking out the window while they drove down the main street of little Truman, Minnesota.

“Is that David?” Riley asked looking out through the passengers side window.

“I don’t know.” Kittie said trying to get a good look at the guy walking on the sidewalk next to the drugstore.

“It is.” Riley answered her own question and turning down another road.

Kittie smiled mischievously, “I dare you to ask him if he wants a ride.”

“No way!” Riley gasped in shock.

“Why not? It’s a simple question.” Kittie said as Riley make a turn back to main street.

“Ask him if he has any cigarettes.” Riley said slowing down when they caught up to him.

“Only if you ask him if he wants a ride.” Kittie said just before Riley rolled down the passenger’s side window.

“Hey David!” Riley called. “Do you have any cigarettes?” she asked as he walked up to the van.

“Sorry, no.” David said looking really cold with his hands in his pockets.

Kittie took matters into her own hands, “Would you like a ride?”

“Sure, thanks.” He said climbing into the back seat behind Kittie.

“Where are you headed?” Riley asked sounding very uncomfortable.

“Home.” David answered as he watched Kittie change the CD to Disturbed.

“And where is that?” Riley asked shifting in her seat.

“The next right.” He answered keeping his eyes on the houses ahead.

Riley took the next right and asked, “Now where?”

“All the way down.” He pointed to the garage in front of them.

“There ya go.” Riley said pulling up in front of the garage.

“Thanks.” he said getting out of the van.

Riley had turned around and got back onto main before they burst out laughing. “I can’t believe you did that.” she told Kittie.

“Do you realise what we did?” Kittie asked trying to recover from another fit of laughter.

“No, what?”

“We did what we dared each other. You asked him about the cigarettes and I watched the realisation play across Riley’s face.

“Oh my God. We did didn’t we.” Riley laughed again. “I still can’t believe you did that.”

“Hey we have to be nice some time.” Kittie smiled remembering about the crush she had on David a couple years ago, secretly of course. “That was actually the first time I’ve talked to him in a year.”

“Lucky you. He comes into work with Nathan all the time.” Riley said turning down Kittie’s road.

“Why would he have to go into the grocery store that much?” Kittie asked.

“I don’t know. I just know that he does.” Riley replied stopping in Kittie’s driveway. “Promise me that you’ll never say anything about tonight?”

“Promise. See you tomorrow.” Kittie said picking up her CDs and coffee.

“So you are going to Ellie’s tomorrow?” Riley asked slipping her Destiny’s Child CD in.

“Yeah I’ll be there. See ya.”

“Talk to ya later.” Riley said just before Kittie shut the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Kittie woke up at 6:45. Since it was Sunday she was supposed to take her grandmother to church. So she got up and slowly made her way to the shower. After the quick shower she got dressed in a dark blue sweater and dark jeans.

She threw on her black leather jacket and boots and slowly made her way across the block to her grandparent’s house. The minute she walked through the door she knew that she didn't want to be there. She walked through the porch and into the kitchen where her grandmother was stationed at the sink doing the breakfast dishes.

"Morning Grandma." Kittie said as brightly as she could.

"Morning honey." Her grandmother replied with a smile, then whispered, "Go say something to Grandpa."

She nodded her head and went into the living room where her grandfather was sitting in his over stuffed, green, leather chair that he was always in. As normal he hadn't shaved or showered in days, so he wasn't the greatest sight this early in the morning. "What's the matter Grandpa? Not goin' with us this mornin'?" Kittie asked trying to be her sweet self and find something to say to the man that she'd thought of as a super hero for years. Now she'd finally come to the realisation that he wasn't, he was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's but no one would admit it. As far as everyone was concerned grandpa just couldn't remember very well.

"Nope, not today." He said never taking his eyes off of the television.

"Al right, well me and grandma have to get out of here. I'll see you when we get home."

"Okay. See you then." he said talking a sip of his coffee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later Riley, Sammy, and Kittie arrived at Ellie's. They quickly ended up in the basement with Toby Keith cranked in the stereo. Ellie and Riley were in the middle of playing air hockey and Kittie and Sammy were cheering one or the other on.

"Come on Riley! You can feat her." Sammy yelled after taking a drink of her Mountain Dew.

"Let's go Ellie!" Kittie screamed bouncing up and down. "You only have one more point to win!"

Then only the clink of a paddle against the puck could be heard as Sammy changed the c.d. from Toby Keith to Eminem.

