My Best Friend - Personal Essay

I used to have a best friend and his name was Michael Edgar Storey. We did EVERYTHING alike, we ate the same, made jokes the same way, laughed the same, walked the same, even our hearts beat the same way. But the thing we did the most alike was the thing we shouldn't have done, argued with our parents.

We both argued with our parents, sometimes even about the same things. The thing we figured we argued about most with our parents was school work. We agreed that school was just so stressful and that they didn't understand us, because they were so old and didn't understand how hard school was nowadays.

But one day, I didn't want to stay after school in the band hall with him and talk like we usually did, I had no real reason why, I just didn't want to. So that day, I lied to him and told him, I had loads of school work to do, so I was going home, but I would talk to him after school the next day. He asked for a hug goodbye, but I refused to give him one, because it would have felt like a completely guilty hug. So he just accepted my goodbye.

I walked out the doors of the band hall that day, not knowing that, that was the last opportunity I was ever going to get to give him a hug, or even speak to him again.

I showed up to school the next day and the day moved on, I usually didn't get to see him until about fifth period, so usually I just hung out with my boyfriend until then, but as I was walking to my fourth period class holding Richard's, my boyfriend, hand, I heard the whispers in the hall way.

"...Did you hear? ...Michael Storey is dead...," they whispered. "...Michael Storey is dead..."

"...He jumped out of his mom's car..."

"...Michael Storey is dead..."

"...They were arguing about his homework..."

"...Michael Storey is dead..."

The moment I heard the whispers telling me what had happened to my best friend and that I wouldn't see him after school in the band hall or any other time again. I let go of Richard's hand, and sat in the middle of the hall way, my ears deaf to the words of the people around me, my eyes blind to the people walking past me, tears streaming down my face, and the thought that made my heart break running through my every part of my being, "He's my best friend no longer."