Forever and Always (Book 2)

Goodbye

 Six Weeks Later

             I stared into the mirror, disgusted with what I saw in the reflection. There was a nasty looking scar across my stomach. I had healed perfectly fine but I would always have the memories of Kyle staring me in the face. I'd always have the scar on my stomach and leg to prove it. There was no escaping the horrors of my past.

              My hair was perfectly straight, not a strain out of place. I hated looking at myself in the mirror. It pained me to see myself. The bruises and cuts were no longer evident on my body and it looked as if nothing had happened. I looked normal on the outside but on the inside, I wasn't the same person I was before. My eyes weren't blue today but a gray color, which matched the storming sky outside. Of all the days, today it had to be pouring outside.

            I slipped on my clothes for today, which I was dreading. As I stared into my reflection, I couldn't take my eyes off of the sleek black dress that suffocated my body. Black was probably my least favorite color of all. I refused to put makeup because I knew I would end up breaking down and bawling my eyes out and ruining it anyway.

            I remembered my parents' funeral and how heartbreaking and nervous I was for it but today all I felt was sadness and disgust. That feeling would change when I arrived at the funeral but still, right now, I wished today didn't come and I could just go to sleep and pretend nothing was happening.

             My aunt had offered to help me get ready but I refused help. I just wanted to be alone until we had to leave because if people were around me, I would probably start to cry. I will never understand why this was God's plan for me. What did I ever do to deserve all of this? How am I supposed to try and be happy when the two people who could always cheer me up and make me happy were gone forever?

            I hung my head down low, staring at the ground as I left my room. What sucked the most was that I still had to live in the house where I was kidnapped from. I didn't ever sleep in my room though, always on the couch downstairs but I still had to get dressed and get my belongings from there. I just remembered Kyle coming into my room and looking for me. Then I remembered the fight Ethan and I had in my room. Nothing good came from this room.

            Once I was downstairs, my aunt and uncle greeted me. They were the same dark clothes they were at my parents' funeral. My aunt was in a long silk dress with a coat on and my uncle in a black suit that made him look suffocated. His suit was probably too small for him. I looked away from them and proceeded out the front door, not looking back to see if they were following me. Inside the car, I sat silently, hoping no one would talk to me the rest of the day but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

             "You look beautiful today, Kelly." My aunt said with a smile.

             "I shouldn't have to be." I muttered. Her smile faded.

              Sure, I was being rude but I didn't really care. Today was a day that I was dreading for weeks. I wasn't about to be happy or pleasant to be around that's for sure. The funeral was being held at the same park that my parents' funeral was at which brought even more bad memories. Ethan's and Maddie's parents said they could change the place but I told them that it was fine where it was, not wanting to be an inconvenience.

             Despite the rain, which was now only sprinkling, the funeral was still going to happen. There would be tents over the caskets and everyone would have umbrellas to hold during the service. No one wanted to reschedule the funeral.

             I was relieved when I found out Maddie's and Ethan's funerals were going to be on the same day because there was no way I could have managed to go to two different funerals. Their parents thought it would be easier for everyone to just come to one funeral. We pulled up to the park and I automatically thought of my parents. Dang it, it's going to happen. I was going to cry.