“Hey? Hey! Are you all right?” a voice called.

Mary opened her eyes but was met with blurred vision. Somehow, she was lying in the middle of the street.

"Are you all right?" the voice asked again. It was coming from a man wearing some type of uniform. She couldn’t tell for sure.

"What…?" Mary tried to say more, but her voice stopped working.

She was suddenly aware of the presence of pain. It covered her body but concentrated along her left shoulder and side.

The man in the uniform helped her rise on unsteady feet.

“Careful. Looks like you can move all right. Here, let's get you out of the street."

In a daze, she let him shepherd her to sidewalk. There, he gently sat her down on the curb.

"Stay here. Someone will be back to help you in a moment."

Then, he was gone.

Mary remained there, her head in a fog. She started to notice familiar stuff all over the ground.

An open book bag.

A phone.

Books.

Some unused tampons.

An apple with one bite mark.

Her eyes followed the trail of debris to a brilliant red sports car. Half of it was smashed in by a city bus.

What had happened?

Mary studied the scene, trying to puzzle together the pieces.

The car. It had hit her.

But why?

She moved without meaning to and made her way to the car’s window. She recognized the person inside.

Carter. She knew his last name, but she couldn't think of what it was. Her mind was rattled with the sight of his body slumped over the seat.

Eyes shut. Blood covering his face.

Mary knocked on the window. Scraps the concrete had left in her hand stung.

No response.

She beat the window with her fist.

Still nothing.

Mary stared. On any other day, she wouldn't have exchanged two words with this guy. Just yesterday, he nearly mowed down pedestrians whilst peeling out of the school lot. Mary had wished he'd be taught a lesson.

But she didn't mean this.

Her hand found the door handle.

Locked.

Suddenly, Carter's eyes flickered opened.

He looked straight at her.

Mary jumped back. She then pressed her face to the window.

His eyes were closed again.

She stared at him, waiting for him to open them again. Waiting for any sign of life.

But he remained still.

Hands suddenly took hold of Mary, pulling her away from the car. Her feet moved on their own again. Someone was yelling "Miss" a lot.

Parts of her brain found other noises too. Sirens. Beeping. The murmur of a curious crowd. The hands directed her to sit on something cold and metal.

"Miss? Can you tell me your name?" A different voice than the one before.

Mary still hadn't found her voice. Her mind was still in the fog.

"Is that her bag there? Does she have a driver's license?"

"No license, but I found a student ID.” Yet another voice. “Her name's Mary Phan. She's seventeen and a junior here."

Footsteps. Then a third voice. "I just talked with some of the kids on the sidewalk. One of them said her mom's a nurse at the memorial hospital."

"Find out how to contact the mom. Anyone see what happened?"

"We’re questioning witnesses right now, but it looks like she ran in front of the bus as it was turning left through the intersection. It would've nailed her if that sportster hadn't gotten in the way."

"Anything on the bus or the driver of the car?"

"Everyone on the bus looks fine. The car belongs to a kid named Carter Maxwell. Also a junior." A sigh. "I wouldn't hold my breath. He looks really bad in there."

Mary tuned out everything else.

All sights.

All sounds.

The only thing seared in her mind at that moment was Carter’s eyes staring at her.