Close As Strangers // c.h.

26

I slump into the backseat of Luke's car and we start on our way to the dreaded funeral home. I look out the window and watched the scenery move fast beside us. Life moves fast, faster than many would hope. And way too fast for Ren.

17 years is not enough time on this Earth, especially when I only knew her for two of them.

We pull up and get out of the car. I take a second and pause before the building before me. I've been dreading this moment for three days straight now. When we enter, we quickly realize that we are the first ones here.

I cautiously walk up to Ren's open casket and see her cold, lifeless body laying there. My knees shake, threatening to give out from underneath me, but I stay strong not wanting to make a scene here. The service is to honor Ren and who she was, not for us to cry over her and think of only ourselves.

I feel a hand touch my shoulder and I turn around to see a teary-eyed Ashton with open arms. I take his offer and embrace him in a bone crushing hug. After Ashton, I hugged Luke, then Michael. Tears are filling all of our eyes as we make our way towards Kelly who is standing at the end of the row of Ren's relics from her life. I see her favorite blanket, her journal and even her guitar is sitting at the end of one of the tables.

I hug Kelly when I reach her and she takes the time to sob into me.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper to her.

"I know, me to," she whispered back, knowing that if she were to speak her voice would crack.

The visitation is set up for 2 hours before the funeral service itself, and during this time, many people stop by including teachers, classmates or even just people stopping by to share their condolences.

This time goes by too fast and before I know it, we are all being ushered into a side room to have the funeral itself. Kelly, the boys, the girls and I take our seats in the front row and wait as people slowly make their way into the chairs behind us.

I turn back to see who is here, and to my surprise I see a few familiar faces. I see Mr. Terry, our music exploration teacher, and Jake. Jake has always looked so tough, and like me, puts his walls up to not let anyone see his emotions, but in this instance, he looks broken as a few tears escape his eyes.

He turns and creates eye contact with me. In this moment, we put all of the rivalry aside and just sadly smile at each other. He gives me a nod and looks back up to the front where the lady that runs the funeral home reads Ren's obituary.

Kelly then walks up to the podium.

"Hi, um I'm Kelly, Ren's aunt and her legal guardian for the past couple years. Even though my title reads guardian, Ren was more of a sister to me than anything. I remember the first time I met her she was about 8. My older sister had stayed in the US while me and my husband moved to Australia, so this was the first time I would see my one and only niece. I felt like she was going to hate me because I pretty much neglected Ren her entire life, but she was so inviting and we were best friends after the first day. So when I got news that they were for sure moving to Aussie and living with us, I was ecstatic because I knew my older sister was bringing yet another person for me to love and care about.

"When my sister passed away a while ago, I never thought that Ren and I would ever bounce back from it, but she proved me wrong. With her strong will and the help of her best friends, she was able to pull not only herself, but me also out of that hole. I never thought that we could be closer than we already were, but yet again, she showed me that I was entirely wrong. Ren was wise beyond her years, as if she had already been living on this planet for many years before her short 17 even started. She continued to wow me each and every day with her wittiness and her amazing personality, and I can't fathom living without her in my life," Kelly mustered before she broke down and left the podium. Looking around the room I don't see one dry eye.