I wake up screaming in the night. The sound of the rain pattering, Nebraska rain, on the roof scares me, and I start to shake in fear. No kid should ever have to go through what I went through, that day those days, and I start to cry. I still have that cat scratch on my chest, and the fact that he died in my arms, and I have to speak in front of everyone. I get out of bed and walk towards Alex’s room. My brother is still asleep when I crawl in bed next to him. He rolls over and rubs my back, he knows I had another nightmare. “It’s going to be okay; I promise.” I know it will be, right after I attend to twelve funerals. 
Two weeks earlier... 
I wake up to a fresh scent, the scent of the beach. I hear the waves crashing on the beach, people’s feet scrunching the sand as they jog by, and dogs barking as they chase seagulls. “Good morning.” Will says, kissing me on the forehead. “Ahh, young love right before my eyes.” Barbara says. I look Will in the eyes, and he smiles. He sits next to me on the bed, and I lay down on his chest. “You guys are so cute together; this senior trip is basically your honeymoon in Haiti.” Barbara says. I kick her. “Hey, it’s true. You are unbreakable, not even a wave the size of this planet could break you guys together.” I smile, “Thanks Barb.” She hates it when I call her Barb. “Well miss Am, want to go on a run?” Will asks. “Sure, let me change and stretch, meet outside in five minutes.” Will leaves my room, and Hedi and Iris enter. “Hey girls.” I say. “Hey Am.” Iris says. “What are we doing today?” I ask. “Ms. Rosa has us snorkeling, and Mr. Ross wants to spend the day on the beach, so I don’t know.”  
I beat Will in running the mile, my time ends up being five minutes, and his is six minutes and thirty seconds. We walk to the ice cream shack, and I order two scoops of cotton candy ice cream, and Will gets red velvet. We sit on a bench and cool off. “This place is so beautiful.” I say. “It really is.” I notice Will not smiling and I look up, “What’s the matter?” I ask. No answer. “Will?” I ask. “Oh, sorry, got a lot on my mind. Want to head back?” I nod, finishing my cone. “I don’t want to run; I might puke everything back up.” I laugh. “Okay, whatever you want.” He kisses me, and we head to the ocean, and walk in the water, barefoot.  
Will stays quiet, and I start to wonder, “What if he is cheating on me? No, he wouldn’t do that; would he? No, I trust he wouldn’t do that to me. Maybe someone in his family passed, or something happened...” Finally, Will squeezes my hand, and my worries disappear, until he says this. “I have something to tell you, and I don’t need you to worry about me.” He starts to say it, then we stop when there is a scream. I look in the ocean, and there is a man out in the water. A surf wave crashes over him, sending the man under the surface, and unable to reach air. Will throws off his shirt and runs into the water. “there’s a kid also. Amber, I need help.” I take off running into the water and start swimming towards the kid. “Help me.” He shouts. “I’m coming, stay above the water!” Will shouts. “Amber, over here.” I swim towards the kid, and his eyes are closed, and face is pale. I pick him up and swim back to the shore, a crowd of people standing close to the water. “Call 9-1-1!” I shout. “Hurry!” I bring the kid to the beach and check his pulse. He spits up water and I turn him over.  
Will brings the man up, and his stomach is dripping with water. “Shark.” He says. “Oh my gosh.” I take off my shirt and wrap the body in it, trying to stop the blood. The kid stands by and watches me, along with many others. I hear an ambulance, and I send someone to get down here. “Shark attack and severe blood loss.” Will says. I look at the kid, he’s standing in tears. I hug him, and a woman comes down. “Alan, come here son.” She says. I stand up. “Baby, oh please don’t leave me.” She sobs when she sees the man on the stretcher. Then they leave, and I stand with Will, hands covered in blood, and in my bathing suit, freezing.  
We walk back, and everyone stares at us. “Amber, why are your hands so bloody?” Iris asks. Leo and Mason stare at Will, and the two teachers, Mrs. Rosa and Mr. Ross come up. “Let’s get you guy something to wash that blood off.” I nod and go with Mrs. Rosa. “What happened?” She asks. “A guy and a kid were in the water, then we heard a scream. Shark attacked the man, and we saved them.” I reply. “You guys are so good; your parents must be so proud of you.” She says, smiling. I shower and change into a sundress and a new bathing suit. I throw my clothes and Will’s in the washer and meet him in his room. “That was amazing.” I say. “Yeah, you were amazing. Where did you learn how to stop the blood?” He asks. “My mom is a doctor, remember?” I laugh. “Right.” We walk out, and instantly everyone starts to clap and cheer. Iris and Hedi, Barb, and Marlena, and Lou are smiling. “It’s all over the beach. Everyone knows the heroes!”  
