Her name, Athena Rose. A young girl whose eyes would light up when my name was said. A girl who would smile even when she was sad. She would walk into a room and make me feel better. We’ve known each other since the 4th grade. We became best friends automatically. We couldn’t be separated no matter how hard our parents tried. She would go everywhere I went. Whenever our families went on vacation, we would go with each other.
The first vacation we went on together was to the beach. We played in the sand all day. I went and grabbed a bucket, then  filled it up with water. I carefully carried the water back from the ocean. I quietly snuck up behind her and flipped the bucket. The water poured out all over her. She screamed and sprang up from the sand. “Hey! What was that for?” She yelled. I shrugged and ran away with her running after me.
She was the smartest person I ever met. Especially in history class. I’ve never met someone who could memorize the whole chapter. In 8th grade history, we would play jeopardy. She knew every single answer. That night we would study either at her house or mine. She was the best thing that ever happened to me.
The summer between 8th grade and freshman year, I hurt her. I didn't even know I was hurting her. I regretted everything I said to her, but for some reason she still tried her best to stay with me.
High school rolled around, we began to talk less and less because she was tired of being hurt. She changed a lot. I didn't even think I knew her anymore. She seemed more depressed and isolated from the rest of the world. She barely talked to me anymore. When she did talk to me, it  was very seldom. I tried apologizing for hurting her but she still didn't want to befriend me again. I noticed she got really skinny during freshman year. It all happened so fast. She grew to be only a whopping 100 pounds for a 5’4” girl. Her hair was almost down her whole back. She withered away to nothing.
The one night I was talking to her, I asked why she decided to lose weight. She told me she didn’t do it on purpose, it just happened. She developed an eating disorder called bulimia. Her parents didn’t care what she did anymore, so she never got help whether it was with her drinking problem or her eating disorder.  As time went on, I realized that she was the most beautiful thing I ever would lay eyes on and I regret not seeing this sooner.
On graduation day she put the gown on and came up to me. She reached in her pocket and pulled out a locket. “I got this for you. I would have given it to you at your graduation party, but I’ll be gone by then.” She whispered. I opened it to see a picture of us.
“I don’t understand, my graduation party is on Saturday. Why are you leaving for college so early?” I questioned.
“Oh, I’m not leaving for college, I’m just leaving this town.” She murmured. I stood in confusion until she pulled me into a hug and kissed me on the cheek.
“Break a leg up there,” I joked. She shook her head, turned around and trudged off. The graduation ceremony started, as the  gym began to fall silent.  I knew Athena was smart, but I didn’t know she was that smart. She ended up being valedictorian. I was proud of her. I just wish  I had stayed in contact with her.  She gave about a 45 minute speech. She concluded with saying “After this,  I am leaving this small town to start a new chapter of my life. I will most likely not keep in contact with anyone. We may bump into each other, but expect me to be changed, a new person in fact. Thank you.” Then she walked off stage. I wanted to talk to her one last time after the ceremony, but she got swept up into the crowd of people.
  However, she was right, I never saw her after high school until today. When I did see her, unfortunately, I saw her in a way I didn’t want to. She showed up to my work today. She had on  a locket similar to mine. I opened it up and there was a picture of us together at the beach. I opened mine to look how much we had changed from 4th grade to senior year. Gosh, I missed her so much.
“I’m Doctor Jonathan Merit, you must be Max. It’s a pleasure to meet the gentleman who made Athena happy,” I murmured.
“She was beautiful wasn’t she?” Her boyfriend mumbled.
“Yeah. She was really pretty. I’m glad you guys were happy,” I whispered. Her boyfriend, Max, wiped his eyes free of tears. I tried my best to comfort him. “It’s been six-years since I saw her last. I’m very sorry about all of this.”
“She claimed in the past that she was going to die of a broken heart. She mentioned something about a friend breaking her heart. I’m not sure who that friend was, though,” Max cried.
“I-I think that friend was me. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt her,” I whimpered.
I walked over to Athena one last time.  “I see you haven't been too good, but I’m pleased I got to see you one last time. I wanted to let you know that I’m sorry for everything.  I didn't mean to shatter your heart. Athena, I love you and always will,” I gasped. One tear slid onto her pale, white face.  I grasped the locket I was wearing in one hand  and the white sheet in the other.  Then pulled it over her head.
Cause of death, self-inflicted gunshot.