I awoke Monday morning by the horrible singing that boomed through the hallways of my tiny apartment.

“Rise and shine, give God the glory, glory—! Rise and shine, give God the glory, glory—! RISE AND SHINE! Give God the glory, glory children of the world!” my mother chanted as she skipped through the long hallway, most likely to turn on my light and sing me out of bed.

Good God, woman, I thought as I sat up and rubbed my tired eyes.

My bedroom door opened. My eyes snapped to see who it was, even though I already half-knew.

“Get up, sweetie. You don’t want to keep God waiting,” Mother smiled. She skipped down the hallway and began to chant again. I threw my pillow at the door, though, it didn’t do much to help my situation; I was tired and wanted to sleep in.

I slumped down in my usual seat at the breakfast table. I still hadn’t changed. Still half-asleep, I rested my head on the table.

“Theresa, dear, mommy need to give you breakfast,” Mother began, a plate of bacon and eggs at hand. “I can’t give you your food if your head’s in the way.”

I groaned and lifted my head. I finished my food quickly and before I know it, it was time to leave for the bus. Mother kissed my forehead and looked me in the eye, “Remember, Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10,” she told me.

“Two is better than one, if one falls down his friend can help him up,” I recited. It was Mother’s favorite verse from the Bible. She was always reciting it to me.

“Exactly,” she smiled and patted my head. “Try to make some friends today.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I sighed and shut the front door.

I am Theresa Roe. I am in ninth grade and attend Notre Dame Secondary School. I had just recently moved to Burlington. It was the middle of the first semester and I hadn’t made one single friend. Sure, people were nice, but not one of those people could I consider a friend.

Mother was a genius when it came to the Bible. I wanted to be an atheist but with such a religious mother, it was kind of hard to. One minute I believed in God, the next I didn’t.

The bus ride to school was torture. I sat beside some guy who had serious body odor. Usually when you sit alone on the bus, complete strangers sit next to you. I always seemed to get the weirdoes.

I had the urge to cover my nose with my hand but I knew that would be rude. What if the guy had some sort of condition and was sensitive about it? Despite the smell, I controlled myself.

As I expected, school was worse than the bus ride. Of course, since it was Monday, school was worse than all the other days too.

My first class was math. Whoopee. Not.

I suppose I don’t like math because I’m not good at it. Okay, ignore the ‘I suppose’ part. I don’t like math because I’m not good at it.

Mother wasn’t very smart in school. I looked at her old report cards once. Her average must’ve been 60. I mean, she just passed, but in my books, ‘just passed’ isn’t good enough. I don’t think I gained any in the brain department with my dad either. Though, I’ve never known my dad so I can’t really say.

Finally English class arrived. We had to do an assignment…in pairs. Oh God, are the only words that went through my head. I’d probably be paired up with some guy with really bad body odor…again.

I frowned a little, hoping no one would notice, but if they did, I hoped they’d ask me to be their partner.

A girl in my homeroom saw me. It was Sky Clark, only the prettiest girl in ninth grade. She had long blonde hair that fell to her waist and deep green eyes that twinkled when she smiled.

“Hi, Theresa, right?” Sky smiled. Twinkle, twinkle.

“That’s my name,” I said. Instead of thinking of getting a partner, I was thinking, how does she do that with her eyes?

“Want to be my partner?” she asked. Twinkle, twinkle.

“Sure,” I shrugged. “Want to work at my desk?”

“Okay,” Sky got her pencil case and a bunch of lined paper that was on her desk. She pulled a chair up to my desk. “You’re new here, right?” she asked.

“Yup,” I said. Maybe she’ll be my new friend?

“Well, I’m glad you’re in this class. Last time we did and assignment, I ended up with ‘B.O. boy.’ I thought great, sucks to be me, but then today I noticed you were in this class. You don’t talk much, do you? Anyway, I was all, yeah, this rocks, and yeah, now I’m your partner,” Sky chattered some more until I finally cut her off.

“Do you want to work now?” I asked.

“Oh, right…oh, right! I am so sorry if we don’t finish. It’d be totally my fault.”

Sky and I didn’t get to work long though. The teacher (I still had no idea what is name was) told me to receive a message down at the office.

Down at the office, the secretary told me to pick up the phone that sat on her desk. I did as she told me. A man with quite a deep voice was on the other side.

“Theresa Roe?” he asked.

“Yes, this is me,” I told him.

The man on the other line’s name was Martin Schneider. He was from the Burlington Police Department. The news he told me I could not believe. I put down the phone when the conversation was over and walked as quickly as I could out of the office and to my locker. I collected all the things I need to finish my homework and put it in my bag to walk to my grandparents’ house.

Mother was dead.

According to was the officer told me, she had died in a car accident. The driver she had collided with got off easy with a broken leg.

As I walked to my grandparents’ house, I did not cry. I did not feel sorry for myself or anyone else. I was shocked. It felt as if my soul had been ripped out of my body. I could not believe it. A world without Mother never existed to me. She was the one who’d greet me when I came home from school. Mother was always there to cheer me up when I felt down. Most importantly, Mother was Mother. I grew up by her side, loving her so much, even though I didn’t show it.

