Part 3:

Though I didn't find a way to hang out with her outside of that classroom, we'd share a smile and a few words in passing through the hallways. I showed her my sketchbooks in class, mostly comic book art, nothing special or particularly artistic but she liked them anyway. She asked me to draw her, and I took note of her request for the entire year. I always asked for more time and she simply agreed, but I was not able to deliver by year's end. As the following summer came to a close, while sifting through my sketch books at home, I thought back to Erika's request and I told myself that I should start that sketch at some point so I could finally deliver on that promise.

When I returned to school in August, the atmosphere seemed odd. People were happy to see each other after the long summer, but they were talking about a fellow student who suddenly and tragically passed away. Erika. Erika!? No... I was confused and stunned. From chatter in the hallways, school announcements confirmed what had happened. A mass and memorial soon followed, and I didn't know what to make of all of it. It was all happening so fast. Some of her friends paid tribute and I stayed in the back of the gymnasium grouped with students who didn't know her. I couldn’t process what was happening and I felt withdrawn, so I faded into the crowd. I knew her for a small portion of 45 minutes of each school day for a little less than 9 months. To some that may not even be equivalent to being an acquaintance, but to me it was real and it was profound and I was neither wise nor strong enough to join her friends simply because I didn't know them and they didn't know me.

In the following months, school life continued. In years leading to the end of high school I turned myself around and did what I could to pass kindness along to others and be a little more social. I participated in the school's Youth Educator Program. I wrote, illustrated and photographed for the school yearbook and school newspaper. I ran and eventually mentored in track and field. Though when high school ended, I severed most ties with it and my life moved on, forgetting even about my good friend Erika.