I closed my eyes, and fell backwards into a pool. Kole and Holloway swam towards me as I felt the water consume me. It was May, and I only had one month left of school. Not only that, it was a week right before the AP exams. I floated to the surface and slowly opened my eyes. I’ve been thinking about my exams and also where I was going to go for college. I got accepted into several of Ivy League schools, and some local universities not too far from home. My main concern was my speech at graduation; I don’t know what to say to everyone else when they watch me step on stage.

“Kane, I know you’re stressed out right now, but seriously, you just ditched our swimming lesson. What’s on your mind right now?” Kole asked. I turned my head slowly towards him. “Don’t tell me, your speech?”

“It’s just, everything man. I still haven’t decided where to go yet, all the colleges are waiting on me. Not only that, I need to get fours on all my AP exams if I want college credit.” Kole sighed. “Then, there’s my speech; I don’t know what to say to everyone.”

“You poor soul. Why do you put yourself through this Kane? I know school is important to you, but please have some fun in your life.” I stood quiet, and that’s when Holloway splashed me.

“Hey,” he said with a serious voice. “There’s something bothering you.” I stopped floating and began to move to keep myself above water. “You have that look on your face, what happened?”

“I’m not telling you idiots anything.” I swam away from them, but Holloway followed me. I went to the end of the pool and lifted myself up. I grabbed my towel and began to dry my hair, but Holloway and Kole followed me out of the pool. “Stop following me.”

“I’m not going to leave you alone until you tell me,” Holloway said crossing his arms. I clenched my towel.

“If you two don’t get away from me, you’ll be in coffins at graduation when they call you up.” Kole started laughing hard, but Holloway took it as an insult. “I’m not going to repeat myself.” I left and went into the locker room. Holloway annoyed me, but he was always right when there was something wrong with me.

I walked to my locker when the bell rang and found Miranda talking to her friend, Lucy. I walked over to them, and they both noticed me.

“Kane, how was pool?” Miranda asked. I gave an uneasy face.

“I’ve had better days. How’s it going Lucy?”

“You know, I’ve been good. I’m just waiting for this day to end so I can go home and take a nap.” I snickered.

“What the hell is a nap?” Lucy gasped loudly while grabbing her chest.

“I’m so disappointed in you Kane, get back right now before I have a heart attack.” The three of us started laughing, but then Miranda gave me a concerned look. “Alright, I have to go to class right now. I’ll see you later Miranda.” Miranda and I said bye to Lucy and I went to my locker. I began to put in my combination, where I saw Miranda cross her arms and look at me.

“What’s wrong, Kane?” She asked already knowing what I was going to say. I exhaled heavily.

“You’re so annoying, just like Holloway. Then again, you two know me pretty well. Alright, I’ll tell you, but please don’t tell the other two.” Miranda nodded. “It’s two things actually. The first one is when I encountered some kid in the hallway earlier this morning. I didn’t know who he was, but when I walked by him, he held a pen to himself in a weird way.”

He stood in the corner of the school by a set of lockers. He held a pen towards his neck and stared intensely at it. I walked over to him calmly and he noticed me.

“What are you doing?” I asked in a monotone voice. The kid grew startled and clenched the pen tighter. He glared at me in a threatening way, as if to tell me to stay back. “What are you doing with that?”

“Get back, man! I can’t take my life anymore, so I’m going to end it all right now!” He stared at the pen as if it were a person. “My life has been so stressful, and I don’t think I can take it anymore. I think ending it right now would put me at peace.” I gave him a face. This kid was so stupid. “Why are you here, to try and play the hero? Well, I don’t need a hero, so get away from me.”

“So, you really want to kill yourself? You hate your life that much that you want to end it right here and have some poor security guard find your body? Is this your destiny?”

“Shut up, you don’t know anything about me! I have no friends, my parents neglect me and school is nothing but a huge pile of stress! I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, but today I won’t hold back.” His arms started trembling as he adjusted his grip. “I can be happier without this cruel world.”

“Then do it.” He gasped softly as I slouched my back forward. “Do it right here in front of me; I dare you.” He clenched his teeth angrily at me. “Go ahead; I don’t care what you do to yourself.” He stared at his pen one more. Then, he clenched his eyes shut and raised the pen higher. I dropped my backpack and dashed over towards him. I grabbed onto his hands and he abruptly opened his eyes. He thought I was going to take it away from him, but I did the exact opposite. I pushed his hands towards his neck, but I felt restraint. He stared at me in fear and that’s when I discovered that he was fighting back with me. I smirked at him sadistically. “You liar!” I exclaimed at him while snickering. I pushed his hands harder, but he fought back, until he threw me off of him. He dropped the pen and started panting. I brushed off my arms and walked over towards my backpack. “I knew it. You can’t do it, because if you really wanted to kill yourself, you would’ve let me do it, but you fought back. You know damn well that you want to live.” He looked at me with a shocked look and I sighed while picking up my backpack. “Believe me buddy; I tried to kill myself before and that’s when I realized, it’s not worth it. If I die, I have a lot to lose in this world.” His eyes widened and that’s when I started to walk away. “If you have a problem, fix it, stop running away from it.”

