A group of friends tries to piece itself back together after losing its glue.
*****
It's a quiet October morning in Palo Alto, California, when the news break out--June Beaumont was...
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LEON
I had already been bumped against at least seven times in the span of fifteen minutes. It wasn't rigorous counting, or anything even remotely similar to that, but I desperately needed to focus on something as trivial as that to prevent myself from snapping at anyone in the church.
That was easier said than done, but it wasn't, by far, the hardest thing I had to face that morning.
I was purposefully avoiding looking at the casket people gravitated towards, which was probably the main reason I kept being shoved aside, but I didn't know what would happen by the time I got there. People carried flowers, both for the burial and to decorate the church, and I had no idea how there was any space left around the casket with all the bouquets and the flower garlands.
Then, there was the framed picture of June staring back at me. Her eyes, so blue they were almost blinding, seemed to follow me everywhere I went, even though she was frozen in time and my life was supposed to move on without her. She was laughing when the picture had been taken, with an orange light to her right casting golden highlights upon her face—Sofia's photography trademark, to mimic light leaks.
Out of all the pictures they could have chosen for a funeral, they just had to go ahead and choose one that would steal all the attention from the actual reason we were all in the church and force people to compliment someone else.
The bell had just chimed and everyone who was outside was returning to their seats. I saw Sofia with Grace and Meridian, with Grace limping a bit as she walked next to them, but no one tried to help her. The whole situation annoyed me, a quasi-perfect replica of the dynamics we maintained in high school, but I wasn't going to be the one starting drama in the middle of my girlfriend's funeral.
Christina was quick to join them, immediately sliding an arm around Grace's waist to steady her movements, and I could finally breathe with relief now that I knew I wouldn't be forced to intervene. She then gave Meridian a one-arm hug, a gesture he reciprocated in the same way, as one of his hands held Sofia's. Sofia's hug came quickly after, and I walked away from them.
Felix was busy playing the politician, almost like the host of a house party. He spoke to everyone he saw, pointed them to the food and refreshers table, pointed them to their seats, explained we didn't know the cause of death, and all that fun stuff one would use as an ice breaker at a funeral.
A small hand squeezed mine and I jumped in my place, startled. When I looked down, Courtney stood one step behind me.
"I'm sorry," she said, because that was the logical Courtney-like thing to do. When in doubt, she apologized, even for things that weren't even her fault. "I didn't mean to scare you."
