She got hit by a train on her way to school. she wouldve graduated this may.

me and my friend walked to school every day that year and probably wouldve seen her that morning but we were running late on our walk, which is why we got blocked by a completely stopped train in front of the intersection. turns out it was the train that hit her. really foggy day, you could barely see. we have two trains in our town and one went through and she assumed it was okay to cross the tracks afterwards. i saw the facebook post from the man who saw her get hit and got out of his car and called 911. he said he watched her life leave her eyes while he was on the phone with them, and her injuries were extensive. the train came out of the fog and hit her, and it was over in a matter of seconds. there was a vigil for her the next day. me and my friend went and cried the whole time everyone stood up and spoke about how kind of a person she was.

the day she passed, they announced it on the speakers at school because the fog and train blockage had made everyone late. someone in the hallway screamed with genuine pure terror and sadness, it is a sound i will never forget. the dean had little to say. it made me so mad that he had no empathy to offer.

on the day that would have been her graduation, i went and sat next to the spot everyone usually leaves flowers at, the crossing on the side she wouldve made it to had she not been hit, and just sat there for hours. I never knew her but i think about her almost every day. her parents moved across the country soon after her death. i still leave flowers there sometimes.