Nicky has gotten out of the basement, got his friends and family back, but something is still out of place. He's having continuous flashbacks, nightmares, and thoughts that are unwanted in his head. Will his friends and family finally listen to him...
"Wear this tie," Mom says blandly, handing me a black long tie.
"I'll tie for you Narf," Dad says. I don't know if I should feel sad, angry, or guilty right now. Today is Mya's funeral, and I haven't gotten any sleep the past two days, and I shouldn't be surprised either. All I've felt the entire morning and restless night is anxiety, and fear, and I don't even know if I should show up to it or not.
"Done," Dad confirms, finishing the tie around my neck, that leads all of the way down to my shirt due to my embarrassing height. I don't know why I feel like I haven't grown yet.
"Get in the car," Mom hisses, storming out of the door for some reason. Why is she like this today? Maybe she's-
"NOW!" Mom screams from outside. Dad hurries us both out of the door, right before I could do something with my hair. Then I start to wonder if Aaron will be there. He has too. It's his sister's funeral. I also just want to see him again, unless he hadn't gotten the news report yet. Up and down the street on the car ride, I'm met with a lot more cars and people up and down the street, assumingly for the funeral.
"More people than we expected, huh?" Dad says, looking directly at me through the car mirror to the right.
"Yeah," I reply, leaning my head further against the window. I don't even realize how close we are to the church already, seeing people packed at the entrance. I don't know how we could all fit in there.
"Come on," Mom says, grabbing my wrist.
"Lu, he's not a kid anymore. Why are you holding his-
Then Mom cuts Dad off with a threatening glare into his eyes, leaving us both in confusion. Then we just act like nothing happened, and we head inside of the church. My attention is completely taken over by the amount of people that align back to back along the benches.
"Down here," Mom orders. We come down by the rows to right of the church, where I see the Esposito's and the Bales in a row together, and all of their eyes shift towards me.
Luckily, we sit next to them, filling in the rest of the bench, where I sit directly next to Maritza.
"You came," says Maritza, putting emphasis on 'you'. Of course I would. Why wouldn't I? I don't bother replying, only looking at her from the side of my eyes, observing her clothing. I thought she looked kind of-
"You look pretty," I accidently blurt, silently cursing out my idiot brain. Maritza's eyes just widen me, but in a good way. I half expect her to berate me for saying that, but instead, she responds with a faint-
"Thanks."
I'm assuming my face is burning up from that after I said that, but I mean it at the same time. As I look around for anymore familiar faces, something pokes my arm. Mom hands me a cardstock paper, containing Mya on the front, and a schedule in the folding.
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