Once there was a girl named Mariah. She wasn’t very popular and didn’t have any friends. There was a school dance coming up and she really wanted to go but was afraid something bad might happen to her if she did. While she was in math class, a very popular girl named Alexis asked her if she was going to the dance. Mariah said no because she had never been to one before and she didn’t want to go alone. Alexis offered to go with Mariah if she wanted. Mariah then told Alexis that she had nothing cute to wear so she still didn’t want to go. Alexis told her to come over to her house and she would give her some clothes and jewelry to wear and would even do her hair for her. Mariah was in shock. No one had ever been so nice to her before. She told Alexis that she would come over an hour before the dance so they could get ready. Sure enough she went to Alexis’ house and got ready with her. When they walked into the dance a lot of people came up to Alexis asking her who the new girl was. They were talking about Mariah. Alexis told them that she wasn’t new but she used to be very shy. A lot of kids told her she looked very pretty and a couple of guys asked her out. When they got out of the dance they went back to Alexis’ house and Alexis gave Mariah some new clothes and told her to start wearing them instead of the old stained clothes at her house. So on Monday when they went back to school Mariah was wearing the clothes that Alexis had given her. Everyone was talking to her and complimenting her on how pretty she was. That day when she got home she was happy. She called Alexis but her mom said that she wasn’t home from school yet. So Mariah said that she would just thank her in school the next day. Well Alexis wasn’t there the next day. Mariah figured that she was sick so she waited until the next day. When she went home she was very happy. She could finally say that she had friends. Even if they weren’t her real friends they had been nice to her and she was grateful for that. The next day in school Alexis wasn’t there either. Mariah heard some girls talking about her. She went up to them and asked if they knew where she was. They started to cry as they pointed up. Mariah didn’t understand. The girls walked away and Mariah went to science class thinking about what the girls meant by pointing up. Her class was filled with upset people crying and at that moment Mariah understood what had happened and began to cry. She ran out of the classroom yelling, “Why Alexis, why did you do this to me? I finally had a friend! Now this happens!” She ran out of the school and all the way home. When she ran in the door crying her mom hugged her and asked what was wrong and why she was home from school so early, it had just started. As Mariah tried to stop crying to tell her mom what had happened she spit out the word, “Alexis…bus crash…dead...the only friend I’ve ever had… dead!” Her mom started cry also as she hugged Mariah. They both got in the car and went to Alexis’ house. Her mom answered the door and was happy to see that it was Mariah. She was crying to, after all it was her daughter. She told her about how Alexis was very happy to have met her and how Alexis was going to invite her over on the weekend but she obviously couldn’t now. Her mom felt it necessary that Mariah got all of Alexis’ clothes. So when Mariah went back to school and was wearing Alexis’ clothes everyone looked at her in a strange way at first and then they rushed over to her and hugged her. They said that they all wanted to be friends with her. She was happy and confused at the same time. She didn’t think it was possible. She had gone from friendless to popular in a week. When she went home and lied down to sleep she hugged her mom and said, “Today was the best day ever!” When her mom walked out of her bedroom she closed her eyes and whispered, “Thank you Alexis, thank you for everything!” Even still to this day Mariah still has all of her friends… even Alexis. She has Alexis’ spirit with her every day!