Funeral

Chapter 2:

 

A week has passed and no one has heard from K.C. since. Marley lay on her bed and thoughts of K.C. ran through her mind. She remembered the last words he had told her. She also remembered the look in his eyes and she knew that he wanted to cry. His mother’s funeral was right around the corner but Marley didn’t want to wait that long to hear his voice and see if he was okay so she got up from her bed then pick up her phone and dialed his number. The phone rang and there was no answer. It then went straight to voicemail. Marley left a message and went back to bed.

Darren, Courtney and Marley sat next to each other in the cafeteria.

“You mean he didn’t pick your call?”Courtney asked concerned. Marley just told them about calling K.C. yesterday.

“That doesn’t surprise me” Darren said taking a bite of his sandwich and then swallowing. “I have called him dozens of times during the past week but he hasn’t picked any of my calls either”.

Courtney felt something hit her head. “Ouch who keeps doing that?” She turned around and saw Brianna, Cathleen, Jake and Trent all laughing at her. Brianna has been teasing her ever since Courtney told her that she wouldn’t let her use her and Marley to cheat her way into getting a grade A this term. Courtney rolled her eyes at them and turned back around to her lunch. “They’re so immature”.

“Courtney look!” Marley pointed at a dark haired boy standing in line getting his lunch. “It’s Eli!” Eli is a boy that Courtney had had a crush on for awhile now but don’t want to admit it. He also has a gothic appearance that most students at the school are scared of.

“Why do you like Eli? He means trouble and I think you should stay away for him” Darren advised her.

“First of all Darren I don’t like Eli ok, we’re just friends and secondly, those are just rumors. Eli is not really a bad person once you get to know him”.

A huge smile crossed Marley’s face. “Did you just hear yourself Courtney? You’re already defending him like he’s your boyfriend”.

“No I’m not!” Courtney defended herself “Besides I can’t picture myself being with Eli. We’re too different. We have nothing in common. It just wouldn’t work out”.

“Is that your excuse for not going out with him?” Marley asked. Courtney didn’t heard Marley’s question because at that same time Eli had passed by. While he was passing by with his lunch he gave her a charming smile and winked at her. Courtney couldn’t help but blush. Darren and Marley saw it. Eli then went and sits next to Brianna. Another reason Courtney wouldn’t go out with Eli was because Eli was Brianna’s twin brother and knowing Brianna she would make Courtney’s life miserable if she ever went out with him. ”Eli and Courtney sitting on a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Marley teased her and they both started laughing.

Darren smiled at how close Courtney and Marley were. He then focused his attention on a boy that was sitting all alone. He was the new kid and he hardly speaks to anyone. After Darren had finished his lunch he got up and walked up towards him. “Hi…can I sit here?” Darren asked him. The ginger haired boy looked up at him and looked around not knowing if Darren was talking to him or not.

“Are you talking to me?” the boy asked shyly pointing at himself.

“….there’s no one else here for me to be talking too”.

The boy felt embarrassed. “Sure you can sit” The boy spoke softly. Darren barely heard him. Darren sat next to him and introduced himself. The boy did so as well.

“Well Adam the reason I’m here is because I have noticed that you haven’t been talking to anyone or hanging around anyone since you have been here.” Darren gave him a concerned look.

“You’ve noticed…..” Adam stared down at his lunch. He didn’t want others to see him as the lonely guy.

Darren nodded. “Yes I have noticed…..is everything alright?”

“Yeah everything is fine…it’s just that I miss my old school and the friends I had there. I don’t have any friends here because no one really talks to me. They think I’m a dork”.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not true. Probably if you start talking to people others will start talking to you. You look like a cool guy and I would love to be friends with you.”

Adam looked up at him with a huge grin on his face. “Really?”

“Sure” Darren responded.

Adam was very happy. He knew Darren from what others have said about him and knew that if he starts hanging out with Darren people will start treating him like a normal guy instead of a dork.

“You’re in my Chemistry class right?”Darren asked him. Adam nodded. Darren was relieved. He didn’t have a lab partner since Courtney and Marley were already lab partners and K.C. hasn’t been around for him to ask him. “That’s great! We can be lab partners then.” Adam agreed. “Wanna come by my place after school? We could work on our lab project there.”

“Yeah…that will be awesome!” Adam answered.

