October 13, 2011
Audience: High School Students
The Last Time I Saw Him
The last time I saw him, he was in his room watching TV. Ronnie was never what we would call a “social butterfly”. He usually tried to keep to himself during school, but it seemed like I was always the only one who really understood him. I knew things about Ronnie that no other student would think. Ronnie told me that he wanted to get a sex change. I was surprised because he always told me how he had a crush on the school’s best cheerleader, Sam. Although I didn’t think this was the best decision for Ronnie, I supported him in all the choices he made. So did his parents.
The summer before our senior year, Ronnie went through a lot of changes. He grew his hair out, received implants, and got the sex change he always wanted. I thought he looked really good, but I also wondered what everyone at school would think when they saw him. The first day of school approached. However, Ronnie walked into the school bearing with confidence and showing everyone his new look. So into this new change that he changed his name to Rachel. When Rachel got to school, she was the topic of every student’s and parent’s conversation. I knew something like this would happen. But no matter what happened, I was going to be there for Rachel.
After a couple of months, the conversations started to simmer down. Everything was going pretty well, and Rachel was making a couple new friends. She even became friends with Sam. Although, I wasn’t a fan of this new friendship that had aroused. Something just wasn’t right. Sam asked Rachel to go to this party at Pauly D’s house. It was supposed to be some hot Italian DJ that was coming to spin. I told Rachel not to go, but she thought I was being jealous and trying to hold her back, and went anyway. That night Sam introduced Rachel to this guy named Vinny.
Vinny and Rachel started to hook up and everyone laughed at Vinny, but he didn’t understand why. Everyone else knew that Rachel was really Ronnie. Unfortunately, Vinny never got the pleasures of meeting Rachel when she was her original identity. Vinny’s friend, “The Situation”, told Vinny who Rachel really was. Vinny was so upset and disgusted, he smacked Rachel in front of everyone and yelled out; “B****, I’m not gay”. She ran out of the house so fast, you would have thought she was running for her life. She ran all the way to my house. Sweating bullets, she told me what happened and how sorry she was for not listening to me.
That Monday at school Vinny was still pissed at what happened. Little did anybody know that Vinny had come up with a plan to beat up Rachel. In addition to that, today Rachel’s mom took a little longer than normal to come get her. When Vinny and “The Situation” saw Rachel coming around a corner, they pulled her into the boy’s football locker room. They punched her hundreds of times, kicking her in her face over and over again. The next morning the football coach found Rachel in the bathroom. They had taken Rachel to the hospital, her body lifeless, face dripping with blood, arms and legs revealing numerous bruises and scratches, lying there with no words, her voice repelling a simple cry for help.
Within a couple of hours, Rachel was pronounced dead. Her parents were devastated, her friends put in a place nobody wants, her teachers regretful for not being aware of the situation, me sitting there without my best friend. People were too worried about how Rachel was on the outside, instead of getting to know the wonderful person she was on the inside. Rachel had a powerful way of letting me realize that people shouldn’t judge one another because of what they like or what they want in life. We aren’t God and we don’t have the power to change people.
The last time I saw her, lying in her casket buried six feet under, with her grave site covered in roses and daises, not able to finish her life. Rachel’s story was never going to be told if she was not given a voice to speak for her. I am and will always be Rachel’s voice. Her story will be able to be told to thousands of children, and this is where the cycle of bullying and abuse will cease. Rachel will never come back to me. I will make sure no other child will go through the same thing I did.