Her name was Moira.

She was a year ahead of me in school. When I spent 30 days in Europe the summer before my Junior year on a school trip, she was one of the other students who went along. But I never knew her very well because Moira was...strange.

Moira was different. She worn clothes that were...unfashionable. Not ugly. Just sorta...retro. Or alternative. Even for 1984. And unlike the perfectly coifed and feathered other girls, Moira's hair was cut short. It looked like she simply washed it, ran her fingers through it, and went about her business. Which was unsual in the overly styled 1980's. Moira's musical tastes were on the fringe as well. Franklie Goes To Hollywood, The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, and U2. And while some of them are rather mainstream now, 25 years ago, they were alternative.

And of course there was thr rumor, the ones whispered behind her back after she passed people in the hall: she tired to kill herself! She slit her wrists! She had spent time in the local sanitarium. I had no idea if that was true or not, but that rumor added with everything else, made Moira someone I didn't want to know.

The worst thing you can be as a teenager is 'different'. And as a future gay boy, who knew at the time he was gay, but didn't want to accept it, I was already 'different' enough. In my own mind. I didn't need to be seen hanging out with someone else who was 'different'. Self preservation alone demanded I not get t0o familiar with Moira. And so I didnt.

Cute to the end of school, Spring 1985. The All-School Production that year was Oklahoma. I worked backstage moving sets and stuff. Moira was there too, but I think she did makeup or something. We talked a bit backstage, I was a bit less worried then about being seen with her. I had always admired her for not giving a shit what others thought and doing her own thing. Especially since I wasn't strong enough to do that myself. And during the talks, I found her to be a rather interesting person.

After the Saturday night performance, a group of us gathered at the house of one of the teachers. He had recorded that night's performance and we were all going to watch it. Now there were probably 25-30 people in total there.