As the rain pounds down on the church, with a bum-bum-bum rhythm, I think. I think about what my life would be like if that one night hadn’t happened, the one night that changed my life forever. I start wondering, thinking as hard as I can. What did I do wrong? I ask myself for hours on end, not moving, stuck in a coma-like trance. That night, November 10th. It was raining that night, really hard. I went to look for Daniel. Daniel is someone that I will never forget, but whenever I think about him, I don’t want to remember. I went to his house that night, thinking that maybe he might be there; maybe he had come back into the light of society, not hiding in the darkness of isolation. He had been checked into Acker Sanitarium over two weeks ago, and refused to see anyone, even his parents. I had gone to see him whenever I could, in a hopeless attempt that he might one day start talking and become a functioning being again. When I got to his house, something was different. I opened the door to his room to find him sitting on his bed reading a book.
            “Hey,” I said, shocked that no one told me that he had been released from the mental hospital so quickly after having a breakdown. “When did you get home?”
            “Not long ago, my parents just left,” He said, putting his book back on the shelf from which it came. “I think they went to get my medications, for what my doctors called schizophrenia.”
            “Were you going to call me?” I asked him, in a confused, partially angry tone. “Or just wait until I came looking for you again?”
            “I was going to call you actually. My parents told me not to contact anyone; they think it could cause me ‘snap’ again, as they called it.” Daniel mocked, with air quotes on snap.”But since you let yourself in, I guess that doesn’t count as me contacting you. Sit down, please.” I sat down on his bed, and looked into his eyes. “Daniel, what happened?” I questioned. “One day you were fine, being happy, smart, talented Daniel, and then you just stopped. You just left, disappeared, and then your mom calls me to tell me that you are at Acker.”
            “I couldn’t handle it anymore.” He muttered, and looked out the window over his bookshelf.
            “You couldn’t handle what anymore?” Daniel stood up, not answering my question.
            “Do you know what I like about this book?” He shows me I Never Promised You A Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg. “I like how it tells the real struggle. It is not one of those gooey love stories where the guy gets the girl. It is dark, and evil. I love it! There is nothing that you can do to me that my own craziness doesn't do to me smarter and faster and better. That’s a quote from the book, page 143, I think.” I stand up, and grab his hands.
“What could you not handle anymore?” I repeated. “What were you so afraid of?”
“The voices!” He yelled, and jerked his hands out of mine, and put his head against the wall. “They taunt me! Nag me to do things! They never stop!” He banged his head against the wall.
“Daniel, calm down. Sit down, just take a deep breath.” I slowly put my hands on his shoulders and eased him back to his bed, where we both sat down. I texted his mom when threw himself down into a laying position on his bed, and buried his head in a pillow.
I’m with Daniel. He is freaking out, come quick – Heidi
I knelt on the side of his bed, and stroked his hair.
            “Don’t touch me! Stop touching me!” He shouted, and hit my hand away. “You need to leave, Heidi. They don’t like you.”
“Who doesn’t like me?” I asked, and sat in the chair by his desk. My phone buzzed. It was his mom.
We are almost home, be careful- Jessica
“Don’t you listen? They don’t like you!” He tapped his head.  He gasped, and stares at the corner of the room. “Oh no. The bugs are back! What have you done?”
“It’s okay. There are no bugs, Daniel!” I assured him, but he wouldn’t listen.
“They are everywhere! They are getting closer!” He screamed, and started swatting at his legs. I hear the garage door open, and then soon after his parents rushed in. They gave him three pills, and he started to calm down, then soon after, lay down and fell asleep.
“I love you, Daniel. I hope you don’t see me as a monster.” I whispered, and kissed his forehead, then walked out of his room, tears running down my face. Three days later, Daniel was re-admitted into Acker Sanitarium. The doctors say he was hoarding his pills, and that in his therapy sessions, he explained to them how the voices into his head were telling him to do bad things. He died four months later of overdose .I went to his funeral a week after he left me, and listened to a minister, who never knew Daniel, talk about his life, then I went up to talk, only because his mom asked me to.
     “Daniel was my best friend. Daniel was smart, caring, and more talented than he would even have known. I met Daniel in the first grade, and will never forget him.” A tear rolls down my face. “Daniel always knew what to say, and would never give up.” More tears follow the first. “Daniel had voices in his head that overpowered the ones outside. Daniel was not crazy, but plagued with a disorder that set him apart from the rest of society. I loved Daniel, and always will.” I leave the podium, and sat back on the pew. I love Daniel so much, and now he is gone, forever.