Kai

The smooth plastic of the wheel is sticky under my sweaty hands. As I sit in the driver’s seat, the tires of my car rumble while I ignore the speed limit and race down the highway. The low music from the speakers is barely even audible.

“This is going too fast,” Teagan complains.

My thumb messes with the volume control on the steering wheel.

“I’ve got it under control,” I tell her firmly.

The engine roars as I push my foot down harder on the gas.

“Do you remember my prom senior year?”

The question is random, but I’m ready to follow wherever she’s about to take us.

“Of course, Teagan.” The mood in the car changes direction as a low, tight giggle daintily fills the interior of my car. My lips painstakingly pull into a smile.

“Burke wouldn’t let me have a date. Even though I did. Josh Franklin was waiting for me at the dance, but it was just me for the photos—no date and no friends. I didn’t have many girlfriends, and boys were afraid to show up at the house. Burke made me take a million photos, and I was the only one posing in a fancy dress in our driveway. For way too long, I might add.”

“I remember, babe.” My right hand leaves the wheel, and I scratch my chin. “Maybe it wasn’t exactly what you’d hoped for in a pre-prom, but those other high school girls were just jealous. They would have looked like plain Janes in potato sacks, posing in pictures next to you.”

“You’re sweet, but let’s not pretend I was anything but Burke’s tag-along little sister back then to you. We don’t need to rewrite history, Kai. Besides, if we could rewrite history, that isn’t the part I’d edit.”

The car hits a pothole, and the wheel slightly jerks under my touch.

I slow down, just for a minute, while I listen to where Teagan is going with this.

“I’m not rewriting anything. You were as beautiful then as you are now.”

Her emotional sniffle vibrates my eardrums.

“Even back then, you were special. You wore a tight, curve-hugging black dress. It was long and elegant and probably nothing like what the rest of the girls wore. You’ve always been the best kind of confident woman, comfortable in your skin and fearless in your path. I may not have seen you as the love of my life back then, but I’ve always seen you as the most important person in my world. How I looked at you shifted, but I’ve always been looking right at you.”

Her long sigh is full of uneasiness and love.

Her story falls silent.

“Teagan?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you bring up your prom?” Curiosity has me continuing to slow the car. I’m almost under the speed limit at this point.

“Oh, right.” She clears her throat. “You could always read me so well. Burke had no clue I was bummed not to be taking pictures with a close group of friends and sneaking shots and having the full experience. You only needed a couple of glances at me to know I was disappointed.”

“Burke wasn’t blind. He just always wanted what was best for you, and, yeah, sometimes, it was to the point of it becoming a hindrance. I can admit that, but he always meant well. Taking care of you was a tough role for him to take on. Not in the decision to do it, but in the manner of suddenly being responsible for raising a child, especially since he … well, the both of us, weren’t really the responsible or paternal types.”

A Prius speeds past me, but all that matters are Teagan’s words.

“Burke isn’t the point of the story here. I know Burke has always wanted to do and has done what he felt was best for me. You are the focal point of this story. It’s us,” she corrects.

“Go on, baby.” I quickly glance to my right, and she continues.

“That day, when you came to pose for a picture with me, covered in grease from working on your car and sweat staining your clothes, you pulled me close and whispered in my ear for me to pretend that you were my date. You made sure that I knew I wasn’t alone, and that day was the day I realized I couldn’t let my puppy love go undiscovered. Every move I made after I turned eighteen was secretly plotted right then while you innocently posed next to me, dirty as hell with me in my prom dress. I knew then that I couldn’t go through life never acting on my feelings for you. I knew then that I was going to pursue you relentlessly.”

I’m so grateful she pursued me as hard as she did. My speed picks back up, not all at once but gradually until the gas pedal won’t give anymore.

“I love you, Teagan, and I couldn’t be happier that we found our way to one another, back then and again more recently. Do you still have that dress you wore to prom?”

The car shakes from the high speed, and my voice rattles.

“I love you, too, Kai, and, yeah, it’s somewhere in the back of my closet.”

The engine of my beloved car roars with the agile acceleration.

“Will you wear it for me again? I never got to take it off you.” My request comes out low and sultry.

Emotion clogs her response. “Yes, anytime you want.”

Staggered by the promise, I lean back in my seat. The empty road winds up ahead with a sharp turn, but I’m going too fast. Trees zoom by, looking like nothing more than blurred patches of green. I jerk the wheel … a little too late and going much too fast to successfully manage the turn. My tires screech before they leave the asphalt. The entire scene plays in slow motion.

“Teagan!” My throat is ripped raw as I scream her name. She sobs but doesn’t say a word. “Everything will be okay,” I attempt to reassure her. My head slams into the roof of the car, and I grunt as the wind is knocked out of me. “I’ll kiss you in that black dress the way you deserve to be revered.”

The guardrail tangles under my tires.

“I love you. I’ll always love you.” I close my eyes and see her in her prom dress, all grown up and completely mine.

The nose of my car hits a tree, and the crunching sound is deafening.

Sparks fly up from the hood.

“Kai!” Teagan’s anguish guts me.

My seat belt crushes against my chest.

“Kai!” I only see the beautiful girl in that sexy dress.

My hands leave the wheel, and my foot abandons the pedal.

“Kai!” she screams like her chest is hollow.

The air bag explodes in my face.

There is a crackling noise, and her voice disappears. I keep my eyes closed while the car continues to flip, barreling into a field to the east of the highway until the flight through the air comes to a crashing halt in the grass.