Read Toxic (Better Than You) for Free Online Page B

even though what I really want to do is run out of the house, away from all of these people and this city and this life and never come back.
                  Sam grabs my arm and shoots a look at Danny, who whispers into my ear, “Remember,” before letting go. But how could I ever forget?
    “I have to take Sophia home,” Sam tells me as she pulls me towards the door. “She’s waiting in the car.”
    I sigh, because I can’t stand Sophia. Sam’s got a soft spot for the overly talkative girl who lives down the street from her, but they’re not friends, not really. Sam and I are the only friends we have. Luckily, Sophia’s passed out in the backseat so there’ll be no talking from her. Which is great, because I know I can’t handle it right now. I don’t know how I’m handling even being alive right now.
    Sam starts the car and somehow pulls out of the overly crowded street. As the streetlamps rush by, I count them. Anything to keep my mind off of Danny and his whispers and touches. But without even realizing it, I’m crying, warms tears trailing down my cheeks.
    “What happened, Lo?” Sam asks softly, which makes me cry harder. I don’t answer, though, because what can I say? I drank too much, I walked away from Sam, I didn’t fight. It’s all my fault anyways.
    With that truth sitting heavy in my stomach I turn to meet her worried eyes. She’s looking at me instead of the road and even through everything that’s happened tonight, I know that’s dangerous, but just as I’m about to say something , chaos and pain hits me hard. There’s the sound of tires screeching, of metal screaming, of glass shattering. Then there’s nothing but the hiss of steam and the sounds of life in the distance. Just when I thought my ears would explode from the noise, it’s all over and then the silence is suffocating me. I can’t move. I can’t breathe. It hurts to think.
    “Lo?” Sam’s frantic voice calls, but instead of sounding like she’s right next to me, it sounds like she’s a mile away.
    Minutes pass, maybe hours, who really knows, before I can move my head and I turn it sideways to see Sam covered in blood. There’s no airbag surrounding her like I expected. “Sam!” I whisper yell.
    Her hands are by her side, shaking so bad I can hear her jewelry clanging against each other. “You have to help me,” she says to me.
    “Sam, everything’s going to be okay. We need to call 911,” I say as I start to sit up to look for my purse. I know it’s on the floor somewhere but the car is smashed in and everything hurts so much and-
    “Not yet, Lo. We’ve been drinking…”
    I stop moving. Think about what she just said. She doesn’t finish her sentence, but I understand what she’s saying. They’ll get her with a DUI. It’ll ruin her life. But what other choices do we have? I look across at the other car and see a man slumped over in his seat . Is he dead? I can’t take my eyes off of him, off of his car that doesn’t even look like a car. The street light above us turns green and shines off of the one intact window. It’s still so quiet. “What do we do, Sam?” I whisper.
    “Help me get Sophia up front.”
    Just like that, Sam has my attention. I turn in my seat to meet her eyes. See the fear there; the way her chin is trembling and her nostrils are flared from breathing so hard. Is she serious? I think she’s serious. Sophia’s life will be over. We’ll have this huge secret on our hands for the rest of our lives. Can I live with that? Can I live with myself if I don’t help Sam, my only friend? I don’t know what else to do, so I help Sam move Sophia into the driver’s seat. It takes a couple of tries to get the door open and to get Sophia out, but we finally do it, both of us shaking from exhaustion and pain. Sophia doesn’t even move.
    A few minutes after we call 911, we hear the sirens and then we see the lights. Sam and I are sitting on the g round, our backs against the