Wow, it's been a really long time since I have updated! Sorry if the story doesn't flow as well as it had before since I don't remember exactly what I had planned. Enjoy anyway!

A few minutes after the girls left, Sophie picked up the paper and turned to the obituaries. She searched for her sister's name and when she found it, she held her breath as she read it. After the first few lines her eyes filled with tears. She rubbed the speckled black and white photo gently with her fingers as the tears fell. She felt the emptiness of the loss expand in her heart and she couldn't look at the picture anymore. She lay down in her bed and clutched the spare pillow to her body. She buried her face in it and cried. She must have fallen asleep because later the girls were shaking her awake, afraid she had suffocated herself. Sophie sat up and wiped her eyes and smoothed her hair. She knew she looked like a mess but she was at the point where she didn't care anymore. She couldn't meet anyone's eyes, knowing the tears would start again.

"Do you want us to go get a pizza or something?" Jet offered.

"I can't let you go anywhere alone. Is it time for dinner already?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, let me get cleaned up a bit and we'll go order a pizza and bring it back." She locked herself in the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. When she caught a glance of her grief stricken face in the mirror, she wanted to cry again. She looked away and wiped her face dry, patting herself to get rid of the redness in her face and in her eyes. She straightened her clothes and her hair, and was as ready as she could be.

The group made their way down the street and went in the first pizza place they saw. They ordered and sat on the wooden waiting benches silently, once again avoiding conversation. When the pizzas were ready they walked back and the girls went into their own room while Sophie sat in hers alone. The girls turned the TV on and only half watched some movie on HBO. There wasn't much more to talk about since they had a long conversation in the pool.

Shelby got up to use the bathroom, which was on Sophie's side of the room, but paused at the door and listened. She motioned for them to turn the volume down some. She returned and sat on the bed next to Jules.

"She's crying again."

"I wish there was something we could do," Juliette said softly.

"Me too." Jet agreed.

"There isn't, which sucks. We could tell her we know how it feels, but that doesn't ever make it any better. It must be so hard for her to be going through this alone. I mean, I'm sure she's grateful to have us with her, but come on, three sixteen year olds probably aren't her idea of comfort," Shelby said.

"Messed up sixteen year olds, at that," Jet added.

"I just hope everything goes okay tomorrow."

They shook their heads in agreement, not knowing what the next day would bring. With nothing else to do, they settled in bed and watched a movie on TV.

"Time to get up!" Sophie said the next morning, way cheerier than she should be.

The girls sat up groggily, wiping the sleep out of their eyes.

"You have thirty minutes to get ready before breakfast. Go."

The girls leapt out of bed, racing for the bathroom, and Shelby made it first. Forty-five minutes later, they were downstairs eating a late breakfast. Sophie's cheerfulness was starting to wane a little and was replaced by the jitters. Finally, Shelby had enough and put her hand on Sophie's knee to stop the bouncing.

"Enough. Calm down. Deep breaths," Shelby commanded. Sophie gave her a sad smile and stopped.

They left around twelve thirty for the church. Sophie wanted to squeeze in at the last possible moment so she could avoid her mother and so her mother wouldn't know she had come. When they arrived at the church, there were still people milling about outside the doors. Sophie spotted her mother, dressed in black with a gaudy black veil over her face, talking animatedly to a group of men by the door. After a few minutes, she looked in the doors, nodded, then began to motion the stragglers into the church, and went inside on the arm of one of the men she had been talking to.

Sophie stared intently at the door and jumped when Jet put her hand on her arm. She took a deep breath and nodded, then got out of the car. The girls walked in a huddle behind her and it was apparent it was getting harder and harder for Sophie to keep going as she neared the church. With much effort, she climbed the steps to the church, returning a soft smile to the man holding the door open for them. They were the last people to go in. The man opened the sanctuary doors and they slipped into the very back pew: Shelby, Sophie, Jet, and Juliette. The service began with a prayer and then the minister said a few words about Jordana. Then her mother spoke – emotionless, then her big sis Andrea spoke and shared a couple of stories of their days in college. It made some people chuckle even though Andrea was having a difficult time speaking. Then her little sis, Susannah, sang "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," Jori's favorite song from her favorite musical. During Andrea's and Susannah's tributes silent tears fell down Sophie's cheeks. There were many sniffles throughout the church when Susannah was done, followed by a brief period of silence before the minister launched into a sermon about life and death. It was getting harder and harder for Sophie to keep control.

When he was finished, he said, "And now we will play a song that was very dear to her heart, 'I Can Only Imagine' by the Christian group 'Mercy Me.'"

At this, Sophie choked back a sob. "That was our song!" she whispered. Their special song, and it was being played at the funeral. Her mom had listened to her sister after all. The second the music started, Sophie couldn't control herself anymore. She bent over with her face in her hands, Shelby and Jet resting a comforting hand on her shoulders.

When the song finished the family stood and followed the pallbearers and the coffin up the aisle and out of the sanctuary. Sophie's mother glanced at the odd group huddled together in the last pew, and her eyes narrowed. Shelby caught her cold stare and could see the anger and hatred welling up inside. Shelby shot back the coldest glare she could muster and then turned her attention back to Sophie. The mother left the sanctuary.