Nny still couldn't find her. That day and the next day rolled by. Then, on the third day, he heard something.

He heard the name Danni.

It was on TV.

A reported on the local news listed something. Nny couldn't make out what it was.

"In recent news, a local eighteen-year-old girl named Danni Harper committed suicide in her home two days ago."

Nny gawked. There, on the TV screen, for the entire nation to see, was Danni's high school picture. How happy she looked, how carefree.

Nny spent the rest of the day consoling himself with Cherry Doom brainfreezies.

A letter arrived for Nny. Not that it was the letter itself, but just the fact that he had received a letter was amazing.

Opening it slowly, he recognized the paper and handwriting. Mrs. Harper. He reached in and pulled out a note.

Nny, we hope that you are feeling well. But since the recent tragedy, we feel inclined to ask you to the wake of our dearest Danniella. Please come, it would mean so much to both of us.

Mr. and Mrs. Harper

Nny stared at the paper. Wake? They were inviting him to her wake? Nny hated wakes where you saw the lifeless person lying there in the open casket.

Once, Nny had gone to a wake. He was little then, and two other boys decided to play a trick on him. One hid behind the casket and waited. The other led Nny up to the coffin and told him to look in. When Nny did, the body seemed to be reaching up for him, and the eyes were wide open. The boy in the back had tricked him and frightened poor Nny into the nearest bathroom.

He didn't want to go, but the next week, there he was, in the back of the church, listening to the eulogy. Even the speech about how sweet and caring and loving she was didn't help him.

Sweet? Caring? Is that guy talking about the same girl who played me for a fool for two months? Who promised me a lie?

But even Nny heart was softened when Mrs. Harper got up there and dedicated her life to helping other teens come out of a suicidal slump, for Danni's sake.

The wake was over soon, and Nny walked up to the casket. There lay Danni, looking like a princess in her beautiful plum purple gown. Her hair was done up nice, make-up put on. But Nny knew that there was something missing. Something that lay underneath the skin. Underneath the makeup she couldn't feel. Underneath the dress that she would never register as her being clothed in.

Nny reached down and stroked her face. Amid tears and sobs, he turned around. There was just one man left, talking to an ancient woman. The man seemed to glow with an internal light, as did the woman. Nny could never believe it, but he could swear he saw them begin to disappear. As they were almost gone, he heard the man's voice.

"She did not do this for herself. She loved him. And she hurt him deeply, although he would never know it. This, she knew, would be the only thing that would heal him. She killed herself for him. For love of him."