Till Death Do Us Part~ Crygi

Chapter One

            

   "Crystal?" I kept calling to her but the name sounded empty to her as she kept crying. She was gazing into her phone screen, her eyes shined over as tears spilled. I walked up to her and looked into the phone. It was the picture that she and I took on our trip to vegas. We were holding hands and laughing, trying not to fall on each other. "Crys, please tell me what's going on." I bent down next to her and wrapped my arms around her. She shivered. "Why are you ignoring me?" She swiped to another photo of me. It was the picture of me she took when we were at the beach. I remember so clearly how we played in the sand like children. I replayed her laugh in my mind. I got up and stood in front of her. She gazed up at the clock behind me. My reflection was missing from her eyes. "Can't you see me?" I walked over toward the mirror hanging above the bathroom sink. I was missing from there too. Tears welled in my eyes. I felt my skin. It was a cold and empty feeling. Crystal followed into the bathroom, drying her face with a tissue. She was in all black. She never wore black. She always wore bright colors and patterns. Then I made the connection. She was going to a  funeral.
                          I followed her toward the door as she slipped her shoes on, then she walked out the door. I followed. She walked down our apartment steps. Toward the sidewalk. Into a car. I followed her further. We arrived at a funeral home and people were lingering around, inside and outside. Crystal stepped out and I followed once more as she walked towards the door and inside. My drag sisters were standing in the corner hugging each other. Crystal walked over. " Hey baby. Are you feeling any better today?" Jackie said, drying tears from her own eyes. Crystal shook her head. Jackie embraced her in a hug, followed by the rest of her sisters. With that, she was crying again. Crystal walked up to the casket. I followed and peered in. Pure shock sunk inside me as I witnessed myself  lying there. I was so sickly looking. I was dead. Crystal fell to her knees beside me, or what was me, as I fell with her. Even though she couldn't feel me, I wrapped my arms around her and laid my head on her shoulder. She took a sharp breath. Then I saw my mom. Her hands shook as she blew her nose. She looked so broken. She spotted Crystal on the floor and quickly went to embrace her. My mom was always caring for others before herself, and growing up it made things so much easier. She bent down to wipe away Crystal's flushed, wet face. They were talking just above a whisper, so I moved closer to them. "She loved you so much, Crystal. There is nothing you could have done to help her, please don't put that weight on yourself."  "I could have been there more, I could have answered that last call she made to me, I could have made her happier-" " No you couldn't have. She was fighting her own inner battles and no one could have fixed that but her. You did the best you could, Crystal. You were the reason she stuck around so long." At this point they were both sobbing a puddle. I wished I was there to tell them that it's going to be okay. To tell them that I still loved them.
" I loved her so much. I don't even know what I'm going to do with myself anymore." Crystal managed to say, pausing in between her words. " You are going to keep going, keep fighting. She would want you to and you know that." They hugged each other once more before taking their seats. A man stood up front and began speaking. " Gigi Goode, aged 28 of Los Angeles, California, passed away on June 3rd, 2026. Gigi Goode was born on December 7th, 1997. After dropping out of College, she pursued an interest in fashion and soon on became a drag queen for roughly 11 years. She was loved by her friends ( Which we will not name for the sake of missing people) and her family. She was also loved dearly by her partner, Crystal Elizabeth Methyd." Crystal drew a breath and held it. " Everywhere she went, the people who surrounded her felt her radiation of positivity and love. Unfortunately, Gigi Goode committed suicide on June 3rd. As heartbreaking as it is, she will be sincerely missed by everyone..." He read some prayers as I watched the audience. Crystal buried her face in her knees from her seat, her brown curls hiding her face. My drag sisters were crying too, people whom were once strangers to me, but I now considered my closest family. My dad was crying as well as he wiped away tears. He always tried to act tough for everyone. I felt helpless. There was nothing I could do. I was dead. As the man at the podium finished, people started to say their goodbyes. I took a balloon from the bunch beside my casket and walked it over to Crystal. It was yellow, one of my favorite colors. I assumed that was why they were there. She looked up at it with pure shock in her eyes. She whispered, "You're here." She took the balloon and held onto it tightly and started crying again. Eventually after sitting there for a few moments, she got up and said goodbye, avoiding the open casket. She walked out the door, and back into the car, clutching her balloon.