SAN ANTONIO — Northside Independent School District staff braced themselves as students returned to class remembering two students killed just days apart.
NISD said they added school counselors to the two schools affected to help students like Caleb Garrett deal with the loss of his friends.
Garrett said the world lost two athletes loved by many, Clark High School cheerleader Alexa Montez,16, and Harlan High School football player Shomari Anderson, 17.
Garrett opened up about going back to school after a painful weekend spent mourning his friend’s death.
"My life has been dark, really dark," Garrett said. "I've been crying myself to sleep."
Last Thursday, Montez was found dead inside a home in the Anaqua Springs Ranch neighborhood.
Garrett said he struggled to accept that his friend Montez was killed.
"I saw her face on other people's faces,” Garrett recalled. “I just saw her everywhere. The whole school was crying.”
The same week, just two days later, on Saturday morning, he found out his friend of more than 5 years, Shomari Anderson, died in a car crash. He said they played football together.
"I miss him a lot," Garrett said.
He said the two athletes were known for their bright spirits, talents and kindness on and off the football field.
On Saturday, hundreds gathered at the Harlan High School football field to remember Montez and Anderson with a balloon release.
"It was just all love towards them, him [Shomari] and Alexa," Garrett said.
It’s a love for two teens that captured the hearts of more than a million people on Twitter.
Anderson's girlfriend penned the tweet to the “love of my life” and shared a video of bits and pieces of their bond. Montez's boyfriend bid goodbye to his “first true love” with a photo album.
"During lunch, we go in a theater and we pray for her and Sho, [Shomari] " Garrett said.