Just hours before their young lives ended in a tragic car accident, good friends Jacquelyn Branch and Bethany Payne were at a friend’s home playing Madden Football.

Branch, 19, of Nederland, and Payne, 18, of Bridge City, were hanging out at Ashlie Trahan’s house in Groves, Trahan said. The wreck happened not long after they left.

Trahan was friends with both “Jackie” Branch and Payne, who went by the nickname “Bliss.” Branch worked at the Sonic Drive-in on Nederland Avenue and Trahan was her manager.

“I’d known her for about two months but I feel like I’d known that girl my entire life,” Trahan said. “She was a very, very happy person and completely open.”

“Bliss,” she said, was a happy-go-lucky, smiley, giggly type of person.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen either one of them not smiling,” she added.

The Trahan home was the go-to place for the teens who worked at the Sonic and their friends. Trahan said she’d see the girls at work then come home and they’d be plopped on the couch watching television or playing video games.

Trahan said she was especially close to Branch.

“My deepest sympathy goes to her entire family,” We have lost a very caring person at such a young age in life.”

Branch was a 2007 graduate of Nederland High School and was a member of the choir, principal Benny Souileau said.

“She was a great student and someone who was fun to be around,” Souileau said. “Our hearts go out to her family.”

Payne was a 2008 graduate of Bridge City High school, where she was an award-winning cheerleader.

Gina Mannino, former principal at the high school and executive director of curriculum and instruction, called Payne an excellent student and a determined person. Halfway through the school year Payne decided she wanted to become a cosmetologist. She enrolled in the cosmetology program, which typically takes two years to complete, and finished with her license in a year-and-a-half.

“She was a very confident young woman,” Mannino said. “She was a working cosmetologist, had a job at a salon. The week before she died she did one of our teacher’s hair.”

Mannino went on to describe Payne as a hard worker and a good person.

Jenna Angelle, who graduated with Payne in 2008 from BCHS, woke up Tuesday morning to five missed calls and 10 text messages concerning the wreck.

"I thought I was dreaming," Angelle said. "It was a big shock. The news spread around Bridge City quickly. It is very sad. She was really sweet."

Nederland Police Chief Darrell Bush said the wreck happened about 11:30 p.m. Monday in the 1300 block of Helena Avenue. Branch was driving and Payne was a passenger in a 2006 Toyota Corolla that was traveling north on 14th Street. Preliminary investigation shows the driver of the Corolla failed to yield right of way at the intersection and was struck by a vehicle driven by a 24-year-old man from Nederland. His vehicle hit the driver's side of the Corolla.

The Corolla then struck a tree, spun around and landed some distance from the tree.

Justice of the Peace Vi McGinnis pronounced Branch dead at Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth and Justice of the Peace Tom Gillam pronounced Payne dead at the Medical Center of Southeast Texas.

The accident is under investigation by the Nederland Police Department and the Department of Public Safety is assisting in the investigation.

Payne was the daughter of Bridge City Police Officer John Payne.

Funeral arrangements for Payne are spending with Claybar Funeral Home in Bridge City. No further information was available at press time.

Visitation for Branch will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Broussard’s Mortuary in Nederland. Services will be at 11 a.m. at First United Methodist Church in Nederland with burial in Laurel, Miss.

She is survived by her parents, Henry and Yvonne Branch of Nederland; and three brothers, Curtis Branch of Nederland, Wylie Branch of Fort Worth, and Jacob Branch of West Virginia.