That night, everyone eats pizza, and we all sit on the couch, or on the floor in the living room. We watch “The Meg” and all twenty of us seniors laugh the entire movie. At midnight, I go to bed and instantly fall asleep. I wake up to my friends shouting at me to get up, and I step into a pool of water. “What is going-” I am interrupted by a wave of rushing water and sucked under. It must be bad if I am getting sucked under, the house is four stories tall, and I sleep on the third. I choke on water, and swim to the stairs. I climb up and people are up there, including Mr. Ross and Mrs. Rosa. “When I call your name say here.” She says. Then she goes down the line. 
“Amber.” She says. “Here.” 
“Iris.” She says. “Here.” Iris sobs. 
“Marlena, Hedi.” Mrs. Rosa reads. “Here and here.” 
“Mason, Leo.” The boys respond, “Here.” 
“Barbara, Jenny.” They respond, “Here and here.”  
There are more people, and I listen for Will’s name. At the end of the list, “Will.” No response. “Will!” I shout. “Will!” More people join in. “He went to bed, maybe he is trapped. He probably can’t swim very well due to the cancer.” Leo says. I stop moving, shocked. “What?” I tremble. “He didn’t tell you, did he?” I shake my head no. “Before the trip, Will and his mom went in for Will’s doctor appointment. He was diagnosed with stage four bone cancer.” I start to cry. “Will!” I scream. I run to the stairs. Water rushes down and up, and I start into the water. “No, Amber, stay here!” Leo says. I don’t listen, and start swimming, using the walls for support. I swim to the second floor and find an air opening. I take deep breaths and find my way to Will’s room. I kick the door, and find Will trapped, hitting the window. He goes up for air and sees me. “Will!” I shout. I swim towards him, and kick at the bed. It doesn’t move. Leo appears, and we kick the bed, moving it out of the way. Will follows us up towards the stairs. I see flippers and goggles, grab them, and follow.  
“Will!” I sob into his shirt. “I’m fine, I’m okay. Are you?” He asks. We hug and I cry. “I’ll give you guys a few minutes, then we need to head to the roof.” Leo leaves us at the stairs, water starting to touch my feet. “It’s rising.” Will says. “Come on, we need to go.” I stay. “I know about the cancer.” I say, not looking at him. “Oh, Amber, I was going to tell you after the trip, I didn’t want you to worry.” Will replies. He sits by me, wrapping his arm around me. “Does it hurt?” I ask. “Sometimes, but I am okay.” Will says. “We should head up now.” I say. I stand up and Will takes my hand, “Come here.” He stands up and towers over me. I hug him and say, “Please don’t leave me.” Will squeezes my hand, “I will get you home safe, and I promise, I won’t leave you until it is time.”  
We meet at the roof, and everyone is huddled in blankets. Then the house starts to shake. “It’s the foundation, the house is collapsing!” Hedi shouts. “Everyone hold on!” Mason yells. Will grabs my hand and rushes me to the bar. “Hold on.” Everyone follows over, and then the house falls, splashing into the water. The water pulls me away, and I feel Will’s hand slip away. His fingers leave mine, and I am swept away into the water. I turn and spin, feeling like I am in a washing machine, hitting things and unable to breathe. I grasp the surface, sucking in air, and being pulled under again. Then I hit a solid surface and go black. 
Someone shakes me awake, and I see Leo. “Leo.” I say, spitting up water. “It’s okay, calm down. Spit that water up.” Mason says. “Where’s?” I try to say. “Where’s Will?” I ask. “He’s helping Hedi and Barb.” I smile, “Thank you.” They help me up, and I wobble a little on my jelly legs. I am up on a pile, out of the water. The debris cut my feet and I feel like screaming. My chest hurts and my lungs burn, everything feeling like pain. I turn around and Leo asks, “What’s wrong?” I shake my head, “I’m going to puke.” I do, I puke up my dinner and popcorn all in three. I life up my shirt and there is a cut from one side of my chest to the other. Thankfully it isn’t deep, and it’s not bleeding. Just a cat scratch. “Amber, over here.” Will says. I see Marlena and Iris in the water. I extend my hand to them, and they take it. “Thanks Am.” Iris says. “What’s that smell?” Marlena asks. “Am puked her guts out.” Mason laughs. He can always turn something bad into something good. “Where is everyone?” I ask. We walk towards the house, on the elevated debris pile. 
