Adopted By TFIL (Elton Castee)

Untitled Part 29

Well. It's Wednesday. The funeral. For... Jack. I had something to say at the front. Dad was here with me of course. Along with me friends. I saw Isla, not looking good. She saw me and waved with a sad smile. So, I excused myself from my friends and went over to her.

"You ok?" I asked, on the verge of tears myself.

"Honestly, no," she admitted with tears.

"Oh Isla," I said, hugging her, "I wish I'd seen you more. I promised myself I'd go over but I didn't. I'm sorry."

"Quinn, it's ok, you had to deal with it yourself first," she said, "You can't always be selfless."

"That's what you were like for me, you treated me like... no one else did," I said, "I felt like Jack's sister."

"You were his sister," Isla said, "and you still are."

"Thanks Isla," I said and hugged her again.

"We need to go in, come on," she said, taking me by the hand and leading me in. All my friends parents were here too. My friends and I were sat in the front row. I was between Isla and Queenie, holding their hands.

The priest began speaking about Jack's life and his achievements, also adding about our trip to England. "... and now, we have Jack's friend, Quinn."

The priest sat down and I got up to the front, setting the paper on the little ledge. I took a breath.

"I met Jack ten years ago and that is one of the many moments I will never forget. I'm not just saying that, I mean it. Because I have never met someone who goes from 'what's your name?' straight to 'do you like chocolate?'. I guess that's when I knew that Jack was my best friend. And the thought of losing him is... terrifying. He understood. He was always there. And now... he's not," tears were running and speaking got harder. "And I have to admit, I thought it'd be the other way round. Me being the one dying and him giving the speech. Except, I would probably have a really stupid death. Jack is an irreplaceable person and, we all know it. He could make anyone laugh and smile in seconds. Which makes him such a special person-" I hiccupped and more tears fell. "And... and.."

My ability to speak was gone. I couldn't cry in front of everyone, so, I sat down again. The people seemed to understand. Isla grasped my hand again. I looked at her through my tears and she gave a me a weak smile. The priest stood up again at the altar and gave the final words. 

Then we were all leaving. Queenie got me in a hug, crying too. Then the other guys made it a group hug. We stayed for a while, not saying anything, until we pulled apart and got in the cars to go to the wake. (Aka, the party bit after).

"You ok?" Dad asked as we walked to ours.

"Not really," I replied, wiping away the excess tears. He put an arm around me until we we got the car, where we both got in and dad began driving. "I wish he could come back."

"We all do, Quinn, we all do," Dad said.

We got to the place where the 'party-bit' was happening and didn't get out of the car for a minute. 

"I don't know if I can do this," I admitted.

"You've just done the hard bit, you can do it," He said, "let's go, I can see your friends."

We both got out and went inside. I saw cake so I smiled. Queenie came over and took me to the table for just us five. I saw dad looking at his phone and look shocked. 

"I'll be one second," I said and went over to dad, "What's happened?"

"Look, can someone give you a lift back?" He asked.