The Wrong Misfit

Final Goodbyes

I walked into the empty church, not soul in the pews. None of his family was there. I doubted his mother even knew he was dead. I walked down the aisle dressed in all black, the scent of old books, aging wood, and day old flowers entering my nose. His coffin sat on a stand in the center of the front. I inched closer to him, holding my breath. A tear escaped the corner of my ear as I bit my lip, hands shaking a little in my pockets looking at his pale body laying peacefully. As I got two feet in front of the coffin, I slowly reached out to the wood around the sides, running my hands across the surface. I stepped up on the platform the coffin sat on and looked at Nathan’s resting figure placed within satin fabric that lined the casket. Tears kept falling quietly as I looked at him, hands folded over his stomach, dressed in his typical attire: a t-shirt, flannel and jeans, his hair still curly as the day I met him. He never did find out what his power was. When I was going through his things back at the community center the day before, I had found his iPod and smiled, plugging the headphones in and listening to what the last thing he listened to before he died. I laughed, crying a little. “I’m gonna miss you Nathan” I told him, pulling the iPod out of my coat pocket and putting it in his hand along with a note I wrote, saying I know you meant well. I leant down and kissed him softly. “Be good.” I sat down a few pews away and said one last prayer before leaving the church to head to the cemetery where he would be buried.

 

A few people came out watch him be buried. I tossed a rose down and stepped back where Curtis wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Don’t be sad.”

“We should go celebrate” Alisha suggested, looking down at the mound of dirt piled on top of Nathan’s casket. “Celebrate like he’d want us to be happy. Like...can we just go for a drink?” Alisha was the first to walk away, Curtis and Simon following behind her. I just couldn’t leave just yet. It’s like my feet were nailed to the ground before him, my eyes locked on the spot where he lay.

“April,” Alisha called. “Let’s go...c’mon.” She walked away as I gave one last look before joining the group.

 

We went to a club later that night but instead of dancing the grief away, we sat around in a circle with beverages in hand. We looked around at the pulsing group of loud, rowdy dancers, not finding any fun in being there. It smelled of sweat and perfume and the lights were flashing around us. 

“To Nathan” Simon announced, raising his bottle. One by one, we raised our drinks, joining them then taking a sip. I looked at Simon who was looking intensely at Kelly, like he was trying to tell her something with his thoughts.

“I’m gonna go” Kelly declared.

“Have another drink” Alisha suggested.

“I’ll see you Monday.”

“We should go too” Simon told me in my ear, shouting over the music. I nodded and stood up. “See you guys on Monday. This was nice.”

Alisha and Curtis replied with “See ya.” We walked out of the club and out into the chilled England air. Kelly was out of sight and Simon and I walked side by side in silent, my arms crossed over my chest.

“This is for you” Simon mentioned, handing me CD.

“What’s on it?”

“Watch it.”

When we got home that night, I sat on my bed and slid the disk into my computer. I opened the video player and clicked play, immediately greeted by the opening chords to “Such Great Heights” from Iron & Wine. Almost instantly, tears began running down my face. Then there was Nathan’s face, shouting “Pervert!” at Simon. The whole video was compilation of Nathan in all his glory. My nose kept running and my sobs shaking my body. I then began to feel guilty for yelling at him days before. Even only I had just cut him a little slack. I hated feeling guilty for what I did because no one ever told me that they found me attractive and now when guy I liked confesses it to me, I shut him down. But in the end, I wanted to be in it for all the right reasons. And I wanted him to know that. I paused the video at a moment where he looked directly at the camera, looking into his lively, lovely grey eyes. “Why’d you have to go so soon?”

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I'm sorry this is so short! I'm gonna start writing on Season 2 now so get excited for more action, humor, and drama to come! Thank you for everyone who's been reading since day 1!

xx AmatullahS