"Woo!" Kittie screamed and high fived Ellie as she won the game.

“Are you guys hungry or is it just me?” Riley asked taking a sip of her orange juice.

“Riley, you just had an entire bag o Funions!” Ellie said in amazement.

Suddenly Ellie’s mom yells down to the basement, “Kittie, there’s a call for you.”

She looked around the room. Kittie say the curiosity on all of their faces knowing none of them knew what was going on, she went upstairs. When she was there Ellie’s mom handed her the phone and she answered cautiously, “Hello?”

“Honey, you have to come home now!”

“Mom, what’s going on?” she asked getting more worried.

“Just come now!” Her mother said and she hung up as Sammy, Riley and Ellie came around the corner.

Kittie hung up the phone and just stood there for a minute. She knew exactly what was going on, but tried not to show her hurt and fear. Finally she came out of her shock, “I have to go.” She said and walked past them into Ellie’s room.

Sammy looked worried, “Kit, what’s goin’ on?”

“I… I just have to go.” She grabbed her c.d.’s from the floor and threw them into her army green, canvas, duffel bag.

Riley stopped her in the doorway, “Kit, seriously. What’s going on?”

Kittie pushed past her and headed towards the door, “I’ll call you tomorrow.” Then she opened the door and started walking home. Leaving her three friends standing and staring at the door.

The whole walk home Kittie kept thinking about what her mom had said. She knew their code and what it had meant. It meant that her grandfather was in that hospital again. After his first major heart attack they made up a code, “Come now!” was it. Whenever anyone in the family said it everyone knew that Grandpa was going to the hospital again. Tonight was no different.

By the time that she got home, everyone was gone. There was a note taped to the TV-


Kit-
I took Grandpa to Souix Falls. Dominic and Gracie took Connor and Grandma. Come as soon as you can. I left some Pepsi in your truck for the trip.
Love you,
Mom.


Kittie ran into her room and grabbed her lap top, teddy bear, a book, and notebook with a pencil, stuffed them into her school bag and jumped into her truck.

Before she left town she stopped at Cenex. Once in there she went straight to the candy and chip isle. She grabbed a bag of Funions and two Hershey’s bars. When she went up to the counter, she noticed that David was working.

“Hey Kittie.” He said as she set her things on the counter.

“Hi.” She said impatiently waiting for him to ring them up.

“What’s up?” he asked knowing that something was off about her.

“All I know is that it’s going to be a long night.” She said watching him ring up her things.

“Well is there anything I can do?” He asked. “Oh, $5.63.”

She handed him a few bills. “No, but thanks anyway. Keep the change.”

"Kit, hold on.” He said looking through the bills. “I know that you’re nice, but I don’t even want you to be this nice.” He handed her back a $100.

“Thanks.” She said as she walked out the door and back into her truck.

Before she left the parking lot she threw in her Linkin Park c.d. Not wanting to be worried with her thoughts on the trip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When she finally hot to the Souix Falls Veterans hospital she drove around to the emergency parking and parked next to her brother’s Lincoln Continental. She threw her book into her sweatshirt pocket and bolted out of the car. She stopped at each nurses’ desk until she found out that her grandfather was on the fourth floor, right wing, room 406. As she rode in the elevator up the four floors she started to wonder how bad her really was.

Soon she was at her destination. She stepped off of the elevator and was met with her mother. She was at the pay phone next to the bathrooms, probably calling her sister-in-law or her boy friend. Kittie looked around and found the rest of her family in the waiting room. She walked over and sat next to her grandmother. She knew better than to try and ask how things were. She and her grandmother could talk about almost anything, just not her grandfather.

Since she knew that is would probably take a while she took out her book. The only problem was that she couldn’t concentrate on reading. All she could think about was where she was, why she was there, and the way that she left everyone wondering and worried about the. She especially remembered the look on David’s face when she wouldn’t give him a straight answer.

‘Why am I thinking so hard about this?’ she asked herself. ‘I don’t even talk to him. And it was years ago that I had a crush on him.’

She just couldn’t stop thinking about him, the way he looked at her with caring in his eyes. The way that she felt when he looked at her like that. It got her wondering if… ‘No way! This is not going to happen again! I had a crush on him in seventh and eight grade, but nothing ever came from it. So why should I want it to happen again? I’ve grown up, I know what’s going to happen. If I do have feelings for him again I’ll feel weird around him and never talk to him, even when I get the chance, and I’ll feel bad when he doesn’t ask me out. So this has got to stop right here!’