“I think he got the hint. Also, judging by his age, he seemed to be a sophomore; I guess this school is getting to him.” I looked at Miranda, whose face was full of horror. “What’s up with your face?”

“You tried to kill yourself before?!” She exclaimed in agony. I scratched the back of my head; I don’t see what the big deal is. She walked up to me and grabbed my shirt. She pulled me closer to her face and the look she had was indescribable; I don’t know if she was mad or scared at this point. “How could you possibly think of doing that? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m still alive, Miranda. It doesn’t matter anymore, this happened a long time ago.”

“Give me one good reason! At one point in your life you wanted to leave this world, what was the reason Kane?” I looked up towards the ceiling and thought that she was so annoying. “Answer me Kane!” I dropped my head down and looked at her.

“Remember when I told you that my mom and dad divorced and my dad got full custody of me?” She nodded slowly. “Well, I lied.” Miranda released my shirt. “My parents never divorced, they were together for a long time. I told you that at first because I wasn’t ready to tell you that my mom really died in a car accident.” Miranda stared at me in appall and I didn’t blame her; I’ve been hiding this from her for a while now. “Remember when I told you that I was an only child?” This time she didn’t nod, but I knew she remembered. “I lied about that too; I’m not an only child, I had a younger brother named Levi. He was five years younger than me and he died along with my mom.” Miranda covered her mouth in horror and I turned away from her. “I lost them four years ago while I was halfway through middle school. My dad and I fell into a depression, but his lasted years. He finally came out of it when I started my senior year. I know all about that dark world, the one where you cry angrily and scream at the world for giving you something you never wished for.” Suddenly, Miranda pushed me away from her and I hit my back against my locker. I expected something, but not this. “Without someone by my side, I didn’t know how to cope with the world anymore. Do you know what it’s like to have someone right behind you, always looking after and up to you, when suddenly they get ripped away from you and you’re left with no one?”

“I can’t understand what you went through, but if you would’ve ended your life Kane, I would’ve never forgave you. Even though you’re standing right here in front of me, I can’t help but feel that I’ve failed you as a friend. All this time you went through so much pain, and here I thought you were someone with privilege and arrogance.”

“No, I’m not like that idiot Xavier, or any of his stupid friends. I want you to understand this Miranda, people born into privilege and arrogance will never understand this world, they’ll always be blinded by their judgement. Now, people like us, who are born into responsibility and a harsh reality can only become wise.”

“That’s not always true…” A different voice said. Miranda and I turned around to see Felicia walk by us. She had a stuck up look across her face, worse than Summer’s expression. “I’m a wise person and I was born into a decent life. Tragedy is not always the key to-”

“Will you shut the hell up?” I snapped angrily. “You always butt in whenever we have something important to talk about. Go be with your worthless friends instead.”

“What’s with this attitude all of a sudden?” She said acting like she did nothing wrong. “I was just trying to elaborate on what you said.”

“I swear to God, I’m going to back you over with my car if you don’t leave us the hell alone.”

“I’m afraid you won’t be able to do that.” Miranda and I looked passed Felicia to see Xavier walk over towards us.”

“Xavier…” Miranda said softly. I scowled my face at him and clenched my fists tightly. Xavier noticed me and then Miranda.

“I don’t know if you read the sign, but no short people allowed in this hallway.” I said angrily. Xavier smirked lightly before giving me a heavy stare. “If you’re here to pick up that monster you call a friend, by all means take her away.”

“I don’t know why you got on Travis for talking badly to Miranda. Look how you’re talking to my friend.” My eyes widened and Miranda looked away from all of us. That’s when I realized, she wasn’t crying because of what Travis said to her, she was crying because Xavier did nothing to defend her. My eyebrows furrowed and my face was full of hatred. “I’m not scared of you because of what you did to Travis-”

“You have some nerve to be a bystander. What the hell is your purpose of living if you can’t stand up for a friend?” Xavier grew confused and I pointed at Miranda with my left hand. “You were there when Travis went off on her right?” Xavier grew stiff. “I thought Miranda was your friend. You just let Travis say whatever he wanted to her, and if I know you well enough, you probably laughed when he got on her about her weight?” Xavier’s eyes widened and I walked over to him. Suddenly, I felt someone grab my left wrist. I turned around to see Miranda looking down while holding my wrist tightly. “Miranda-”

“Leave him alone, Kane. It’s not worth the trouble. I know you want justice, but just leave them alone, they’re not worth our time anymore.” Miranda raised her head and gave Felicia and Xavier a face full of agony. I sighed heavily and snatched my wrist away from her. “Let’s go.” I gave Xavier one last glare before I left the hallway with Miranda. Not one word was said, but the amount of words I spoke in my mind were perpetual.

The time for AP exams came, and the stress was unbearable. I had to take five AP exams, and three of them were back to back. But, when it was all over, I literally collapsed on my floor the moment I got home. My dad thought I died or something and his reactions were priceless. Since all my classes were AP, I was pretty much done with the course. Now, it was simple projects and small assignments.

