Her name is Anna Blue. She is 16 years old, and in 10th grade.
She lives at a college, after having been in foster care for several years. Her parents were killed in a mugging when she was 11, and she was nothing short of distraught. The Goth and Emo music she'd recently discovered soon over-took her, and she began living like the songs she listened to.

With no close relatives, Anna was sent to live in foster care. Each set of foster parents sent her away within three weeks, not sure what to do with her, and her lack of interest in anything outside of her dark music, style of dress, and even the songs she'd begun writing.

One good thing did come to her while she was in foster care, though: A young man by the name of Damien. She met him in a local CD store, about to take the last copy of a new album from one of her favorite bands.
She quickly apologized for getting in his way, saying he could have the CD.

He'd looked her over for a moment, taking in her nervous stance, and sneering slightly, as he handed her the CD, and hurried out.

Anna stood there, on the brink of tears, not sure what she'd done, but, unhappy with having made someone angry.
She bought the CD anyway, so as not to upset him further, though he was no longer there.

Several times after that, Anna ran into him, in all of her favorite places. It didn't take much for her to figure out that he liked hanging out in the places that she liked to hang out in.

Every time, though, he'd glare her way, and rush right out, leaving Anna to feel like she'd made him angry every time.

Once she'd figured this out, though, she was able to put on a disguise before going out, and look around inside a building before she got comfortable enough to take off the disguise.

One day, while Anna was cutting school in her favorite karaoke bar, she saw him on the stage, singing to the crowd, with a voice like no other Anna had heard.
Normally, when she saw him, Anna would turn and leave, for fear of making him mad again. But, this time, Anna forgot herself in his voice, and found herself sitting down, and getting comfortable.

His singing style was so… inspiring. Anna could already feel herself about to write a song, because of him.

All day, she listened, waiting on him to get up on stage again, not even bothering to leave until he did.

Day after day, she returned to hear him sing, if he was there. She got into lots of trouble with her school, and foster parents this way, but, she was… content, with this new routine.

One evening, while she was listening to the young man on stage, Anna noticed a girl sitting particularly close to the stage, watching him with a predator's eyes.

While her look was a bit dark, it was not without pure desire for him. She must've been the young man's girlfriend, Anna guessed. She was certainly pretty enough, with long black tresses that shone even in the dim lights of the bar, dark brown eyes, and ruby-red lips.

He must be so happy with her… Anna thought. Even if she's just a friend…

Watching him tonight, Anna kept finding her eyes trailing over toward that girl. Her contentment trailed into slight sadness, and she left early, this time.

Even that boy had friends, and he was quite a bit like her. Was there something she was doing wrong? Was it wrong for girls to be like this, and perfectly alright for guys? Why did he have friends when she didn't?

Anna started going to school again after another couple of days with the other girl showing up at the bar. Days of loneliness, and pain returned. The only real peace Anna found was in the new song she was writing, explaining her feelings in all the detail she could put in without making herself cry.

As she stopped to think about the wording of the next verse, a small thought crept into Anna's mind.

I haven't really sung anything in a while… Anna thought.

That thought brought her to think about the young man in the bar, singing karaoke, putting his soul into each word of every song he sang.

Anna raised her head slightly, sitting in the detention room, and forgetting what she was doing for a moment. That was it! That's what she needed to do!

Sitting through all she needed to, to get permission to go out, Anna waited patiently for the moment when she could return to the bar, and put her plan into action.

The night she got there, Damien was sitting with the girl from before, watching the person on stage sing, though this poor person couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. He was obviously waiting for his turn to sing again.

Anna sighed, clinging to the chest of her hoodie as she approached the man running the karaoke machine to make her request.

Damien glared at the back of her hooded head, not happy with having his turn taken from him.

Anna sighed heavily, trying to settle her frying nerves, as the person on stage finished their song.
They stepped down, and she almost crawled up.

"Up next, is young Miss Anna Blue, singing 'Sing For Me' by Yellowcard." The man in charge of the karaoke machine announced over the microphone.