“Great! Here’s my address” Darren had written down his address on his small notepad that kept the pocket of his jeans, ripped the page that he had written it on and handed it to Adam. “See you there”. Darren said and excused himself from the table and walked back to where he was sitting previously. Adam read the address silently to himself and memorized it. He couldn’t believe it. They were already becoming friends. He wrapped the paper up and slipped it into his jean’s pocket. A thought then ran across his mind that made him worry. He had a secret that he was keeping from everybody and he knew that if people found out they would start hating him. He then sworn to himself that he would do whatever it takes to keep his secret hidden from everybody especially Darren even if it means pretending to be someone that he was not.

Jordan sat in the back of the classroom while Ms. Johnson was teaching Math. She had kept her focus on Jake who hasn’t spoken to her since the day Brianna and she fought.

FLASHBACK:

At home Jordan sat on the couch watching TV. when she heard the doorbell rang and her father called and told her that Jake wanted to talk to her. She was so happy when she heard his name. She quickly got up and ran to the front door. “Hi Jake what’s up”.

“Can we talk alone for a minute?” Jordan could see the angry look on Jake’s face and that he was serious.

“Sure….” Jordan was worried. She closed the door behind her. “What’s wrong?”

“Brianna told me what you did to her…you called her a heartless b***h in front of the whole entire school and then you beat her up” Jake accused her. Brianna had told him about the fight. She didn’t want him to find out about the fight from Brianna knowing that she would make her seem like the villain in what happened.

“I didn’t call her a heartless b***h in front of the whole school…just loud enough so that the people in the hall could hear” Jordan defended herself.

“That doesn’t make it right Jordan. She also told me that she never wanted to start a fight with you and that you started it….she told me that she begged you to stop but you didn’t listened” Jordan heard the disappointment in his voice. She couldn’t believe it. Brianna had lied about what happened and now Jake was angry with her.

“That’s not true! I did start the fight only because Brianna pushed me and I was going to stop the fight but Brianna punched me in the face!”

“Right now as we speak Brianna is sitting at home with a black eye….where’s your black eye huh? I’m sorry Jordan but I just find it hard right now to believe anything that you have to say to me”.

Jordan was now hurt that Jake would believe Brianna’s story over hers. “You know I would never ever lie to you Jake” She whimpered.

Jake was now seeing red. “STOP IT JUST STOP IT JORDAN!” He shouted at her “I know all about the silly crush you have on me and I want you to stop it!”

Jordan was shocked. She never wanted him to find out about her crush on him. “How did you find out? Did Brianna tell you?”

He shook his head. “No Brianna didn’t tell me…I have known for a while now. I’ve seen the way you look at me Jordan, I have seen all the signs and believe me I was shocked when I found out that my best friend saw me that way. I didn’t tell you because I thought it was just a phase you were going through and that you would forget about me and find someone else to crush on but that never happened. It even reached to the point where I find it very annoying”.

Jordan knew something like this would happen and Jake would reject her.

“I’m sorry Jordan but I can’t see myself being with you. I’m just not attracted to you in any way and being with you would be like being with my sister and that freaks me out. Right now I’m still trying to forgive you for what you did to Brianna….until then I don’t think we can be friends again”.

Jordan could feel her heart breaking and tears started falling from her eyes. She was losing her best friend and there was nothing she can do to fix it. Jake said his goodbye and left her in front of her door while Jordan breaks down in tears.

NOW:

Jordan pulled out her phone and started texting Jake.

Jordan: Hey…wanna hang out after class?

Jake heard his phone buzz and was surprised to see that it was a text from Jordan. He was sure he ended their friendship so why was she still texting him he thought. He looked back and saw that she was smiling at him and he gave her a fake smile. He started texting her.

Jake: Sorry but I’m busy after class. Maybe another time okay.

Jordan smile faded when she read the text. She knew he was lying. “At least he said maybe another time” she thought. She wasn’t ready to give up on their friendship.

Beside him Jake watched as Trent was hiding something in his desk. “What you hiding man?” he whispered to him. Trent had a serious look on his face.

“If I show you promise me you won’t tell anyone” Trent said. Jake nodded in agreement. Trent sighed and reveal to Jake what he was hiding being careful not allowing anyone else in the room to see. Jake was shocked when he saw Trent pull out a bag of marijuana from his desk.

“What the hell is that doing in your desk?!” Jake hissed at him. Trent put it away.

“I was thinking about trying it. I got it from a friend of mine and he said that it makes you feel really good. Wanna smoke some after school?”

Jake was surprised that his friend would even suggest such a thing. “Are you serious man? Are you seriously thinking about doing something like that? Do you know what that can cause you?”

Trent rolled his eyes. “It’s not as bad as others make it seem. Everybody is doing it. We should too. Besides, it will make us seem cool”.

“We don’t need to smoke marijuana to look cool Trent” Jake hissed at him again.

