In August, Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez came home from her first day of fourth grade at Robb Elementary School and told her mom about a boy.
Months later, when the weather warmed, their families got together for weekend barbecues, where Annabell and Xavier would play tag.
Their mothers, Monica Gallegos and Felicha Martinez, soon discovered the children were texting each other "I love you" at bedtime.
By spring, Annabell had a picture of Xavier strung around her neck, a gift from Martinez.
On the morning of May 24, Annabell and Xavier posed for pictures at an awards ceremony in the school cafeteria.
The two children will be buried this week at Hillcrest Cemetery in Uvalde, Texas.
"He would make things for her, he would write notes for her," Reyes said from his hospital bed. »