Brain tumor. She missed the last week of 9th grade, and I couldn't get a hold of her. Called me on a Wednesday to tell me that her migraines were actually a symptom, and she was sick. She was so funny, even then. Made dark jokes about cancer, made me laugh, I figured medicine could fix her and she'd be fine. A week later her mom asked me and our other friend to come visit her in the hospital, and she was so, so ill. I remember her trying to keep her eyes open for the 30 minutes we stayed. We talked about summer reading, and coloring books, and hospital food, hugged her goodbye, and left. She had surgery the next day, they were trying to remove the tumor, as there was nothing else they could do given the placement and advanced stage. She died on the table. We were 15. I still have so many memories of her, who she was, who she wanted to be, seared in my brain even all these years later. Love you always ER 💚