Her grandmother looked over at her, curious to know why she was so quiet when she obviously wasn’t reading her book. “Honey, what are you thinking so hard about?”

“Oh, it’s nothing Grandma. I’m just worried about Grandpa.” She lied.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s in the best place right now.”

“I know. I just don’t like him being in here.”

“Well you get back to reading. It’s probably going to be a while.”

She tried to go back to her book, but her thoughts kept shifting back to David. ‘What the hell is wrong with me? It’s like I’m obsessed with the guy. I like never talk to him. So why would it work if we started going out? Oh my God, now I’m thinking about going out with him. There is seriously something wrong with me. What would Riley and Sammy do if they heard about this. They’d laugh their asses off, that’s what they’d do. And why not? It’s completely stupid. Why should I like him? Is he cute? No. Has he ever done anything for me? NO. Has he ever acted like he wanted to go out with me? NO!’

Suddenly she looked up and found that her mom had sat down next to her without Kittie even noticing. “Hey Mamma.”

“Hi Babe.” Her mother replied distractedly.

“What’s the mater?” Kittie put her book into her pocket.

“Just thinking about the money and paperwork for Dad being out here.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll figure it out.” Kittie hugged her mom.

“Thanks.”

“Did you ever call John? Weren’t you supposed to go a movie tonight?”

“Yeah we were. And he’s coming to meet us here tomorrow.”

“He is? Wow, normally he doesn’t like any family things.”

Her mom smiled, “I know. I think that I’m starting to get him to come around.”

Kittie laughed, “If anyone could it’s you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later there was still no word about Kittie’s Grandfather’s condition. Everyone was starting to get a little anxious. Finally Kittie said that she was going to get her headphone. Once she was at her truck she checked her cell phone to see if anyone had called her. Surprisingly there was one message. It was from David. It said-


Kittie… it’s David. I know that we’re not close or anything, but I was just worried about you. When you came into the store tonight… you looked… uh… well… really scared about something. I just thought that you might want to talk or something. If you do just call me on my cell- 1-352-947-9587.


He was just the person she’d been thinking about all night. Now she wasn’t sure what to do. She wanted to call him, but what would she say. She’d probably start crying on the phone, so what was the point? But she did need to talk to someone. ‘Later” she told herself. ‘There’s nothing that I can tell anyone now anyway. I’ll talk to them all later.’

So she picked up her “Relax” and “Creative/Sad” c.d.’s and her disc man. She stuffed her headphones into her ears and went back into the hospital. She’d been there many times before. She knew her way around the hospital as if she was one of the staff.

Kittie set down a hall that she’d never been down before. There were very few people in the hospital anyway, but down this hall it was eerily quiet. There was not a person for the entire length of that hall. She spotted a bench and sat down on it. She took out her disc man and threw in “Creative/Sad” She sat there for a few second enveloped in the slow, quiet music.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later Kittie woke up, knowing that something was really off. She was sitting in the same hall that she was in when she stopped to change c.d.’s. Her c.d. player had stopped playing, and the hall was eerily quiet.

Kittie slowly made her way to the elevators. She didn’t see anyone on her way there or in the elevator. It suddenly felt like she was the only person in the entire hospital, and it was all of the sudden freezing cold.

The moment Kittie got off of the elevator she knew that she wanted to get back on. Her entire family was in the waiting room, except her grandmother. Tears were streaming out of Dominic and Gracie’s eyes. Her mother was looking straight forward, almost in a daze, with tears pouring out her eyes.

Grandpa was gone. She didn’t need to hear it, she could see it plainly written across each and every one of their faces. She didn’t want to see it, she didn’t want to hear it, she didn’t want it to be true.

She turned around and bolted down the stairs. She wouldn’t or maybe couldn’t stop until she was in her truck. She threw her Good Charlotte c.d. in the c.d. player and just lost it. She just kept crying, not able to stop herself until she fell asleep, up against the steering wheel with the song Wondering by Good Charlotte blaring out of her stereo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been three days since Kittie’s Grandpa had died. So far she hadn’t talked to anyone, not her friends or her family had heard a word out of her. The only thing that she ate was the funions that she had bought that night and the coke her mother bought was all she would drink. And the only time that she left her room was to go to the bathroom.

All of her friends had been there to see her, but she still wouldn’t talk to them. The whole time that they were there all she would do was write. No one knew what she was doing. She wouldn’t talk, she wouldn’t read, she wouldn’t watch TV, all she would do was write. So far she’d gone through three notebooks, all of which had a black cover on them.

