Taylor Anne

His silence, his silence, his silence. His silence is all I can think about. Somehow I never knew. I saw him every day, his thin, tall frame. His sad eyes, bright blue with this sense of darkness. I saw him every day and thought nothing of it. I didn't know him. I friended him on Facebook, and maybe his statuses were sad sometimes, but everyone gets the blues once in awhile...right?

Robbie

I don't know where my brother went. He was just here yesterday. He was in his room as usual. He spends a lot of time in there, usually listening to his headphones. He had a lot of scary posters. I didn't go in there very much. But suddenly I heard this loud bang and Mommy ran upstairs. I got scared, so I stayed in my room. She screamed “Oh, my baby, no no no, Roger, call 911!”! Then there was screaming and crying and bright flashing lights and these men with big black boots stomped up the stairs and then my brother wasn't there.

Mrs. Fitz

I should have seen this. He never said a word in class, but his papers screamed what he was thinking. He was a very smart boy, but oh my, when the good Lord put a pen in his hand, he might as well have been handing over his future. His stories, albeit dark, had this black, glooming beauty of a Victorian home. And his poetry...I have never read a student's work and felt that way in my life. But how could none of us had put the pieces together in the puzzle of his mind?

Leah

Maybe I should have said yes when he asked me to the spring dance. It didn't seem very important to me. Plenty of boys had asked me already. But I was waiting for Tom, the school's super hottie, to ask me. I wasn't into loner emo kids. What downers! I didn't think he would be that upset when I said no. I was nice about it. I just hope it wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back...

Tyler

I don't know what happened. I didn't see it coming. He was my best friend. We liked a lot of the same stuff. Things were too nuts at my house, so we always hung out at his. We'd just listen to music and play video games and stuff. He may have been quiet, but he was way cooler than most of the communist plastic kids at school. We were going to chill that night, but he told me he was busy and had to cancel. I didn't mind. The weird thing was, instead of saying something like “see ya” or “catch you later”, he said “Goodbye, Tyler.”

Mrs. Cummings

Where did my baby go? It's all my fault, why couldn't I stop this? He was always a quiet boy. He was always a little dark, but nobody smiles all the time. I was like that too as a teenager. Come to think of it, so was his father. Maybe this is what happens when two wrongs get together. They don't make a right. I should have been around more. I should have thought more of what he was saying when he told me how his day was. I should have stopped his father from hitting him. Nothing will fill the hole of my baby...my firstborn son.

Mr. Cummings

That boy should have grown a pair instead of being a coward. He deserves it for forcing me to marry that woman. If she hadn't gotten pregnant, I wouldn't be in this mess. Next thing you know I'll be blamed. The whole town gonna say “That there Louie Cummings don't know how to be a father”. He's the one who did it, not me! Not my fault he can't be a man and face the world.
Harley

No. No. I loved him. No. He was everything to me. He was the sweetest, the smartest, the funniest, the cutest. His blue eyes screamed out his soul.We talked every night. He truly understood me. The beauty was that he didn't think I was crazy after I told him everything going on in my life, my mental issues, my family problems. Guys like that are hard to find. I was about to ask him to the spring dance, but he wasn't at school the next day. We didn't officially hear what had happened until after lunch. The principal got on the school's TV announcements and told us. Everyone was in shock. Nobody had any idea. I just wish he had told me...



Dear Anyone Who Cares (Probably Nobody),

I am leaving. I was not meant for this world. I am too sensitive; I am not a man. I care about many people, but they don't notice. I have said what I had been feeling to the best of my ability, but maybe no one was listening.



Sincerely,


Nate Cummings