Haley+Grover

﻿Play The Villan

It's something that should have lasted forever But to you, it's just a phase Only something to get you through this endeavor We talked easily about the weather Rain that lasted for days and days It's something that should have lasted forever I said always and you said never Twisted it in a million different ways Only something to get you through this endeavor Flip the switch and pull the lever Talk about the phrase that pays It's something that should have lasted forever Love is only light as a feather Broken by a single gaze Only something to get you through this endeavor <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Then someone handed you a letter <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">In the pouring, rainy haze <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">It's something that should have lasted forever <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Only something to get you through this endeavor

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Possibly Pregnant

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">You're possibly pregnant What's all this about? You got yourself into this Now dig your way out You're left with some choices Some thing to decide Wait for the anxiety To settle and subside He told you he loved you But where is he now? You're possibly pregnant And filled up with doubt

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">SOBERIETY. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Three stories. One goal. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Phoenix’s Tale <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “It’s just one beer. That’s the line they always use to hook you in. When you’re young and stupid you have no idea that that one beer would be the beginning of the end of your life. Just like my sister, Phoenix, didn’t know that the beer bottle she was found with would be the last one of her life. My name is Sullivan Carter and I’m here to tell you her story.” My eyes scanned the crowd of teenagers sitting in uncomfortable chairs in the dim auditorium. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Once upon a time, Phoenix was a good student. She was really brilliant, always trying to outdo me in everything. She was always the competitive one. Once she had set her mind to something, nothing could sway her.” My chuckle echoed through the acoustic room as I reminisced. “It’s a little bit amazing that I can still remember the good times with my sister. Sometimes I really have to sit there and try to remember how she was before she started slurring her words and stumbling around the house. The bad almost overpowers the good.” I stopped again to let the words sink in. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">“Phoenix started drinking sometime during her junior year. I guess she thought it was ‘the thing to do’ or whatever. I guess this was one of those situations where being hard-headed was a bad thing. Phoenix was too stubborn and she paid a big price because of it.” It seemed like everyone in the room was paying attention now, every eye was on me. “The first time I caught her drinking I was so shocked that at first, I didn’t say anything. I just stood in the doorway of her bedroom with my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. It just didn’t click that my little sister could be drinking alcohol. She was the smart one; she knew better than anyone how stupid it was. And I guess what really surprised me is that it wasn’t just one beer, but that there were five more unopened ones on the ground beside her bed. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Once I was able to form a sentence, I really let her have it. She started apologizing, tears just streaming down her face. She helped me pour the liquid down the drain and throw away the bottles. Phoenix swore, up and down, that she was just experimenting and that she would never touch the stuff again.” I laughed again, only this one was more of a disgusted huff. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">“A little while later, while I was taking out the trash, I found more bottles in the garbage can. She didn’t even try to hide them. I think that’s when she really started to slip away.” I leaned against the podium. This was, by no means, the first time I had told my sister’s story, but that didn’t make it any easier to re-hash the memories. “I’m sorry, everything gets kind of foggy after that so bare with me. At some point, a few months after I had caught her in her bedroom, I got one of the worst phone calls someone can receive. It was probably three in the morning when my phone rang. For a second, I considered just letting it go to voicemail. But then I thought: what if something happened to mom or dad? I was across town in a college dorm at that time, so I figured I better answer just in case.” This part was always the hardest for me to remember. That entire night came as a blur. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">“It was a police officer saying that Phoenix was being arrested for public intoxication. She was alone, half naked, and in the middle of downtown New York without a dime to her name and no car. I still don’t know how she even got there, to the party. The woman on the other end of the line said that she had tried calling my parents, but no one had answered and I was the next person in her emergency contacts. That came as no surprise, since they were both the heaviest sleepers I have ever met. I made it to the police station in record time, probably going sixty the entire way there and going over what I was going to say to Phoenix in my head. I was furious, madder than I had been in my entire life.” I gulped, a ball forming in the back of my throat. “But then I saw her. She was in a slumped over in a chair, her blonde hair sticking to her neck. Her skin was pale and she was crying. When I walked in, she looked up at me and tried to stand, but her legs gave out from under her and she landed hard on her knees on the tiled floor. