16. Funeral

Alice came out of the washroom wearing a black skirt and a pink top

"Is this dark enough?" She asked me,

"Maybe try not wearing pink" I suggested. She rolled her eyes, completely unaware of why she couldn't wear pink to a funeral.

I was in the one black button down shirt I had, and dark jeans. I couldn't wear the same thing I wore to my adoption ceremony; it felt too weird to damper a positive memory with a bad one.

Alice eventually settled on a black skirt, black knee high socks, and a dark red t-shirt. I almost laughed at her obvious discomfort of wearing something that wasn't pink.

We sat on the floor and played with our toys. But we got bored of that quickly, and we started playing tag around the hotel room. Esme and Carlisle woke up after about 30 seconds of our game.

Esme was much quieter than usual. She spent a long time in the bathroom, and when she got out she was in an unfamiliar black dress and had a lot of makeup on.

"Don't talk to any of the people today, okay?" Carlisle said, "We don't need to draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves today, and Esme's family will be acting different than usual"

"Even Uncle Eleazar and Aunty Carmen?" Alice asked, "We can't even talk to them?"

"Only if they talk to you first" Carlisle sighed, "I know it will really boring, but it's important for us to be supportive"

Alice and I nodded.

We drove in silence to Mr. and Mrs. Platt's house. Esme walked in front of us, seeming unaware that Alice and I couldn't walk as fast as her. Carlisle held our hands as we walked along the road.

"Should we ask mom if she's okay…?" My voice trailed off

"No," Carlisle insisted, "I talked to her this morning, and she wants some space"

"Is she mad at us?" Alice looked almost nervous as she asked.

"No, no" Carlisle pulled on one of her ponytails teasingly

People ignored us as we entered the room. I carefully stood behind Carlisle, attempting to be invisible to everyone. Esme was with her parents and Uncle Eleazar, all four of them looking sad and exhausted. Aunt Carmen saw me from the other side of the room and gave me a small smile.

I felt betrayed watching Esme talk to her parents. They hurt us, and now she was somehow forgiving them? Uncle Eleazar said Mr. Platt hurt her, and she was still somehow willing to forgive him. How could she do that to us and to herself?

We sat down on the chairs furthest away from anyone else. Alice playfully kicked me, but Carlisle stopped our game before it even began.

There were at least 300 people here. All of them wore dark clothing, and most of them looked sad. There were flowers and cards everywhere.

"Why didn't our other parents get funerals?" Alice asked suddenly,

Carlisle looked at her for a moment, "I have no clue, but it is weird, given how influential your parents were. I'm curious if they had funerals and we were unaware of them"

"Why wouldn't we be told? Should we have been their first thoughts? Their deaths changed us more than anyone else." I whispered

"I don't know kiddos, I'm sorry" Carlisle's voice was apologetic.

Esme walked over to us now that her parents were distracted. She patted me on the head and kissed Alice's cheek.

I wanted to ask her how she could be friendly with them, but I knew there was no answer that would make me happy.

"Hello," A quiet voice said

I spun around and saw Jasper standing behind me, "I'm Jasper Hale"

I rolled my eyes and turned around, but to my surprise everyone seemed to be listening to him.

"We know who you are" Alice answered, but her voice had too much kindness in it

"I know what we did was wrong… We wanted things to be like they were before" His voice trailed, the fake desperation in his voice flowing as if it were real.

"But it's not like it was," He continued, "I'm worried about Rose. She won't leave Anchorage. But we can't stay with our grandparents. They are so angry, and Rose keeps getting these bruises and I… I know she's lying. She couldn't have received a black eye from falling down the stairs…

"So I'm asking for help. I'm asking for you to let us live with you. I know that's a lot. But I can't watch my sister get hurt…" Fake sobs ripped through him.

He really should be an actor. His speech sounded sincere, despite the obvious lies.

Esme got up though and gave him a hug, tears streaming across her eyes.

"Of course you can live with us," Esme said.