Renee hummed a few bars of "SOMEONE" to herself as she slowly marched up the steps to her house. She was in an excep tionally cheerful mood today. Why shouldn't she be? After all, it was Friday. And aside from that, Francis had just asked her to be his girlfriend. Yep, she had something to be cheerful about, alright. She found it funny, though. After all, she and Francis had been friends for over six months. They found they had many differences. Francis was a pessimist in his own right. He had few friends, was terribly downcast most of the time, insecure, and wary. She, on the other hand, was an optimist. She was a very happy, very friendly girl who you wouldn't think had any serious problems. But despite all these, they had one thing in common: they both needed to feel loved.
Renee was just drifting off to sleep when her phone rang. She sleepily glanced at the clock. 11 o' clock? Who could be calling at this hour? "Hello?"
"Hello, Renee?"
"Francis! Hi!" Renee sat herself up on the bed. She should have known. Only he could think of calling this late.
"Am I bothering you?"
"No, it's okay. I'm up."
"How're you feeling this evening?"
"I feel happy. Very happy," she added, smiling to herself.
"Me too. After all, I've got you now."
"Oh, Francis..."
"Renee... do you really, really, really love me?"
"Of course I do, Francis. I wouldn't have agreed to be your girlfriend if I didn't, right?"
"Well, you could've agreed only because you pity me."
"Francis," Renee said in an almost exasperated voice. They had gone over this earlier this afternoon. "I don't pity you because I know you don't want my pity. I know how headstrong you ì are. áI understand how much you hate being pitied. Please be lieve me when I say I love you because I do."
"I need proof."
Renee was silent for a while. How was she ever going to convince him? She knew Francis was insecure, but this is too much. It hurt her to think that Francis felt so negative about her loving him. "Francis, how could you not believe me?"
"W-ell, I do take your word for it," Francis ásaid. He couldn't even force himself to believe that statement.
"No you don't! I know you don't! You want proof? Fine. What proof do you want to see?
"That's up to you."
"That makes no sense. It's you who wants proof, Francis."
"It's you who say you love me, Renee. Prove it!"
Renee resisted the urge to slam the phone down. They kept talking, and with each retort, the argument fired up until Renee finally broke down and Francis put down the phone.
For the next few moments, Renee sat huddled on her bed, thinking. Finally, she went over to her desk and took out a pen and paper. She wrote down a short statement and reread it over and over again. I'll prove to him how much I love him. I'll show him how I feel. She recalled the words from one of her favorite songs. "I'd die for you..." she whispered.
On Monday afternoon, Renee walked slowly along the path that would take her to Francis' school. Her school had already let out earlier and today, she wanted to sort things out with Fran ìcis. She hadn't spoken to him over the entire weekend. Pride kept áher from picking up the phone. But now, she wanted to get back with Francis. She missed him terribly. She wanted to tell him all the things she thought about. Most of all, she wanted to make him realize how she felt for him.
The school let out 15 minutes later. She spotted Francis leave the building and head towards the sidewalk. She quietly followed him. She didn't dare shout his name just yet. He had on a pair of earphones over his ears. There's no way I'm going to be able to drown out that GN'R tape of his from here. She hurried to catch up with him. She heard a loud screech behind her. She looked back and saw a large truck speeding toward the intersection. She glanced back at Francis. Oh, God! He'll be hit! Unless... Renee's mind failed to function as she made her decision without a second thought. She dropped her books and broke into a full run towards Francis and shouted his name.
Francis' tape had just reached the end of the last song when he heard Renee's call. He looked up just in time to see the truck speeding toward him, less than fifty feet away. He felt frozen to the spot. Oh, God! I'm going to die! Those were his last thoughts before he hit the ground.
Francis opened his eyes and looked around. The truck had stopped behind him. He looked at the crowd surrounding the front of the truck. He stood up and went over. He gasped as he looked at the crumpled body lying before him. Renee! He knelt down and held her body in his arms. "Renee..."
"I'm sorry, son. She's..." the policeman's voice trailed off into emptiness.
"Oh, Renee..." he whispered. As he sadly moved his gaze over her limp body, his eyes rested on a small piece of paper wedged tightly in her hand. He carefully pried it out of her stiff fingers and opened it. There, in Renee's beautiful hand writing was written:
"There is no greater love than that of one who would lay down his life for a friend."
Francis closed his eyes and buried his head in the crook of Renee's neck. He cried as he slowly understood.
-By: Desiree Yu Ping Kun