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">After paying a hefty fine, I carried her to my car and took her home. We didn’t talk about that night until months later. She was with her best friend at the time, Serena. I guess at some point a guy at the party tried to get a little too friendly and Phoenix made the decision to leave. At least, that’s the edited version that she had given me. God knows what really happened that night. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Anyway, she was good for almost a month after that. She was almost back to her old self when the accident happened. This time, it was my father who got the phone call. I’ve never seen my old man cry before that night. Phoenix had been in a car accident with Serena and some other girl. They were all drunk and on a late night joy ride.” I stopped so that I could keep my emotions in check. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">“Serena had driven right through a red light and another car crashed into the passenger side.” I locked eyes with a girl on the front row who looked about as close to tears as I was. “Phoenix was dead before the paramedics could get there. Serena and the other girl got out with a few broken bones, but my baby sister was the one who paid the price for their drunken stupors.” My fingers tightened on the edge of the podium until my knuckles turned bone-white. “Her beer bottle was broken in half, but the neck of it was still clutched in her hands when they pulled her out of the car. My parents and I got to the scene as they were covering her body with a sheet on a stretcher and loading her into the back of an ambulance. I’ll never forget seeing her lifeless hand bouncing as they pushed the gurney, like it was a ragdoll instead of my sister.” My voice cracked and I could feel a warm tear roll down my cheek. “So, that’s why I’m here; to tell you not to drink no matter how ‘cool’ it is at the time or how many people are telling you to do it. In the long run, it isn’t worth it. What happened to my sister can’t be changed, but you are all alive in this room right now. You all have the chance to fix it before it gets worse.” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Amber’s Secret <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> Sullivan, Phoenix’s older brother, had started to walk off of the stage to where a group of people had been standing, waiting to ask him more about his experience. I sunk further down in my seat. My cell phone vibrated in my jacket pocket and when I pulled it out, I saw that I had gotten a text from Selena. She was sitting somewhere else in the auditorium with the new group of friends she had taken to hanging out with. After Phoenix’s death, we sort of grew apart and avoided each other and the subject all together. We were toward the end of our senior year, almost nine months after the accident. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> I shoved the phone back into my pocket, ignoring Selena and whatever snide comment her message held. She never claimed responsibility for the death of our friend, never admitted that she made a mistake. Sullivan was now shaking hands with my English teacher, saying something that made them both nod their heads solemnly. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> Before I could stop myself, I was standing up out of my seat and shuffling my way down the cramped aisle. It felt like everyone was looking at me, judging me, tearing me apart with their eyes. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Sullivan,” I breathed once I had gotten close enough that he could hear me over the murmur of the room. “My name is Amber Armstrong.” I held my pale hand out to him and he shook it with a forced smile. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Hello, Amber. Did you have a question?” He didn’t know. He had no clue who I was. I stared at him blankly, halfway hoping that he had just started yelling and taking his anger out on me. I wanted him to hate me for what I did, for what part I played in the death of his sister. But instead, he just waited patiently for me to speak. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “I’m,” For a second, I thought about telling him. I really thought about it. “I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for what you’ve been through. I’ll keep you in my prayers.” Then I spun on my heel and got out of there. I basically ran back up the aisle and out the auditorium doors. I was too chicken to tell Sullivan the truth. I was just as weak as Selena. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> It was two days after hearing Sullivan talk. I was sitting in a circle of strangers, each with a nametag on the front of their shirts. To my left was a middle-aged man named Larry and to my right was a girl who looked even younger than me named Jennifer. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> This was my first time going to rehab. I had checked myself in earlier this morning, knowing that I was spiraling downward. I’ve been drinking, heavily drinking, since I was thirteen and as horrible as it sounds, I took Phoenix’s death as a warning sign. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Amber, would you like to introduce yourself to the group?” A pudgy woman asked in a cheerful voice that reminded me of spring. