𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙇𝙊𝙂𝙐𝙀

Hazel Gilbert never expected to know what death felt like so soon in her life. She expected her life to last several decades and to only touch death as far as experiencing the passing of family members or friends as life went on. She never thought she would ever experience it firsthand, or even the fact that she would get a second chance at life. Death is never a lighthearted thing; it's heavy and impacts multiple people for many years to come as an aftermath. It's not something you wish for, and it's not something you wish on anyone. It just happened to be some really bad luck for it to hit Hazel at the age of seventeen, just a few months shy of her eighteenth birthday.

The day started off normal. The radio alarm went off at 6:45 in the morning like usual and Hazel sat up with a groan after slapping the radio alarm off to rub her eyes clean of the crust that formed from overnight. Hazel has never been a morning person despite waking up at that regular time every morning—it probably doesn't help that she stays up every night reading, but, she blames not being a morning person for her groggy mornings rather than her late nights.

Hazel contemplates going back to sleep and risk being late to school for those heaven sent extra couple minutes of sleep before she throws the covers off of her to get out of bed, knowing that if she wasn't up soon, her sister would come barging in and wake her up less gently. Elena had always been a morning person, and it's clear from the way she blasts music at seven in the morning and is usually chipper from the get go.

     After doing her morning routine slowly and begrudgingly, Hazel changed into her clothes and headed downstairs to the kitchen where she finds her twin sister, Elena, already down there and in her cheerleading uniform. Her brown eyes then spotted the coffee pot that Aunt Jenna was making and her mouth drooled in delight. She needs that liquid gold. It's the only thing that will get her through the day after sleepless nights.

There's banter between herself and her sister, then with their Aunt Jenna before their mom usually comes down to greet them with a kiss on the cheek before they go to school for the day.

School goes by normally. Hazel goes to her classes, hates being there but loves seeing her friends, who she's known since childhood. Despite its reputation, she actually loves small towns for this particular reason; generational friendships that are for life. Caroline and Bonnie are the bestest friends that she and Elena could ever ask for, even when they fight. The only strange thing that she could note about that day is how Bonnie mentions a bad feeling about the bonfire that was later that night. Bonnie's gut feelings were never wrong—Hazel realises now that she should've stayed home that night. She almost didn't go because they were supposed to have family night since Jenna was in town, but, Elena and their friends managed to convince her.

Once they arrived to the bonfire, things were fine. They mingled with friends and listened to music that played from the speakers while having a couple drinks that someone managed to bring courtesy of a few students' older siblings that were able to buy it as they were of the drinking age, or someone managed to find a liquor store owner that was willing to look the other way to a fake ID. The reminder of Bonnie's bad feeling had fleeted away and was long gone. However, the lightheartedness didn't last long when Elena and her boyfriend, Matt, got into a fight at the party.

Matt was talking about college and marriage and all the stuff that he always talks about and Elena just couldn't deal with it. Although they were sure that he doesn't really care about that yet; he's was trying to figure out how she felt about him since he had said the famous 'L' word, but, it was yet to be returned on her part. Elena wasn't really sure how she feels yet—or at least, she says she doesn't know how she feels. Everyone that has eyes can see that she doesn't feel the same, but, she's just afraid to say it because she doesn't want to lose him.

     Elena's party mood was done for, even despite the pep talk from their mom—who always knows the right things to say to cheer them up in times from need. Elena needs to go home now. She can't stay at that party any longer and Hazel doesn't want to leave her alone in her state, so, they call their parents to come pick them up early.

     Oh, what a mistake that was.

     Hazel must've passed out on the drive home, because she doesn't remember the crash itself, or what happened for them to end up underneath Wickery Bridge, but, when Hazel wakes up, coughing, she can see that their car has been submerged in water and it only continues to sink further and further into the water.

     Hazel turns to look at Elena, who was passed out—the older twin having hit her head amidst the crash and knocked herself out. Their mom, also passed out. Hazel looks at her dad in a panic, "Dad!?" She yells.

     "We're gonna be okay. I promise." Grayson says as he tries to open the car door, attempting to break the window open with his elbow while Hazel watches with worry, continuing to try and wake Elena up.

     The water fills the car up quickly and Hazel tries to take one last deep breath of air to hold while she shakes Elena vigorously, as she continues to yell her name without a sound. She then tries to open the door as well, but, it won't open. She tries to do the same as her dad and break the window with her elbow, knowing that she would rather be in pain from glass cutting her than not being alive.

     When the windows don't open, Hazel looks to see her dad still trying, even though they both know they won't budge, and their attempts were futile. Hazel taps his shoulder, and Grayson turns around and grabs Hazel's hand. He shakes his head, indicating to her that there is no way out. She nods and mouths one final 'I love you' to him, to let him know that she has accepted that this is their last final moments together before Hazel felt the water enter her lungs and she chokes.

     Hazel takes a few final breathes, shuts her eyes, and becomes lifeless as the water fills her lungs violently and quickly, missing when a stranger dives into the water and swims to the driver's window where Grayson was still awake to save him. Grayson shakes his head and points back to twins behind him to save them first.

     The stranger swims to the back window, and rips the door off and grabs the girls before swimming them back up to the surface. When he gets onto land, he can finally see their faces and his breath catches in his throat at how they looked. Identical—not just to each other, but, to another.

He then snaps out of his shock and checks the first girl's pulse—it's weak, but, it's there. After a few shakes, the girl becomes delirious and awake. The other twin, has no pulse and the stranger works quickly to commence chest compressions to get the water out of her lungs. After what feels like forever, the girl chokes up the water in the lungs and the stranger lets out a sigh of relief when her eyes slightly flutter open.

Hazel Gilbert would later learn that she was dead for fifteen minutes, and her life has forever changed.