Every time I saw you, I knew that you were insanely strung out. Your hair was thinning. Your eyes were bloodshot. Your skin was pale and you had bags under your eyes. Your eyelids fell, as if you had never gotten enough sleep, even when you slept for ten hours straight. Sometimes, I wouldn't see you for an entire day, because you slept the whole day away. I never acted as though anything was wrong. We weren't close, like you were with Isaac, or Zac. I still cared about you, though. I wished I had taken the time to become closer to you. Isaac and Zac often spoke of you as if you were a celebrity, their voices filled with awestruck wonder. You did no wrong in their eyes. Things that would normally make them recoil and look down on someone, they overlooked with you. I asked Zac if he had noticed your recent change in appearance.

"She's been really stressed out lately, Taylor. I mean, she has to plan the wedding, and she's working overtime at work to pay her bills. I tried to tell her we'd help her out, but you know how she is."

Yeah, I did know how you were. One night, I followed you when you left our house. You drove directly to the shadiest bar in town, parked your car in the back, and walked around to the front, where you greeted someone with a lengthy handshake. I entered the bar as stealthily as I could, and took a seat in the back, where no one would look. The waitress came over and I ordered a Bud Light just to get her out of my way. I watched as you downed shot after shot of whiskey, by yourself. You stayed for about an hour, and no one came to meet you.

I went back to my own house and tried to sleep. I spent the entire night tossing and turning, worrying about you. Did you manage to get home without dying? Had you run into a tree, or killed someone on the road? Or was all this worrying for no reason, and you were safe in your bed at your own apartment, sleeping off a bender? I debated in my head whether or not to tell Isaac and Zac what I had seen. I didn't think they would believe me, even if I told them I had witnessed it with my own two eyes. They would never think of you as anything less than perfect.

It didn't surprise me when you left. Isaac, of course, was devastated. Zac was angry and confused. I had to deal with the knowledge that I could have stopped you, or at least tried. I could have said something. I spent so long on the fence that I felt as though it was my own fault. It was easier for me to blame myself than to blame you.

The Walk - Zac Hanson
Well, deep in the wood
Where nothing is seen
A tightrope is strung to his heel
And high on the walk
He's down on one knee
He waits for the slow of the breeze
Oh, wow, look at him now on his feet
High up in the sky

And every moment extends endlessly
It feels as though time isn't moving
And every second, one breath not to breathe
I watch as he moves to the beat

Well, I'm on the floor
I watch from my seat
I watch as he sways with the trees
And slowly he moves, but so elegantly
I'm more on the edge of my seat

On the tightrope, everything's bare
All that there is, is from here to there
On the tightrope, the goal is quite clear
Don't lose yourself in your fear

Everyone waits on the walk
Some are long and some small
But all of them tall
Everyone must make a choice
Will I go for it all and possibly fall?
The tightrope is thin, I could possibly win on the wlak

Well, high on the walk
The tightrope, it bends
And nobody knows where it ends
To win or to lose
You're all on your own
Everyone must be alone

On the tightrope, everything's bare
All that there is, is from here to there
On the tightrope, the goal is quite clear
Don't lose yourself in your fear