Anna's stomach clenched a little tighter, as she heard that. She never expected to be announced to the crowd.

The music began to play. Anna quickly jerked her attention over towards Damien, who was now watching her with the very slightest of interest in his eyes.

She took a deep breath, and nodded to him, as she peeked over at the lyrics screen, just to settle her nerves.

"Look at me… and listen close…" Anna sang letting her feelings flow into the song. "So I can tell you how I feel before I go…"

That first line allowed her to close her eyes, and focus on singing the song like she would if she were in her room, singing along with her CDs. It was nothing to let herself feel the song as she continued to sing it, as she'd always felt this song in the very deepest parts of her heart.

This time, though, it meant just a little more. This time, she was reaching out to touch others with just her voice. This time, she was hoping he would feel what she was feeling.

"Just close your eyes… And sing for me…" Anna sang this a little louder, hoping the plea would reach the man she'd enjoyed listening to every time she came here.

She opened her eyes slowly, and cast her eyes around at the entire bar, noticing how everyone was staring at her in awe. "Just close your eyes…"

Her gaze landed on Damien. He was watching her with his eyes wide open, all anger gone from his face.

"And sing for me…" Anna whispered into the microphone, adding her own little touch to the song.

For a moment, everything was dead-silent. The air seemed to weigh fifty pounds, and Anna was feeling it even heavier with the stuffy, warmth of the bar, and her heavy hoodie.

Slowly, she pulled her hood down to help relieve herself of the uncomfortable heat, and put the microphone back on the stand.

As she stepped down from the stage, the whole bar began clapping and cheering for her. Anna's face got even hotter as she looked around at everyone.
Beginning to panic, Anna ran out of the bar, and took a deep breath of the cool night air.

Hearing someone coming out of the bar behind her, Anna ran off into the night, and hurried back to her foster home.
For several hours, Anna was unable to sleep, feeling severely shaken by her actions. She didn't regret them in the least, but, she was very high-strung with the energy of them, though.

The next day, Anna was in a bit of a sleepy daze when she walked into her regular CD store, and stumbled over to the bargain bin this time, as she didn't have as much allowance money this time.

She didn't really notice that anyone else was there until her hand brushed against someone else's while pushing around the CDs.

"What're you following me for?" came a voice.

Anna looked up, and saw Damien standing on the other side of the bin, frowning at her, seeming to dare her to come up with a good answer for his question.

Anna watched his face for a moment, partly because she was sleepy, and prone to spacing out, and partly because she was thinking very hard about her answer.

"I… I'm sorry…" Anna said. "But… I've never known someone… who liked the same things I like…"

His expression got just the slightest bit lighter. After a moment of staring back and forth, Damien turned away from her, and left the store.

Anna sighed, glad that he didn't get angry at her at least.

The next day, Anna was sent to live with new foster parents, because her old foster parents couldn't deal with her cutting class so often.

Anna was more prone to cutting class with her new parents, though. Between being hit and yelled at at home, and ignored at school, Anna couldn't really take it.

Each time, she'd go to the bar, looking for Damien… only to find that he wasn't there.

Day after day… Night after night… There was no sign of him.
One night, as Anna was slowly making her way back to her foster home, preparing herself to be yelled at, and hit, she heard screaming coming from one of the houses ahead.

She started walking a little faster, so she could pass the angry sounds quickly, not wanting to hear any more yelling than she had to.

Before she could pass the source, though, the door burst open, and someone was shoved out into the night with such force that they fell on top of some trash cans beside the street.

"You clean that up, and come back when you can show your elders some respect!" The man in the house roared, slamming the door behind him.

Anna's heart raced with shock, as she looked over at the person who'd fallen into the trash cans.

Damien stood up, sweeping trash from his clothes, at first looking up to glare at the door, and then noticing Anna.

She stiffened, at first, with his cold gaze freezing her already trembling body.
Then, very slowly, Anna reached up, and rubbed the make-up from her left eye, revealing the black eye she'd gotten from one of her new foster parents.

His gaze softened a bit, as he spotted that.

