Clare's breathing shook as she climbed down the steps of her house slowly. She wasn't sure if she would make it through the day. "Clare, sweetie? Are you ready to go?" Helen Edwards asked her daughter sympathetically. Clare nodded slowly. "I know this is hard, honey. Things like this always are. But I know you can make it through. We'll all be helping you." Clare sighed shakily and followed her mother out to the car. This was going to be a long day.

Clare entered the church with a heavy heart. She and her mother headed down the pews, sitting in a row close to the front. After a few moments, two people sat down next to them. Clare's father, Randall, and her sister, Darcy. They didn't speak, because they were unsure of what to say in this situation. She looked down at her lap, but her head jolted back up a moment later when someone began speaking at the front of the church, and swallowed harshly.

"We are gathered here to mourn the very shocking death of Alliah Bhandari. She was a very loving daughter, sister, and friend," the man at the front of the room began. Clare looked around the room at everyone. There were so many people from her school there. Even people that had never even talked to Alli as far as Clare was concerned. Riley, Zane, Fiona, Holly J, Anya, Chantay, Drew, Owen, Bianca, KC, Dave, Connor, Wesley, Jenna, Adam, Fitz. Even that new kid, Eli, that Clare had met in her English class, was there. And then there was her family. They all looked so heartbroken. Especially Sav. He was shaking, and he looked like he was about to fall apart.

Suddenly, Helen patted Clare on the arm. "Clare," she whispered. "It's your turn to go speak." Clare was so preoccupied in her head, she hadn't even been paying attention to the service. Clare stook up shakily, walking to the front of the room slowly.

"Alli was the best friend I could have ever asked for," Clare began, looking down at her shoes. "She did some crazy things, and we were very different people. I don't know why we even clicked as friends. But we did, and I'm so thankful for that. She's the one who helped to break me out of my shell a little bit. She even got me to stop wearing that awful private school uniform to school everyday." Clare smiled a little bit at that memory. "Most of you probably remember that. I was really awkward, I admit it. But Alli exuded confidence, and that's what I wanted to do, so she showed me how to feel better about myself.

"Of course, we fought sometimes. No friendship is perfect. But we always made up, because that's the kind of friends we were. We couldn't be apart for very long. Alli will always be in my heart...and I will always love and miss her being by my side," Clare choked on her last words and made her way to the back of the church, bursting through the doors with sobs wracking her body. There was no way she could make it through this. Flashbacks of the horrible day haunted her mind.

"Alli!" Clare screeched, running toward her friend and trying to grab her hand. But it was too late. She watched as her best friend plummeted toward the ground from the rooftop. Numbed by shock, Clare almost didn't think to call 911. But she pulled out her phone and dialed the number quickly. "My friend just fell off of the roof of Degrassi. Please...come help me," Clare managed to choke out before shutting her phone and dropping it. She sat down and wrapped her arms around her legs, sobs shaking her entire body. After a few minutes passed, she watched as an ambulance drove up to the school and took Alli's decrepit body away. Clare already knew that there was nothing that they could do for her friend. She was dead. Nobody could survive that fall.

The doors to the roof opened, and a police officer walked toward her. "Are you the one who made the call?" she asked softly. Clare nodded and stood up shakily. "Okay, listen Clare. I need you to tell me exactly what happened up here. I hate to ask that of you right now, but it's necessary. Did she fall on accident?"

"...yes," Clare managed. "We were talking up here because we had a free period, and I was by the doors about to leave. She was sitting on the ledge of the roof, and as she was getting up...she fell," Clare explained.

"And you're sure that's what happened?" the police officer asked. Clare nodded in reply. "Okay, Clare. Right now, I'm going to take you down to the office where I will call your parents and tell them to come and take you home. You shouldn't be at the school right now." The police officer had been true to her word, and Clare had gone home, refusing to talk to either of her parents. She sat in her room doing absolutely nothing.

Clare sat down against the wall of the church, crying into her hands. Why did it have to be like this? Nothing was ever going to be the same again. And to think she had to go back to school the next day...

Just then, the church doors opened and Darcy appeared. "Hey Clare," she said quietly, holding her hand out for Clare to take. Clare grabbed Darcy's hand and stood up slowly, wiping her eyes with her other hand and trying to compose herself. "I'm going to take Dad's car and bring you home. I don't think you can handle being back in the church right now," she explained, leading Clare to the car. They rode home in silence, and as they entered the house, Clare spoke up.

"Hey Darce, I'm going to go up to my room. I'd like to be alone right now," she said, her voice hoarse from all of the crying. Darcy nodded.

"Okay, but I'll be right down here if you need me." Clare headed upstairs and into her room, lying down on her bed. All she wanted to do right now was sleep away all of her sorrows.

Author's Note:

Hey, guys. This is the first story idea I've had in a while that I actually want to go somewhere with. I used to write under a different name, but I decided to completely change my pen name because I was sick of it. None of that writing was any good, anyway, so I just decided to completely make a new account and start fresh.

There will be some twists in this story that will probably turn out to be quite unexpected. And yes, there will be Eclare. I'm not sure when. I'm not expecting this story to be very long, but I don't know how long it will take to bring that into the story.

ALSO, weirdly enough, I came up with the title In the Mourning on my own. I didn't even know that it was a Paramore song when I first chose that title. Pretty strange, huh?

Anyway, I'd love it if you guys could review and give me some feedback :) I LOVE critique. I don't mind brutal honesty(but please don't be too harsh!), so bring it on.

I kind of feel like this beginning chapter sucked, so don't kill me! It will(I hope) get better.