The Rising (final book of The Call series) ~ TMNT Fanfiction

Chapter 3: Notes

Leo's POV:

It's kind of odd to have a funeral in the summertime. Not that I would know, since I've never been to a funeral in my life. But when you think of a funeral, you think of rain and dark clouds and crying. There's a lot of crying, but there are no darkened skies or rain drops. It's only ten in the morning, and it's already up to seventy degrees, bound to get hotter.

My family sits at the back of the church so that we don't draw too much attention, but I desperately wish that we looked like everyone else and could sit towards the front. Even though Lexi doesn't want to be around me, I want to be around her, especially during a time like this.

But we don't look like everyone else, and because we don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves, we sit at the farthest pew back, far enough that we are out of sight and unnoticed, but we can still hear. I can see Emmeline, Rose, and Lexi sitting on the front pew off to the side, but it's just backs of heads. They all sort of look like they have barriers placed between preventing each other from sitting too close to one another. I can't understand that. The Kings are usually so close, much closer than my brothers and I have ever been.

We are there for about an hour and a half, listening to a pastor share some words from the Bible, and faces get up and talk about Benj, all unfamiliar at first. They have opened the next little bit to anyone who wants to get up and share some words about Benj.

The first familiar face that I see get up is Mallory. Her face is tear-streaked, and she wipes her nose while she moves up towards the front.

"I met Benj when the Kings moved to New York five years ago. I have a little brother of my own already, but Benj made his way into who I consider family so quickly. He was just so good at loving people and being loved," Mallory says, her voice breaking at the end. "And he had such a good heart. I teased him all the time, and he teased me back, but whenever I would go home, he'd give me a hug and say, 'Love ya, Mal.' Every time." She wipes her face as a stream of tears cascades down both cheeks. "I'm not very good at talking at these things. But I would regret it if I didn't get up and share how much I love Benj." She turns towards the Kings. "My heart hurts so bad for you all. This is a loss that will be missed and noticed." She looks up. "We love you, Benj."

When she goes to sit down, she stops by Lexi's seat and gives her a hug. Lexi, who looked stiff before, loosens up enough to hug her friend, but then goes right back to how she was before.

More unfamiliar faces get up after Mallory's, but I can't stop thinking about the Kings. The way that they sit there stiff like stones breaks my heart.

There is a little break between people, and that's when I see Lexi stand up and move towards the front. Her arms are crossed tightly over her chest and when she finally faces the front, I can see her face. She has evidently been crying, just like everyone else, but there is something extra broken in Lexi's expression. It's an emotional exhaustion and pain that tucks through all the nooks and crannies. I realize right before she opens her mouth that she is emotionally exhausted for more reasons than one, and that her walls are still up.

"I hate funerals. I always have," Lexi starts. "I think that I'll hate them even more after this." She takes in a deeper breath, one that shakes her entire body like an invisible wave. "I love Benj, and I miss him. I would give anything to tell him that. To hug him again." Tears stream down her cheeks, and just like Mallory, she wipes them away immediately.

She is quiet for a long time, just standing there gathering herself. Nobody says anything. No coughs, no interruptions, just silence weaved into the sniffles.

"When I was fifteen, I went through a break-up, and I was a mess. All the canon events like eating entire cartons of ice cream and listening to only the saddest songs." She laughs a little bit in between, and there is a chuckle from a few people in the room. "It just sucked and that was it, no way around it." She takes in another breath like she is self-soothing. "Benj was just eleven. He kept saying things that didn't help like, 'Lexi, there's plenty of fish in the sea' or 'Just don't cry.' I told him exactly what I thought about those pieces of advice." She shakes her head. "But then he disappeared for a bit, and he came back with a plate of nachos that he made for me and a deck of UNO cards. We played five rounds, and he let me win every single time." Lexi's face breaks and she adds, "Afterwards, he told me that he loved me and thanked me for being a great big sister."