I’ve always wondered why bad things happen to good people. Is it to make us stronger or is it just because we live in a s*** world? All I know is that any normal day can turn into the worst day of your life, so you should always tell loved ones you love them before it may be too late.

I had the best friend group, they were family. We were together everyday. There was Kamber, she was the loud hyper one. Chase: he was the guy I was always off and on with. He seemed like this hard heartless guy but we all knew he’d never let anything happen to his friends. Lane was called “Lane the Flake Farley” because he constantly flaked but he was secretly in love with me so he was always around when I asked. Andy is the big teddy bear, everyone loved him and well he is good to everyone. Danny was just kind of always there. He never missed a party or a chance to cheat on his girlfriend. He was an asshole but our asshole. Lastly Tabi, she danced 24/7 listening to her “happy music.” She brought happiness everywhere we went.

Most days we were at the fields, but on July 29th it was full of what if’s. I woke up that day with Chase. We had to go shopping for him to get clothes for his grandmother's funeral. After I had left his house I texted our group chat with everyone. Danny had asked to go to lunch, Kam was going to work and then Tabi asked me to come over. We were supposed to go camping that weekend but her dad’s car broke down. She wasn’t home yet so I just went inside. She texted me asking to go to the lake with her family and I told her I couldn’t drive because I had no gas and she said that was fine her sister would drive. She finally arrived at her house and we changed into our bathing suits. When we went to leave her sister said she didn’t have enough room so she called her mom and asked to borrow gas money. We then left with her two cousins and went to the gas station down the street. After we left the gas station we started heading to the lake but we only got as far as down the street.

I was going down this steep hill that had a curve. I lost traction going over loose gravel. My first instinct was to press on the brakes. The car started with my backend fishtailing and it just wouldn’t stop. Then all of a sudden the tires left the ground and my car flipped onto my side first, then rolled twice. It all happened so fast yet it felt like it was in slow motion. I remember screaming. I remember things flying everywhere. I remember how it felt when my car hit the ground when it flipped. I remember covering my head with my arms and closing my eyes because of the shattered glass. Then suddenly it all stopped. My car was bashed in. I turned around and Tabi’s cousin was in the very back of my car but he was okay. Her other cousin’s hand was bleeding so I gave him a piece of clothing to put pressure on it. A man ran to my car and told me he had called 911. He then gave me his phone to call my mom because my phone was shattered in the middle of the road. I called but there was no answer. I then called my aunt and she told me she was floating on the river with my mom so I just hung up. I didn’t have anyone else to call.

I didn’t realize how bad Tabi was hurt until I saw all the blood. Her foot laid on my purse cut open with a puddle of blood around it. There was blood all over the blanket she sat on. Blood was coming out of her face and ear as her head laid on the side of the door. I tried to help her keep her head up, trying to keep her awake but she just had her eyes closed and kept making this moaning noise. I kept telling her I was so sorry and she was going to be okay. All of a sudden firefighters came to the car. They had to use the jaws of life to get Tabi out of the car and when they did it made glass shatter everywhere. Another firefighter helped me climb through my broken window. I can’t remember how the boys got out. I just know I have never seen so many police officers, firefighters and paramedics in one place. Once they got Tabi out they put her on a gurney, put her in an ambulance and drove her up to the helicopter where she got life flighted.

People asked if I was okay but no one really checked to make sure. They just sat me down in the middle of the road and that’s when I broke down and once I started crying I couldn’t stop. I remember an old man trying to step forward to talk to me but a police officer pushed him away. I still wonder who that old man was. I remember seeing sadness in his eyes. My uncle was at one end of the accident screaming at police officers to let him through and at the other end was my stepdad with my stepsister. Then this firefighter went to go take my blood and let me tell you he had no clue on what he was doing. He stuck that needle in me about 8 different times. He made my arms black and blue and bandaged up my right elbow because it kept bleeding.

After that I was in the back of a cop car which was extremely uncomfortable and I was brought to the police station. I remember being there covered in blood, makeup, tears and had little pieces of glass in my skin and hair. I was a mess. They made me take a breathalyzer and do a whole bunch of sobriety tests. They marked me down because I couldn’t bring my arm to my nose due to the bandage. They sat and kept asking me the same questions over and over again recording me. I was honest about everything. They kept leaving the room, leaving me in there by myself. They didn’t know that I had been at the police station before to bring food to the police officers and I got a tour of the whole station. Which made me know that I was behind a glass that looked like a mirror but they could see through it on the other side. I knew they were on the other side talking about it. They also had a screen with the surveillance of all the rooms. I could see my family sitting in the waiting room. They finally took me out of that room and took me into another room with my mom and aunt. They talked about the possible charges and told me not to leave the state. I then got to leave with my aunt and mom and went home.
As soon as I got home I messaged the group chat to let them know and they all already knew. I didn’t realize that hours went by. I called Daniel and they were all at the hospital. I’m still not sure how everyone found out about it because as soon as it happened the entire road was cut off but everyone was posting about it and messaging me. Kamber, Nick and Chase came to pick me up. I cried in Chase’s arms the whole way there. He told me he had cried for the first time since he was 13 and I thought it was because of his grandma’s funeral but it’s because all my friends had called all the hospitals and couldn’t find me in any of them so they just thought I was dead. I felt bad for him. He left his grandma’s funeral to go straight to the hospital where one of his best friends was dying and put into a coma. Everyone was there for me.

Tabi had to have emergency brain surgery because her ICP went up to 80% and if you don’t know what that is it’s her brain swelling. She came out of an induced coma two weeks later. I was scared she wouldn’t remember me especially after them taking a chunk out of her skull but she did. She texted me one day off of her sister’s phone asking me to come see her. When I first saw her she smiled so big and told me to go sit in bed with her. She told me she will always love me and she knows the accident wasn’t my fault. At first she had a really hard time matching names with faces and mixing up words with others, or she couldn’t even say certain words. She would get really mad and scream at her doctors. Then a few weeks went by and she got on less medication and it was like nothing ever happened to Tabi. After two months went by she got to go home. She had her brain surgery three weeks ago where they put her skull back in and now she’s putting pressure on her foot.

July 29th was full of what if’s. What if we went to lunch with Danny? What if we went camping that weekend? What if her sister drove? Life’s not based on what if’s though, it’s based on reality. The accident happened and it was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to the both of us, even though Tabi can’t remember it. It plays over and over in my head everyday but you know what? I’m just thankful Tabi’s alive. I love her and she is still my best friend.