Hidden Behind the Smile 
Chapter 13; July 21st,2011

I was woken up at 8:30 in the morning today by my mom. Her eyes were teary and red. I looked at her, then got scared. Thoughts were shooting through my head. 
"Did something happen to grandma!?!?" I almost screamed.
"No, grandmas fine hun. Her hearts stable now, she's going to be fine...." She trailed off.
"So what's wrong!? Why does it look like you were crying?"
"This morning.. I got a call from Leah Agia. It's Louis..."
She wasn't looking me in the eyes, her eyes wandering around my room. It took a minute for me to grasp what she was saying, and when it sunk in, my eyes widened and panic set in. 
"What happened to Louis!?!?!"
"Calm down hunny," she said sitting on my bed,"Last night, after he left here, he was walking home. It was around midnight, and he ran into Cory. Cory was drunk, and he was mad at him for whatever reason, Leah didn't know. Cory and his friends beat him up, and one stabbed him with a broken beer bottle in his neck. By the time someone found him, he had lost too much blood to be saved..."
My eyes were pouring tears, " I don't believe you. I have to go over there, he'll be asleep, in his room. I know it, I know hes there..."
"Sweetheart, hes not going to be there..."
"Yes he will be! He's going to be there Mom! You don't understand!" 
"Gina, calm down.. please. Just take a deep breath, I know this is a lot to take in, but just calm down."
"NO!" I screamed in her face. I threw my blankets off of me and started to undress. I got into shorts and a t-shirt, brushed my teeth, barely, and ran out of the house. I ran all the way to Louis' house. 'He's got to be there, he will be there...' I just kept thinking to myself. I got to Louis' house, breathless, with tears still running down my face. I opened the door, it was open. I ran upstairs to Louis' room to find nobody in there, except his mom crying on his bed. The instant I saw her, I collapsed into her arms. 
"Why'd this happen to him? Why? He was such a good boy! Why would Cory do this to him?!"
Cory. It all clicked. Cory was mad at Louis cause he got me.. this is all my fault...
"I know, I know." We just sat there on his bed for a while, hugging and crying. We pulled ourselves together, and I gripped the necklace Louis gave me for my birthday. I then immediatly thought of his sisters. I ran across the hall to Kayla's room. Kayla and Parker were sitting on Kayla's bed crying in a hug, just like me and Leah were just doing. They looked up at me and ran and hugged me. We all cried together. We sat down on Kayla's floor to look at old pictures of Louis. We found a picture of me and Louis from our 8th grade moving up. Louis had on a blue shirt and a yellow tie, and I had on a white dress. Parker, his younger sister, looked at me and said, "He always loved you. He always talked about you, and he always denied him being in love with you. It was just obvious. You could tell by the way he talked about you, and when we found out you two were finally going out, we were so happy. He really did love you, he was always so happy after you guys started going out."
I smiled, and a tear slid down my face. "Ya know, he always asked me, 'What would you do if I were to die tomorrow?' I always replied the same, 'I'd be lost without you. Once I found out, I'd get to your house as soon as possible, find your mom first. Then find your sisters, because at this point they're like sisters to me also. I'd probably spend the whole day with your family. And then after everything was done, I'd visit your grave every Sunday. I'd talk to you, and catch you up on what you missed this week. And whenever I'm in desperate need to talk to you, I'll just look at the picture you gave me for Christmas of us in the most thoughtful frame, and I'd talk to that. At night, if I can't sleep, I'll put on your cookie monster sweatshirt you let me have, and hug my pillow pet you gave me. I'd be lost without you, so please, don't ever leave me.' At this point tears were pouring down all three of our faces. Parker went downstairs to get a water bottle and Kayla looked at me. When I looked at Kayla, I saw Louis in her everywhere. If you didn't know them, you'd think they're twins. She looked at me and started crying, and I hugged her so tight. 
While I was crying I somehow managed to make out comforting words. "You know, Louis loved you so much. He talked about you all the time, and no matter how many times he would tell me your annoying him and that he hates you, I know he's lying. He loved you so much and he would do anything for you and Parker. He'll be looking down on you for the rest of your life, so don't ever think he won't be there, because out of everybody on this Earth, he's the one that's going to travel with you, wherever you go."