Night Of Regret

• Abbey Mclean, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2009

Shaylei Hent was popular, she was the girl everyone longed to be. Beautiful, affluent and perfect as it seemed. She had only one enemy, Ally Tamdoss. They hated each other and tried to do everything possible to make a fool out of the other. Ally spilt things purposely on Shaylei's new Malibu dresses and expensive shoes; she wrote cruel things on Shaylei's locker and even put things in her hair unnoticed. Shaylei never told though, she found this revenge game fun, so each time she got Ally back. Shaylei had stolen her things and gotten her into trouble, even turned Ally's friends against her.
Other people found it as very immature of these 17 year old's, but they didn't. Some boys in the same year held a party one Saturday night. It was going to be huge, there'd be alcohol and smoking. Shaylei convinced her parents there would be adults there and was finally allowed to go, Ally on the other hand barely had to ask as her parents trusted her. Shaylei picked up three of her friends on the way to the party as she was on her P's. Ally's friend, Tahni picked her up. The music was booming and people danced like they were indefatigable. A disco ball brightened the room immensely and speakers were placed everywhere. There were streamers and balloons strewn across the shiny ink-black floor. Shaylei made a dramatic entrance by letting everyone know she was there. The boys were over her in a second. Ally rolled her eyes and groaned.
The whole night the two girls avoided each other, besides muttering rude comments behind each other's backs. Shaylei was happy as long as she had the spotlight and Ally was happy as long as Shaylei stayed out of her way.
By the end of the night, Shaylei was completely inebriated by the boys and grinning at all the attention. Shaylei left the party at the very end of the night, people offered to call a taxi for her but she refused and snuck out to her car. When Shaylei was on her way home, she saw straight through a red light and the night ended in tradgedy when she hit a car head-on and hidden by all the smoke and fire, she got out of the car and raced down the road where no-one could see her. She stopped behind bushes and trees, still shocked at what she had done and vomited. She hoped to god that the people in the other car would be okay.

The next day at school Ally wasn't there and Shaylei was still in shock about the accident. She felt ashamed, like everyone knew about it, and she kept asking herself why she ran away.
As she sat down that night to watch the news, she found out why Ally wasn't at school that day. Her parents had been hit in the car accident and died immediately, and yet Shaylei had walked away with not a scratch feeling the guilt that would be with her forever.