The next day would be her grandfather’s funeral and no one knew what she wanted to do. Did she want to go? Did she want to stay home? Did she want any of her friends to be there with her? No one could say.

But the next day at five o’clock she dressed in her black funeral dress and went to her desk again to finish what she’d been writing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the funeral and the lunch, Kittie and her family were going to go home. Since Ellie, Riley, and Sammy went to the funeral and lunch, when the family got up to leave, so did the girls. Before she could get away Kittie grabbed Riley’s hand and make Riley walk home with her.

Once they were in her room Kittie handed all four of the notebooks to Riley.

“Do you want me to read these?” Riley asked flipping opened the top notebook and noticing numbers at the bottom of the pages.

Kittie nodded.

“Do you want me to stay there while I read them?” Riley asked looking down at the notebooks.

Kittie shook her head no.

“Okay, well I’ll go home and read these. Than I’ll bring them back to you.”

Kittie nodded again and sat on her bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next night Riley came back to Kittie’s. She was sitting on her bed again. She was in the same clothes that she was in the day before, and looked like she hadn’t slept since Riley had left.

“I brought them back.” Riley said sitting on the trunk at the end of Kittie’s bed. “It’s really good.”

Kittie nodded slightly looking at her hands.

“Kit, please, I miss you. Will you please say something?” Riley begged.

Kittie shrugged.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I stopped by Cenex tonight to get some gas and David was working. He asked about you.” Riley smiled and nudged Kittie’s shoulder.

Kittie put her hands up as if to say, “And what’s your point?”

“Kit come on, isn’t it obvious? He’s into you girl.” Riley said, waiting for a response from Kittie.

Kittie violently shook her head, no, with a faint smile on her face.

“Kit, I saw that smile. You like him, don’tyou.”

Kittie blushed and nodded slightly.

“Girl, come on, spill it. What happened?”

Kittie just shrugged.

“Al right Kit, I get the point, you don’t want to talk. But I promise I’ll be here when you need me.” Riley said and watched Kittie nod as she left the room.

‘You’re not who I need.’ Kittie thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two months later, Kittie still hadn’t said a word since it’d happened. Every night Riley came over to Kittie’s. Sometimes they would watch a movie, sometimes they would read, but most of the time Riley would just try to get her to talk.

Tonight was another one of those nights. “Come on Kit, it’s six days until your mom’s birthday. Let’s at least go to Fairmont and buy her a candle or something.”

Kittie shook her head no slightly and played with the lace frill on the edge of there comforter.

“Kittie, car, now!” Riley said getting up and turning the c.d. player off.

Kittie shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Kathryn Ann Conoly! Get your ass in my car this instant!” Riley yelled standing next to the door.

Kittie got up off of her bed and snapped to attention, giving Riley a fake salute (purposely using the wrong hand), then slowly went to Riley’s car.

Instead of going to Fairmont, Riley went to the school parking lot. Kittie looked over at her with a curious look on her face. Riley started to explain, “I promise David that I’d get you out of the house tonight. We’re going to meet here later, but first we’re going to have some fun.”

Kittie just shook her head and rolled her eyes. She switched the c.d. to Pink and sat back in her seat.

After a few minutes of just driving around Kittie caught a glimpse of David’s car. She nudged Riley’s arm and pointed for her to turn. Riley quickly caught on and turned.

When they finally caught up with him he was stopped at a stop sign under a streetlight. Riley sped up to get to him and rolled down her window. David rolled down his and Riley quickly yelled, “You’re it!” and drove off.

Kittie gave her a look as if to say “What in the heck did you do that for?”

Riley smiled and simply stated, “He knows.” as she turned back into the school parking lot. Riley and Kittie had just gotten out of the car when David parked his car next to them. Kittie jumped up on the hood as David and Nathan got out of the car.

Riley quickly said, “Hey Nate,” and gave him one of her sweetest smiles.

“Hey.” He slyly smiled back.

Riley quickly grabbed his arm and drug him off behind the school. Kittie and David both burst out laughing. “So I heard you weren’t talking anymore.” David said once they stopped laughing.

Kittie nodded lightly.

“Why?” David asked leaning against Riley’s car.

Kittie shrugged.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Kittie shook her head.

“Are you sure?” He asked moving closer to her.

Kittie nodded.

