Mandy got up from her computer and went over to her closet. She flung open the doors and started to push back all of her clothes. She selected a black t-shirt, black skinny jeans, black socks, and her black Converse high-tops. She found her black hoodie and tossed all of the clothes on the bed. She went into her bathroom and found her black nail polish and her makeup. She plugged in her straightener and put in a DVD to watch while she sat on her bed, painting first her toenails, then her fingernails black. As soon as she had finished with her nails, she went into the bathroom and quickly straightened her hair. She applied black eyeshadow and deep red lipstick. She went back into her bedroom and got dressed in her black clothes. She looked around and decided to put on the locket that her father had given her mother. She quickly switched DVDs and turned up the volume. She didn't want her uncles to interfere with her plan. Just before she went to check if her uncles were out in the living room, iTunes popped up on her computer. The song “Wait” by ZoeGirl was playing. Mandy went over to her computer and shut down iTunes. “Stupid thing,” she muttered to herself. She pressed her ear against the door and heard no noise. “My uncles must be in their bedrooms,” she thought. She quietly opened her door and shut it behind her. She tiptoed across the floor to the door and silently slipped out. She ran down the stairs to the street and continued to walk toward the pier.

Mandy huddled against the frigid night breeze as she walked along the streets alone. It was late enough at night that all of the businesses were closed and everyone had headed home for the night. She reached the corner store and pressed the button for the signal. While she waited, she said a mental goodbye to the store and Jackie. She walked across the street and started to run. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Despite her shoes and the cold air, she ran all of the way down to the pier. She reached the wood walkway and slowly approached the open end of the pier. The lone streetlight quietly illuminated her figure. She reached the end of the pier and peered down at the water.

Chris and Jack walked out of Jack's bedroom. “Think she would let us talk to her now?” Jack asked. “Maybe,” Chris replied. They approached her door and heard the movie she had left running come through the door. Chris took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Mandy?” he called out. “Can we talk to you?” No answer came. Chris tried again. Still, no reply came. Jack opened the door and both men stepped in, only to find the TV on and the room empty. Both uncles looked at each other. They looked around until Jack noticed an envelope resting on Mandy's pillow. He saw their names on it. “Chris,” he said. “Look at what I found.” Chris walked over to him. Jack opened the envelope and took out the letter and Mandy's ring. He handed the ring to Chris and opened the letter. “Dear Uncle Jack and Uncle Chris,” the letter began. “I am so very sorry for how much pain and grief my actions are going to cause you. But I can't take it anymore. Knowing what happened to my father sent me over, or will soon send me over, the edge. It is not your fault in any way. I have forgiven you both and don't wish to cause you harm. I just can't stand my life anymore. My mind is in a dark cloud that I just can't get out of. There's only one way to stop it. I wish that things did not have to go this way. But I am afraid it must. Tell Jeremy that I don't mean to hurt him and that I will always love him. Please give him the ring. The only thing left to say is... I am sorry. So very, very sorry. With my whole heart and love, Mandy. P.S. Tell Jeremy I would have married him in a heartbeat.” Chris turned the ring over in his hand. He closed his fingers over the ring and looked into Jack's eyes. “She's going to kill herself,” he said, a grim expression taking over his face. “We have got to find her.” Jack became alarmed. “But where did she go and what is she going to do?” he asked. Chris took the letter out of his hand. “She probably going to jump, since she said she will soon go over the edge. But I have no idea where she could be.” Jack began to look around the room for any sign of Mandy's location. His eyes landed on her laptop screen, which she had left open. He went over and used the mouse to turn on the screen, which Mandy had left on the web page for the pier she had gone to. “Hey, Chris?” Jack said. Chris walked over to look at the screen. On the page was a website that explained the different tourist sights in the city. Mandy was on the page that explained the historical significance of the piers on the waterfront. “She's going to jump off the end of the Old Miller shipping pier. They removed the end and placed a gate along the pier to prevent an accident. But that could have easily been left open or climbed over.” Chris stared at the screen. “That pier is near Jeremy's condo,” Chris told Jack. “If we are lucky, she hasn't jumped yet. We need to get down there. We'll contact Jeremy on the way. The brothers quickly gathered up their things and raced down to the parking garage. They got in the car and drove down to the pier as fast as the speed limit would allow, Jack making a phone call to Jeremy along the way.

Jeremy sat by the window, looking over the water. The night sky was filled with millions of stars. Jeremy was still awake, having made the final plans for his proposal to Mandy. Now, it was just a matter of not revealing the plan and waiting for the time to come. He was lost in his thoughts when his cell phone went off. He picked up the call. “Hello?” Jeremy asked, wondering who could possibly be calling him this late at night. “Jeremy? It's Jack. Mandy has gone down to the Old Miller shipping pier. She is going to kill herself by jumping off the end. We need you to get down to the pier and see if she has jumped yet. If she hasn't, then try to stop her until we get there.” Jeremy's heart stopped. His girlfriend, his future fiancée, was going to commit suicide. He couldn't lose her. Especially not now. “I'll be there in two minutes,” he replied. He hung up and got his shoes on. He grabbed his phone and keys. He ran out the door and ran all of the way down to the pier. He got there and saw a figure standing at the edge, dressed in all black clothes. He heard Chris and Jack approach him from behind a few minutes later. “She hasn't jumped yet,” he told them as he turned around. “What happened to her? Why we she try something like this?” Both of her uncles gulped. “We told her that we accidentally shot her father. She freaked out. We tried to talk to her. But first she locked herself in her bedroom. Then when we went to check up on her, she had left a suicide note and this.” Chris held out the ring and dropped it in Jeremy's hand. “Jeremy stared at the ring. She was literally going to jump. He had only a short time to stop her. “I'm going to try and see if I can talk her down,” Jeremy told them. “She isn't mad at you. She probably couldn't take the emotions and feels like she needs to die in order for the pain to stop.” Jeremy turned around again, slowly walking down the pier toward Mandy.

Mandy had been staring at the swirling water for what felt like hours. She wasn't sure why she hadn't jumped yet. The spray from the water was pounding on her like millions of hailstones. Suddenly, she heard someone calling out her name. She turned around, her vision slightly obscured by her hair and the spray of salt water. “Mandy!” Her vision cleared. She saw that it was Jeremy calling out her name. “Mandy, don't do this,” Jeremy called to her. He took a few steps forward, ready to dive in after her if she jumped. “Mandy, whatever is wrong, we can talk this out together. We can get you help.” Mandy shook her head. “No,” she called back to him. “I can’t go back. I won’t go back.” Jeremy lost all hope. Mandy moved to take step backwards. But before her foot slid off the edge, a flurry of memories flashed across her eyes. She could see her mother and father holding her after the birth, the time she first met Jeremy, the hospital, the basketball game, the Valentine's dance, dancing with her parents, the trip to the jewelry store, and her sitting by the lake in the park earlier that morning. But then she saw something she had never seen before. It was her and Jeremy in a park. The sun was setting and Jeremy was down on one knee, proposing to Mandy. She was crying and saying yes a million times as fast as she could. She also remembered the words her father had spoken to her when he appeared for her little dance practice. “It's not your time yet,” he had told her. Mandy realized that she was throwing away so much. She began to choke on her tears. Eventually, the pain became so unbearable that she collapsed onto the pier, clutching her stomach from the tears. Jeremy rushed down to the end of the pier. He grabbed Mandy and carried her a short way from the end of the pier. He kept kissing her forehead. He used his hand to tip her head up to look into his eyes. “Don't you ever scare me like that again,” he said. Mandy nodded. “I promise I never will again. I promise.”