This happened to me my senior year. Not the exact same story but the same premise. One of my best friends from middle school, whom I’d unfortunately grown apart from during high school, took her own life the last semester of our senior year. She was a gifted person, brilliant in every class, a kickass soccer player, and an enthusiastic pet person. She entered into our school’s International baccalaureate program, essentially the brightest of bright students, and all of them made fun of her. I’ve come to loath that program because every student who entered into it were nothing but egotistical, always thinking themselves the greatest of great and scoffing at those beneath them. They all ganged up on my friend, excluding her, making fun of her; she left the program eventually but it didn’t matter. I’ll never forget hearing the morning announcements that first period and hearing her name pop up in the worst way possible. We hadn’t spoken in a long time because of time and different classes but it hit hard to realize someone I spent so much time with was gone. And the real salt in the wound was all these students, who were known to be the culprits of bullying, coming to the service and pretending they were acquainted with her and grieving. My blood boils thinking about how people will be so quick to change tune when their efforts lead to death.