I was outside kicking my soccer ball around with my older brother Austin when I got the news about Max Duncan's accident.

It wasn't a surprise that his mother showed up, darting up the driveway and into my house. She and my dad had always been close, even when they were my age. It was the distressed and horrified look on her face that caught me off guard and I ran up the stairs after her.

". . . and it happened. My baby. My poor baby was in an accident." My eyes widened as the soccer ball dropped from my hands, hitting the ground with a thud as I stared across the room. Mrs. Duncan stood in front of my mom, shaking her head so much that her black curls had sprung out of the bun they had been in and fell around her face.

"Is he all right? Margaret?" My mom took the other woman's shoulders in her hands, her blue eyes growing wide. Mrs. Duncan only stared at my mom blankly, as if the reality of what was happening was finally sinking in.

"He. . . he's alive. David is down there with him now. My poor baby, he said he can't feel his lower half and. . ." My mouth even more at her words, at the crack in her voice as she spoke of her son.

Maxwell Duncan was paralyzed? The star soccer player, the golden boy of our school, would never be able to play soccer again?

"He was in the accident a couple days ago. I tried to call you but there was no answer. I. . . I'm just happy that my baby is okay. My son. . ." She trailed off as she stared at my mom with tears in her dark green eyes. I dropped my own head and stared down at my tile floor, seeing a faint reflection of myself in it.

"He'll never be able to play again?" My mom finally asked, scanning the shorter woman's face. Mrs. Duncan nodded, hugging my mom.

"He's paralyzed from the waist down. He won't say a word to anyone. I don't know if it's because of the trauma or because he realizes what's going on. That he won't be able to play ball again." I finally tore myself out of the house and jogged down the stairs. My brother had taken a beer out of the cooler by the garage and was sipping on it slowly as he stared across the street at the Duncan's place. I didn't understand why until I moved toward him and was able to see past Austin's Ford.

David Duncan had pulled his mini-van up the driveway and was holding the back door open and trying to open the trunk of the car at the same time. My eyes followed the worn out looking man as he pulled a wheelchair out of his trunk.

"Shit." My brother whispered behind me, "What the hell happened?" It was then that I remembered that Austin hadn't heard about Max. Nobody probably had except me because I had eavesdropped.

"Max." I breathed out as David pulled a very limp body out of the back seat of his SUV. It took me a minute to realize it was Max.

He didn't look the same. His usual light and beautiful skin was now pale and ashen. His hazel eyes had dark purple circles around them. Even his lips were chapped and bloody. His hands were moving around his lap frantically, it looked like he had just realized he couldn't feel his legs.

"Jesus." Austin muttered, coming up behind me to get a better view of Max. As if he could feel our eyes on him, his head snapped up and he stared at us blankly for a moment. Then, as if he had just registered out stares, his eyes darkened into a glare.

"Take a picture!" Max snarled at my brother, "It'll last longer!" I could feel my heart clench a little.

I had never liked Max, despite the fact that he loved soccer as much as I did. He was a stuck up, two-face, conceited jerk. He only cared about himself and how well he looked and did. I hadn't ever seen him ask if someone else was okay.

But seeing him hurt. . . broken, I couldn't help but feel horrible for him. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have your whole life and career ripped away from you in an instant.

"Quinn." My brother finally whispered, squeezing my shoulder.

"Come on, we should let him have some privacy." My brother took my arm and dragged me back toward the house. My eyes never left the boy in the wheelchair across the street. The boy that was staring down at his hands because he didn't want to look me in the eyes. The boy that would never be able to stand up or run around, or even kick a soccer ball again. Max Duncan had gone from the Golden by to nothing in the matter of days.

I had always seen movies and read books about things happening to people around them, but I had never believed it would happen to me.

No, I wasn't close to him by any means. But we had pretty much grown up watching each other play or just sit around.

After a minute I finally tore my eyes away from the poor seventeen year old across the street. I followed my brother up the steps without turning around, afraid that if I did I would let myself get caught up in Max's world all over again.

***AN***

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~ChasingMadness24