After that night, Anna was able to stay in the same building with him, and not cause him irritation. She'd even get to talk to him, sometimes.

Soon, she found they shared similar dreams… like being discovered as singers, and songwriters… getting away from all the cruel people, like their foster parents… and finding people who accepted them for who they were…

It didn't take but three days for them to start looking like friends. It became rare that you would see one without the other somewhere nearby.

One day, Damien came to Anna's school, and told her he'd won a contest, that earned him a scholarship at a prestigious creative-writing school.

Anna congratulated him, wishing aloud that she could go with him. He stared at her with a very solemn expression, making her feel that there was something wrong, now.

"Somehow…" Damien said. "I think… you won't be far behind me…"

Anna's heart skipped a beat, and a small smile touched her face. He wasn't usually as encouraging as this, however small the encouragement was.

When Damien left, Anna smiled for him, happy that he was getting where he wanted to be.
But, when she got home, her tears broke free of the barrier she'd put up, and she cried for days, even while she was working on her own chance to get out of this living hell.

Her foster parents didn't help with that at all, beating her for crying too much and yelling at her to stop.
It wasn't long before she was sent back to the agency with claims of being mentally unstable.

The people there were completely beaten, as to what to do with her. They knew she wasn't a bad child, nor was she mentally unstable. She was just different. And no one wanted to accept that. Nor would Anna change for the sake of being accepted.

So, one of the agents working there went to Anna, and asked her what they could do to make sure she kept a decent home for a while.

Anna saw her window of opportunity here, and requested she be sent to the school Damien was attending, promising that she would never skip, and she would try to be more open if she got to stay there.

Within two weeks, she got her applications, and put in all the information needed, and sent it in.
Three weeks later, she got the applications back. She'd been accepted.

Anna was all too happy to get on that plane to go to the school. As it rose into the air, she could feel herself rising above the pain of being alone.

She found herself hurrying out of the airport when the plane landed, and took a taxi to get to the school.
There, she went looking for Damien just as soon as she was settled into her room… only to find he wasn't there.

She asked one of the teachers about him. The teacher led her over to a bulletin board.
There, on a missing person's poster… was Damien's face. He hadn't been seen or heard from in over two weeks.

Anna stared at the poster for an unimaginably long time. She had to be beckoned to return to her room, once night fell.

It was raining that night. Anna sat on her bed, holding a hand mirror she'd managed to sneak out of her mother's belongings when her parents were killed, and staring out the window with an expression of pure pain… pain like no human being had ever known before.

A song came to Anna rather quickly; there… she didn't need to write it down or anything. She knew it already… and she wasn't going to forget it for a while.

"My face against the window pane. A tear for every drop of rain." Anna sang quietly, turning to look down at the mirror.

This mirror… it always reminded Anna of her parents… and how things would be if they were still alive. Damien had been just a small ray of sunshine in the darkness of her life, as she'd enjoyed being with him, as he helped ease the pain of loneliness… but, with no one here…

A sudden burst of energy brought Anna up to her feet, turned her around, and had her throw that hand mirror into the large standing mirror she'd bought for herself to help her make sure she looked just right… in order to make friends…

The large mirror shattered, and glass fell everywhere. The hand mirror clattered to the floor.

Anna stood there, breathing heavily, shocked at her own actions. She'd never broken something over being lonely before… and she didn't feel terribly bad about it right now.

Slowly, Anna turned back around, and fell backwards onto her bed, thinking of Damien… the last living person she could be herself with…

"I am so lonely and so sad…" Anna sang, hurting too badly to even cry this time. "You're the reason I'm feeling bad… I am so lonely and so sad… Living in a dream I've never had…"

Anna laid there on her bed, just thinking about her life… how everything happy seemed to be ripped from her just as she began to realize how happy it made her…

Little did she know that Damien wasn't truly all that far from her.
As a matter of fact, he was just getting back to the school grounds.

For Anna wasn't the only one who's last few weeks had been ruined by certain turns of events. No. Damien had just had a life changing… and death changing experience, that no one could've seen coming…