Sometimes you never know

Back when I was 16-17 years old, I worked at Kroger. There was a very pretty 17-year-old girl who worked in the checkout lines as a checker. She always had the prettiest smile and the cutest face. She seemed nice and easy to talk to.

One day, she came into work without her uniform, and headed for the offices. I saw her and said, “Hey are you working today?”

She touched the small bridge between her glasses and pushed them closer to her nose. I noticed she keep her head down, but smiled. Yet, the smile wasn’t the same, as before, it seemed hollow, false. “Nope,” she said, walking away.

I knew there was something strange about her that day, but I thought nothing of it. I went about my day.

The next day, news came in that this girl killed herself right after quitting and leaving Kroger. No one knew why she killed herself, and everyone was shocked. She kept it to herself and proceeded to shot herself in her bedroom. To this day, I wonder if I’d been keener I could have helped her, hmmm maybe not.