Laura Nowlin

We hear that hardly anyone ever goes to the Spring Fling, so we decide that it must be cool and that we will go.

If he had been with me, Finny would still be alive.

If he had been with me, everything would have been different.

I can see by the way she looks at him that Sasha is my competition for Jamie.

I can see by the way she looks at him that Sasha is my competition for Jamie.

If he had been with me, everything would have been different.

My mother named me Autumn.

I was quirky and odd and I did not have any friends besides Finny. He could have had other close friends if he wanted; he was good at sports and nothing was odd about him. He was sweet and shy and everyone liked him. The girls had crushes on him. The boys picked him first in gym. The teachers called on him for the right answer.

During Job Week in fifth grade, I told the class and teacher that my career goal was to move to New York, wear black turtlenecks, and sit in coffee shops all day, thinking deep thoughts and making up stories in my head.

Finny was loyal to me; he taunted anyone who dared torment me, snubbed anyone who scorned me, and always picked me first to be on his team.