I remember the funeral. The quiet. The sideways hugs paired with mumbled words of attempted comfort. I remember staring down into my mother's casket, tears streaming down my face as I looked at her lifeless body. It was the first time I had ever really experienced loss. I had only been to one other funeral, my grandfather's, but I was only three at the time and don't remember it. The pain I felt after she passed away was excruciating. For months after that day I wouldnt talk, I wouldn't eat, I wouldn't do anything. My father eventually forced me to go back to school, where I disconnected myself from my friend group entirely. They tried to help. They tried to be there for me, but one by one they left. I don't blame them. I was almost as dead emotionally as mother was physically. For three years I remained that way, until finally in my sophomore year of highschool I found my saving grace. A boy named Calvin Hughes.

Now, I know what you're thinking, and your wrong. This isn't a romance. The rest of this novel isn't going to be horribly sappy and filled with cuddling, kissing, and other terribly cheesy things of that nature. This isn't Twilight. Of course, eventually we did end up "falling in love" as they say, but by that time we were so close we barely had to.

Anyway, I met Calvin, or Cal as I've always called him, in my tenth grade science class. On the first day of school he sat in the desk next to me and immediately introduced himself. I was shocked. People rarely spoke to me. They all knew the state I was in, and most decided, after a few attempts to strike up a conversation, that I was a hopeless case. So did I until I met Cal.

At first I ignored him. He would come into class everyday, a geeky smile shining on his face, and just talk to me, about everything. He wasn't really the social type out of that class. I never saw him talking to any other students the way he talked to me. He had a small group of friends that spent most of their time in the lab, but other than that he was rather conserved.

In the first few weeks of meeting Cal, I mostly listened. I learned he was basically a genius, and that group of friends he had were all geniuses as well, although they would never tell you about it. I introduced myself two weeks later, and after that we became inseparable. For the first time in two years, I was happy.

The day I brought Cal over to my house for the first time, my dad was both shocked and suspicious. He was sitting in the living room watching a basketball game with a beer in his hand when I walked into the room with Cal at my heals. I almost laughed at my dad's face when he spotted the boy behind me.

"Hey dad," I said, almost cautiously. My dad looked at me, and then at Cal, and then back at me again.

"Hey B. Who's this?" he asked.

"Dad, this is Calvin Hughes from school. We were just going to watch a movie."

My dad raised an eyebrow hesitating, but before he could say anything Cal stepped forward, his shining smile on full display, his hand extended.

"Nice to meet you sir. I've heard a lot about you," he said beaming. My dad stared up at him, then smiled and the two shook hands. I let out a relieved breath.

Before long Cal had launched my dad into an enthusiastic rant about the game, and was even offered a seat on the couch. Cal smiled, laughed a bit, and politely declined.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think Bree and I were planning to watch a movie," Cal said.

"That's fine! Just know if you ever want to watch a game, you're free to come over. Nice meeting you Calvin," my dad replied.

"Nice meeting you sir, and I'll keep your offer in mind."

My dad laughed, and me and Cal left the room. When we finally settled in front of the TV in the garage, I turned to Cal smiling.

"I didn't know you were into sports," I said. Cal flashed a grin.

"I'm not. My dad is. I geuss I picked it up off him."

"You're too good with people." I said and hit play on the movie. Cal was like a beam of sunshine. People were drawn to him like flies to honey, and for good reason. Cal was friendly with everyone. He rarely started conversations, usually letting the other person have the honor of doing that, but when they did he knew how to keep it going. Cal was my saving grace, and when She came, he would help me more than just emotionally.