 I lift a slab of concrete and find out my answer. “AH!” I scream. “What is it?” Will shouts. “Mrs. Rosa, Mr. Ross, and the eleven others, Cher, Chet, Alan, Ellen, Rachel, TJ, Mya, Red, Haley, Blair, and Liam all dead, crushed.” I want to scream and cry all at the same time. “Marlena starts to cry and I hug her. “Come on, let’s try to get some flowers and stuff to make them a proper resting place.” I say. Iris, Marlena, and I find fake flowers and we write their names on a notebook we find. “Residents of Sylvania Michigan loved and will never be forgotten. We love you guys.” Will hugs me, and I cry. “We have to go; we have to find help.” Mason says. “Yeah, let’s go.” We start to walk; the water comes up to my knees, and the debris below my feet cause so much pain its numb. 
No one talks, and then I trip and fall. “Ouch.” I say. I start to laugh. I can’t stop laughing. “What is the matter?” Marlena asks. “Why is she laughing?” Iris asks. Then I start to cry. I cover my face with my hands and sob. I feel water rise, and sob even harder. I feel people put their hands on me, trying to comfort me. It lasts a few minutes. “Why did this happen to us? What are we going to tell the parents and spouses of those people?” I ask. “It is going to be okay; I promise.” We start again, walking through the water, bare feet. Everyone stayed quiet, and everyone held hands. Marlena on my right, Will on my left. He squeezes my hand occasionally, and smiles. The sun rises in the sky, beating down on us. “A shoe store, want to go in there, try to find some food and something to cover our feet?” Iris asks. “Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” Mason replies.  
There is water inside the store, but there are shelves full of shoes. We all get mud boots, and I find a pair of socks to cover my bloody feet. “Look, a fridge of drinks.” I say. Mason and Will lift the fridge onto a table and we all get drinks from there. Barbara and I make shift a book bag out of fabric and shoe laces. “It might hold, but we need the first aid kit, water, towels, and food. We can take turns carrying the bag.” Hedi says. Her red hair is messy, and I can tell it bothers her. “Here, let me braid your hair.” I say. She smiles, “Thanks, you always know when to help a friend.” I also end up braiding Marlena’s, Jenny’s, Barbara’s and Iris’s hair. I put mine up into a bun, because if I braided it, it would still go down to my butt. I see Will leaning over against a railing. “Will? Are you okay?” I ask. He looks at me, pale face and red eyes. “I’m fine. I just need a minute, have everyone meet up at the gas station.” I nod, “Okay.” I don’t say anything else, even though I know why. Will is dying.  
“Hey girl, what’s wrong?” Jenny asks. “We need to go to the gas station; Will will meet us there.” I say. I start walking, “Come on, we have to go.” I say again. Leo then says, “Hey everyone, Will said to go to the gas station, he will meet us there. We need to get going.” Leo smiles at me, and I shake my head. “What’s wrong?” He asks. “Is Will dying?” I start to crack. Tears form and overflow, one sliding down my cheek. “I don’t know, but I will talk to him. I need you to be strong for him, and that is all you can do until we get home. I know it is hard, but you have to stay strong, and don’t cry okay?” I nod, “Okay. Thank you, Leo.” I wipe my tears and he side hugs me. I take one more look at Will and head to catch up with the others. 
The sun starts to set, and the water is beginning to settle. We find a house and climb to the top floor. I help Mason drag up some mattresses from the lower level. Iris and Barbara find cans of food and water bottles. We snuggle up together on two king size mattresses with sheets. We take our shoes off and let them dry for the night. We eat in silence, pray the Saint Michael prayer and everyone falls asleep, except me. I get up and walk towards the railing, looking out on the balcony. “Hey.” I look over and see Will behind me. “Hey.” I reply. “Can’t sleep?” He asks. “No.” I don’t want to ask why he can’t sleep; I know the answer. “Me either.” I nod, “I know.” Will sighs, “I want to tell you something, but I don’t know what’s the best way to spill, without getting emotional.” I nod, “Just rip the brandade.” And he does. Thankfully it is dark, so he doesn’t hear or see me cry.  
“You already heard that I have bone cancer, and I am going to tell you everything that will happen between now and the time I leave this place. Bone cancer is aggressive, causing pain and swelling, making it hard to breathe, and move. Sometimes if it goes without treatment from the start, the cancer goes to the lungs. The doctor says if it feels hard to breathe all the time from the moment you begin your day to the end, it is in your lungs.” Please, don’t... “It has spread to my lungs. I only have a month to live.” The tears come even faster, and then I am sobbing on my knees. There are no words to explain, and nothing to help. Will gets down and holds me as I cry. He cries too, and so does everyone else. We all hold each other, and cry. “Just one thing.” Will says. “What is it?” Leo asks. “I want to be buried at the Spring Ranch cemetery back home, in Nebraska, not here.” We all laugh. Spring Ranch is voted most haunted place to be buried in the state of Nebraska, because the buried “is still there”. “That is so I can still be there to watch over you all and never forget you, and you will never forget me.”  
