Once upon a time in a town not so far away there was a girl. A girl so pretty, so smart, so kind, so strong that everyone wanted to be like her. She had the most beautiful soul. She believed in the best of people. Her name was Maya. Some people connected her name with the month may as then everything is innocent and bright. They said it was perfect for such a nice person. Maya had an organization fighting with young people using drugs. She was 20 years old when it started so it was very impressive. Maya wanted to leave this world knowing she made a difference.

She wasn’t born like this. There was a time when darkness owned her soul. This darkness wasn’t hate or anger, it was sadness. When a tragedy strikes this is unavoidable. And when it is unexpected it’s even worse. During this period she didn’t talk, she didn’t want to eat, to sleep. The girls just stared at an empty wall and it was like she was waiting for a miracle to happen. Time past but, there was no miracle. Nobody came down from the sky with a magic wand and a spell for prosperity, no. It was just her and the wall.

Now if you are wondering what could be so dramatic that could take the light out of the brightest person, I will tell you. Maya was about 18 when she and her family decided to move. When that happened she was pretty devastated.  They weren’t moving to another town but to another apartment. She was sad because she had to say goodbye to all her childhood memories. Of course she was a tough girl she got over it very quickly and started looking at it from a more positive side. She just changed the prospective.

When they moved she thought it was appropriate to introduce herself to the neighbors. She knocked on one of the doors and there it was… trouble.

 - Hi! I am Maya, we just moved in this building. – She said gently.

- Hi, nice to meet you Maya. I am Dereck. – Replied her new downstairs neighbor.

He was the trouble. Neither of them knew it at that moment but they were going to realize it soon enough. 

And so a week passed, a month, everything was normal. Maya kept going to school, and back, doing the same routine every day. One time they met randomly next to the mailboxes. She smiled, he fell in love. Well maybe not in love but he definitely felt something. He went towards her and smiled back.

-Hey, I haven’t seen you around lately. How have you been? – He asked with such charm no one could resist.

-Yes I have been good, you know school is tough. – She replied.

They continued talking. The conversation wasn’t serious or very deep but something special happened while they were killing time with this casual change of lines. They both fell in love. I guess for him it wasn’t hard. She was gorgeous in every aspect. I mean this girl was simply perfect so it was a bit of a miracle that just now someone was falling in love with her. 

One day he asked her out on a date. They had a great time. He drove her to the beach then lit a bunch of candles to make it more romantic. Simply put it was a wonderful night. After that they became inseparable. The fact they were neighbors helped a lot. Maya and Dereck were very different but somehow they made it work. He was a bad boy and she was like an angel from the sky. Everyone said they shouldn’t be together. And maybe people were right. They were like fire and rain. At first those differences were easy to forgive but time past and everything changed.

The climax came when Maya saw him doing drugs. She couldn’t believe the boy she loves was throwing his life away like this. She didn’t want to leave him especially in such moment when he needed help the most but with his actions he left her no choice. He didn’t call her for days and when he did he was either drunk or on drugs. He started yelling at her for nothing. It was obvious that this love story was coming to an end. May did everything she could. She tried talking to him then she organized an intervention she spoke to specialists. All she wanted was for him to be well again. He on the other hand just took every one of her tries as an attack towards him and his character. The “This is who I am!” became known as Dereck’s cue. It was torture for her. Every time they were together he was rude and aggressive. Once he even hit her. They both claimed it was an accident but everyone doubts that. She had to put an end to this. But these days she couldn’t even get a hold of him so they could split up.

One day, out of nowhere, he went to her apartment sober with bunch of red roses. It was very romantic. Dereck told he is sorry for everything that happened. He promised he would never drink or use narcotics. He swore he loves her and that for her he would do anything. She loved him too much to push him away. So she just gave him one more chance. They sat all night talking about the future and imagining their home with the children and the butler. It was perfect. For the first time in months Maya believed everything will be okay! In that moment it didn’t matter how different they were or how much problems they had, what really mattered was the love they shared.

It was a Saturday so they could spend the next day together but Dereck said he had to do something and left. Our romantic and kind Maya thought he had another surprise for her so she led him go. But no, there was no surprise. He just could take 24 hours without a substance of some sort in his blood. So he went to get some. One they way back he had a horrible accident. He was driving fast so didn’t see the red light and went straight ahead when a taxi hit him.

There was a chance he made it but the drugs finished him. There was nothing that could have been done. He was just gone.

The phone rang; Maya picked it up with such enthusiasm thinking it’s him. When she heard the news she stopped breathing for a second. She stood still simply because she couldn’t move. Her body was numb. A tear couldn’t even get out.

For a while she just stared at a wall hoping that he will call her or will knock on the door with some red roses and an apology for leaving her alone like this for so long. She didn’t want to move because she knew that if she did that would mean it is true and he really is gone. 

A year later she went back to school and found some new friends. She had some college prospective and great academic achievements. She lived her life on its maximum and became even better person which was almost impossible in her case since she was already amazing. He never left her heart, she felt like now two lives had to be lived, one for him and one for her. This is what gave her strength to start living again she just knew that now she had to work twice as hard so she might as well start. This was without a doubt the most inspiring action I have ever seen. She didn’t want to but she had to move on and she did it for nobody else but him.

Nowadays she is a respectable woman with a husband and two children a boy and a girl named Dereck and Alice. Her organization is now worldwide. It has helped more than 4 million addicts under the age of 19. Thanks to this person the world is a better place. She keeps bringing light where there is only darkness.