Ivy had just left the prom and was heading towards the after party with her prom date. Already teens were wasted and yet still trying to get even more drunk at the after party. Ivy suddenly got a nagging feeling in her stomach, telling her not to drive. She couldn’t tell if it was from watching teens pack in the back seat of cars with alcohol, or from drinking the possibly spiked beverages at the prom.

“I don’t want to go, John.” Said Ivy seriously.

“What do you mean you don’t want to go? We’ve been excited about this supposedly epic party for ages. We’re supposed to have the time of our lives remember? This is our night. Is it because, you’re afraid…you know, to have-“

“No! No. Its not that John,” Interrupted Ivy.

“I am absolutely in love with you and ready. Its just that the party is a long drive, towards the middle of the woods,…at night. I mean are there not plenty of movies showing what can go wrong when teens are in a cabin in the middle of the woods alone? Plus, I’m not feeling well, like I ate something bad or something.” Pleaded Ivy.

“How about this,” John said.

“I’ll drive all the way to the party and on the way there, I’ll stop by a store and buy you some Tums or something? When we get there I’ll stay by your side one hundred percent of the time. And I’ll carry around a beer bottle, so that if someone try to attack us, I can break the bottle and stab them with the broken bottle. Whoever it is will be like, ‘Oh no. There’s a beer bottle in my gut. Now I have a beer gut.’.”

     They both laughed, but she still had a prickling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“I don’t know.” Ivy said.

“Fine, if that’s what you want,” Said John disappointingly.

“but just know that I love you too and that I meant what I said about never leaving your side because, I am absolutely in love with you too.”

“Okay, we can go, but we have to leave when I say so. Okay?” Said Ivy.

“Yes!-I mean, okay. Cool. Whatever you want babe.” Said John trying to keep the excitement out of his voice.

    Ivy and John got in the car and began their long drive towards loud music, puke and horny teens. As they drove over a bridge, from the passenger side, Ivy thought how beautiful the moon looked over the water. She was glad to see such a sight with her one true love. Ivy then realized that this was the perfect time to reminisce about all the times John and her had shared and all the times she knew she had grew. John was right, it was their night, and she was going to celebrate like no other.

        As they left the bridge and turned toward the main road next to the forest, Ivy suddenly got that ache in her stomach. That’s when it happened.

       Their car slid off the main road and towards the forest. John, who was immediately killed upon impact, didn’t feel a thing. Ivy on the other hand was still very much alive and very much conscious. Although during the crash she didn’t want to be.  The car kept skidding off the road, until it crashed into a big oak tree. Ivy’s head flew through the window and smacked straight against the tree. She knew she might have a concussion and didn’t want to sleep or keep her eyes closed any longer.

      When Ivy opened her eyes, she realized two things. One, was that the top part of her head was leaning against the tree and the rest of her head was lying on where the window used to be. Pretty much hanging out the window. The second thing she noticed was that her head was facing towards the sky. These were the two thoughts she held on too while blood dripped from her nose and on to the ground.  Ivy was looking at the moon when suddenly the remaining huge shards of the window, hanging, fell directly into Ivy’s eyes.

     All she could do was scream. She couldn’t even pluck the shards out of her eyes because, her arms felt too heavy. It was as if she weren’t able to lift her arms up at all. Ivy stayed that position for a couple hours. Slowly getting more dizzy. As time ticked by, so did the only two thoughts she held on to and her blood. Eventually, another prom couple drove by and called the police. When the ambulance came and removed the shards, Ivy literally cried tears of blood.

        The police officer stood by the hospital bed and read the report. He was telling her of how a very drunk or very intoxicated teen crashed into their car from the drivers seat, rendering all of John’s internal organs and brain immediately useless and Ivy with two broken arms, a little brain damaged and…blind.

      The hospital offered classes on how to live blindly, even on how to use the bathroom. But it didn’t work because; her brain damage was preventing her to keep new things in her head for long periods of time. So, her parents gave up and decided to take care of her personally. When Ivy finally arrived home, she turned on the T.V., forgetting that she couldn’t see. So instead she just listened. Ivy heard many news channels reporting of her “prom night tragedy” and the idea of banding prom after parties.

          Ivy got sick of it and went to her room. She didn’t want to hear any more of what they had to say about the event because; to them it was just another tragic story that’s able to get them more ratings. They really didn’t care about how great a guy John was or how sad it is that his future never extended beyond high school years, but she did.  This thought only brought her to tears. The very act of crying brought pain to her eyes unless she had the pain medication prescribed to her by her doctor. Instead, Ivy tried to distract herself with other thoughts. So, she thought about the last beautiful sight she had, which was looking at the moon, over the water, on the bridge with John.

          Then Ivy began to cry again. It seemed every thought she had a, weather short termed or long termed, thought, it lead to John. Ivy just decided to lay in bed and cry. As Ivy lay in bed crying, she heard John’s voice whisper in her ear, “I will never leave your side.” At first Ivy thought she was going crazy from the emotional distress or having brain damage problems ruining her sanity, but she kept hearing it again. Every day she heard his voice and knew that if he was still with her, her life will get better.

      And it did. It actually improved. For every time someone would try to sneak up on her, talk about her in another room, or even pass gas, Ivy would know beforehand.  Some people thought she had gained super powers from the full moon on her “accident” day in order to make up for the ability of sight in which she was lacking. Ivy like when they thought she had super powers, but some people thought that because, she was blind, it caused her body to naturally heighten all of her other senses for survival. Ivy hated that theory, because for most blind people it was true.

      But in Ivy’s case it was because, her soul mate would whisper in her ear everything he would see, hear and sometimes smell. He did this because; he made a promise to never leave her side and to protect her, even if he was in ghost form. John the ghost felt guilty for convincing Ivy to ride with him to the party. He thought, maybe none of this would have ever happened if he had just listened to her instead of thinking of his own selfish reasons. Sex was one of them and now he’ll never know because, John died a virgin. Now he can atone for those selfish acts by keeping his promises, helping her out, and waiting. John is waiting for her time to come so that one day, they can be reunited in eternal bliss. Until then, he’ll just keep whispering in her ear, as Ivy’s prom date ghost.