On the morning of his birthday, Connor woke up with a headache and one sock missing. He was greeted with breakfast from his mother, a full tank of gas from his father, and a hand-written card from his 4 year old sister. So far, his morning was somewhat above par for once. On his way to school, every single light happened to be green upon his approach, and better yet, he found twenty dollars on the ground while walking from the parking lot to the front entrance of the school. At this point, Connor was anxiously waiting to see what was going to add to his lucky streak next.

While everyone settled into their first period classes, an announcement came over the loud speaker. At first, there was a long pause. After about ten seconds of silence, the principle let out an overdrawn, pain filled sigh. Then he began to speak. Everyone went completely silent as the principle announced to the student community that the class valedictorian, Serena, had been killed by a drunk driver on Interstate 84 the night before. Not only was she valedictorian, but she also was the captain of the lacrosse team, the president of the fundraising club, and most importantly, Connor’s most recent ex-girlfriend.

Connor’s face went from beaming with excitement to insane disbelief. When he looked around, it seemed like everyone had a relatively similar and completely appropriate reaction. Some of his classmates started crying and some of them even had to leave the room, but that was mostly just the girls that were closest to her, like her teammates. On the other hand Connor sat motionless and emotionless, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. There was a long moment of silence that followed the dreadful news and shortly after, school was let out due to the fact that everyone in town was mourning.

For the rest of the day, Connor sat in his room alone and thought about everything he wish he said to Serena when he had the chance. He sat in his self-made pile of regret and contemplated why he never spoke his mind weeks ago. There were honestly so many things that needed to be said. He needed to tell her that he didn’t break up with her because he lost feelings for her, but because she was going away to college almost halfway across the country to fulfill her childhood dreams and he didn’t want to hold her back.

The next morning at school, Connor had that feeling like everyone was watching him. Turns out, they were. Throughout the course of the day, Connor’s classmates proceeded to hug him, share their condolences, or simply shoot him a pitiful look. With all the attention, it was as if Connor was the one who passed, not Serena. All the looks and murmurs just made the feeling of loneliness grow more prominent inside of Connor. He was getting attention, but not the kind that he wanted. People were avoiding him because they were lonely too. Those who were close to Serena walked around with a part of them missing, and those who weren’t close to her walked around eyeing her close friends as if they were victims in quarantine. They still exerted signs of loneliness, but their loneliness was inspired by fear and pity rather than actual loss. Not only was Connor struggling with the lonely feeling inside of him, but he dreaded coming to school where he felt alone more than lonely; he became unapproachable, simply because no one knew what to say or how to say it. His classmates were timid around him and his teachers cut him obvious slack. He felt like an outcast, and in a time like this did not deserve to be treated as one.