My Heart Stopped Beating

In movies, similar situations often go in slow motion. In books, said situations are sometimes described as going in fast-forward. As my foot slammed on the brakes in response to Adam’s yell, it seemed like everything simply stopped. Adam stood frozen in action, standing in the middle of the yard with his arm outstretched and his jaw dropped. Jordan sat silently in the backseat, staring straight ahead in shock with her fingers gripping the edge of her seat. My knuckles turned bright pink then white as my hold on the steering wheel tightened. Although my mind was working, and a small voice in my head begged me to get out of the car, I just couldn’t bring myself to move. A sharp intake of air ripped through the silence as I realized what happened.

Struggling with the handle, I pushed the car door open viciously, tripping on the torn rubber on the bottom of my shoes as I stumbled out. I reached out blindly as I fell, my fingers stinging as they grabbed at the asphalt. My chin hit the ground hard and my eyes squeezed shut. With a sigh, I laid my head down as pain shot up my arms. Opening my eyes slowly, what I saw knocked the previous intake of air out of me as guilt and fright consumed me.

It was red, bright red, as far as the eye could see. A pale, white hand reached out towards me, dripping in blood. A pair of glasses sat off to the side, untouched, as a crimson-soaked leg bent at an odd angle lay right under the tire. My eyes filled with tears as they rested on Mikey’s face. His mouth fell open slightly as he spit out some blood, his hand still outstretched towards me, shaking slightly. His eyes searched mine desperately, seeming to beg me to fix what I’ve done. “I’m so sorry.” I blinked and the blood vanished.

“Natalie? Is he okay? Are you okay?” Adam’s hysterical voice rang out. Jordan continued to sit in the backseat, stunned. Slowly, I pushed myself off of the ground, only to have my eyes connect with Mikey’s. I blinked, just to make sure. It was real this time. He smiled slightly before looking down, brushing himself off and wiggling his ankle back and forth a little. He let out a low whistle as he pushed his glasses up a little, although they still lingered on the tip of his nose.

“That’s going to hurt a little later,” he murmured, almost sounding impressed as he continued to wiggle his ankle from side to side. “If you hadn’t stopped when you did, you might have actually managed to hit me. Sorry Natalie, but you really suck at running people over. I’d say you’re not very good at stealing cars either.” Mikey chuckled, limping lightly as he opened the car door and slipped in the back.

My jaw dropped as I continued to stare at him through the open window. “Aw, come on, you run a guy over and you won’t even give him a ride?” he joked. I continued to stare in shock as a familiar pair of arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me towards the passenger side. A hand reached out and opened the door, pushing me gently down into the seat before closing the door and jogging around to the other side of the Del Sol.

My eyes remained fixed on the road ahead as I droned out all the sounds and voices around me but the purr of the engine. The school was only a few blocks away when a gentle hand took my arm. I turned in my seat to see a concerned Mikey. “Are you okay?” his eyes seemed to ask. “You know, you didn’t even hit me, sweetie,” he began. I smiled slightly. Adam was always super protective when other guys were around, but he didn’t mind Mikey and his occasional pet names. Mikey’s face flushed in embarrassment. “I wouldn’t have been hurt, but seeing a car speeding towards me kind of surprised me. I fell and hurt my ankle on my own, out of shock. There’s no need for you to feel guilty or anything.” I smiled in response, facing forward and looking at him through the rearview mirror as the wind hit my face. “I thought for sure I’d killed you or something.” I replied, shaking my head slightly in disbelief. Mikey laughed. “Sorry, honey. To do that, you’d actually have to hit me, not scare me into falling down.”

My smile widened as I leaned back in my seat. I’d been up for hours trying to put together an outfit with no results before I’d called Jordan, so I was pretty tired. My eyes fluttered shut as I stretched out, slipping my hands into the pockets of my jacket, only to have my fingers brush against something small and round. Confused, I pulled it out to examine it as a small giggle erupted from the backseat. “Otaku Wench.” Jordan read aloud as she leaned forward in the small section between the seat and car door on my right. Although my friends were kind to Mikey, they still felt uneasy around him, as if he would suddenly turn on us and murder everyone or something. After all, he is one of ‘them’, and they’re different. I thought this was ridiculous, but that’s just how it is.

“So that’s where that went. I remember when you got that.” Jordan continued, her fingers reaching out and tracing the outline of the pin before leaning back in her seat. Adam had given me the ‘Otaku Wench’ pin for our first month anniversary as a joke during their Freshman year. My heart skipped a beat as Adam looked over and smiled, before returning his gaze to the road ahead. I pushed the needle through my jacket, right over my heart, and slipped the pin in place. I’d never been with anyone but Adam, which was a rarity where we lived. At our high school, it was a habit for the declarations of love to start once the relationship started, and the relationships ran on an average of three weeks. These relationships never appealed to either of us, so we never felt the need to date around. Having been best friends since third grade, we talked about everything together, and the subject of dating had come up several times. Lucky for me, Adam worked up the nerve to ask me out, considering I’d never have had the guts to do it myself.

The slam of a car door shook me out of my thoughts. Adam jogged around to my side and opened the door before I could get it myself. With a wink, Adam took my hand and began the long walk towards school. “Could you have parked further away from the building?” I teased. “Well, I could have tried, but I doubt it,” Adam smirked. “Somebody tried to steal my car and run some people over. They made me late, so I doubt I would have had to try anyways.”

My smile was replaced by a small frown as I looked down at my feet, walking faster. An arm rested on my shoulders, pulling me closer to a familiar pair of lips as they gently grazed my cheek. “Don’t worry about it, Sid. He’s okay.” Adam whispered, motioning toward Jordan and Mikey. They were walking a few yards ahead; they could be mistaken for friends if you weren’t looking close enough. Mikey strolled along casually, yet with grace, making small talk, as if he didn’t notice how on edge Jordan was as she self-consciously walked slightly sideways. Mikey noticed her putting some distance between them, but pretended he didn’t. He was kindhearted and sweet, I thought, undeserving of the treatment he got. In my view, he shouldn’t be avoided just because he hung out with ‘them’. It’s not like ‘they’ were much different than us, that he was any different from us, I thought. I thought wrong.