The girl used to wear the boy's photo around her neck.
Two victims of the Uvalde Mass shooting, Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez and Xavier James Lopez, will be buried next to each other.
Annabell informed her mother, Monica Gallegos, about a boy after returning home from her first day of fourth grade at Robb Elementary School. Her mother recalls her saying the Xavier smelled and dressed "really nice," and the two began swapping notes in class within weeks. When the weather warmed up months later, their families gathered for weekend barbecues where Annabell and Xavier played tag.
HEARTBREAKING 💔 Xavier Lopez and Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez were schoolmates and sweethearts who both lost their lives in the Uvalde School Shooting. Their parents have decided to bury them next to one another. https://t.co/oxN6oBxZvu pic.twitter.com/I8LGllAEkd
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) June 9, 2022
Gallegos and Felicha Martinez, the children's moms, quickly learned the youngsters were texting each other "I love you" at bedtime. She told ABC News, "Me and Felicha would laugh, like, 'How do y'all know about love?' " Annabell had a photograph of Xavier strung around her neck by spring, a present from Martinez. She wore it to all of his minor league games. She kept it secure in her backpack at other times.
However, Annabell and Xavier's lives were cut short on May 24, when a shooter broke into their classroom and shot them both, killing 19 students and two teachers. Both of the 10-year-olds died in the same classroom as teacher Arnulfo Reyes. Annabell and Xavier posed for photos at an awards ceremony in the school cafeteria on May 24. For the first time, he had made the honor roll.
Uvalde victims Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez and Xavier James Lopez were sweethearts who passed notes in class, texted each other before bed and made the honor roll together on the day they died. They've been buried side by side. https://t.co/ekL0IkvcGW # via @HuffPost
— Ina Fried (@inafried) June 9, 2022
Reyes told PEOPLE, "The kids started asking out loud, 'Mr. Reyes what is going on?' " He added, "And I said, 'I don't know what's going on. But let's go ahead and get under the table and act like you're asleep.' As they were doing that … is about the time when I turned around and saw him standing there."
The two youngsters will be laid to rest at Hillcrest Cemetery in Uvalde, Texas, this week. Martinez and Gallegos made the choice to bury their 10-year-olds together. Gallegos said over the weekend, as she prepared for her daughter's burial, "I'm not ready."
Uvalde victims Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez and Xavier James Lopez were sweethearts who passed notes in class, texted each other before bed and made the honor roll together on the day they died. They've been buried side by side. https://t.co/Ng4aJ6KGa2 via @HuffPost
— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) June 9, 2022
Annabell and Xavier first met when they were toddlers. Her grandpa and great-grandmother had lived in the same trailer park in Uvalde as Xavier and when Annabell visited, the two regularly played outside together. Their mothers recalled this years later when the youngsters met again at Robb Elementary.
Those who knew Annabell and Xavier hope to recall the happy times as they bid them farewell. Reyes told PEOPLE, "He would make things for her, he would write notes for her. It brings a smile to your face just to think they really loved each other."
Cover Image Source: GoFundMe & Facebook/Miss Representation
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