“Maybe this would help.” He said pulling her down just enough so that their lips met. After a few seconds he pulled her down off of the car and wrapped his arms around her waist. She slowly brought her arms up and draped them around his neck. She soon felt his tongue run across her lips and she quickly parted them to allow his tongue to slip in. She was quickly running out of breath so she reluctantly broke their connection.

She just stood there, still wrapped in his arms, gasping for air. She placed her hands down on his shoulders and laid her head on his chest. “Better?” He asked pulling her closer.

“Much.” She finally said.

He smiled, “Glad I could help.”

“It’s helped me more than you know.” she said wrapping her arms around his waist.

“I’m happy to hear I’m good at something.” He lifted his hand up to her face and ran his thumb across her jaw.

“I’m sure you’re good at more than just that.”

“I don’t know if I’m even too good at that.”

“Well come here, we’ll try again and see.” she replied rising up on her tip-toes and lightly pressing her lips to his again.

Before either of them realised it, Riley and Nate came out from behind the school. The minute Riley saw Kittie and David she burst out with a mix of squeals and giggles.

Kittie immediately heard her and turned away from them, instantly turning red. She whispered into his ear, “It’s times like this that I hate my best friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a long spring the girls decided that it was past time to go for a drive. So Kittie, Riley, and Sammy set off on a back road towards Fairmont.

As Kittie was driving she slipped in one of her CD’s as Riley took her pack of cigarettes out of her purse. She lit one for Kittie and passed it to her, then lit another one for herself, and last one for Sammy.

In her rear view mirror Kittie spotted a car, but hit a loose patch of gravel and the car went. Without thinking she threw her cigarette out the window and grabbed the wheel. The car she saw before was quickly gaining on them. As the song Someday by Nickelback started Kittie’s foot slipped and hit the gas pedal. There was no correcting it after that, the car raced across the road, slammed into a tree, and went farther on to hit the other side into a phone pole.

As the car behind them got closer, the driver recognised the now smashed car. He stopped his car and got out. Being the driver, David yelled to Nate, “Dude, call 911!”

Nate quickly dialled and talked to the operator as David continued walking towards the car. Then engine was stopped, but the CD player was stuck on the same song. The air bags never went off in the car so he could easily see everything. On impact Riley had to have hit her head on the window, Sammy flew forward and into the headrest and Kittie hit the steering wheel. Blood was dripping down each of the girls’ faces as they all leaned forward, except Sammy who was on the floor.

The front window was spider-webbed while Riley’s window was shattered and broken glass was all over her as well as the gravel. David couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe as he looked at the car.

Before he could do anything he heard the sounds of the ambulance coming up the road. A little while later he answered all their questions and helped them load Kittie and Riley into the ambulance. He was Kittie’s face as he helped load her, hut couldn’t bare to see it for too long. There was a gash across her forehead and the blood was still running down her face.

Riley didn’t look as bad with only a cut along her cheek and some bruises. Her bright blond hair was now blood red in places and stuck to her shirt.

Sammy was now the only one they had to worry about. On one side of the car her door was smashed in and on the other side the door was against the pole. So they had to get her out of the car.

So the boys impatiently waited for the ambulance while the other one started towards the hospital.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kittie woke up on a very uncomfortable hospital bed. She brought a hand up to run her fingers through her hair, but instead found a bandage on her forehead. It took extreme effort, but finally she sat up. She looked around the room and saw Nate playing with his Gameboy and David sitting on the window ledge with his headphones turned up so loud that she could hear it plainly and a Rolling Stone magazine setting on his lap. When she looked across the small room she found a bruised and bandaged Riley in the next bed.

Suddenly she heard David’s voice, “Morning sleeping beauty.” he smiled tuning his CD player off and slipping off the window sill to sit on the end of her bed.

“How... how long have I been out?” Kittie asked in a groggy tone, finding her throat sore when she tried to talk.

“Three days.” he said pulling her tray to her so she could get a drink.

“Three days! I’ve been out of it for three days! All I did was hit a pole!” Kittie freaked out.

He just sat there, not even looking at her, almost like he was looking through her.

“All I did was hit a pole, right?” she asked, her eyes suddenly going wide.

“I’ll put it to ya this way Kit, when you first came here they put you in a room for three so you could all be together.” he said looking down as the thin white blanket on the bed.

Kittie slowly looked around the room. She suddenly realised something was wrong. Nate, David, and Riley were there with her, but someone was missing. “Oh my God! Sammy!”