Teardrop of Love

    Samantha sat on th eend of her bed listening to her stereo replay the CD that had just ended. School was going to start again tomorrow and she was beyond excited. The one thing she looked forward to every summer was the beginning of a new year at high school with her best friend Tobey. She and Tobey had been friends ever since they learned how to crawl. Her mother had been very close to Tobey's mom, but that was all different now. A lot of things have changed since that beautiful time when Samantha could sit on the couch and not be afraid of her own home. Thinking about the past pained Samantha, but she knew that she could never return to it, ever.
    The few pectures that she had on the wall rattled when a knock was heard on the window. Samantha quickly threw it open to see Tobey smiling at her from outside. He raised one eyebrow when she just stood there for awhile and looked at him perplexed. "Well, aren't you gonna let me in?" Tobey asked with his bemused expresseion he gets when Samantha does something out of the ordinary.
    "Yeah, I was just thinking about tomorrow," Samantha said and gave him her what-did-you-think-I-was-doing look. Tobey swung himself through the window, sat himself on her bed, and layed back to look up at the ceiling.
    "Are you ready?" Tobey asked without looking at Samantha.
    "Yeah, I can't wait," Samantha replied.
    "You've always been weird like that," Tobey said and receiveed a smack in the face from a pillow held by Samantha. "It's gonna be different this year though. We're entering tenth grade and pretty soon we'll have our driver's license. A lot of peopls have grown apart around this time of their school life."
    "That will never happen to us. I mean, what other friends do we have to turn to? We only have each other," Samantha said and layed herself back on the bed beside Tobey.
    "What if we meet new people?" Tobey said with a quizzical expression like he was planning on winning a battle.
    "Why are you being like this Tobey?" Samantha asked and turned her head to look at him.
    "I just...... Hey! Where'd you get that bruise from? It wasn't there yesterday," Tobey said while pointing at a dark bruise on Samantha's shoulder.
    "I ran into the door frame," Samantha replied with that well-rehearsed voice she always uses when Tobey asked her penetrating questioins.
    "A door frame, Sam?" Tobey asked and sat straight up to look at her. "Come on, even you aren't that uncoordinated."
    "Apparently you don't know me very well," Samantha said and they both laughed. The subject was dismissed and the two went on talking until Tobey could hear his mom calling him in the distance.

    A week later Samantha and Tobey were down by the river that ran in the woods behind their houses. Tobey was sitting on the bank watching Samantha throw rocks across the river.
    "Come on, Sammy, please tell me what's wrong," Tobey pleaded, using the nickname Samantha hated the most.
    "Just a bad day in school," Samantha replied while throwing another rock.
    "I know that's not it," Tobey said and stood up to help console his friend.
    "Tobey, just don't worry about it. You're always worried about me. I'm fine really," Samantha said and shrugged off the arm he put around her shoulders. They started walking up toward their neighborhood when Samantha just stopped.
    "What's wrong?" Tobey asked with concern.
    "Remember that bruise I had the other day?" Samantha asked, refusing to look at Tobey.
    "Yeah, the one you got running into the doorframe," Tobey said with a nod.
    "I didn't really run into a doorframe, Tobey," Samantha said with her eyes on the ground.
    "Sam, what happened? Please tell me," Tobey said and stood directly in front of her.
    "My mom," Samantha started and turned her back on Tobey. "My mom did it to me. She does it a lot. It's not big deal, but I'm just sick of it," Smantha said.
    Tobey whirled Samantha around to look him in the eye. "Do not be ashamed of what they do! It's not your fault, and they shouldn't be allowed to do that kind of stuff! It's nothign you did. It's them, and don't blame yourself," Tobey said and shook with rage while he yelled and tried to control himself.
    "Tobey, please don't make this into a big deal. It's nothing," Samantha said and started to walk toward her house again.
    "How long has this been going on?" Tobey asked, still refusing to move.
    "Only since I was nine," Samantha said and didn't stop.
    "That's six years!" Tobey exclaimed. "Six years Sam!"
    "I know, Tobey. Please just drop it. I didn't wanna tell you because I knew you would react like this," Samantha said and started picking up her pace. They walked the rest of the way in silence. The entire time, Samantha's heart beat faster and faster because of Tobey's silence. Tobey couldn't seem to keep himself under control, so he shut himself up altogether. Samantha stood in her doorway and waved good-bye to Tobey, who didn't return the wave.

