Eve of Destruction

Chapter 1

Eve

2:00 a.m.

“No more! I’m going to be sick!”

“One more shot! Bring the tequila!” Ophealia waved her hand in the air.

I groaned, falling over onto the couch.

“Eve, are you ok?” Josiah’s concerned voice asked.

“I don’t know. Please help.” I groaned again.

Ophelia was laughing as I tried to stand. Josiah went to the kitchen and returned with a bottled water.

“Here. You need to get hydrated.”

I gulped the water down as best as I could. Ophelia opened another bottle of tequila. Stumbling over to the couch, she poured some into a shot glass and shoved it in my direction.

“Come on, Eve. You only live once! And you’re going to college far away in the sticks! Just one more.” She pouted.

“One more and that’s it!” I picked up the shot glass as Josiah sat beside Ophelia on the floor.

“Pour one up. You’re both taking this shot with me.”

“Hell yes!”

We all drank our tequila shots and laughed. That was the last thing I remember before waking up with the worst headache ever. Hangover.

I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. My parents were out of town, so I had the house to myself. Ophelia and Josiah, my two best friends, were staying the night. When I checked the living room, Josiah was sprawled out on the floor, clutching a bottle of Don Julio.

I went into the kitchen and started breakfast. After a few minutes, Josiah walked in, holding his head.

“Well, good morning, sir.” I giggled at his facial expression.

“Is it really good? This headache is killing me.” He started to rub his temples.

“I can’t wait to see the look on Ophelia’s face. She drank more than we did.”

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then his eyes widened.

“What?”

“Ophelia left last night.”

“How? She didn’t drive.”

“Her boyfriend came by after you went to bed. I think he may have been drunk too. They argued and he made her get in his car.” He pursed his lips.

“I’m going to call her. I raced back up the stairs to get my phone and dialed Ophelia. It rang a few times and then went to voicemail. As I made my way back downstairs, I tried again.

In the kitchen, Josiah was sniffing around the food. He glanced up when he heard my feet on the kitchen tile.

“Any luck?”

I shook my head, biting my nails.

Josiah fixed his plate and sat in the living room, turning on the tv.

I contemplated calling again.

“Holy shit.” Josiah stood suddenly. I approached him and turned to look at the tv.

What I saw made my blood run cold.

“Is that …”

“Uh-huh.” We both stared at the tv in complete shock and silence.

No way were we seeing Ophelia’s boyfriend’s car wrapped around a telephone pole on my tv.

12 p.m.

I called Ophelia again. Maybe she hadn’t been in the car. They said there was one person. It could’ve been Hector. I was pacing and out of my mind while Josiah couldn’t stop flipping through the channels to find more coverage.

“Nothing new. I can’t find s**t on Twitter. No one has come forward with any information yet.”

We were both nervous. Just last night we were partying and laughing and having a good time before we all went our separate ways for college. Now here we were, wondering if we had lost our friend.

A breaking news report came in.

Police officers were standing at a podium to do a press conference about the accident.

“The family has been notified of the fatal accident causing the death of their loved one. The body has been identified as 19-year old Ophelia Holt. Pending investigation, we are not able to go into details. As the investigation into what caused the accident concludes, we will be as transparent as possible. If anyone has information we ask that you contact Dreckel County Police Department.”

I tuned out the rest of the press conference. I didn’t know whether to cry or scream or feel guilty. We were drinking at my house; underaged drinking at that.

Josiah was silently trying to process the news as well. I sat beside him on the couch, placing a hand on top of his.

“How did this happen? We were all breathing and living and happy just last night.”

I empathized. Ophelia was close to her family, so I knew they were taking this hard. I started to call her mom, but I figured I should let her grieve. We sat silently for almost an hour before Josiah stood and went outside.

It was all surreal. Our best friend, whom we had known since kindergarten. We all stayed in the same neighborhood for years. Our families sometimes spent holidays together. This didn’t seem right.

With Josiah out of sight, I broke down. I let out a loud scream and fell to my knees. The sudden warmth of Josiah's arms wrapping around me only made it worse. He made shushing sounds and gently rubbed my scalp. Tears were falling rapidly and I couldn’t control my sobs. One of my best friends in the whole world was gone forever.