“Oh, Theresa, dear,” my grandmother greeted me and held me in her arms. I could tell from her swollen eyes that she had been crying.

“Hello,” I returned the greeting, my expression blank.

“She was always so wonderful, I hope she ended up in the right place,” tears now tickled down Grandmother’s face. “The funeral’s tomorrow. A visitation would be too hard on your grandfather and me. I’d like to try and put her out of my mind as soon as possible.”

I pushed away from Grandmother. “So you’re just going to forget her? Ignore that Mother ever existed?” I scowled. “I can’t believe she was ever related to you.” I walked to the spare bedroom, leaving Grandmother at the front door.

As I set up my things (well, all I really did was put my bag on the floor and jump onto the bed) I cursed my grandparents. Soon enough, I had cursed myself to sleep.

The following morning I awoke, hoping to hear Mother’s terrible singing, but I didn’t. I walked into the kitchen hoping to see Mother flipping eggs on the stove, but I didn’t. She’s dead. What I did see in the kitchen was Grandmother reading the newspaper. When she heard me walk in, she looked up from the inky post.

“Good morning,” she said in a not-so-cheerful tone.

Instead of returning the greeting, I grunted. “What can I have for breakfast?”

“Oatmeal,” Grandmother replied.

“Other than that?”

“Oatmeal is the only suitable thing you can have. Take it or leave it,” Grandmother glared at me. Clearly she was not pleased. Though, if I were to forget her when she died, I don’t think she’d be pleased either.

I sighed, “Fine.”

I realized what Grandmother was wearing. Or really, it was the color.

“When the funeral?” I asked.

“In an hour,” she replied.

“What am I going to wear?”

“I assumed you wouldn’t want to go…with figure out what you’re wearing, just make sure it’s black.”

At that moment, the front door burst open.

“Theresa, I just picked up some clothes from your house!” Grandfather called. “I also bought you a dress for the funeral!”

I looked at Grandmother and smirked. She just shrugged. “Your grandfather’s too nice for his own good.”

As I half-expected, Grandfather had forgotten to get my ‘delicates.’ At the funeral, I’d be stuck in the same underclothing as the previous day. Great, hadn’t my life been turned around already?

The funeral was long and boring. I didn’t cry, I think I was the only one who didn’t. At the burial, everyone put black roses on Mother’s coffin. Everyone except me. Before the funeral, we went out and bought a bunch of flowers for this event. I told Grandfather that I’d like to have my own, different flower.

The flower I put on the coffin stood out the most. It was a pink tulip; beautiful, cheerful and unique, like Mother. I didn’t think she’s like the ugly black roses Grandmother and Grandfather bought for everyone else.

We drove back home in silence. I had to sit in the backseat of my grandparents’ Taurus. I was so used to sitting in the front seat beside Mother. In the backseat I was alone. Two is better than one, if one falls down his friend can help him up. The verse said in Mother’s voice cut off my thoughts. It was then that I realized I was alone. I didn’t have any friends have any friends at school—no one was there to help me up. Both my parents were dead—neither was there to help me up.

I have grandmother and grandfather, I thought, trying to look on the Brightside. But no, I didn’t have them. My bond with them was too weak.

I started to cry. I’m alone.

For weeks I didn’t leave the house. Grandmother and grandfather didn’t seem to care. They might’ve understood what I was going through. Both of grandmother and grandfather’s parents were dead.

Finally, one afternoon, I decided I’d leave the house. I was going to visit Mother’s grave.

The cemetery wasn’t too far from where I lived with my grandparents, about a thirty minute walk. Unfortunately, when I was half-way to the cemetery, it began to rain. I continued walking.

I was soaked by the time I reached my mother’s grave I slumped down in the mud before it.

“Hi Mother,” I talked to the gravestone as if she was perched on top of it. “I suppose I understand that verse you loved now.”

I looked behind me. I could’ve sworn I heard someone walking. I looked back to the grave. “My life isn’t what I want it to be. You’re dead and I’m stuck living with your parents. There’s nothing wrong with them, it’s just that they’re not you. On top of that, I still have no friends at school.” The tears started flowing. I hid my face in my hands. “Why did you have to go? I’m alone now.”

My sobs filled the cemetery. Anyone visiting a late relative or friend was sure to be disturbed.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see who it was.

“I’m not too good at encouraging people, but I’m good company,” it was Sky. I kind of nodded my head. She sat down beside me. “I’m sorry about you’re mom,” she apologized.

“It’s fine. It’s not like it was your fault,” I told her. “Why are you here anyways?”

Sky pointed to the grave beside Mother’s. “To visit my granddad,” she replied. “But then I saw you and hid behind that gravestone.” She pointed to the gravestone behind me. “I guess her death was pretty hard on you. I just want to say that you’re not alone. I’d gladly take you to be my friend.”

I sort of smiled at this. “Thanks, Sky.”

Sky stood up and extended her hand toward me. “You know what they say, two is better than one.

I took Sky’s hand and she helped me up. “If one falls down, her friend can help her up.”