Disclaimer: I don't own Lizzie McGuire, people, places, etc…don't sue me.
Thank you to everyone, or the only one, who reviewed!
TheRealXenocide: I actually never heard of Orson Scott Card, but I may have to check him out. What does he write?
I don't know if Ethan has any siblings, but in this story, he has an older brother. Got it? Good.
This story has gotten harder and harder to write, mainly because I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen and I'm not sure how to get all the emotions the characters are feeling across. So updates may take a bit longer than at the beginning. I'm not good at writing emotions, which are kind of essential to this part in the story, so please let me know what you think.
Lizzie awoke the next morning with a knot in her stomach. She was looking to Ethan's funeral with a sense of dread. This morning, she wanted nothing more than to crawl back under her blankets, ignore the events of the past week and pretend everything in life was wonderful.
Lizzie took a shower and dressed in silence, not even turning on her radio. It just didn't feel right this morning. She dressed in a long black skirt and a white top, put up her hair and slowly made her way downstairs.
"Mornin', sweetie." Lizzie's mom gave her a hug as she entered the kitchen. "You want some breakfast?"
"No thanks, Mom." Lizzie answered quietly, sitting next to Matt who was dressed nicely, even wearing a tie, eating a bowl of cereal. "I'm not really hungry this morning." Lizzie's mom nodded in understanding and left the kitchen, telling Lizzie and Matt they'd be leaving in fifteen minutes for the funeral.
As the McGuires drove to the funeral, Lizzie gazed out the window in disbelief. It was a beautiful day out; the sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and people all over were getting ready for the winter holidays. Staring at a family putting lights up on their house, Lizzie felt herself get more and more mad each second she looked at them. She turned her head and blinked tears out of her eyes. It just didn't seem fair. Here it was almost Christmas, the season of peace and joy and all that and Ethan wasn't here for it. He was missing all of the great things the season brought and leaving his family and friends in grief and sadness. If it weren't for this horrible event, this break from school would have been perfect; being able to spend the holidays with her family and best friends. Why did he have to ruin this?
Lizzie shocked herself out of thought. Did she just blame Ethan for all this? She couldn't have. It's not like he wanted to die. It was just the timing… Guilt began to overwhelm Lizzie and she was relieved to see Gordo and Miranda waiting for her as they pulled into the parking lot of the cemetery.
Still holding back tears, Lizzie tried to smile at her friends. They both put an arm around her and the three of them walked to where the crowd was gathering. Lizzie looked around at the crowd and saw many familiar faces. She saw Ethan's mother leaning against Ethan's older brother, as if she couldn't stand on her own. Not far from them stood Ethan's father, looking stone faced with his arm around Ethan's stepmother, who had tears running down her face. Lizzie caught a glimpse of her own family standing by the Gordons and the Sanchezes, including Miranda's little sister, who looked like she didn't understand what was going on. And just as Gordo predicted, she saw many of her old classmates. Larry Tudgeman and Parker McKenzie conversed quietly as the crowd assembled and she spotted Claire Miller and Kate Sanders standing on opposite sides of the gathering, obviously looking everywhere but at each other. And in front of her, in the middle of the huge group, laid Ethan's coffin.
R/R!!!