I wanted people to trust me, despite anything they'd heard. And more than that, I wanted them to know me. Not the stuff they thought they knew about me. No, the real me. I wanted them to get past the rumors. To see beyond the relationships I once had, or maybe still had but that they didn't agree with.

And concentrating on the spot where the two spindles should be is the closest I get to looking Hannah's eyes as she tells my story.

If I had a chance with him, I missed it. No, I didn't miss it. I threw it away.

And everyone knows you can’t disprove a rumor.

Because what if I got to know you and you turned out to be just like they said? What if you weren’t the person I hoped you were? That, more than anything, would have hurt the most.

I decided to find out how people at school might react if one of the students never came back.

And at some point, the struggle becomes too much-too tiring-and you consider letting go. Allowing tragedy... or whatever... to happen.