The Beginning

I'm not sure where to start, so I'll just start from the beginning. In the summer of 1997, I was 17. My best friend and I hung out all the time. We were so carefree, and couldn't wait to be an adult. I wish I could go back in time and truly enjoy my childhood all over again. I guess live and learn. One day, my best friend calls me up and asks me to go hang out with her. She wanted to go shoot some pool. I figured, why not. I'm not very good at it, but we always had fun together. We go to the pool hall that's a popular hang out, get ourselves a table and start playing. Well, not long after playing, my best friend notices a couple of guys across the room. She comes over to me and says, hey, that guy is really cute, look. I looked, I was like, whatever, he's your type, not mine. My best friend says, I'm going over there to talk to him. I'm like, I'm not coming, I'll stay here. So off she goes. I watched her. She was so confident and sure of herself. I wanted so much to be like her, but I was the quiet, shy type. After a little while, she comes back with a big smile on her face. She looks at me and said, I got his phone number. Good for you I said. What are you going to do? She said, I think I want to go out with him. I said lets play a few more rounds and leave. So back to pool we went.
A week went by of my best friend and I hanging out, enjoying summer and no school. Then on day, my best friend says to me, I have a date with that guy I was talking to. I said, good for you. She said, there's just one catch. Oh no. She said, he can't drive and doesn't have a car. I said good luck with that, not wanting to be in the middle of this. She said, well, his best friend can drive and has a car. His best friend is coming along and wants to hang out with you. It could be a double date she said. I said, no way, I don't want any part of this. Especially, to be set up on a blind date. Well, of course I went. How could I let my best friend down? I told her one time only. I said if I don't like this guy, then I'm not doing this anymore. So, it was agreed.
They came over and picked us up at my best friend's house. We decided to just do a movie. We get to the movie, and I was okay. Everything was going fine. My best friend and the guy she was crushing on were doing great. I can't remember what movie we saw, but I remember it was pretty good. After the movie was over, we were just going to go back to my best friend's house. On the way home, the guy I was set up with thought he'd show off and drive crazy. Needless to say, I was crying by the time we got back to my best friend's house. As soon as we get back, I run into her house, and lock myself in her bathroom, crying my eyes out.
The guy looked at my best friend and said, what's that all about? So, my best friend explained to him that when I was 16, just a year earlier, I got into a terrible car accident with my brother. My brother is two years older than me. One day he was driving his pickup truck and we were on our way to go see our mom at work. It had been rainning that day, all day. The best I can recall to this day even, is that my brother went to switch gears and hit a puddle in the road and we started spinning. Next thing I know, we were in on-coming traffic, with a minivan headed right at us. Next thing I know, I wake up, and half my body is hanging out of the front windshield, blood dripping down my face was making it hard to see. I felt numb. I was passing in and out. I remember my brother yelling at me, trying to get my attention, asking me if I was okay. I remember thinking, oh my god, our parents are going to kill us. I passed back out as they were loading me into an ambulance. They were assessing me and decided my injuries were too severe and called in an air transport, worried I wasn't going to make it by the time they got me to the hospital. I passsed back out. Next thing I remember was waking up in a hospital to my mom and dad standing over me. I was in Shock Trauma. It's one of the very best hospitals around us and if you wind up there, it's because you are almost dead. I was in the hospital for a week. I don't remember much, I was passing in and out. Finally, a week later, I was getting better. I had had a very severe concussion and needed several stiches on my face and body. I dislocated my left elbow and that was wrapped. I later found out that there was four cars involved in that accident, including us. I still can't recall anything more than what I've said here.
Back to my story, so my best friend tells him this story and he realizes what an ass he was. He came in and said how sorry he was. I still wasn't a big fan of him. I truthfully didn't like him at all. My best friend kept seeing the guy she liked and I kept being dragged along their dates because his best friend needed to drive. So we were stuck together. I did it for my best friend. Little did I know how much I would like him and fall in love with him. 13 years later, we are happier than we've ever been and I swear I love him more and more everyday.