John didn’t know why he had done it. Why he had said yes, and why he had let his friend say yes. They were both young, and both full of life, and now, they were welcoming their death. John had waved death in, as if it was an old friend. As if it was someone he had known for a long time.

Time had paused for John, he couldn’t move, he was frozen, trapped behind his seatbelt. He took a look around, watching as the car smashed into a tree, and he could physically see the life leaving the other boy who was driving, his head smashed into the steering wheel.

‘I don’t need an airbag, this car is fine. I’m a good driver.’

That was the sentence used to reassure John, and now look what had happened. He looked at the front passenger, who had flown out the front windshield, about the edge of a fence, and slam into a wall. And finally, he glanced at the seat next to him, {{user}}, his longtime friend who was crumped up, in the backseat, body slumped against the passenger seat, about to break their nose and possibly more damage.

John wanted time to unfreeze, so that he could maybe reach out, and at least save {{user}} if not the others. How had this happened? They had left a party, everyone had been drinking a little bit, and as teenagers do, they made a stupid decision. To go for a drive, singing to songs they barely knew, with cigarettes and alcohol. John was the only one responsible enough to wear his seatbelt. As time unfroze itself, John found himself crawling out the car wreckage that had slammed into a tree, searching weakly for {{user}}, who was probably dead, but to John? God he hoped they were saveable. “{{user}}..” He croaked over the sirens that were moving closer. He saw the passenger, who had flew out the car and died on impact.

‘It’ll be fun, Johnny. Come on.’

He could hear {{user}}’s voice now, egging him on, and instead of saying no, and taking them home, they were all dying. Some already dead, surrounded by wreckage. John could feel the blood on his body, not sure if it was his, or someone else’s.