Chain Reaction

Charlotte’s P.O.V:

The flame of the candle flickered in the zephyr of wind. I quickly jolted my face away from the sight of the flame, I haven’t even been able to look at a simple candle since the fire. The fire that took the life of my best friend and ruined my own. The fire that destroyed my family and everything we owned and loved. The fire that left me scarred completely.

I stood up and walked quickly away, I couldn't stand to mourn any longer over “everyone’s” loss. How dare they, “everyone’s” loss. How dare they pretend that they cared, pretend he had someone to love him, pretend they understood him. Dean was my best friend I had known for the past 14 years. No one ever understood or cared for me they way he did, and no one cared for or understood him the way I did. Dean was the type of boy you’d see in the halls at school quietly listening to music, not really talking to anyone, keeping to himself. He was mysterious and dangerously attractive, which was exactly what pulled me in. Him and I were very alike, and since I was his only friend, there was never any type of dispute.

“Today we celebrate the short life of a young man many would say was truly wonderful, caring, and deeply compassionate….” I could hear the funeral director practically lying through his teeth. How could you say such things about a person you’ve never met? Don't get me wrong, I loved Dean, but I could not stand to sit there and hear a bunch of people tell fake stories about the lives they had with him, no one cared for him other than me. It was as if he wasn't important until he was gone. The amount of shallow sympathetic expressions the townspeople had said to me was just truly mind-numbing.

To say the least, the death of my best friend had definitely not registered to me yet. I didn't care about the burns on my body, I didn't care about having no home, no possessions, I just wanted Dean back. That would have made everything better. I would now have to somehow learn to live my life without the one person I loved with every fibre of my being. That kind of once-in-a-lifetime love that you know you wont ever experience again.

I did return into the funeral again, after wiping away tears and grabbing another box of tissues, to respect Dean and the life we had together. After 2 speeches from family members that I’d never met, I was asked to address the crowd.

I slowly shuffled up the stairs onto the stage, took the microphone and unfolded my paper with scribbles of speech ideas I never got around to finishing. “Ahem… Good morning family and friends. Today I was asked to write and say a speech about my best friend. As you can imagine, I-I haven’t ever needed to do this before.” I stuttered some of my words and realized I was doing a terrible job, I folded up my paper and regrouped. “The… um, friendship that Dean and I shared was indescribable. That is exactly why I struggled so much to come up with things to say… um, I would like to read to you quotes from Dean and I’s favourite song. It-its called the Boat Song, by JJ Heller. *Ahem* If you were the ocean, I'd be the sand, If you were a song, I'd be the band, If you were the stars, then I'd be the moon, A light in the dark, my darling, for you.” As I choked out the last few words of the song, the tears started rolling down my face. I nodded my head and plastered on my best fake half smile, and walked out of the room. I couldn't do it anymore.