Blog Post 4: "I would have stayed up with you all night; had I known how to save a life."

p.122, #6
I started with the idea of working with the pictures, and did use them in writing this piece. Then after I had the entire thing done I went back and changed a lot of things. I just didn't think the first one really did this person justice.

    This is the girl I used to know. Fun loving, living life without a care in the world. Carefully applied makeup and straightened hair created a striking look; ready to go out and cause a commotion. Sitting in the passenger seat after a few shots of vodka that lit up her youthful face and caused a permanent smile. Five hours later the scene takes a different turn. She would no longer be in the passenger seat, it was her time to drive. The car runs off the road and into a ditch, while trying to avoid the flashing lights following her.

    Star diver on our schools swimming and diving team, first runner up homecoming queen, and brains to top it all off. Everyone at school knew her, she made herself hard to ignore. I will never forget the day I came into work and saw her sitting in the managers office, watching training videos. Finally, I would get to meet the girl everyone else seemed to know.

    Her beauty had begun to fade, and the personality was going up in smoke. You might as well have a conversation with yourself at this point. The only relationship that mattered to her was the one with the “vase” that she hid in her closet. Potential; the word seemed to be thrown around a lot.

    The fun we used to have now seems a distant memory, washed away in a sea of broken promises and disappointments. Anticipating the weekends that someone’s parents would go out of town. Allowing us to take over the house, drowning in copious amounts of liquid courage. The drinks no longer worked for her, she was immune, it became a daily thing. The fun we used to have.

    Going out to eat for our friends birthday, by this time we had all moved away or gone off to college in another city, everyone except her. The scene is set for a nice evening among ‘family.’ That’s what it felt like now. We had been so close over the past four years, I felt like I had known these people my entire life. We knew each others strengths and weaknesses. We snuck each other into our houses late at night, when our home wasn’t exactly perfect. No one bothered to dress up, who were we trying to impress anyway? This was the last time I held a completely sober conversation with her.

                                    This is the girl I wanted to know.