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Sure.” I mumbled while pulling myself to my feet. The over-sized t-shirt I had on hung below my hips, covering the pockets of my jeans and the sneakers that I wore were scuffed and dirty-looking in the bright florescent lights. “I’m Amber Armstrong and I am an alcoholic.” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Welcome, Amber.” The group repeated in a bored, monotone voice. I looked at the instructor for help. I wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted me to talk about, why I was here or why I started drinking. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Just tell us a little about yourself. Who is Amber?” As she said the last sentence, she made a hand gesture that resembled a sphere. I glanced around the group at the tired, broken people surrounding me. I can’t be here. I can’t face this. So I did what I do best, I left. I tossed my bag across my shoulders and ran out of the rehabilitation building and didn’t stop running until I was at my front door, tired and out of breath. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> When I came inside, the air conditioning calming me slightly, I saw my mother in the kitchen kneading a ball of dough. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “You’re home early. How did it go?” She was hopeful; I could see it in her eyes. She wanted her little girl to be all better after just one meeting. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “It sucked.” I growled while storming up the stairs, taking them two-at-a-time and slamming the door of my bedroom behind me. The first thing I wanted to do was open the mini-fridge and grab a bottle, kick back on my bed, and forget everything. But instead, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and grabbed my car keys. I slid open my window, which was conveniently built above the roof of our garage. Beside the garage was an apple tree. Honestly, it couldn’t have been any easier to sneak out of the house. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> I started the engine to my old pick-up and pulled out of the drive. By the time I had gotten out of my neighborhood, I had a cigarette lit and clamped between my lips like a pacifier to make me feel better. I had a destination, one that I had never actually been to before, but one that I had driven past a million times; a large, brick house with black shutters and Greek symbols above the door. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> I knocked on the door hesitantly, my hands shaking. It took a while for someone to answer. A tall, strong-looking guy with blonde hair and gray eyes stood on the other side of the threshold. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Is Sullivan here?” He rose on eyebrow before opening the door wider. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Sully! You have jailbait!” A blush crept onto my cheeks as I shuffled in behind him. Sullivan appeared at the top of the staircase, a questionable expression on his face. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Do I know you?” He asked as he bounced down the stairs. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “I’m Amber. You, uh, talked to my school the other day about,” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Yeah, I remember you now. What brings you here?” He was smiling, completely unaware of the truck-load of crap I was about to dump on him. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “I have something to tell you. It’s about Phoenix; it’s about the night she died.” Before I could continue, he tugged me by my hand to another room. Then he shut the door behind us and turned to face me with hard eyes. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “Go on.” He sat down in an over-stuffed leather chair. I sat across from him on a matching couch. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “I was the girl in the backseat. I was in the car.” My voice was shaking as much as my hands. I couldn’t feel my lips moving, but I could hear my voice. “Look, there’s something that you have to know; something that no one else knows about that night.” He just glared at me, his arms crossed stiffly across his broad chest. “Phoenix hadn’t been drinking. She quit after the party. She kept her promise, Sullivan. Selena asked Phoenix to hold her drink while she drove.” I stopped to see what he had to say. He wasn’t looking at me anymore, but at some faraway point over my shoulder. “Do you understand what I’m saying, Sullivan?” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “She kept her promise.” He breathed. It was like I could see a great deal of sadness leaving his body. “She wasn’t drinking.” His eyes moved back to meet mine. They weren’t happy anymore. Now they were full of hate. “You killed her and she hadn’t even been drinking?” His voice raised ten octaves. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “It was an accident! Selena had been drinking, but Phoenix made the choice to get in the car. It was a bad decision, but it was one that she made. It was not my fault, or Phoenix’s. I don’t even really think Selena should be blamed except that she had been drinking. It was an accident, Sullivan!” He glared down at the ground, his mouth scrunched into a tight ‘O’. Then his brown eyes met mine and it made my breath catch in my throat. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “She wasn’t drinking.” He repeated again. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> “No. She wasn’t.” He turned his face back to the floor and I took that as my cue to leave. The door shut loudly behind me as I walked down the path back towards my truck. I was leaving, again, but this time I did the right thing. I did what I should have done a long time ago. I did what Selena never could have done.