Plain Sight

chapter thirty-nine

Juliette

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Light rain taps the windows, and that's the only thing I focus on. Whatever Mia and Milo are talking about, I can't hear them. Only the tiny raindrops against the car windows.

I hated cemeteries.

For as long as I can remember, ever since I was a little girl, I've always hated them. The idea that you could know somebody all your life, then you just have to bury them underground, to never see them again. Or to never know the comfort of their voices again.

You can live above ground for 80 years, only to be put underground for a billion.

That's how little time we have on this earth.

I can do this; I thought. And then; even if I can't, I have to.

The three of us step out of the car, in this soul draining cemetery. I see a group of people standing together, under a tent, some were standing, and some were sitting in white chairs.

And a casket in front of them all, Gustav is in there.

This is a lot harder than I could've imagined.

Actually being here, in this cemetery, at his funeral, it hurts way more than I thought it would have.

Mia smiles slightly at me, trying to comfort me.

"Come on, the ceremony is starting soon." She says in a soft, quiet voice. I see Milo smile softly at me too.

She holds my hand, and we walk to the small group of people.

Tom is somewhere in there, but I don't see him yet. I'll do anything in my power to avoid looking at him.

As we walk in the grass, I feel little sprinkles of water hit the back of my ankles from the rain that's left on the grass. The rain has almost if not, stopped by now.

It's just so cloudy, the entire sky is white and the air is freezing.

Everyone is wearing black, and as we near the group, I see Vivian.

She seemed to see us at the same exact time we saw her. She was in the middle of a conversation, but it's like as soon as she saw us, she stopped talking. She looks at me, and her eyes are so..... hopeful?

She stares at me for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed and then she smiles so softly I could barely see it. She walks up to us, meeting us halfway.

And she just wraps her arms around me, holding tight and not letting go. I wrap my arms around her, holding her close, shutting my eyes slowly trying to push all that pain away.

"I'm so sorry, Juliette." She whispers to me.

"You don't have a thing to be sorry about Vivian, it's me who should be apologizing, for lying. I'm so sorry." I say to her, still hugging each other.

"Don't worry about that Juliette," we pull away and she looks at me, so much sorrow and sincerity on her face. "I know you didn't choose to lie, you were forced. I just didn't want you to think I was in on it too, I promise, I had no idea what was really going on. Georg had to explain everything to me a few days ago." She says, holding both of my hands in both of hers.

"Oh Vivian," I pull in into me to hug her again. "I missed you so much, I thought you were angry with me."

"Really? I thought you were mad at me thinking I was in on that whole scheme too, that's why I didn't come to see you. I'm sorry." She says.