"Aren't you scared?" Isaiah took another step towards me.
"Of you? No."
"You should be. I could snap your pretty little neck anytime, darling."
"Get in line, darling." I threw his stupid nickname back in his face. He was trying hard to intimidate me...
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The temperature today was a sunny seventy-two and not a gray cloud in the sky.
It was also the day that Jenny's parents died a year ago. Jenny's mom died of a blood disorder before sunrise and then her dad killed himself right after sunset. She's been living with her grandma ever since.
Jenny cried everyday for a month. Dexter and I tried to help her through it but she shut us out the whole winter. She only confided in Caius that year, until the summer when she started regaining her old self.
I hadn't seen her cry since the first day of school last September. We tried not to mention it and the vampires were a good distraction.
Jenny, her grandma, some relatives, and neighbors all walked together to the tombstone. Dexter and I were flanking both sides of her, and were the only friends she trusted to invite.
Dexter laid the bouquet we bought infront of the tombstone with the others. Some of her relatives even printed pictures and wrote letters to them.
Nobody spoke until Jenny's grandma took the lead.
"It's been a year since my daughter passed away but it seems like it's been forever. Not a day goes by that I don't miss your face or laugh. God was cruel to take you away so suddenly, but you gave it your best shot. You're a fighter. You'll always be a fighter."
She didn't speak about her son-in-law. He seemed to be a touchy subject.
Jenny's aunts and uncles went next, all ignoring her dad as well. It was all pretty sad and I tried not to cry. I thought about kittens instead.
Everyone around the inner circle said a few words, which only left Jenny. Her voice was frail.
"I miss Mom more than anything. She was my best friend. I could tell her anything, good or bad, and she'd just listen. She's still a good listener now, sometimes I come here after school or whenever I need advice and she listens. Like how she always used to. . ."
Her shaky voice tapered off and I assumed she was done.
But she kept going.
"After Mom died, I knew only two people could know what I was feeling in that moment. Dad was one of those people, and I thought we'd go through it together. But he was selfish and weak and he killed himself to be with her." There was a quiet, dark anger in her tone. "I was so angry for the longest time. Leaving me, abandoning me, like he forgot that we were supposed to have each other and lean on each other. I blamed him for everything after it happened and burned every memory of him. I hated him. I hated him so much."
Everyone was silent. Even the birds stopped singing in the trees above.
She cleared her throat and wiped at her eyes. Dexter put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm still angry at him. I can't even look at a picture of him without wanting to shred it. But even though I'm still angry at him, I forgive him. I forgive him for the pain he caused and will always cause." She looked at the tombstone. "Dad, I forgive you. Just know that."
