Love. Affection. Interaction. Praise. All words to describe the things Maria Kaufeld always wanted, but never seemed to get enough of. Her parents, Carl and Layla, are happily married. She has a brother, Marc, who was just in a car accident, but he's doing fine. A bog named Leonardo completes the family, named after the actor in the family's favourite movie, Titanic. Everything began 4 months before her 16th birthday...
"Hi Maria. You wouldn't have happen to have gotten the answer to number 4 on last nights math homework, would you?" Her friend Anna asks. Grinning, she shakes her head. "Nope. Hopefully Mr. Houghton will go over the answers before the test." "Totally, or else I'm gonna fail. See you later." Waving, she goes down the hall to her locker. On her way, a group of boys pass her, and one of them runs her into the wall with his backpack. With fake pity in his voice, he says, "Opp,s didn't see you there." his friends laugh with him, and she shrugs them off. Laura waits for her at her locker. "Don't mind them, they're jerks. In 20 years, we'll be making 3 times the money they are." She puts a smile on her face, "I know, but they're just so rude. You know they don't mean it. It just annoys me." Maria bangs her locker shut. "I know, they annoy me too. See you at lunch." The rest of the day goes downhill. A hard test in Math, an essay that turns into weekend homework for English, a lecture from her History teacher. When free period finally comes, she's doing overtime in the front office when her best friend, Patrick, walks by. "Hey Mar, what's up?" I've had the crummiest day of my life so far, I'll have you know. Everybody else finished the Math test with flying colours and has a nice history teacher, but not me. I fought with my favourite teacher, Ms. walsh, over something stupid... "I'm good. The Math tset was fine, although I wish he had gone over a few of the answers to the homework." Patrick grimaces, "Yeah, I could not get question 4. But hey, I got an 89 on my Science test. Have a good day." She smiles a sad smile at him as he walks off. Science brings a 4 page long study guide to complete as homework, and in chorus they sing until their throats ache with only negative comments from the Ms. Mifflin.
At home, her mother greets her with a too-cheery smile. "hi honey, how was your day?" She had racked her brain on the bus on how to answer this everyday question. "I got an 86 on my Science quiz." The fake smile gets brighter. "Good job! Listen, your father and I have parent-teacher meetings at the school, so I left soup for you to heat up. Love you, bye." She sighs, trudgeing up the stairs. If only I was smart, then I could have gotten a 100 on the science quiz. And the math tset would have been easy, and I would be in probe classes, so Mr. Graye wouldn't yell at us all the time in History.
At dinner, her brother is finally home. He pops through the door on crutches an collapses into a chair. "Hiya sis. Do you think you could get me some of my pain pills with my dinner?" She nods a sympathetic smile. "Sure." The pill bottle is easier to open than it was at the beginning of the accident, and she no longer needs her dad to loosen the top. Right after dinner, he leaves to go to a concert with his friends. Completing her homework takes hours, but by the time she's done, no one is home yet.
A few minutes later, she's sitting in her kitchen with Marc's pain pills in one hand and a pen with paper in the other. She doesn't think much before she begins to write.
Dear Loved Ones,
I'm truly sorry to do this to you. I want you to know I love you, and that I know I'm loved. Todd didn't bully me to death, and no one forced these pills down my throat. For anyone who cares, today was awful. It's amazing that none of you can see through my facade and see the pain, the almost-invisable tear stains on my pilliow, and silent cry of my soul. I've only ever wanted love, recognition, praise. I get it from people, but there is someone at school who's strange about things like this. I might give them praise, love, and affection, but either they never recieve some of it or don't give it back. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for this.
Maria
She uncaps the pills and swallows them all, then goes to her backyard. She holds Leonardo's face in her lap, staring at the peaceful creek at the edge of their property, and she knows many things. She knows that if she had called someone, they would have listened to her cry, but she's felt as though she can't go to anyone with her problems. She knows that it's too late to regret what she's done. Slowly, her eyes slip close...
"Yo Mar, I'm home!" Her brother calls thourgh the door. A few minutes later her parents enter and find him bent over the kitchen table, reading her note. "Quick, I think Maria tried to kill herself." Layla cries out, but they hunt for her. It's Marc that finds her. At the hospital, they can't do anything. Maria Lynn Kaufeld is gone.
At school, her friends hear and spread it to everyone who knew her, anyone who would care. Some ask for a copy of the note, and they give them those too. Finally Ms. Walsh hears the news, and she, too, asks for a copy of the note. Slipping into her chair, she knows that the person that Maria is talking about is her. I loved her. I knew she gave me all of those things. If only I had been better at returning them.
Based off true events.
Subject: A Short Story 
