It was July and two young women were standing on the verge of
something.

Sam McPherson knew something was wrong with her. She had the best
friends anyone could ask for, mad writing skills, good grades and
good health. Why was she so miserable? Honestly, she couldn’t
find a
reason beyond the fact that she was lonely. She hated to admit it
but she did want someone in her life.
She just couldn’t figure out who that someone was. She had dated
George and fought with Brooke over Harrison, and now she was
miserable and alone.

Even while embroiled in the Harrison fiasco she had felt better than
she did now. The end of that little love triangle had brought her
to where she was now, currently dangling her feet in some bottomless
pool wondering if she should jump in and not even knowing what was
in the water. Right before he had made his decision at prom Brooke
had run out of the building and into the road. Sam had followed,
trying to figure out what was going on. Then Nicole had come
barreling at Brooke in her luxury car.

She had never known fear like that. Watching the front of that car
bear down on Brooke seemed like a slow passing *****. She had two
fears, one that told her that she might die if she attempted to save
Brooke and one that told her that she could loose Brooke if she let
that car hit her. The latter proved to be stronger so Sam had run
into the path of the car herself and pushed Brooke, they had both
gone down. Nicole had swerved at the last possible second.

There had been some broken bones and a concussion between them, but
they both escaped with their lives. Nicole on the other hand, had
swerved straight into a tree. The front end of her car was pretty
much one tangled piece of metal with leaking fluids. She had been
carted away with minor injuries and later bundled into a rehab
center. No one had seen or heard from her since.

Sam didn’t like to think about that night, but it so often
involuntarily inhabited her thoughts. She and Brooke had been in the
hospital for a week, and since Sam couldn’t walk due to a broken
leg
Brooke had spent most of her time with her. It had been a time when
the tenuous bond that they already had actually strengthened. Sam
had finally been able to see past Brooke’s outer persona and had
let
some of her own walls slip a little bit. After they had gotten to
know each other better Sam had been the happiest she had been in a
long while. Brooke had been very thankful for what Sam had done, and
Sam herself was just happy that everyone was okay. Even though she
was in some physical pain her emotional self seemed to be healing
quite well.