Eli was always alone.
And no one bothered to change that.
He was foreign.
He was weird.
He wasn't like us.
And we made sure he knew that.
I guess we thought him alien.
I'm not sure now,
Kid's minds work weird.
She said he was a monster.
And we believed her.
It's not just her fault,
I hate to say it,
It disgusts myself,
But it's ours too.
It's mine too.
We isolated him.
We made his life hard.
And for what?
Foolish kids we were.
More than foolish,
We were monsters.
But we are what we're taught, right?
They said his father was a drunk mess.
His mother was never there.
His aunt and uncle took him in,
But he ended up running away.
No one wanted him.
He'd get driven off to some other family every other week.
I thought he was the monster,
Now I see I was wrong.
He was scared.
He was alone.
And we only made it worse.
Then, one day, I heard something.
Never thought it'd affect me like it did.
After all, didn't we say that's what we wanted?
That's what was best.
He took his own life.
Behind the school,
Behind the bleachers.
People cried,
Maybe for the attention.
We caused it.
But we didn't care.
We weren't the bad guys.
So we cried.
Because we weren't the bad guys, right?
The principal didn't tell.
His father didn't show.
Don't remember what happened to his mother.
Or his aunt, forget his uncle.
In the end,
He was still alone.
And no one truly cared.
Maybe that's why I'm writing this.
When I heard,
I didn't cry.
I was shocked.
I tried to blend in.
But I realized,
Just how monstrous they-
we
All were.
Crying?
We weren't sad.
I'm sorry, Eli.
(This is a bit of a prequel. Idk, or maybe I'll just leave it like this, I'm not sure. This is inspired by a true story, but this-as itself- is not a true story. So i just want to say a few words; If you are going through a tough time: please hang in there. It really will get better-no matter how unlikely that seems. Trust the process. Trust yourself. If you want to talk about it, don't hold back. You got this. Stay strong.)
