New chap of Mockingbirds! Yay! So, I finally figured out who dies, but you have to wait and see... Please review!
Chapter Four: One Last Kiss
Kirsten Cohen wore large glasses to cover up the enormous bags under her eyes. Concealer did nothing, except maybe make them more noticeable.
The day was January 17th, and it was bitter outside. Wind whipped around memories of a loved one. The sky was as white as a blank sheet of paper, reminiscent of a sorrowful second chance they did not want.
She stood in line, next to her husband, whom for the most part she was leaning on. Kirsten Cohen couldn't understand how her husband showed no emotion at all, no inclination of a wavering sadness in his heart.
Anyone and everyone who knew their son came to his funeral. A lot of people she didn't know. Most likely they came for free food at the end.
The church was large, she couldn't remember even setting the funeral up. Her husband obviously did it, because she wouldn't leave her other son's side for two days. He was comatose, and though she begged for him to wake up, a part of her wanted him to stay asleep and safe. That was the only way he could be safe. Once he woke up, he'd have to see the deterioration of the people around him and the destruction one day held.
Summer Roberts stood a few feet away from his parents, her lover's parents. You couldn't imagine the immensity of what he and his brother did to them.
She felt awkward, out of place, undeserving. No one felt okay with being here, no one had lost that many people in their lives.
The church ceiling was high, so that if you ever reached the top, you could touch the clouds.
Everything was reminiscent of four days ago, four years ago. It had been her second car trip since that night.
She continued to stare up at the ceiling, but something changed. It looked the same, yet it didn't. She was just staring at the ceiling.
It was like a hard embrace. She felt herself gasping silently and slowly for air, but none came. She felt herself detach from her body. And still, she stared at the ceiling.
Her body was going limp, but she couldn't feel anything. She couldn't breathe, or do anything. All of it was happening in a split second.
And just like that, the embrace let go, and she fell into herself as she let go to the ground.
Strong arms barely caught her, and she heard a scream, but none of it mattered. She was still falling away.
She had hoped to see her lover, but the colored hair wasn't right. At first, she thought it was his brother, but those thoughts were quickly dashed.
Luke Ward and Marissa Cooper were standing over her.
Then a glorious thought came to her: All of it was a dream. She was back to being a freshman, living in a fake world with no sadness. The three millenniums didn't exist. They never happened. She was never swept off her feet, she was still the snobby, lifeless, depressed girl she used to be. She was never saved. He never existed.
The funeral line ended as all watched Summer Roberts float back into a happier time, where she never left her bubble.
Sanford Cohen came to check on her and all came crashing back to the sense of unreality that had settled into their lives.
The last three years did exist, and she had been swept off her feet, and she was saved, and he did exist.
All of it happened.
Summer Roberts sat up and let tears cascade down her pale and broken face. She was at a funeral. She was letting go of someone close.
Her head fell on Marissa Cooper's shoulder and both let out their pain. They were sitting in a pew near the back, and when the ceremony would begin, they'd be asked to sit in the front pew. Everyone stared, they had read it all in the newspapers.
Their town was notorious for gossip and everyone knew a detailed description of the accident that occurred on Friday, January thirteenth. Everyone knew who was dead and in critical condition. Everyone in their town had given the living victims and the families their deepest, fakest, condolences.
Marissa Cooper, Kirsten Cohen, and Summer Roberts were the three people to watch. You knew they'd fall apart, and no one wanted to miss any of it. Their town was the kind of town that got amusement out of anything.
Summer Roberts' near fainting experience was just a foreshadowing of the crackups half the people came to see. You wanted to see people worse off than yourself, it made you feel better about your condition.
All the people who had left Newport came back for the funeral: Luke Ward, Zachary Stephens, Anna Stern, Alex Kelly, Lindsay Gardner. They all came to say goodbye.
Marissa Cooper tried to be the stronger of the two, but in a situation like this, no one was strong.
She and her best friend were directed to the front pew, where she sat next to Kirsten Cohen. This was never supposed to happen. No one was supposed to die.
The church was filled with fake people, no one knew him. No one knew the real hurt inside him. No one ever would.
Sirens echoed in her head, the sirens that tried to rescue them all, but it didn't work. One of them slipped away from their hands and into God's clutches.
"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here to say goodbye..." Marissa Cooper's throat began to close up, but she didn't move a muscle. No one did, they all remained glued to their seat. No one coughed, but a lot of people cried. They cried for the injustice of the loss, for the sheer magnitude of the death. The tears ran down faces silently. They tried to hide all the salt water, but everyone knew. It was no use hiding it. For the people that really knew him, this really hurt them.
Her attention began to drift away, a defense mechanism. If you didn't pay attention, it wasn't real. If it wasn't real, everything was okay.
Summer Roberts heard her name, and all the teary eyes were on her. Slowly she stood up. Marissa Cooper refused to speak. Everyone had.
Though as her best friend went up, Marissa Cooper knew she'd have to speak. It wasn't fair if she didn't.
Summer Roberts stood up at the podium, staring into the eyes that held hopelessness. A whisper croaked in her mouth, but her lips were sown shut. A thin invisible line was between her cherry cracked lips. The ice chapped her lips and she constantly licked over them to keep them moist.
Her lips began to tremble, and they gradually parted. This was the worst nightmare of them all. No one could imagine the fear that was overtaking her.
And in hopes to get away from them, she turned.
In deep mahogany, a boy, a man, laid in a box with white satin around him.
The tears pounded down her small and broken face. This was too much. She walked over to the coffin, against her own better judgment. Her frail fingers touched his face, went down his cheek, to his lips.
She kissed him one last time.
Turning around, Summer Roberts faced everyone, trying to describe how she felt, but there were no words to describe him except, "I loved him."
Her voice was very soft, and broken up at the same time. She looked into their eyes and ran out of the church. She ran down the aisle, passing the empty souls. She ran into the bitter frost that whipped her hair into a dream. She wanted to run into the dream where he was alive.
Sprinting across the ground in petite heels, she tripped on the morning dew, and fell into a field of dead flowers. They were all dead. Her friends, him, the flowers, their souls. The only who didn't feel pain was him.
What did you think? I hope you liked it, and now after typing it, I kinda gave out who died! Oh well, now you know. Or maybe you don't...
Anyways, please review, I love them!