Dear Sunshine;

The cold, crisp air of autumn welcomed me like a slap in the face that morning. The air smelt clean and I couldn’t help but notice the leaves falling from the trees. It was a bit windy that day but I didn’t mind. I ran my fingers through my choppy, brunette hair keeping it out of my face as I watched the kids ride by on bikes and the adults walk their dogs. Up the street I saw a group of kids playing street hockey in a cul-de-sac and right next to them I saw a boy and a girl kissing in a pile of leaves. The housing development was so vivid and lively this time of year. The colors looked so beautiful and even though we were all of two seasons shy of spring, the neighborhood looked more vivacious then ever. Nobody saw me that morning in September. I was invisible to everyone else but myself. Cars drove by, people walked, kids skateboarded, right passed my house and yet no one saw the girl sitting alone on her roof top. I sat on the roof top ledge outside my bedroom window and watched the rest of the world pass by. I knew the neighborhood would never be the same again. I wasn’t truly ready to accept it, but I knew. And I was going to have to deal with. All I did was sit there that day. I let myself get lost in my head and I wasn’t sure if I ever going to make it out that morning. My parents were gone. There was no one to interrupt me and my thinking. My dad had left on a business trip to Japan three days ago and my mom was visiting family members in England. I was alone and for the first time in forever, I was ok with that. I could let myself relax for a week or two and possibly get what was left of my head back together.
I sat on that rooftop from six-thirty in the morning to nine-forty seven at night. It was a beautiful day out so I didn’t mind staying out that late. Chilly, but not too cold. The sun set was magnificent. The oranges and yellows of the sun just so vaguely lit up our September sky. Before I went inside that night, I took a long look at the world around me and how it seemed so peaceful. But also, how everything was about to change in Angel’s Grove, how nothing was going to be the same after Saturday. It was only Sunday so I had a while to go but I knew five days wasn’t enough the prepare me for what I was going to have to face.
I didn’t think anybody was really. At least, anybody at our school.

Our neighborhood didn’t really pay much attention to him but I did. He was just like any other kid in the housing development. People didn’t find him special or unique like I did. But I think that’s because I didn’t know him. I mean, I knew him. He was one of my close friends, but I don’t think I ever actually knew the real person inside, like I wanted to. And from the time that I thought I did, I thought he was absolutely amazing. We talked. a lot, but unfortunately I never really felt like I knew what was behind his walls. Mysterious, clandestine, completely obscure to the world around him, he confined himself to his part of the street. I didn’t see him much at party’s or school dances. He was one of the new kids at Angel Grove High so I didn’t really expect to. But as freshman year ended I still didn’t see him anywhere. We were starting our freshman year together when he came to AGHS. As that last semester ended, I heard a lot about him. Not good things either. So I decided to get to know him and eventually, after 3 years, proved the on going rumors wrong. I just wished I could’ve held onto what was becoming one the greatest things in my life. I don’t think ill ever forgive myself for letting go of that. He was a great guy and I threw away one of my only chances to get inside. He left his door open for me, but I waited to long. In fact, I was too late.
Angel Grove High consisted of 456 students, 114 teachers, and 59 staff members. As of last Thursday, there is now 455 students, 112 teachers, and 63 staff members.
In my first period there is a total of 24 kids. When I go back to school on Monday, there will only be 23. In the row that I sit in, there is 6 other people. Monday, my row will only have 5. And the desk next to mine will be empty for the first time. The desk of Robert Premiro.