    Over a week after Samantha told him the shocking news, Tobey still hadn't uttered a word to her. He couldn't believe that his best friend would keep such a deep secret from him. Especially a secret tht could put her life in peril. He was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling when a knock on his bedroom door brought him out of his daydreams.
    "Honey?" Tobey's mom spoke softly into Tobey's room. "Samantha is here, but she won't come into the house. She said it's urgent." Upon hearing the word urgent, Tobey completely forgot his anger at Samantha and ran down the hall to see her standing on the front porch. Immediately, Tobey knew something was wrong. Samantha's face was a pale, ashen color, her eyes were wide, and her chest was heaving from sudden heavy breathing.
    "Samantha!" Tobey yelled and ran through the front door to engulf her into a big hug. "What happened?"
    "Can we just go down to the river?" Samantha asked and looked all around her like a frightened mouse.
    "Of course," Tobey replied and followed her out the front door after yelling to his mother that he was going out for a bit. Samantha took the normal path to the river at a run and Tobey followed at her heels. When they finally arrived, Samantha grabbed Tobey's shoulders and stated sobbing.
    "Sam, please tell me what's wrong," Tobey begged and stroked Samantha's hair from her tear-stained face.
    "It's gotten much worse," Samantha said, barely able to speak through her ragged breathing.
    "What do you mean worse?" Tobey asked, now terrified.
    "It's just begun to exceed the normal punishments," Samantha said and went into such outrageous sobs that she couldn't say another word.
    "It's ok, Sam. I'll protect you," Tobey said and hugged her tighter.
    "You're probably disappointed in me now," Samantha said and sunk to her knees.
    "I'm a lot of things right now, Sam, but disappointed is definately not one of them," Tobey said. "Sam, I have to tell you something."
    "What is it?" Samantha asked and gulped down some air.
    "I-I-I," Tobey said, but couldn't seem to get the words out.
    "You're what? It can't be that bad," Samantha said.
    "I'm well, I'm in love with you," Tobey said and looked Samantha in her teared up eyes.
    "You're what?" Samantha said, not seeming to comprehend what Tobey had just told her.
    "I love you Sam," Tobey repeated and leaned forward toward her. He put his lips to hers and held there until she pulled away. Samantha seemed to have more tears spill out. Tobey leaned forward again, but Samantha pulled back.
    "Tobey, I can't handle this right now," Samantha yelled and stood up. "Why would you tell me something like that right now? That is so careless of you!"
    "Sam, I'm sorry," Tobey said and turned his eyes to the ground. Samantha didn't listen to him. She took off running toward her house. "Sam, please wait!"
    Tobey let her go. He brushed himself off and walked back to his house very confused. He couldn't believe he just said that, but it just kind of spilled out of him. The fact that it just kept builing made it too hard to keep bottled up inside him anymore.
    Tobey stayed in his room thinking for two hours before he finally knew what he had to say to Samantha. He climbed up to her window like he had done so many times before and taped on it a couple of times. When no one answered, he called her name a couple of times before looking in. What he saw made his heart stop beating. Sweat popped out all over his body and he almost fell off the window sill. Laying on Samantha's bed in a puddle of blood was Samantha herself.
    Tobey pulled back his fist and slammed it into the window without thinking what the glass could do to him. Panic took over his body when he reached her. A stab wound went through her stomach and was the cause for all of the blood. She was still semi-conscious and she looked into his eyes, breathing raggedly and crying hysterically. Tobey picked her up and carried her out to his back yard. Her breathing started to slow and she gave Tobey an attempt at a smile and whispered, "Tobey, I love you too." Her eyes closed slowly after that, and Tobey quickly took hold of her wrist. The absence of a puls told him the undeniable. Samantha, who was just crying in his arms two and a half hourse before, was dead.
    "I'm so sorry, Samantha. Please forgive me. I am so, so sorry. I love you," Tobey said, while shedding his tears on Samantha's lifeless form.