Chapter 32

"Fran, when you want something, you have to give everything you've got to keep it sometimes... But sometimes, when that thing you want is a person... You can't make them stay."

Fran stared up at her father. A young man who was slender, with blonde hair, wore glasses, and today, he was dressed in a black suit. It was raining in the graveyard that day—the day Fran’s mother went to sleep in the ground.

Tears rolled down her father's cheeks as he held Fran close. "Dad, why couldn't we fight for her to wake up?" Fran asked. He smiled gently, holding back a choked cry. "Sometimes we have to let them go, and there isn’t anything we can do, no matter how much we want..." He stopped talking mid-sentence. He couldn't finish what he wanted to say.

"Will I see Mom again, Dad?" Fran’s father picked her up and held her. He stared into her eyes. "We can hope that we will. I think she will want to see us smiling and happy, huh?" He smiled with her. She smiled back. "So, I just have to keep smiling until she comes back, right?" Fran's dad started walking away from the grave. "Yes, Fran. She'll want us to be happy while she’s gone, so don't give up on being happy. It'll make her happy too."

It wasn’t hard to be happy all the time. Fran was filled with new energy when she thought of her mother. She knew she was making her proud. Even when she would get hurt, she knew she had to tough it out and pick herself back up, smiling. She became tough because of that.

At school, her energy was a little much for some kids, and it made it hard to keep friends. She was willing to protect the weaker kids but often came off as too clingy around them. "I just have to fight for what I want, and I want friends!" Her persistence came off as annoyance.

Fran's dad eventually remarried, and they needed to move. She wouldn’t know anyone, and she would be in a new town. She was scared, but she remembered what her dad said: to smile and be happy so her mom could be happy.

She was waiting to go to class when she met a boy named Steven. This time, she would make sure they were friends. She smiled, showing all her teeth. This was her trademark friendship smile that should be able to win over anyone. He was a quiet kid, but he listened, and he was happy to see Fran too. It was easier being around Steven. Fran could relax more. She was able to loosen up and not worry so much about having to be happy all the time; instead, she could just be happy.

Because she finally found someone who was willing to stay. She would fight for him no matter what happened.

Even a bus crash wouldn't be enough to separate him from her.