After that all happened, I am able to sleep, and I sleep until morning. “Amber wake up, Will is sick.” Jenny says. I sit up and see Will. He is on the mattress, sweating, pale, and eyes shut. “We need to find help.” I say. I put on my boots. “Where are you going?” Leo asks. “Will needs help, so I am going to get some.” I throw my hair into a pony tail, and Jenny says, “I am coming to,” I nod. I end up with Jenny, Hedi, and Leo. We walk for miles looking for a sign of life. Nothing. “Someone help me!” I hear. I look around. “Help me!” I turn around and see a hand waving. I run to the hand. “No, wait.” Leo goes first for protection. I know anyone would do it for a girl. “Who’s down there?” I yell down. “My whole family. I’ve got two kids, one teenage boy, seventeen, and a girl seven. My teenage boy, William is hurt, leg is stuck and my seven-year-old, Faith, she is fine. My wife is with William. We can’t get out. Please help!” Jenny takes my hand, “He is fine.” I look at Leo, “We have to help. If anything, we can’t leave one behind.” Leo nods, “We are coming down.” I find some rope and tie it to a slab of debris.  
Leo climbs down first, then me; Jenny stays up to help them up. “I’m Leo, this is Amber; we are from Fairfield Nebraska.” Leo says. “The name’s Jake. Jake Harper. What are you guys doing here in Haiti?” He asks. “It was our senior trip this year.” I say. “eleven students were killed, twenty went.” Leo says. “I’m so sorry. I hate to say this, but we need to get Wil out and get everyone out of here, in case the water comes back.” I nod. We get William out and he steadies himself on my shoulder. He must be a football player, big muscles, and big thighs. His weight is crushing me, but I don’t show any sign of weakness. “Am, you okay?” Leo asks. “Yeah, I’m fine. We need to go.” I help William and the little girl, Faith to the rope. “Here, climb on my back, and I will pull you up.” I say to Faith. Leo and Jake help William, and then the wife goes up. Then me. “Hold on Faith.” I say. I climb up, arms burning to the top. When Faith climbs out, she pushes on my shoulders with her feet for an extra boost. I hold on tight, and then climb the rest of the way to the top. 
I lay on the ground, arms spread out, breathing hard. “Are you okay Amber?” Jenny asks. “Yeah, I just need to give my arms a break for a second.” I stand up and start walking towards the group. William and Faith stand together, William leaning up against a tree. “Now what?” Jenny asks. “We still need to find help, Will is dying.” I say to Leo. “Who is Will?” The wife asks. “Our friend, and her boyfriend. He was diagnosed with stage four bone cancer before the trip, and now it has spread to his lungs. He can’t breathe, and he is really sick. That is why we are making our way to help.” I say. “Amber, we can’t leave these people here, and William can’t walk. We have to go back.” Leo says. “No, I am going for help. I promised him, I would make sure he was buried at home, not here, and I will do anything to keep that promise.” I say, trying not to cry. “I am a doctor, let me help.” The wife says. I look up to the sky. “Amber, I know this is hard, but-” Jenny tries to say, “No, please stop.” I interrupt. “Let’s just go back.” It takes the rest of the day to get back, rescuing several more people including a dog, and a cat out of a falling building.  
“How is he?” I ask Mason, when we get back. “He is getting worse. I am sorry, but he might not make it.” I nod slowly. “We have to get out of here.” I say. “I made that promise to him.” Mason nods, “I know. We all did.”  That night, no one can sleep. Will is puking every hour, and I feel helpless. I can’t help him; he doesn’t want me near him, and Sarah, the wife of Jake, can’t do anything about it. The next hours are more painful than the last. Everyone but Will huddles in a corner, silently crying for the sake of Will and the situation we find ourselves in. “Saint Michael, defend us in battle. Be his protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. Please God take his pain away.” I pray. 
Then we here a loud buzzing noise and look up. Helicopters land close by, and boats make their way through the wreckage. “Hey, up here!” I shout. “Up here, we need help!” Everyone joins in. I run to Will. “No get away.” He says, pushing me away. His body is swollen and red, eyes puffy, and skin pale. He has lost everything. “We are going home!” I shout. Will takes my face in his hands and I start to tear up. It’s time. “I love you so much, I don’t know where I would be without you. Thank you for everything, I am sorry I haven’t gotten you home yet.” I start to cry. “Please, just a few more minutes.” I say. Everyone is quiet. “I can’t see you like this around me. It is time for me to go, and I feel God’s presence. Amber, I have waited for you to come back so I could say goodbye. It is time for me to break that promise, and I am so sorry.” I nod. “It’s okay, you can let go now. I will always love you forever, and I will never forget you.” A few minutes in silence, and Will dies in my arms. I hold him, and cry. 
