Lady Of The Church

For No Good Reason

"So...Mr.Goody's mayor of Graymoor now." This was the first time Lizzie was hanging out with Jill one-on-one in a couple of weeks.

"Haven't spoken to him in forever," Jill said, "or what feels like forever."

"You don't have to give me your prom dress," Lizzie inserted. "You know, you can always get it tailored and it'll look just great. I mean, there's a few other pregnant girls going to prom."

Ever since Mr.Goody was appointed mayor of Graymoor by the devout village council after the video of Mayor Roberts went viral and the former mayor was overthrown, the adulterers had all come back to their homes. Let's just say there were quite a few teen moms.

"I'm even more of a whale now, Lizzie. Come on, we're the same size," Jill said. "Just take it. Please. I never want to see it again." She held out the bagged dress to Lizzie, who looked extremely unsure.

Lizzie stuttered, "But-but I'm sorta bigger than you were on the bottom and...it feels wrong..."

"I'm not going to prom anymore. Please, Lizzie, it'd mean everything to me if you wore it. Come on, I know you like pink."

Lizzie smiled at her. "Okay, I'll take it off of your hands. It is a very nice dress. Sherman thought you were so beautiful in it. He really loved you, you know." She sorrowfully glanced at Jill.

"The funeral's Saturday," Jill said, unable to look at Lizzie. "I still don't want to believe it."

It was about an hour after Mr.Goody had drove her home that day of the performance. The reverend had personally called her to tell her that Sherman had died. And ever since then, Jill hasn't gone an hour without crying about Sherman, a minute without thinking about him, a second without still loving him.

She still wore the promise ring he gave her, unable to take it off.

"He was one of my best friends," Lizzie said with a sigh. "It still hasn't really hit me either."

"I miss him so much, it's not even a thing." Then Jill started crying for about the tenth time today. "I'm literally so depressed. Like, I didn't even know I could ever feel this sad and alone and depressed and-" She was crying so much Lizzie couldn't understand what she was saying.

There was no way that Jill could attend this funeral everyone was expecting her to be at in a few days.

Many people of Graymoor, Dunville, and a few neighboring towns were attending this funeral, along with immediate members of the Goody family. It was that kind of heartbreaking tragedy that made everyone forget their differences and come together.

Sherman's death was responsible for Mr.Goody becoming the new mayor of Graymoor and he was more popular than ever with the public. It also seemed like everyone was happy. The ostracized were back, the religious laws were gone, any corrupt town officials got ostracized due to majority vote, and everyone was getting along just great again.

"But I'm so miserable!" Jill cried on the Saturday morning of the funeral.

She stood outside the Weinisse Funeral Home with her dad, Lizzie, Mrs.Goody, Claire, and Josh. Sure, she was surrounded by her friends but she just felt so alone. The kind of loneliness that wasn't her just being in some sort of funk, it was the kind of loneliness that was actually depression.

"Look who it is..." Lizzie said. She was pointing out Mrs.Townsend along with Alexis and Austin. "Austin keeps looking at you, Jill."

"I don't care," Jill said.

Claire shook her head. "Maybe he feels bad. He is sort of responsible."

"I say the blame falls on Roberts. No one even likes pecan cookies!" Josh said. He was very fond of Claire, who was way out of his league. "Really? Pecans are gross anyway."