Michelle sighed and picked out a black dress from her closet. She didn't like wearing black, it wasn't her colour. But that didn't matter now, nothing mattered. She felt tears welling up in her eyes.

'Michelle? Are you alright?' a muffled voice sounded from the other side of her room's door.

'Yeah, fine', Michelle said. 'I'll be there in a sec'.

10 minutes later she was in the car next to Ryan. She had never seen him wearing a suit, and he looked a little uncomfortable in it. For the entire drive they didn't say a word to each other. When they arrived at the church in Jackson, they both got out of the car.

But Michelle couldn't move any further. 'I'm such a mess', she said, laughing nervously.

Ryan stood in front of her. 'Look at me, Michelle', he said. 'I know he meant the world to you. But… he's in a better place now. And I know it's still early, and I'm not saying you shouldn't be mourning, but he'd want you to move on at some point, you know that'.

Michelle looked at Ryan. 'You're right', she said softly. Ryan held her arm as they walked onwards.

After a while, everyone was seated in the church. Ryan and Michelle were sitting in the middle. Then, a woman stood up from the front row and walked forward. She was wearing a beautiful dark grey dress made of silk, and she had long, curling hair, black as the night. She turned around and faced the mass of people.

'Today', she begun with a strong, loud voice. 'We are here to remember a man, a friend, a husband, a mentor and a teacher', she continued slowly. 'Today, exactly one week ago, my husband William Henderson, was stabbed in an alleyway, after he saved a young girl from being raped by two older men'.

The silence in the church was almost unbearable. Michelle wanted to get out of here. She wanted to hide out, never to return to the real world.

'And even though…', the woman continued, struggling to hold back her tears. 'And even though the world may have been cruel that day, we have to be thankful for all the years that we got to spend with this wonderful person. For I am sure that he has inspired, motivated, comforted or helped every single person in this church today. Because that was all he wanted to do. Help others in every possible way he could'.

Michelle felt the tears streaming down her face. Ryan put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her a bit closer so she could rest her head against his shoulder. To her surprise she noticed Ryan was crying too.

'…And if there is anything that he would want from any of us after today', Mrs Henderson said, 'it is that we all move on. Thank you all so much for coming today, he would have been so humbled'.

Ryan and Michelle didn't stay long after the funeral was over. Even though it had been a week, Michelle still hoped that she would eventually wake up, that it would all turn out to have been a nightmare.

A week and one day ago, Ryan had suddenly walked into her room, saying that Felix and Ken had been in a car accident. Ken 'just' had some scratches and bruises, but Felix was in bad shape. He had broken ribs, a broken arm and a collapsed lung. But worst of all, he was in a coma.

The day afterwards, it got even worse. All history classes from Mr Henderson were cancelled, and everyone just presumed he was ill or something. But then the principal came into class and told them that Mr Henderson had been murdered. Stabbed by two cowards who tried to rape a young girl. He was found in an alley, severely bleeding. He died while he was in the ambulance. And the day after that, as if it couldn't get any worse, Ken disappeared. And no one had heard from him since then. There were 'missing'-posters all over Jackson, and the police were looking all over for him, but it was like Ken had left the face of the earth.

And Felix still hadn't woken up.

ONE MONTH LATER

Brad put down the newspaper. Somewhere he hoped that the police would have found something about Ken's whereabouts. About a month ago, Ken had arrived on his doorstep, begging if he could stay with him. Brad wasn't sure what to do, but after what Ken had been through he had to let him in. Ken asked him if he could keep it a secret that he was there, and Brad even agreed with that. He was starting to regret that now. Ken was depressed, all the time, and Brad had tried everything to cheer him up, but nothing seemed to work. Brad hated to see his friend like that, it had to stop.

Brad stood up and walked to the spare bedroom of the apartment.

'Ken, you awake?' he whispered into the room.

'Yeah', he heard Ken say, so he entered the room. It was the same as every day, the curtains were closed and Ken was lying on the bed, facing away from the door.

Brad sighed and sat down on the bed.

'Ken, seriously bro… This has to stop… I can't take this anymore', Brad said. To his surprise he suddenly felt a big lump in his throat. 'Everyone is worried about you, and I don't know if I can cover for you any longer. Your parents need you Ken, and Felix needs you!'

Ken cowered when Brad named Felix. 'Please don't…', he said with a raspy voice.

'Just talk to me, Ken, please! Talk!' Brad shouted, startling Ken but also himself.

'I'm sorry, Brad', Ken said softly. 'I'm sorry for being such a horrible friend, for putting you in this position. I'm fucking hopeless… It's all my fault that this happened. I shouldn't have listened to him…'.

'Stop saying that Ken', Brad said. 'It's NOT your fault. That truck driver wasn't paying attention and jumped the lights. You drove through an orange light, so it's not your fault'.

'Hmm…', Ken just said. 'But I can't go see him, not yet'.

'Why? Because his parents are with him? I'll go with you if you're scared. I know they weren't particularly… thrilled… when they found out about you and Felix', Brad offered.

Ken looked at him. 'Would you do that for me?'

'Of course bro!' Brad called out. 'Anything to get you out of the house again'.

'I don't know… Everyone will be so angry with me for leaving without saying anything. My parents… I don't know if…', Ken started, but Brad cut him off.

'Angry? They'll be fucking happier than ever if they see you again!' he said.

'You don't know that', Ken mumbled.

'Yes I do', Brad said. 'I've been making excuses every time someone asked me if I knew where you were. And that has happened a lot. Everyone is so worried about you Ken, no one is angry. They just want you back'.

'Fine', Ken said after a long silence. 'We'll go tomorrow'.

Brad stood up and smiled. 'Thanks, Ken', he said.