Danny was my neighbor. He was tall high school boy, with blue eyes and brown fluffy hair. He was my best friend.

I first met Danny when we moved into our new house. He and his mom offered to help us unload boxes from the big moving truck. I had been scared to move into the big new house, but when everyone was inside, it didn’t seem so big anymore.

Everyday when I would play basketball outside, Danny would arrive home in his car. One day he stopped to help me get my ball out of the street. I thanked him, and he asked if he could join my game. That became our tradition. He would play with me when he got home, and then he’d go inside to do his homework.

I was the only girl on the Parks and Rec third grade team. The other boys thought I was weird and called me a freak when I first joined. It used to bother me, but Danny changed that. He was older, taller, and a boy. Yet, I could always beat him in our basketball games. This made me fearless. It didn’t matter what the boys said, because I knew I was strong and tough.

One day, Danny didn’t come over to play. He parked his car and went straight inside. I was upset, so I went inside and tried to forget about it. I fell asleep in my room and woke up to chaos. There was a siren and saw flashing red lights. I peeked out my window and saw an ambulance and police officers.

I ran downstairs and saw my mom crying on the phone. I hid on the stairs and tried to listen.

“Oh my god, it was awful” she said with a heavy sigh, “The neighbor’s kid committed suicide. I can’t believe he’s gone, he was only 17”.

Gone? What does that mean? He can’t be gone if I saw him today. Where did he go?

I didn’t want to make Mom more upset, so I went back upstairs and tried to go back to sleep. That night I dreamed about playing basketball with Danny the next day, hoping he would want to.

I didn’t know that I would never see him again. Still to this day, I don’t know why he did what he did. Danny was a brother to me. No matter how old I get, I can never fathom how someone can just not be there anymore. Although my childish innocence is lost now, the heroic memories of Danny will always stay with me.