Y'all seeing this can ignore me. But for those who know who I am talking about can stay. Or leave. This may be a sensitive topic to some so you may leave. When I first walked in to science class in the 7th grade I saw you and your kind smile. I saw you waiting for me to sit down and give you the answers to the worksheet because you were too lazy to do it yourself. I saw that everyday you carried your bible with you and began to read it after you finished tests and lessons. I will never look at a bible without thinking of you. I loved how you noticed that I didn’t trust myself with fire so you always held the lighter during experiments. I loved how you always made jokes in class. I loved how you tried to make the entire group laugh while trying to eat wet wipes. Even when I told you not to. I loved how you and Brynn named a wheat plant Jeffery Dahmer while Piper and I named the other Amanda. I loved how when you heard I had a crush you remembered how I said I wrote a heart above his picture. You took the yearbook from me and I snatched it back by some miracle. You never knew my birthday because to be honest I don't think you considered me a friend. But June 10th 2025 was saposed to be my 13th birthday. I was getting happy birthdays from all of my friends. Then she texted me. She told me you ended everything that morning. That you did what nobody would ever think you would. She was sorry. She said you were best friends. You weren't even close to that. You were one of the people who hated her. Understandable. I went to my grandma screaming. Crying. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think straight. I begged her to tell me it wasn't true. To tell me it was all a lie. A trick. People posted about it everywhere within a week. My whole world was shattered. My family said not to let your d3@th ruin my day. You were just a child. Who had so much ahead of him. When I cried because I missed you my mom shut it down. Not letting me feel anything. When I spoke with my friends that day I couldn't stop crying. Someone mentioned your name and I had to tell her not to talk about it. I wasn't trying to be rude. Never in a million years. When I mentioned your name sometimes I would got in the bathrooms at school and just cry. Just knowing that there was nothing anyone could do. Knowing that another friend could try what you did. Knowing that some have tried. Knowing that I have had to save more lives than anyone could think of. When you suffered nobody asked if you were okay. Nobody cared untill it was too late. You knew. Your family knew. And your sister. Your poor sister. I begged. I begged and begged to go to your funeral. To see you one last time. But my mother refused. "Open casket" she said. She didn’t know that almost a year later I would see another child. Both said to be in a better place. Both gone forever. You were 14. He was 9. Two amazing people gone. We all miss you so much. I hope they will recover. -Peyton.
I want you to know. I remember hard to be humble. How you shook your butt in embarrassment. I remember during choir last year you were on your phone so Mr. T took your phone. You complained about it the rest of the week even tho you had your phone back. I can't sing Ad Astra without thinking of you. I can't sing little wheel a turnin'. I also wanted you to know that I trust myself with lighters now. We can thank my mom for that. She forces me to light candles at church making sure I hold the lighter and turn it on. She doesn't want me to think of you. She doesn't want me to remember. 2 amazing friends gone in one year.
