"And then he hugged her so tight, all of her broken pieces fit back together."
WARNING: THERE ARE MENTIONS OF SELF HARM, ABUSE, AND SUICIDE IN THIS BOOK. IF ANY OF THESE THINGS TRIGGER BAD MEMORIES, I RECOMMEND YOU DO NOT READ THIS BOOK
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THE EIGHT FRIENDS walked into the funeral home together, nervous for how this was going to go.
"Let's stay together," Maya suggested. "It'll be easier that way."
"Good idea." Riley said, looking around the home.
It was packed.
There were kids from school, long lost family, friends, and people that nobody recognized, but somehow, Erica touched their lives.
The eight of them all made eye contact with each other. "Do you guys wanna go up?" Malia asked.
The eight teens looked to the front of the room, where they could see Erica laying in her casket.
"I guess we should." Farkle said. • • • THE LINE TO see Erica was very long, but soon it was Smackle's turn.
She took a deep breath, and walked over to Erica.
"Hey, Erica." Smackle whispered. "Why'd you have to do this? Look around, these are all the people that loved you, that wanted you to stay. I'm going to miss you more then words can describe. You look absolutely beautiful, but then again, when didn't you?" She asked, grabbing Erica's hand while she cried. "Goodnight, Erica. I love you." • • • AFTER SMACKLE WENT, Riley, Maya, Zay, Farkle, Brandon, Lucas and Malia all went, saying similar things.
"I need to ask you something." Malia whispered to Lucas.
"What is it?" Lucas asked
"I want you to do the eulogy." Malia told him. "It would make Erica happy."
"I don't know, Mal." Lucas said.
"Please?" Malia begged.
Lucas sighed. "Fine. I'll do it."
Malia smiled. "Thank you." • • • AFTER THE PREIST said a few words about Erica, it was Lucas' turn to speak.
"Hi." Lucas said. "My name is Lucas Friar, and I'm one of Erica's close friends." He sighed. "Actually, I was in love with her. And I never got the chance to tell her." A tear slipped out of his eye. "I remember this one time, we were just walking around the city, Erica and I, and she thought she saw Shawn Mendes across the street. So while we were chasing this guy, she's looking it up on her phone and it says he's in the city. So we followed him, and finally caught up to him. Then Erica tapped him on the shoulder, and it wasn't Shawn Mendes. So we proceed to apologize to this guy, and he starts to tell us 'it's all good, dudes' and we catch a whiff of his breath. That guy was high as a kite. Erica and I laughed until we returned home, where we sat on my couch and watched Friends reruns, still wondering how we thought that was Shawn Mendes. The more we thought about it, the less he looked like him. That whole memory has taught me that no matter how hard to chase something, you can still get let down. Erica's entire life, she chased happiness. And in the end, she got let down." Lucas took a deep breath, and turned to Erica laying in her casket. "I love you Erica, with every inch of my heart. And I'm glad you're finally happy."
There wasn't a dry eye in the entire room.
"I now invite anyone who wants to say a few words about Erica and how she affected you." Lucas said, and almost everyone jumped up. • • • "I REMEMBER WHEN Erica and I were younger, we used to run around our neighborhood, causing trouble. This one specific time, we were sneaking into one of the school playground, and we got caught. The guy let us go, and we thought we had gotten away with the biggest crime ever." Maya stifled a laugh. "We didn't. But we loved every second of it. Just because we were together." • • • "ERICA AND I got paired up for a group project," Sarah explained. "And she kept saying that she hated group work, she hated English, and she wished she didn't have to do it. That week, my Grandma passed away, and I missed a lot of school. So, I expected her to let me know what we were doing, and we'd get together and finish it. But when I came back to school, it was already done. And that really shows how Erica was. She would do anything for her friends. And her and I weren't even that close, and she did that for me. It made me see her in a whole new light." • • • RILEY GIGGLED. "THE memory I'm about to tell you is a good one. Erica, Maya, and I were on the subway, coming home from school when we saw this really cute guy. Erica walked up to him and just started talking to him, and Maya and I were in awe of their connection. After he got off for his stop and they exchanged numbers, we begged her to tell us how she did it. She looked at us and shrugged. 'I was just feeling it' she said. 'Mama needs some lovin'. Maya and I found that to be the funniest thing ever. So every time anything happened, we would say 'Mama needs some lovin'." Riley turned to Erica. "Mama needs some loving." She told her, before sitting back down. • • • "THIS IS THE story of how Erica and I met." Zay said. "She had always sat behind me in history, but I never really talked to her before. Until one day, she wasn't there. Suddenly, she came in late, and Mr. Matthews asked her why she was late. So she starts arguing with him that she wasn't late, and she won. She sat back down and I turned around, and said 'That was quite the performance up there'. She looked at me and said 'Well, I'll do anything to avoid a detention' and the rest is history." • • • "ERICA AND I were more then brother and sister." Farkle said. "So much more. Sure, there were times of monumental torture by one another, but more often then not we had a lot of fun. Sometimes, at night she would come into my room, and she would wake me up, and tell me she was bored. I'd always tell her to go to sleep, and she'd say she didn't feel like it. So I would turn on my TV and we would watch whatever crappy show we could find at three in the morning until we fell asleep, and we'd always get in trouble the next morning." • • • "THE STORY OF how Erica and I met is a good one." Brandon said. "We were in kindergarten, and all the little kids on the playground called me 'Rebel'. All of them except Erica. For some reason, she refused to call me Rebel. So, I asked her why one day. And she told me that she didn't think I was a rebel, she thought I was a nice boy. So, for the next weeks, I would try to prove to her I was a rebel, and she never bought it. Fast forward nine years, almost ten, and we're still best friends." • • • "MY SISTER TOUCHED so many lives." Malia said. "She would come home and tell me these tales about what went on at school, and I was amazed. And when I couldn't remember them, she was absolutely crushed. I'd never seen her look so defeated. So I vowed to remember. I vowed to fight, even when they said that it was impossible. I didn't know anything about Erica, but I knew she was special. And I won my fight. I just wish she could've won hers."
