It was as if they all stopped caring. Maybe it was the way she dressed that did it. Or the way she spoke. Marie Blackburn didn’t know. And she didn’t care enough to bother to find out. All she wanted was her beloved, caring friends back. The kind that made her laugh and smile all day. The kind that shone a light when everything was dark and gloomy. But all she recieved was silence. Complete and total silence. They didn’t even acknowledge her presence anymore. It was as if she didn’t exist. They all looked past her. They shivered when she grew near. Perhaps she was invisible to them. But every time she glanced in the mirror, her reflection stared right back at her. Taunting her. Mocking her existence. Marie had had it. She trudged past all of her classmates, who seemed to be pretending she didn’t exist. Somehow they looked sadder and gloomier than ever before. Perhaps it was because of all the upcoming exams. “Jess! Anne!” she was again met with silence. It was all so unbearable! Marie decided to go one step further. She reached out a hand and tapped her friends on their shoulders. They gasped. “Something touched me!” said Jess and Anne in unison. Marie was fuming. How could they? She was RIGHT there and they just-- they just completely and utterly ignored her, despite the fact that she had so obviously tapped them both on their shoulders! Marie followed them to their next class. Surely they would become annoyed and finally acknowledge her presence? But they slowly kept on walking, strangely silent. Perhaps they were pretending she wasn’t there? Maybe it was all just a silly prank. They sat down at their desks. The math teacher entered the classroom with a somber expression. “Class,” he began. “This lesson, we will not be learning math. As you may have heard on the news, a student was tragically murdered last night. She will be missed by all. She was your classmate. A friend. A kind, caring young girl. Her name was Marie Blackburn.”