Megan

  “Who do you think you are?” Megan shouted, pushing Nate off me. She spat at his shoe and looked up at him with disgust.
       Nate just stood there with a disgusting grin on his face. I don’t know why he was still standing there, most people would flee if Megan had just told them that.
         “Watch where you put your hands from now on, and get lost.” Megan said. She flung her long black hair over her shoulder and led me into the girls’ bathroom.
         “Are you okay?”
          “Yeah. I swear Megan, it wasn't as bad as last time.” I said, not meeting my best friend’s eyes.
“You can't just let him do that.
“There's nothing I can do about it. Drop it.”

The fact that our school was located in California made our school much safer than some other places in the United States. Kids don’t carry guns around at this place like they do in Chicago or Florida. Nobody here smokes weed like other kids do in Texas. Even most of our teachers were decent.
The only problem at school for me, is a problem that most people don’t know about, a problem named Nate Michigan.

Back in class, I was having a hard time trying to stay awake, Mr. Flix spoke like a tortoise. He stood in front of us, his face was red as usual, and his double-chin seemed as if it had grown over the last day. I looked up at the clock, realizing that there was still 30 minutes of class left. I could have been doing anything else for 30 minutes. Instead, I’m stuck here watching an old man fail at teaching us science.

     “How was school?” My mom asked when we got home.
      “Fine.” I lied, setting my bag in the kitchen, beginning to empty it.
      “Didn’t you say Megan was coming over today?” Mom questioned. Helping me to empty my lunch bag and water bottle.
      “That’s tomorrow.” I replied, giving her a hug, heading for my room, and thanking God that it was a Friday, and that I wouldn’t have to see Nate for another two days.

      The next day, Megan didn’t show up. She had told me that she would be coming over at 1:00, but she never came. I even waited until an hour later and she still wasn’t there. Wondering why she didn’t come, I grabbed my phone to text her:

      Where are you?

      I never got a text back.

      Monday morning, I woke up happy for once, knowing that I could see Megan and ask her why she hadn’t shown up. Little did I know what would be waiting for me at school that day.

      I walked through the double doors of the hallway, and felt a hand on my back. The hand pushed me into the wall, and the owner began to laugh.
     “Hello there.” Nate said, grinning down at me.
     “Please, not today. Please.” I said. My throat began to close up, I had momentarily forgotten how to breathe. Nate stepped closer to me.
     “Don’t you know what I have to go through everyday just because of you?” I shouted, wiping my face with the sleeve of my jacket. “I hate you.”
     My hand hit his cheek extremely hard, and I ran for it.

      Unfortunately, Megan wasn’t at school either. I began to worry, because the Megan that I knew never missed school. Mr. Flix did not even say hello to us as he let us into the classroom. In fact, he didn’t meet our eyes throughout most of the period.
       Finally, five minutes before the bell, Mr. Flix called us to the front of the classroom. We grabbed our old blue chairs and joined him near the whiteboard. His hand was shaking, and his feet tapping nervously and quickly on the tiles below.

      “Kids, I have some bad news, and please be quiet while I try to talk.” Mr. Flix said, there were now small drops of sweat appearing on his forehead. He quickly lifted his hand and wiped his forehead.

      The class fell quiet at once, and even Nate was paying attention. The kids of silent where you could hear a pin drop. The kind of silent where you could hear Denise, who never pays attention, tapping away on her phone hidden underneath her desk. The kind of silent where you could tell something was wrong.

     Eventually, he dropped the bomb.
     “Megan’s dead.”

      I remember that the message took a couple minutes to sink in. I also remember letting out an ear splitting scream, and running out of the classroom. Out of the school, and into the neighborhood surrounding our campus. It took them about an hour to find me, crying beneath a persimmon tree.

      Today, I finally realize what a great person Megan was. I realize how much her family must miss her. Finally, I realize how amazing of a friend she was. Megan cared for her friends as if they were her family. She was one of the bravest people I knew.
      Megan died in car crash on a highway, and her mother and brother were deeply injured. Megan was the leader of many clubs and activities at our school, we all still miss her, and she will forever hold a place in our hearts.