As she spoke, Renee seemed like a different person. She seemed remorseful. She even seemed like she was disappointed in herself.

“I write because I wanted to find a way to be known. When I was young I was told I’d only live to be 20. And that’s only if I’m lucky. I started writing the day I learned about famous poets. I thought, ‘That sounds easy enough!’. Then I eventually fell in love with writing. But I wasn’t getting famous. The only one who ever really cared was you. I began to doubt that you even cared. And Dane just kept get more and more violent so I gave up trying to be famous and just tried doing what I loved. Then Dane found one of my poems. He called it ‘Stupid’ and ripped it up. I yelled at him and he beat me. So then I just tried getting through the days at least half-conscious. But lately I even started giving up on that. Why should I try so hard to live when my last three years will only be filled with pain?”

“You should try hard for me.” Gabriel choked out.