Now, I know I said I was gonna post this on September 3rd. Yeah, I know. But I decided to write it and then post it today because I wouldn't be near a computer to write it. I might go see "Disney on Ice" with my friend and her grandma. That being said, I will post it now but it's really ment for September 3rd.

In loving memory of my cousin,
Amber
July 5th, 2005 - September 3rd, 2010.

It was a typical day at Casper High. Danny had snuck out a few times to catch ghost, Tucker tried to hit on girls that he was never gonna get, and Sam doodled all over her notebooks. It was time for everybody to switch their books. Sam's lockers was about thirteen lockers away from Danny's and Tucker's. Danny was watching her answer her phone while Tucker babbled on about something nobody cared about.

Who is she talking to? Danny thought. Sam had her hand over her mouth and looked like she was crying. Yup, she was. She wiped her eyes, hung up the phone, and slammed her locker shut. She started to walk away, then she got a look on her face that looked like she forgot something. She went back to her locker, grabbed her black sweater and put it on. Sam started to walk towards Danny and Tucker again, with her arms crossed and sniffling on her way over. She was in the middle of wiping her eyes when Danny grabbed her arm. "Hey, what happened?" he said, totally ignoring Tucker now,

"Nothing, I-I gotta go," she said. She tried to pull away but Danny pulled her back. She looked up at him, with tears in her eyes, and said, "I have to go!" She then yanked her arm out of his grip and stormed out, wiping away the tears she tried to hold back but couldn't.

The next day, Sam didn't come to school. Where is she? Danny thought to himself, while standing by her locker. Tucker came up to him and said, "Hey, dude! Why are you here at Sam's locker?"

"Because it's almost third period and Sam is never this late, no matter what," Danny said.

"Dude, relax. She's allowed to miss one day of school, ok?" Tucker said.

"Ok." But Sam didn't show up for the rest of the week. Why isn't she here? Was it something I did? No, it couldn't have been; it started with that phone call. Was she dating somebody that Tuck and I didn't know about? No, that couldn't have been it; Sam isn't the kind of person to miss school over a break up. Danny was trying to figure out every possiblilty he could.

Danny decided he would go over to Sam's house, just to check on her; maybe find out what's going on. Shoot! It's eight thirty! And it looks like it's getting ready to rain. Oh well; Sam's worth it. Danny got up from his desk, checked to make sure his door was locked, and phased through the wall. He flew all the way to Sam's house and seemed to just barely beat the storm. Danny knocked on the door but there was now answer. I guess her parents aren't home, he thought. As an alternative, he flew up to her window and phased through it. He saw Sam lying on her bed all bundled up, sniffling. He changed back to his human form when Sam scared him by saying, "Go away."

"Sam, what's the matter? You didn't show up at school all week, you're lying in your bed, and you sound like you've been crying. What's the matter?" he asked. Her back was turned to him so he wouldn't be able to tell if she was just sick or had actually been crying.

"Nothing, now just go away." He walked over to her bed and rolled her over.

"What happened on the phone on Wednesday?" he asked, wiping away the precious tears she had cried.

"My cousin passed away, ok?" she said forcely. She sighed and sniffled before saying, "I need some fresh air." She pushed her covers off and left the room. Danny waited a minute and then left too. Once he got downstairs, he went to the front door, opened it, and noticed it had started pouring down rain.

He saw Sam on the second to last step, just sitting there in the rain. He walked down and sat next to her. "Not gettin' much fresh air in this weather," he said.

She shook her head with a slight smile on her face. She then looked up to the sky and sighed, then dropped it, with her eyes closed. "She-she was like my little sister. I would spend every moment I possibly could with her whenever I would get the chance." She swallowed hard. "You know how some Saturdays how I would either have to cancel on you and Tucker or just say, 'I have other plan,'?"

Danny nodded.

"Well, on all those accounts, I was babysitting her. My aunt would sometimes just make up something she would have to do so I could come over and watch her. I know that so doesn't sound like me, but..." She trailed off.

"She was you're little sister," Danny said. Sam looked at him, her hair drenched from sitting in the rain. She then nodded, with a small smile on her face and tears forming in her eyes again. Danny put his arm around her and slid her over some. And she just cried and cried into his shoulder, but he didn't care; the rain was soaking him anyway. He realized how much Sam really did care about her little cousin and understood why she was so upset. So he just let her cry and cry for however long she wanted.

***
Epilogue

The funeral was the next day. Sam had already given her speech for Isabella and was all teared up. She wouldn't dare let her parents try and comfort her even if they tried. A few minutes after she had spoken, Danny walked in. He spotted Sam and walked up to the pew she was in. He said, "Is this seat taken?"

She laughed a weak laugh and he took his seat. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"First of all, what are you wearing?" he asked in a shocked tone. She had a white, strapless dress on with pink trim and pink roses at the bottom.

Sam smiled and sniffled a little. "Well, you see, you know me, I wouldn't be caught dead in this in public; but since this was a family event, I thought I'd wear it. But the main reason is, Isabella was a princess and so in honor of her, I dressed as a princess. Plus, there was an email sent out saying, 'No black!' so I had to resort to this," she said, jokingly. "Now, you get to answer my question. What are you doing here?"

"You seemed like you needed a friend." They both smiled and gave each other a hug.

"Thank you," Sam whispered, then put her head on his shoulder.

Wow, why does this seem really short? Hmm, maybe it's just me. Any who. The dress I described is actually what the dress I wore to her funeral looked like! And when I said, "No black," that was actually the policy for it too! Now, those were really the only things that actually happened. Everything else was made up in my head...except for her being like my little sister. I might not have been babysitting her and what not (honestly, I didn't get to see her that much, really) but when I was around her, she was like my little sister. For those of you who don't know me, I come from a family of three younger brothers, two girl cousins (mom's side), and the rest are boys. And one of my girl cousins just moved by me last year so, yeah. On my dad's side, I had two girl cousins but then...one kinda...left if you catch my drift.

OFF TOPIC!

But what is really strange is the fact that I didn't cry at all at her funeral but brought the CD my parents put together and could NOT help but cry. True story. Anyway, I love you guys! Let me know if you wanna know what really happened (or what I haven't told you about). Review please!

Love, love, LOVE you guys! Thanks for reading!

xx Sam