The Overacheiver (standard:drama, 752 words)
Author: GothicGirl	Added: Sep 18 2000	Views/Reads: 4286/9	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A story about a boy who changes the life of a girl. (no sex involved)

I guess that he was always an overachiever and that he was very
competitive at everything he did. If he was not the best it was not 
worth the effort.  Throughout Ted’s high school career he was at the 
top of his class and he was the best at every sport that he played. 
What would drive a person with that much going for him to suicide. 

Ted was my best friend. He was tall and dark. He was strong but gentle
and calm but firm. He was always there for me. He helped me up when I 
had fallen and brought me back to the real world when I was lost. His 
high school career was a mess of school work and sports. I was the only 
other person that he would make time for. Every night we would eat at 
each one of our parents’ houses and talk on the phone until we were the 
only  ones on the block who were awake. We were almost inseparable. 

Ted and I had known each other for our whole lives because our parents
had worked for the same company. We had said our first words together, 
we took our first steps together and we got our first kisses from each 
other. One of my fondest memories of our childhood was running through 
Weelwright park together in our swimsuits. He was like a brother to me 
and I was like a sister to him. 

A couple of weeks before the school announced who would be the captain
of the football team for next fall, Ted began to get anxious and 
depressed. He was competing against Robby Martin for the honor of being 
captain of the football team. I was competing against Christen Danby 
for the honor of being captain of the girls swim team. As the days 
until the announcement crept past we spent more and more time together. 
We would sit on his bed talking about how wonderful our senior year was 
going to be and what we were going to do on our summer trip to his 
parent’s villa in southern France. 

The first blow to our happiness was when Christen Danby was nominated as
captain of the girls swim team. That night we got totally smashed and I 
spent the rest of the weekend at his house. That Sunday, two days 
before the announcement of the captain of the football team, Ted and I 
went walking in the park that had been a symbol of our childhood. 
Wheelwright park was a place with high rocks to climb and long bumpy 
paths to hike on. That Sunday we climbed the tall rocks that we had not 
climbed since our childhood and drank water from the cold stream that 
we had played in as kids. As late afternoon drew close we climbed to 
the top of the highest rock in the park. We sat on the rocks and held 
eachother. This would be the last time that we would be on there 
together. Ted said, “Nika, you are my best friend and I trust you.” 
Then Ted reached into his back pocket and gave me a necklace that was 
inscribed “All my love and thoughts for all eternity, Ted.” I remember 
him putting the necklace around my neck. Then I exploded into a fit of 
tears. The day that they announced the captain of next years football 
team I was not in school and did not see Ted. I was at the elementary 
school directing the fifth grade play. I called one of my friends at 
the end of the day to see if Ted had received the honor of being 
captain of the football team. He told me that Robby Danby had won the 
honor. I drove over to Ted’s house crying. I used my keys to open the 
door and I made my way to his room. I opened the door and found Ted’s 
lifeless body on the floor. Ted had committed suicide because he was 
not the best at something. 

Even today, ten long years later, I wish that he had not killed him
self. Ted would have grown up to be a man with intelligence and 
compassion. That one defeat drove Ted over the edge. I have found it 
very difficult to go on with my life. Each step that I take reminds me 
of him and each time I look at the necklace that hangs around my neck, 
I am reminded of the tragedy of that day.


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