Chapter 1

A Chapter by Ki

Everyone knew Elizabeth Ians. She was a rarity at our little school in northern Minnesota. She was unique, but she mostly kept to herself. She was a shy girl. Sure, we had our "scene kids" who shouted their nonconformity from the rooftops. But Elizabeth wasn't like them. She was the only out kid at our school. She was known as "that one lesbian". Her very existence would go unknown if it weren't for this fact.
No one would have even known she was gay if it weren't for the eighth grade formal. This was a highly anticipated event at our middle school. The girls drooled over fancy and unnecessarily expensive dresses. The boys looked forward to being allowed to grind up against the girls at the most hormonal time of our life. I went with Janice Anderson. She was a good foot shorter than me and her frosty hair was almost to her butt. She made me wear a suit that was too large in the sleeves and a cheesy bow tie. She wore a strapless dress that was very short. This was extremely distracting for my 13 year old self. I tore myself away from her for a second and looked toward the door. Elizabeth Ians walked in wearing a simple red dress. On her arm, was a girl with sandy blonde hair and alert green eyes. The room seemed to go silent; everyone was watching the couple that had just entered. We didn't recognize the girl who was with Elizabeth. It would be easy to assume that the two girls were merely friends, but as the night drew on, it was clear that it wasn't the case. They were glued to each other the whole night. They danced to every song together. They held hands and held each other close. Once, they even kissed.
That was the day that Elizabeth Ian's life changed forever. She could never go back to being simple and unnoticable. It was all anyone could talk about it. The boys joked about it behind her back and eventually, to her face. The girls avoided her like the plague. Janice Anderson even swore that she saw Elizabeth checking her out in the girl's locker room. Then there were the really mean people. When we were sophomores and Elizabeth got her first car, a group of friend's wrote "dyke" along her windshield. She pretended she didn't even know it was there, and drove home. The next day, her windshield was clean.
I noticed that the bullying got worse as we got older. At first, everyone was just shocked and confused. But then they became cruel. What their motives were, I don't know. I also noticed a change in Elizabeth. She was no longer a shy but sweet girl. She became indifferent. At one time, she was an A student, but began failing some of her classes. She never talked to anyone. She didn't ever smile. But she didn't seem sad. She just seemed like a shell of a person. The life within her vanished. The youthful glow in her eyes was gone.
We got the announcement in first period on a warm day in September. School had begun a few weeks ago. I was a junior. "Students, I have some sad news to share with you." Principal Arnold said over the intercom. "Last night, Elizabeth Ians took her own life. Our thoughts go out to her family in the wake of this tragic event. If any students wish to speak to someone about this, our counselors are here. Please proceed with your day." Everyone in my English class seemed to audibly gasp. An unanswered question was in the air. Did she kill herself because of the bullying? Could some kids really push her that far over the edge? There were scattered whispers around the room. "Settle down, students." Our teacher, Mr. Jones instructed us. "I understand that some of you may be troubled by this... Event. But as Principal Arnold said, you will be allowed to go to the counselor's office. If you do not wish to do so, we will continue our day as usual." He then continued to lecture us on Shakespearean symbolism, but I couldn't concentrate. I stared straight ahead, stunned. How could he be so heartless? Elizabeth was a person. A human being who thought her very existence was so worthless that she took it away. A person who thought death, and not existing, was better than enduring every day. And it was brought to our attention by a 30 second announcement. And Mr. Jones was too uncomfortable to even talk about it. It boggled my mind. The rest of the day, I walked around, stunned.
The bell rang for lunch, and I burst out of my seat. I grabbed a burger and walked to the entrance of the lunchroom. I needed to talk to someone about this. A counselor, anyone. I heard my friend David yelling my name behind me. "Ethan, bro, what're you doing?" I turned around sharply to look at him. "She KILLED herself, Dave. She's gone forever. And she did it herself." He looked at me strangely. "Elizabeth Jones? Yeah man, I know. That's some morbid s**t. What's it gotta do with you?" I opened my mouth to speak, but stopped myself. Of course David wouldn't understand. This situation didn't take place on a football field. I ran out of the lunchroom. I was on my way to the counselor's office when I saw my sister, Hayley by the entrance of the school. "Hey, Squirt. I heard what happened to the girl. I thought you might want to talk."

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