*Monday* Hannabeth:
Have you ever felt so alone you just can’t take it much longer? I’m Hannabeth. I’m a senior in Oakdale High; it’s a small town where everyone knows everyone. It’s the middle of May, schools almost out. You can say I’m popular, but I think of myself as an original individual. All the boys in school like me, but I don’t like them all. There is this boy; his locker is right next to mine. His name is Trayce. He is so beautiful, he is smart, and he makes me laugh when I don’t even want to smile. I have to actively stop myself from thinking about him. I highly doubt he would ever go for a girl like me anyway; I tend to get with guys a lot more than I should. We talk all the time and we have three classes together. I tell him everything; we don’t hide anything from each other.
*Same Monday* Trayce:
There is this girl; her locker is right next to mine. Her name is Hannabeth and she is the prettiest thing I have ever seen. My name is Trayce, I’m a senior as well as Hannabeth. I have always kind of liked her. I don’t know why, but the way she smiles makes me fall in love with her a little bit more. I always tell her all my drama, but I have yet to tell her how I really feel. We walk out together everyday after school, boy, if there were any better feeling than just being next to her I think I would be floating on air. I think I am going to write her a note and stick it in the openings of her locker. Yeah, that’s what I will do.
*Tuesday* Trayce:
She hasn’t said anything about the note. I am worried Hannabeth didn’t see it but I do not just want to ask if she got it because then she would want to know what it said. I know for sure I do not want to tell her I have liked her since 9th grade straight to her face.
*Wednesday of next week* Hannabeth:
“Where is he?” ran through my mind all day. He hasn’t been to school since last Friday, he isn’t answering my calls, and he hasn’t been calling the school to get his homework (I usually bring it to him after school). Did something happen to him? Did he get in an accident? I want to figure this out!
*June 24th; last day of school* Hannabeth:
I haven’t seen his sweet, flawless face since May 21st. I haven’t talked to him since May 21st. And he hasn’t called or texted me since May 21st. I opened my locker for the last time that day. It’s the end of the day and I am finally out of high school. I figured Trayce and I would walk out together and graduate together, but no, he has not been here since May 21st. After cleaning everything in my locker the janitors always check them. When I shut my locker and began to leave, one hand on the blue double doors, I heard my name being called. It sounded just like him! Could this be him?! It was the janitor waving a letter in the air screaming, “Hanna, Hannabeth, you forgot this at the bottom of your locker!” When he hands the letter to me I think to myself, “I have never seen this is my life.” I open it; it is dated May 21st with a little reminder that says, “I will always love you, Hannabeth. –Trayce” May 21st was the last time I saw him. My heart sank and my stomach jumped up into my throat. I get a big knot in my throat; it feels like my throat is closing up on me. Tears are rolling down my face at this point. I can’t stop this uncontrollable emotion. That was the last day I felt like I was important to someone. That was the last time I ever felt like I was truly loved. I have felt alone for so long, I let him slip right through my fingers. What did I do wrong?
*Same day-June 24th* Trayce:
Where am I? I have been in this dark room for about a month now. Not seeing her beautiful, flawless face everyday gets me so upset. I feel so weak, like I can’t do anything. This guy just picked me up one day when I was walking to school. I tried to get away but he was a beastly man. I have thought of was to get out of here just so I could see her again. I don’t care if it’s only once more; I just want to see her shine one more time. I have attempted many of my plans to escape but none of them have worked. I have yet to see this man who has taken me. He throws me water now and then. What does he want form me? What is my purpose for being here? What will he do to me? I am slowly dying of dehydration. I am getting sick…love sick. I have fallen in love with Hannabeth. She is my one and only. I don’t plan on ever forgetting her. I never thought the day would come where I, Trayce, would fall in love. When I get out of this nightmare I am going to buy her the most beautiful ring, one that fits her personality to the dot. Hannabeth has changed me so much, for the good, and I am glad it is her who did. I have never really thought of a girl like I do for Hannabeth. She is just so perfect, she thinks she is fat and ugly but I always tell her, “Be who you are, you are as beautiful as a shooting star.” She will always be perfect in my eyes. And any boy who treats her wrong will have to deal with me because my love is on her side. If I could just tell her I love her, I would tell her in my last gasp for air. I am holding on, fighting my weaknesses just to get back to Hannabeth. We were meant for no one but each other.


Trayce died that day of starvation and the cops busted the guy who took him. Hannabeth went to the funeral and finally realized that this was it. She stood there motionless under the bright sun. She was hoping for one more chance to finally tell him that she loved him. She got a hold of herself and went off to college for young women therapy training and small business techniques. She now has her own business and she named it “Trayce Your Heart.” Her business grew and grew to second, third, fourth, fifth, even sixth branches. It was the number one therapy company in the world. She got a Halo award for her good-heart movements. The money she takes in goes to paying her workers, Rape Awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness, Hurricane Katrina, and her local animal shelter. Hannabeth visits Trayce’s grave everyday and cries every time. As she walks away from his grave she says to herself, “He will always be in my heart…forever and always.”