Page 2 of I Knew You
“Body heat,” I replied plainly, as if my actions were natural. “I don’t want to be here either. I only came because my dad was on a tangent, and I thought Whit might show up. Didn’t know about the new girl, though.”
“I don’t even know how he met her,” she grumbled.
I chuckled.
The door to the house opened, and out poured Whit, the girlfriend, and two other girls, laughing like something hysterical had just happened. Julianna and I split from each other, and Whit didn’t seem to notice we’d been awkwardly embracing.
“Hey man, can you take Julianna home?”
I furrowed my brow at my friend. “Where are you going?”
The girls all laughed among themselves, their voices piercing my ears.
“Taking Amber’s friend’s home. But then I’ll probably go to Amber’s. Jules, is it okay if Bram takes you home?”
Julianna’s mouth gaped slightly. When it came to girls, Whit did not have much of a brain, but Julianna had no way of knowing this was how he always acted at these parties.
“I’ve been drinking,” I said, grabbing onto my best friend.
“Oh,” he said, but was not deterred. “Can Julianna driveyour truck home then? I’ll come back and get you in a bit. I don’t want her hanging around all this. I don’t think she wants to be here, and this is my fault.”
He didn’t stop to see if I would answer. He ran off with the giggling gaggle of females.
“I want to be shocked, but I’m not,” Julianna said when they’d walked away, rolling her eyes. “You can drive me home.”
“No, I can’t. I’ve had a few shots, and I don’t want to?—”
“Are you really that drunk? You look fine,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Was I able to drive? I thought so. If I were stopped, would I be tested? I had no way of knowing. But I knew an advantage when I saw one. She didn’t want to be at the party. I wanted alone time with her. The house was close.
“I’m okay. Let’s go.”
“I’ll tellyou what happened, just drive around a little bit,” Julianna said. She was giving a long tale of Grams’ fight with the Christmas tree. I felt a little unsteady with my vision at times, but I was able to manage the drive. Plus, the roads were empty, given it was the dead of winter and late at night.
I forgot how much I missed being in Julianna’s presence, and I wanted to keep her talking. So I did as she suggested and pulled the truck onto a back road. I watched her laugh and talk, her southern charm blooming. It was probably why I couldn’t recall when a flash of fur jumped into my vision.
Tires screeched, and two hard objects collided.
The distinct smell of rubber filled the air.
A scream tore from Julianna as the truck swerved.
I held onto the steering wheel, trying to regain control.
Trees came straight for us. Flying empty soda cans, gymshoes, and random small hand tools pelted my skin. Loose papers floated around me. The clear absence of gravity made my body fly uncontrollably, even though I was tethered to the leather seat by my seatbelt.
The belt held like a vise, and I held it out from my chest as much as I could. The truck rolled, seemingly never-ending.
Was this how I was going to die?
I let go of the belt in time for the airbags to deploy all around as the truck landed forcefully. I jolted back to earth as all four wheels met the ground.
We’d landed at the bottom of the steep hill, in a wide ravine. The road was above our heads and to the left. I heard my heartbeat in my ears first.
I reached to my right and felt the solidness of flesh beneath my fingers. It was Julianna, breathing heavily and alive. The moment I realized I was unharmed, I unbuckled my seat belt. “Are you hurt? Can you move?” I asked.
We looked at each other. Julianna was bleeding from her forehead, red rivulets trickling down her nose and chin. “Oh my God, your face.”
