Classmate #1: Sure, I knew her. We all did. She was a real weirdo, always crying about something. I don’t think she ever had a bath. The smell was so bad, on field trips we had to keep the windows of the bus rolled down. Nobody ever wanted to sit next to her. If there was a gang of us, and we saw her walking to or from school, some of the girls would kick her and punch her, because she was always doing sneaky and creepy kind of stuff. No, I can’t remember what she did wrong exactly; it was a long time ago. Anyway, I never bullied her myself.
The Vice-Principal: Oh, yes. I remember her clearly. She was always being sent to me to be disciplined. It was a lot easier in those days, of course. If you lay one finger on them now, or even look at them in the wrong way, the parents are up in arms. Still, I don’t suppose that would have been the case with her. Her mother was on welfare, a drinker and drug user from what I’ve been told, and her father worked the night shift at the bottling plant. I don’t think either of them took a blind bit of notice of her education and it showed. That girl had a complete lack of respect. Sometimes she would even fall asleep at her desk when the class was watching a video presentation. And she was caught stealing food from the cafeteria on more than one occasion. Yes, there was evidence of some bullying. We do everything we can to stop that sort of thing and have very strict policies in place. Still, some children seem to invite it on themselves.
The Human Resources Manager: I’m sure her personnel file is here somewhere…ah, here it is. No. 9165013A. Oh, now I remember. We had to let her go, because she was abusing her sick days. Every time her child was ill, she would stay home to look after him. There were all sorts of rumours about her…about the way she conducted her private life. Apparently, she had a child out of wedlock just after she dropped out of school, but I wouldn’t like to say for certain. Anyway, it was really no concern of mine. The problem was, we’re a very busy office, and she just couldn’t be relied upon.
Classmate #2: I knew her pretty well. She wasn’t a friend or anything, but I think she felt some kind of connection to me. She used to follow me around the halls sometimes. My boyfriend, Steve, said she gave him the creeps. Thought she was some kind of psycho, the way she used to laugh and cry so randomly. I think she was okay, though. I don’t think she meant any harm. And she was a really good artist. She gave me a drawing one time. Slipped it into my binder when I wasn’t looking, but I knew it was hers. It was like a tattoo. A heart with flames coming out of it and two snakes curled around it. There were all sorts of other details, but I can’t remember them. I think I still have it, somewhere. I don’t even know why I kept it all these years. It was so strange to hear her voice on my answering machine when I came home last night. To think… I might have been the last person she ever tried to speak to. Weird, isn’t it? I wonder what she wanted to say.
