It was fifth hour
I was sitting in Mrs. Fuller’s history class
My phone vibrated and I grabbed it
It was a normal day
A normal fifth hour
I was dreading work and thinking about the normal, boring day
That lay ahead of me

The screen flicked on
A new text message from Dannielle
She said she was at the hospital
And the text read:
“You were really close to Tom Follis, right?”
My heart fell to the bottom of my stomach
Like a huge piece of ice
Against a cold, rusted steal floor
I just asked why
And regretted it instantly
She replied:
“Tom committed suicide this morning.
I just thought you should know.”
My face went white
And my hands were shaking
I just looked down

Mrs. Fuller looked at me
She asked if I needed to leave
And without an explanation
I was wandering the halls of Clarkston High

I couldn’t cry
I couldn’t breathe
I couldn’t think
I called Sam, Tom’s best friend
And there was no answer
He already knew
He was already drunk



My mind raced
What could I have done?
What could I have said?
Why didn’t he call me?
Where was he?
Is this a joke?
How can Tom be gone?
Then my mind stopped
My eyes went blank
And I realized how blind I was

Rumors exploded
Like a match was dropped into a tank of gas
How he did it
Where he did it
When and why
But it was all lies

I was angry
Angry at those who sat around feeling sorry for themselves
People who saw this as an opportunity
To collect sympathy from teachers and friends
What they thought was “poor me”
When all that ran through my head was “what about Tom?”