The beginning of June came and it was time for prom. I didn’t make an effort to ask a girl to prom, and I was thankful that nobody asked Miranda to prom. Our groups merged together and we went to prom around seven at night. Our prom was held in a hotel, which was really nice. When prom was over, we could head out into town perhaps. I was sitting at the table with Kole, and we watched Miranda and all her friends dancing. Kole leaned back in his chair and smirked at me.

“What’s the face about?” I asked with a disturbed look across my face. He started laughing and that’s when I felt someone grab both my shoulders from behind. I looked up to see Holloway smiling brightly. “Why do you look like a kid on Christmas?”

“I smile like an idiot when I’m nervous.” I gave him a puzzled face and he chuckled nervously. “You see Shay over there dancing with Miranda?” I looked ahead and saw them; I nodded in response. “Well, I want to ask her to dance and I’m having a hard time trying to find a nice way to ask her.”

“Dude, just go up and ask nicely. It’s not that hard.” He smacked the top of my head. “Ow, what was that for?”

“You’re all talk Kane. If it’s so easy, go up and ask Miranda to dance.” I shook my head quickly.

“That’s the only thing I fear.” Kole, Holloway and I started laughing. About an hour passed when I decided to go outside and get some fresh air. Everyone was on the dance floor or near the talking with one another. I went outside and noticed that there was a small pond nearby. I walked over towards it, where I noticed there was a full moon. The sky was clear and the pond reflected the moon like a mirror. The moment I reached the pond, I noticed there was someone else there. At first, I didn’t know who it was, but when I looked at the dress, I realized that it was Miranda. “Miranda?” She turned around slowly and grew surprised to see me. “What are you doing way out here? The party is back that way,” I said pointing towards the hotel.

She looked away from me and back at the pond. “Did something happen?”

“Kane, I think I learned something about myself. I’ve come a long way with many people from this school, and I’ve become smart enough to understand the future each and every person has.” I had no idea where all of this was coming from, but I walked up next to her. “You know, when I was younger, I didn’t have any friends. Nobody liked me because they thought I was annoying or weird, but now I have so many different kinds of friends. However, I’m strong enough to severe a bond without a second thought.” Severe a bond, she’s not trying to end our friendship right? “So, I know where I stand with everyone.”

“You’re scaring me Miranda, where is all this coming from?” I heard her sniffle and I stared at her with concern. “Hey, if you cry you’ll ruin your makeup.”

“I’m done with him…” I froze and stared at Miranda, who forced herself to smile. “I’m done with love; I’m done with Xavier.” My eyes slightly widened. I’ve heard her say many times that she was done with Xavier, but something about this time made it different from the rest. “I’ve come so far in life and I don’t need someone like him bringing me down. I don’t know why I’m so stupid, I can’t believe I was blinded by him for all these years. I liked him when he was nothing, but now that he’s smart and changed drastically, everyone adores him now. Yeah, he’s a friend, but that’s all we’ll ever be. He’ll never love me; I can’t keep pushing myself to try, so I’m going to be the bigger person and stop this.” She broke down crying and that’s when I went over to her and hugged her. As much as I wanted to cheer, now wasn’t the time. “I’ve liked him for so long Kane, it’s going to be so hard to move on. He was such a good person when I fell for him, but ever since he met all of his stupid friends, he’s become something so ugly. I don’t love who he is anymore; I’ll never get the old Xavier back.” All I could do was hear her out. “You were right about him; I need to move on for the sake of myself.” I sighed heavily.

“You’re really a fool…” I smiled lightly and Miranda grumbled under her breath. “I told you from day one that he was an idiot, but stop talking like you’re never going to find love. There is someone out there for you, I’m positive there is.” I looked up towards the moon. “I bet he’s looking up at the sky, and wondering why he can’t find love either. You never know Miranda, maybe someone already has feelings for you and they’re wondering why you don’t notice them.” She chuckled lightly. “I’m being serious Miranda.”

“You’re the fool here, no guy would ever have feelings for me.” I let her go and she wiped away her tears. “I’m sorry that I bothered you with this.”

“Well, I’m used to it,” I said shrugging my shoulders. “Anyways, you want to head back in?” Miranda nodded, so we went back inside. Once prom was over, we went up to our hotel rooms.

“Kane,” Miranda said as we approached my room. “Have you prepared your speech for graduation?” I unlocked the door to my room and dropped my head. “You didn’t?”

“I’ve been so caught up with the AP exams and college, that I haven’t even put thought into it. Besides, if I know myself well enough, I don’t need to prepare for one; I’ll have one already when I walk up on stage.” With that said, Miranda and I said goodnight to each other and she left to her room. I entered my room to see Kole sleeping on his bed and across from him was Paxton. “You guys are already asleep?” There was no response from them. I went to my room and took off my suit. I thought about what Miranda said and asked myself what could I talk about on stage? I thought it was all games at first, but my time as a student is really coming to an end.