• Face, meet fist. That was my introduction to Sam in the third grade. Apparently, I had taken her swing, and she didn't take kindly to that, so she punched me. She got detention for that. I don't really understand how it worked, but we somehow clicked after that, and we've been best friends since then. It's been cool. Although I've been in trouble countless times since then, thanks to her, I've had so much more fun than I could ever have had on my own. I just wish that.... it hadn't turned out like this.

    Camping out in the woods for a courage test turned out to be a bad idea. Really bad. I- I can't even believe this happened. We were hiking in the woods, and the darkness pressed in on me, and then she jumped out at me! Do you know how easy it is to be scared by someone when you're alone in the woods in the middle of the night without a flashlight? Yeah, I freaked out. I mean, I was walking in the woods in the middle of the night, for crying out loud. Sure, I expected it, but- I didn't expect to slip from the edge of a cliff when I jumped back. Heck, I didn't even know there was a cliff in the woods. I fell, and I caught a branch. It nearly pulled my shoulder apart to hold on. It definitely tore my hands up. Sam, being the good friend she is... was, grabbed my hand and helped me get back onto the ground. But... then she slipped.

    I couldn't catch her.

    I can't stop remembering it. She's falling, and a scream rips out of her throat, terrified and desperate. I'm reaching for her, stretching out as far as I possibly can, like I'm pulling my arm apart to make it longer, but I can't reach her. I almost fall over the edge, too, but just manage to catch myself, so I'm staring at Sam as she falls further and further down, until I can't see her anymore in
    the darkness. And then- she hits the ground. I can't see it, but I hear it much too clearly. The crunch of her bones still echoes in my ears and her final whimper makes me start sobbing. She's dead. Sam's dead, and it's my fault.

    I couldn't say how long I sat there curled up in a ball sobbing. Did you know that you can cry without shedding tears? Even when my tears stopped, the sobs continued, painful and dry. I should've freaked out when someone picked me up, but I didn't care. What did I care what happened to me, when I had just watched my best friend die from saving me? I couldn't see his face in the moonless forest, nor did I try to see where he walked through the woods. My life didn't matter anymore.