Ms. Johnson noticed that they were having a conversation and interrupted them. “Do you boys want to share something with the class?” Trent and Jake shook their heads in unison. “Good…” She then continued teaching.

“Well are you in or out?” Trent asked.

“I’m out” Jake answered.

“Fine…more for me”

K.C. sat on his bed and listened to the voicemail message Marley sent him.

“Hi K.C., its Marley. I’m sorry about last week. We should have respected the time that you needed to mourn and I’m sorry for whatever I said to make you angry. We are all worried about you K.C. I can’t even imagine how you are feeling right now. I’m sure you’re feeling lonely” There was a long pause. “I...I wish I was there so that you won’t feel lonely no more.” K.C. knew that she was crying because he heard sniffing sounds. “Just remember that we all love you and we want you to feel better soon. See you soon. Bye.”

The voicemail ended and tears were quickly rolling down his face. He wished Marley was there with him so that he can tell her all of his hidden feelings. The next day was his mother’s funeral and he had to give a speech. He knew that he wasn’t prepared for that day and if he looked into his mother’s coffin he probably will burst out crying but he wanted to be strong on that day. He didn’t want to show any signs of weakness so that he can reassure his friends that he was okay and that he was over it.

He collapsed onto his bed. “Tomorrow is the day” he said to himself “When I finally say goodbye to my mom”.

It was the day of K.C.’s mom’s funeral. K.C. had just entered the building where the funeral took place and was astonished when he saw most of his classmates there. As he slowly walked down the aisle still in complete shock his classmates stood almost simultaneously and extended their sympathies to him. Even Brianna who had always called him names like ‘SpongeBob square pants’ and ‘Cyclops son’ also stood and gave him her condolences. He then saw Marley, Courtney and Darren all sitting together in the same row. They smiled at him and he tried to smile back but couldn’t. He then sat on the front row of the Church next to his grandmother who was crying even before the funeral started.

The funeral started and everybody became quiet. There were loud crying and someone screaming, “Why God, why Sandra?” during the funeral but the time had come for K.C. to give his speech. When he heard his name called to step up to the altar to give his speech his body froze. He wasn’t prepared for giving a speech even though he knew he had to. Every time he tried organizing a speech he couldn’t go through it because he kept remembering all the times he spent with his mother. The pastor called him again to give his speech and K.C. got up and walked up to the altar. He could feel eyes staring at him. At the altar he looked out at the crowd. He didn’t know what to do or what to say. He looked at Marley who gave him a reassuring smile. K.C. took a deep breath before starting his speech.

“Well hi, my name is K.C .I’m Sandra’s son and I am here to give you a speech….which you already know ha-ha” K.C. joked but the room remained silent. “Uh…well I guess I should start my speech now”. He swallowed hard before continuing his speech. “My mom was…the nicest person I have ever known. I remember the first time I rode a bike and I fell. She told me…she told me to get back up and try again…she told me I should do this because in life obstacles will come my way and try to bring me down but I have to always try to get back up so I did. I got back up and I rode my bike again and again I fell but I didn’t stop trying. Then I finally rode my bike without falling…I can remember the smile she had on that day. It made me feel so happy. I told myself that I will always try to make her happy in whatever I do. My father wasn’t really there for us. There were days when she wondered what we were going to eat or how she was going to pay the bills. I can remember the first time I saw her cry. She and my dad had just gotten a divorce and we were about to lose the house. I told her…I...I told her mom…please don’t cry” K.C. broke down in tears and others in the audience was also crying. He wiped away his tears using his sleeve and cleared his throat. “I could go on and on about how much I miss my mom but instead I’m going to be strong….for my friends, for my family, for my mom and for myself. I will always love my mom and she will always remain the most important person in my life. She would always remain in my heart and I will never forget the things she had done for me. I love you mom and I hope you’re in a better place now. Thank you for listening to my speech.”

K.C. walked down the altar and went back to his seat. He glanced at Marley who had tears in her eyes and gave her a quick smile. This was the first in a long time he smiled.

“I’m so proud of you sweetheart and I’m sure your mom is too” his grandmother whispered to him. K.C. thanked her. He was proud of himself. Even though his mother was gone he knew deep down that she would always be with him.

 

Writer’s note: I’m finally finished with this chapter! The last part was very hard to write because I haven’t lost anyone that was very close to me so while I was writing the K.C’s speech I kept thinking how I would feel if my mom died. Like the character I’m more close to my mom than my dad. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I hope you review it. I would love to know what you thought of it. My condolences goes out to all those who have lost a love one.