I see them a lot
Those hollow smiles and empty eyes
Of kids who secretly die inside
Keeping up some half-good disguise
Then they're gone
Leaving their images flashing across Facebook
And pasted onto telephone poles
With signs begging them to come home
It always hurts a bit inside
Reminding me of the few times
I've had to fight the urge to run
And leave this unappreciative town behind
Those are all the kids
That finally did
Leaving their parents in shock
And their best friends throwing up
Leaving their face all over the place
For me to see and stop and pray

But I was never supposed to see her.

You know why? Here's why
Because I introduced myself when she first came on a Tuesday night
Because she kept coming and because
She loved us and needed us and also because
She talked to me and came to me when something was wrong
And she always told me about her life
Even after we hadn't seen each other in a while
And because she was gonna make it and I was sure
She'd find her way
And because she wrote me a note in my journal
About how much she loves me and how much I mean to her
Yes, the very same journal that has a map of the world on it
Which is funny since logically speaking she could be anywhere in the world right now

And I try to tell myself that she is just hiding at some friend's house
Which is so possible, but so is a lot of other things
That I'm trying not to think about because that certainly isn't helping
But is anything? Am I? No, I'm certainly not helping
Two girls, yes, two girls I am trying to hold onto and shine a light for
Two teenage girls that I know needed help
And one completely falls off the face of the earth without a goodbye
And the other runs away from home, also without a goodbye
And the truth is that anything could have happened to either one of them
And I am lying safely in my bed because that's what I do
And what I don't do is make sure that she wouldn't have gotten to the point of running away in the first place
Because I should have said more
I should have done more
I should have said more
I should have said more