Finally Home 
“Oh honey, you are home.” Mom shouts. She throws her arms around me, and cries into my shoulder. Two days after Will died, and I am home. He wouldn’t have made it, but I know God has him in his arms. “Honey, what is it?” She asks when she releases me. “Will is gone.” I sob. “I watched him suffer the last few days.” She hugs me and we both sob. For dinner, I sit at the table, no one talks. I move my food around with my fork and twirl it around. “Honey, you have to eat something.” Grace says. She is my mom’s friend. “I’m not hungry, can I go to my room please?” Mom nods, “Go ahead.” I smile and walk up the stairs. “I know it is hard for her, maybe she shouldn’t go, I wouldn’t want her to breakdown in front of everyone.” Grace says. I run back downstairs. “Maybe you should make sure the one you are talking about is all the way to her room before you say anything!” I run to my room and slam the door, collapsing on the bed and crying. 
I wake up screaming in the night. I get out of bed and walk towards Alex’s room. My brother is still asleep when I crawl in bed next to him. He rolls over and rubs my back, he knows I had another nightmare. “It’s going to be okay; I promise.” I know it will be, right after tomorrow’s funeral for twelve people including Will.  
I dress in black, curl my hair and prepare my speech. I am introducing everyone and ending with Will’s speech. I don’t feel like eating breakfast, but mom forces me to. “I’m sorry about what Grace said. It wasn’t fair.” I shrug, “I mean it is true, I will cry.” Mom sighs, “I just wish I could fix everything for you right now.” She hugs me. “Thanks mom.” I say. funeral is one big one, gathered in the Fairfield church. The whole room, and outside is gathered with people, all in black. Mom welcomes everyone, because I can’t bring myself to it. It’s a sad day, everyone crying into their love ones, and everyone blowing their noses, and wiping their tears. I save my tears for the end, after mom calls me up. I walk to the front and look at Will’s picture. I turn my speech down, throwing it on the floor.  
“I can’t read from a piece of paper in front of the people I love. Will wouldn’t want me to, and he knows I hate talking in front of people, but it has to be done.” I take a deep breath and let it out. “All of these people were amazing. They were in my senior class; we went through everything together. They were my second family almost. Then that wave came, and God decided it was time for them to go. I’m sorry I don’t have much to say, I didn’t think I would have to do this, not now. I was hoping to go to their graduation parties and meet up with them twenty years later for a reunion party. Mrs. Rosa, Mr. Ross, and the eleven others, Cher, Chet, Alan, Ellen, Rachel, TJ, Mya, Red, Haley, Blair, Liam, and... Will. They will all be remembered always, forever and ever in our hearts. Will was my boyfriend, and I don’t want to sound like it is all about him or anything, but I knew him inside and out. Will made sure everyone was happy, and he made sure to make everyone laugh even in the hardest times. He said to us on the roof out there, he wanted to be buried in Spring Ranch Nebraska to be able to come back and check on us occasionally.” There are a few giggles out there and I smile. 
“Will fought hard to keep his promise to us, and thankfully God took his pain away in the last few minutes. I know it is hard, but I have a feeling Will will be with us for a long time, and he won’t leave us. I love you Will, and I promise to never forget you.” I end with kissing his picture and laying a rose down on his coffin. One by one, each of the survivors come up and hug me and the others, saying their goodbyes to our friends. We all stand in a circle and cry, hugging and holding each other.  
The end. 
Things changed that year between us, everyone got closer, and we all became friends, not just classmates. Our senior year was the worst and best year of our lives, but the ones who weren’t there don’t understand that we became a family. Get togethers became a weekend thing and Will showed up in dreams, saying hello and telling me everything was okay. He was in a better place, and so was everyone else. For our college graduation party, we went back to Hadi to plant flowers and remember who we lost, and what we gained. Overall, we saved thirty people and they all came with us to help plant memorial flowers. We may have lost things and people, but we gained a relationship that lasted a lifetime, and no one could understand that except the people who were there and in that situation. Yes, I still miss Will and everyone else, but I have a friendship that lasts forever now because of that wave. So in conclusion, I can say that God has a purpose for everything even though it takes a while to see it through.