After part 2 is over I'm going to have a part 3 that gives the backgrounds of them, like what happened to family, etc. Now here's Curly =) *I decided not to distrupt the order*. This is one week after the previous chapter.
I can't believe their gone. After seeing and talking to them almost every day and for them to be gone-like the blink of an eye- it's just so hard to wrap my head around. I'm not the only one hurting of course. Rhonda and Helga…both of them have been complete wrecks. And why shouldn't they be? Rhonda lost Harold the moment that semi hit them. She'd been with him since Junior year and now he's just gone. I've been trying to be there for her and comfort her, but this is something that takes time to heal.
Helga, I don't even know where to begin with her. Everything had been starting to look up and now she's been thrown for a loop again. The worst part is that Brainy lived for a whole day-unconscious but alive- before his body shut down completely and he crashed. There are many people here today, most of them I don't recognize, but all our school friends are here, the P.S. 118 group, besides Arnold and Phoebe and Lila.
Helga is sitting beside Gerald one seat space away from us, silent tears running down her face. They've both been a comfort for each other, and I'm glad Helga has someone, considering in reality she has no one left. No one ever loved her as much as Brainy had, and now for the man that had always been there for her no matter what to be gone? I can't even imagine the pain she's feeling right now.
I'm drawn from my thoughts my Rhonda's hand lying on top of my own. I turn my head to look over at her; she's staring straight ahead at the picture of Harold beside his coffin. I give her hand a gentle squeeze. For a man of many words, I'm at a loss for them today. "I'm glad you're still here." Her voice is barely audible. "I don't know what I'd do if you were gone too." She finally turns and looks at me, tears in her eyes.
She's been crying all day, all week, she finally dried out about ten or so minutes ago but it looks like they're ready to start all over again. Seeing Rhonda in pain kills me inside. "I'll always be here for you Rhonda." I say softly, a promise I fully intend to keep. We both look back up as the service begins- a dual funeral service. Rhonda and Helga have spent most of the week together, comforting each other and making the funeral arrangements. Helga insisted that Harold's service be first because he was the first one to go.
After a few minutes, Rhonda is invited up to say a few words. I give her hand another squeeze as she stands and slowly makes her way up the podium. Even though she can only manage a few short sentences before she breaks down in tears again you can hear the love in her voice, the love she felt for him and the pain she feels now that he's gone.
I help her back to her seat and then I go up. I talk about how he used to be in school, the good memories, and the funny ones. I talk about how he was now, how much he'd changed but was somehow still the same. It's not until I'm sitting back in my seat that the tears start to fall. I haven't cried for either of them yet, trying to stay strong for Rhonda.
Considering I wasn't as close to Harold as I was to Brainy, I have a feeling I'm not even going to be able to make it all the way through when I talk to him. Today is a sad day; it feels like the world just decided to give us a turn, that we can't start being happy yet.