Her Light - His Darkness

Chapter 1

07 June 2015

As all the students make their way up the steps of the stage to take their seats, chatting excitedly while we're all waiting for the principal of Oakland High School to begin with the graduation ceremony, I take in the thick, maroon curtains, with gold swirls at the bottom hanging all around the stage, closing us off from the audience, my shoes squeak against the black high gloss reflective surface of the stage.

I adjust my long, black graduation gown as I prepare to take my seat, my eyes scan the area looking for the most electrifying blue eyes I have ever seen, when they finally land on him running up the steps in his matching outfit and a beaming smile on his gorgeous face which I'm sure matches my own, I wave him over.

He runs a hand through his blond hair while walking over to me. I love the moments where we get to sit alphabetically, whether it be in class or during a gathering in the hall for the students, then I get to sit next to my one and only.

"Lo?" A sweet voice says to the left of me.

"Yes Kris?" I turn to look at my best friend Kristy with her sparkling brown eyes and her wavy chestnut brown hair. Her features are soft with her small nose, her bottom lip is slightly thicker than her top and her beautiful round face.

"Logan," she nudges me in the side with her sharp elbow.

"Ouch! What's gotten into you, Kristy?" I rub the spot where she practically stabbed me, okay I'm exaggerating, but have you ever been nudged by your friend or your sister with extremely sharp elbows? Well, it's quite sore.

A small smile begins to form on her lips, "I can't believe we're finally graduating, and we'll never have to see this place again," her small smile stretches into a face-splitting smile, I can't help but smile back, feeling the happiness surrounding us like a thick warm blanket on a cold winter's night.

I have known Kristy Stevens since we were seven, we weren't best friends the moment we met by the way, the complete opposite, I pulled her hair because she stole my pencil, as simple as that. The school phoned our parents and devised a plan to get us to "bond" it worked, we ended up getting along, and we've been inseparable since then.

"Sorry to interrupt ladies, but you forgot these." Landon holds out two black graduation caps with a maroon tassel.

"Thanks Lan." I smile at him as he takes his seat while I struggle to put my cap on.

"Here, let me." Landon fixes my graduation cap and places a quick peck on my full lips as he grabs my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

I met Landon Smith in the beginning of high school, what caught my attention about him, is his blue eyes, he is about 6'0' with a square jawline, and let's just say the muscles were there already back then, it was a work in progress, but now, they are mouth-watering, after joining the football team in the beginning of his high school career, it's expected.

We started dating two years ago once we finally realized we had feelings for each other, and we are still going strong.

A loud ear piercing noise erupts on the opposite side of the curtain along with grunts from the audience, I grimace as the noise continues, it's like nails being scratched against a black board, and I have always despised that sound, this, this is just worse.

A few seconds later and the noise stops, relieved sighs fill the air from my peers, and the curtains begin to open.

"Sorry about that folks, technical difficulty." Mr. West, the school principal chuckles nervously over the microphone.

I zone out as Mr. West begins talking, I begin thinking of all the good and of course the bad years in this high school.

***

A good twenty minutes later the bald principal finally begins calling names, I missed the whole valedictorian speech, I don't really care about that as I look out at the audience and see my family, both my parents have matching looks on their faces filled with pride and joy, just by looking at the six of us, you can tell we're all related, yes we're a big family, luckily for my parents, we're all girls... Ha!

David, Melissa and Melanie Swan all have the same light - brown hair with green eyes, David Swan is my father, he has a bit of a round figure, you could call him chubby, he always blames it on moms cooking, she'll gladly argue with him about self-control, he's somewhere about 6"2', he can look scary when he needs to, but he's an absolute teddy bear.

Melissa and Melanie are the youngest out of us kids, they're five-years-old, and they inherited my dad's eyes and hair, not to mention they're twins, double the trouble, then there's Gabby, eight-years-old and of course myself Logan Swan, eighteen-years old, I know my name seems like a name for a dude, but come on, it works either way and I adore my name.

Gabby and I inherited my mom, Julia Swan's Hazel eyes except ours has a swirl of green in them and light brown hair with a golden tinge to it, I have a set of full, plump lips that some days I love and other days, I think they're too big for my oval face and my small, slightly upturned nose.

"Kristy Stevens," she walks up to the principle, a little pep in her step, shakes hands with the balding man and walks out of view.

"Landon Smith," Lan smiles sweetly at me as he releases my hand, he makes his way to the podium, he shakes hands with the principle, and he lifts his diploma in the air like a trophy.

"Logan Swan," as I make my way over to the center of the stage, I can feel the excitement in the air like an electrical current surging through the air.

I walk confidently over while smiling at Mr. West, I shake hands with him and receive my diploma, the rush of my accomplishment still going strong. Two of my most favorite people are waiting for me with ecstatic smiles as Kris wraps her arms tightly around me while laughing excitedly.

After the graduation ceremony, we'll go our separate ways to change outfits and prepare for dinner with Lan's family, before heading to the celebratory party at Kris' house.

***

After eating, my dad stands up, taps a fork lightly against a glass careful not to break it to get everyone at the table's attention.

"I want to say how proud I am of you and Landon, especially you Logan. The last few months have been tough, but you pulled through, and we're all so happy and proud of you." My dad clears his throat. I know what he's talking about, everyone at the table knows, my face falls slightly from the mention of my... I shake my head as if to shake away the dark thoughts starting to form, instead I focus my attention on my dad once again.

"Your mom and I thought since you and Landon are going to UCLA, you'll both need a place to stay. I'm not talking about dorm rooms or living in the same house as your parents."

He chuckles as he scrounges around in his pocket and pulls out a red velvety, heart-shaped box and places it in front of me. I pick the box up, rubbing my thumb across the smooth, soft surface gently opening it.

"A key?" Confusion laces my voice as my eyebrows furrow slightly, then it dawns on me, a shocked gasp leaves my lips as I jump up, wrapping my arms tightly around my dad. "You didn't!" I begin to giggle.

"The house we looked at, it's all yours honey." I hug both my parents tightly, kissing them both on the cheek, a few happy tears grace my cheeks, "I love you both so much."

***

We all piled into mom's silver Lexus after finishing dessert, dad decided to drive while mom sat next to him up front, Landon, Melissa, Melanie and I are squished at the back, while Gabs decided to ride with the Smiths, Landon has a younger sister, Ana, same age as Gabs, Gabby and Ana are best friends.

Excited chatter fills the car about what the future may hold for us all as a song from Journey, Don't stop believing plays softly in the background, when out of nowhere the sound of screeching tires fills my ears, the smell of burning rubber invades my nose, a sickening sound of crunching metal on metal pierces my ears as glass shatters all around, my body is flung sideways as my head crashes into the window next to me, a piercing pain shoots throughout my head as warm liquid begins trickling down my face.

Everything begins to blur as black dots dance across my vision, I close my eyes, and open them to try lift the haze from my eyesight, I blink rapidly, trying once more, but it proves to be futile.

Blackness begins filling my vision slowly, the last thing I remember before succumbing to the blackness and losing consciousness is the limp, unmoving body, covered in blood and shards of glass of Melissa, on my lap.