End Of Innocence - Chapter 1
I remember that night like it was just yesterday. How we were all sitting around my hotel room so carefree. We were watching Coyote Ugly for possibly the hundredth time. It was my favorite movie. I remember looking around at my group of friends.
We were kind of an odd group in a way, but we just fit together. Jason and his girlfriend Samantha were there; Adam and Krissy were there, although I barely saw them since they were making out in the corner the entire night. Shannon and Alissa had brought Beth along with them since Shane was still out of town. Chris, his best friend Corryn, and his sister Valerie had come. Melissa had drug Jeff out against his will. He was missing his girlfriend Sarah and had been absolutely no fun for weeks. His sister Laurel had come along to hang with the girls. She was Melissa and Shane's sister Zoe's best friend, but I think she came purely because the guy she had her eye on said he might stop by. Amy, her best friend Sasha and Amy's sister Amber, Matt's girlfriend, had shown up late, so they ended up lying on the floor in front of the tv, but none of them seemed to mind.
For some reason my brother had decided to take a nap, but said he would probably stop by later. He had been acting kind of weird lately; I figured it was because he had a crush on Amy and didn't know what to do about it. Sitting in the chair furthest from the tv, I was able to scan the room without being noticed. The joking, laughing and kissing that was going on in the room was something I wouldn't see again for a long time.
"Hey Ames can you turn it up a little? These two clowns are making way too much noise," Chase Martin said as she pointed to Jason Reso and Chris Irvine. For some reason the two Canadians had decided to arm wrestle at the coffee table in the middle of the small living room.
"No problem Chase. Hey our part is coming up, are you going to get up and dance with me and Amber?"
"Not tonight, but you guys go ahead. I know how much you love it," Chase said with a smile.
She remembered how the girls had gone to see the movie in the theater four times. The fourth time they decided to stand up and sing with Leann Rhimes at the end of the film and almost got kicked out of the theater.
"What time is there plane supposed to come in again? I really can't wait to see Shane," Beth said with a frown.
"I think Matt said they would be landing around ten o'clock or so," Jeff told her.
The group was awaiting the arrival of their friends and family who were still out in New York. Chase knew that Chris couldn't wait for Trish to come home. She still had a hard time believing that her best friend and Chris Irvine were dating, but was happy for both of them.
"I wonder if the signing went well considering Vince and Linda were trying to get WWF fans to respect some of the WCW superstars," Corryn said with a laugh.
"I talked to Matt this morning and he said it went really well. Everyone seemed to like Shane, and Rey. He did say though that they all wished they could have come home this morning, but Linda wanted them to stay for Sunday Night Heat so they could make a small appearance. Glenn and Terri (Tori) were kind of pissed about that, but Linda and Trish talked to them," Amber explained. "Speaking of Heat, is it on yet?"
Before anyone could answer her there was a loud knock on the door and then it was open.
"You know Martin, one usually waits until somebody acknowledges their knock before opening the door," one of the guys said.
"I would have waited, but this is really serious guys. Turn off this movie and turn it to channel 4."
"Andrew, what's going on?" Chase asked her brother.
"Just do it Chase," he yelled.
Scrambling to pick up the remote to the hotel t.v., Chase did as her brother had instructed. "We know have breaking news on a plane crash right inside the state line. Sources say the plane, an American Airlines 747 went down shortly after 9:30 p.m. The airline is still unsure of which flight it was, but will let us know as soon as they figure it out. We do know however that the flight was on its way to LAX. The airline asks that anyone expecting a flight into LAX around ten o'clock calls there 1-800 number instead of their ticket gate number. We will keep the 1-800 number on the bottom of the screen for the remainder of our broadcast and we will continue to keep you updated as we receive more information."
"HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT," Jeff said as he began to panic.
"Calm down, we don't know for sure that it is their plane. Vince is calling American Airlines now to see what flight it was. He called me to tell me about it and to make sure you all knew. He has someone else calling the friends and families of the others. He said he would call us here as soon as he knows anything."
"Please don't let it be them," Beth whispered as she started to cry.
When the phone rang two hours later, the silence was finally broken. "H-h-hello," Chase stuttered into the phone.
"Miss Martin, this is Vince," the voice on the other end sounded distraught. "I have some horrible news…"
"Oh God," Chase said as she dropped the phone. Andrew rushed to his sister's side as she started to sob uncontrollably. "Andrew," she sobbed. "Th-they're gone.