LOSING INNOCENCE

CHAPTER 1

Raya laughed heartily. She felt like nothing could dampen her spirits. Just two hours ago, she and her best friend Steph, had held hands as they tossed their graduation caps into the air. She was done, she was done with high school. She wasn't class Valedictorian but that didn't matter to her, she was going to college, Stanford at that. Her life was going so smoothly.

Just three weeks ago, she had celebrated her 18th birthday day, and this time she actually threw a party. Basically the whole senior class attended. And it was at that party, high on booze, that she told Kalvin her boyfriend that they should break up. She never really liked him, he was cute and all. Perfect for taking her on dates and doing couple things together, but she only dated him because she felt pressured watching all her friends in relationships and when he had asked her out, she said yes. All he did was pressure her for sex and he was a bit of an airhead. After their breakup, she felt lighter, like she had left a baggage behind. In truth, she had.

The graduation ceremony had been great, when Mr. Grimes the principal had called out her name to come and get her certificate, the crowd had cheered. Her parents cheered more loudly than anyone else. She felt like she was walking on air. There had been a little afterparty and everyone had attended, signed cards and some people even cried. Steph had been accepted at NYU, which was an hour's flight from their town. She and Raya had made plans with a couple of their friends to go on a road trip. They would drive to Delaware and rent a cabin.

Now Raya was in the car with her mom, her dad and Jude her brother. She was at the backseat with her mom and Jude and her father were sitting at the front with her dad driving. They were heading towards a restaurant where her dad had made reservations for dinner, one in which you had to book two weeks prior. Her dad was so proud of her and he had said that like a million times. And although she would laugh it off, she was secretly pleased, she had always wanted to make her dad proud and she had. She couldn't believe that about two months ago her parents were thinking of a divorce. Things had become stale in their marriage and they were both too busy. Her parents didn't even fight, they just always ignored each other which was even worse. They would seat at the dining during dinner in utmost silence, while her and Jude looked back and forth at each.

Raya didn't know what was going on between her parents, but from her mother's conversations with her aunt, Mary Jane, she knew her mother suspected her father of cheating with a woman at his office and her father had denied it vehemently and was angry at his wife for thinking that way about him. Things had gotten a lot better after they had gone to therapy and they were doing considerably better.

She looked at Jude sitting beside her father and thought too herself that they looked a alot alike. She looked more like her mother, with the same brown wavy hair and full lips, but she had her father's grey eyes. She and Jude hardly ever got along, they fought too much but since she was leaving for college she had become more tolerant of him. After all, she didn't have to see him everyday and live with him. She remembered when they were younger and Jude would mess a place up or break something, she always got scolded instead. As they grew older, they argued over everything, from who would do the dishes or who would fold the laundry, he was a total pain in his backside, but regardless she would miss him when she was gone.

Raya snapped out of her thoughts as her mother nudged her. "Your father is talking to you", her mother said. Raya's father turned to look at her and said, "You know I am so proud of you sweetie". Her mother and brother groaned. Both Raya and her father burst out laughing.

"Thank you Dad, i…..LOOK OUT!", Raya screamed as her dad swerved to avoid a dark clothed figure standing in the middle of the road and the tires of the car were screeching. So many things were happening at once, her father's hands were clenched tightly on steering wheel and he was stepping on the brake but it wasn't stopping, her mother was screaming, her brother's eyes were shut tightly and he was muttering. Raya's last thoughts before the car slammed into a pole and everything went dark were,"Oh shit, I'm never going to make it to college now."