For many teens in the Tri-Cities, the story of Amanda Todd and news of her death has been inescapable.

Throughout the weekend, emotions among kids who knew her, or of her, were running high throughout the community.

It was also the only topic of conversation for a group of teens huddled from the rain inside the PoCoMo Reach Out bus Saturday night near Hyde Creek Recreation Centre.

Less than three days after Amanda committed suicide following years of bullying online and in the schools, the thoughts and emotions from the teens on the bus were still raw and honest.

Dylan Ash didn't know Amanda personally, but said her story has affected almost everyone in some way.

What angers the 16-year-old Terry Fox Secondary student is that it took Amanda's suicide to bring attention to the issues of bullying and suicide, noting hers was the fourth in the Tri-Cities in the last two years.

"Someone just has to stop this cycle," Dylan said, noting one of his own friends took his life recently over a different set of circumstances.

But the teen doesn't have much faith anything will change, suggesting in a month, people will forget about Amanda, like they did about the others.

Dylan also takes issue with the way some of Amanda's classmates have eulogized the teen since her death, calling them hypocrites.

"What's really making me angry is that all the people who bullied her are like, 'She's such a good person,'" he said.

Dylan was not the only one on the bus trying to make sense of Amanda's story.

"You just start thinking about everything, and start thanking how you're living here," said Michelle Hill, another Terry Fox student.

The 15-year-old has had her own experience with bullies - even contemplating suicide.

But the thought of leaving her parents and family behind changed her mind.

Michelle said she's not sure how to put an end to bullying, but simply questioned why people can't be nice to each other.

Reece Fraser, 14, was so disturbed when he saw Facebook posts the day after Amanda's death denigrating the teen, he decided to alert the RCMP.

Despite whatever mistakes the teen had made or inner demons she was fighting, he said no one deserves the treatment Amanda received.

"What a story. I've never heard of anything like this in my life," Reece said.

The teens also have their own insight into bullying and suicide and just how difficult it is to come up with any solutions.

Dylan argued the problems are impossible to eliminate, but did offer one possible solution.

Rather than encouraging the bullies, which is often the case with students who stand around and watch, he suggested those kids need to walk away and stop giving the perpetrators the attention they crave.

Though myriad bullying and suicide services and help lines exist for teens, these kids say they're unlikely to use them.

They're also reluctant to go to their teachers for help.

Michelle said, for example, if someone is a cutter and they tell their teacher, they would get reported to child services and probably be in trouble with their parents.

She said she used a kids help line once and waited 10 minutes to speak to someone.

"The main people that can help are your friends, but it really sucks if you don't have any," Dylan said.

Reece suggested people need to talk more and somehow get the help they need, adding the people who are posting nasty stuff about Amanda need to get help themselves.

As for those who tormented Amanda, the teens aren't waiting for justice in the traditional form. Instead, they expect the natural law of social media to take care of the bullies.

As tragic as Amanda's death was to the group of Tri-Cities youth, there may already be some good to come from the situation. Dylan said Amanda's video has prompted a couple of friends to come forward and talk about their bullying situation.

"She [Amanda] was looking to tell her story, to get people to know about it - that it happens to a lot of people," he said.

"She just wanted someone to know."

jdeutsch@thenownews.com