❝𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒.❞

Chapter 29: The Funeral

//this chapter has 1214 words

Today was the day. The day we say goodbye. The day the love of my life will forever be gone.

I touched up my hair and makeup before leaving my house and making my way to Terra's. It took us a few weeks to plan the funeral, and I hope everything would be perfect.

I knocked on Terra's door and saw her dressed in a tight black dress with a pin Joey gave her for her 14th birthday. Her hair was curled and she had red lipstick on. I could tell she's been crying earlier because her eyes were puffy and swollen.

"Hey." I said sadly.

"Hey..." She said trailing off slowly. "You look nice Soph." She said smiling sadly.

"Thanks Terra, so do you." I said while I looked down at my heels. I didn't know what to say, because there really wasn't anything to say at all.

"Shall we get going?" She said as she closed her door behind her, locking it.

"Yeah." I said nodding before we made our way back to the car.

The car ride was silent...like dead silent. There was no music playing and all you could hear was the car engine.

"Joey had always been an amazing brother to me." Terra blurted out. "He was always there for me and stuck up for me when I was in really tough times." She said sadly. "I miss him."

"I miss him too. He was such a great boyfriend Terra. Im such a messed up girlfriend for treating him the way I did." I said shaking my head.

"Soph, you didn't know this would happen. Don't blame yourself for everything, you know it's not your fault." Terra said smiling at me a little bit.

"Yeah...you're right." I said as I carved my fingernails into the wheel. Lies. It was my fault, no doubt about it.

We finally got to the church Terra and Joey went to on Sundays, and walked in. We both planned on arriving earlier than the others so we could greet everyone at the doorway and show them where to sit.

When we opened the doors inside, I saw Joey's casket. Part of me wanted to cry, while the other part of me wanted to throw anything at a wall right now. I wasn't okay and this wasn't helping at all.

I turned around and walked over to terra. I saw her holding up pamphlets that said 'In loving memory of Joseph Michael Strange.'

"Are people here yet?" I asked clearing my throat.

"Yeah...should we open the doors now or wait for a few more people?" She asked me.

"I think we should open it now since there's a line practically down the street." I said laughing a little bit.

"Okay, lets do it." She said as she opened up the door.

We greeted everyone that came in, and the last person to walk through the door was Harvey. I smiled softly at him as he walked through the door, hugging Terra. He made his way over to me and I inhaled his perfection like holy- I've never seen him look so amazing in a suit that nice and his smile I'm- NO not the time nope nope nope.

"Hey Soph." He said making a small smile at me.

"Hey Harv. Thanks for coming...even though you and Joey weren't on best of terms."

[*cough cough* JESSICA AND MOLLY]

"That's all in the past. Right now I'm here to say goodbye and help Terra you know? She's been upset for a while now." He said sadly.

"Yeah...I know." I said looking down once again.  A pair of arms wrapped around my waist, hugging me. That's the first time I've hugged him in a while, but I hugged back taking in everything I could because this moment wasn't gonna last forever.

He finally let go and his smile disappeared. "I should get going, I think it's gonna start soon." He said as he started walking towards Sky. I watched him walk away and Terra and I greeted the last few guests before sitting down in the front.

Terra walked up to the podium and took a deep breath before leaning forward towards the microphone.

"Thank you all for coming today. We are here to celebrate Joey and the amazing life he had before we sadly lost him in the accident. I have a few people here today to speak about him, but let me just say this. Joey was not only my brother but my best friend, and he always supported me in everything I did. I remember one time when we were younger he put a pink sock into my whites for getting revenge because I turned his favorite white shirt blue somehow." She said laughing lightly. "I love you Joey, and you'll forever be loved by everyone. Shine bright my star, and we will reunite again someday." She said before she sat back down with tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.

I stood up from out of my seat and millions of eyes were on me, watching. I cleared my throat and leaned into the microphone as well, as I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Joey was one of the best things that could have ever happened to me. He was everything I could ever wish for and he treated me right. We um...we strived in our relationship to the point where we almost lived together. We went through tough times thick and thin and it's upsetting we lost him." I said as tears started spilling my eyes. "I- I remember the um- the time we bought new furniture and I picked up the couch with my bare hands and his eyes widened and told me that's a way to do things." I said softly laughing. "I also remember a time where he made me breakfast even though he was quite terrible at it I still told him he was amazing at it...I'll always love you Joey, and you'll forever have a special place in my heart. Thank you." I said before I sat back down, still crying.

Lars went up after me and so did Strange. The rest of the funeral was at piece. We drove to a graveyard where we buried him down. I threw a red rose at the coffin, because whenever we went on dates all he ever got me were red roses because he knew they were my favorite.

Once the service ended, everyone said goodbye and went home. I stayed in my room eating ice cream and watching my favorite show.

I heard a knock on the door and opened it, confused at who was up at 12 am.

"Sophia Lang, you're coming with us down to the station." The police officer said.

"What?! What for?! I didn't do anything?" I said struggling to hold back as they tried to put handcuffs on me.

"Yes you did, and we have evidence. We will explain everything later." They said as they finally handcuffed me and put me in the police car.

I turned to my left and saw Harvey Barton sitting right next to me with handcuffs. He smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

Oh boy.