My Best Friend's Funeral

Chapter 27

After the prayer was over, Grace requested all the guests to meet Jenny for staying arrangements. The family was very grateful to everyone who had come from far for the funeral and made arrangements for them to stay at a hotel. They didn’t want a crowd at the house. “What about you Cheryl?” Jenny asked me holding a notepad and pen in hand. “Paul and I are family” “right. So I'll make arrangements for you as well” “No, Jenny. I don’t think you understood what I just said. We are family. We will stay here. Besides, my luggage is already in Brittany’s room. The Wellings have such a big house, I'm sure there will be a spare room for us” I finished with a smile. “I'll let Grace know” Jenny said and moved to the people next to me. Clearly, she was annoyed. “Here you go” Paul said handing me a glass of water. “Thanks” “what'd Jenny say?” he whispered. “I don’t think we're gonna have any problem”. “Paul” Brittany said coming down the stairs with a coat in her hand. “As good as new” she said handing him the coat. “What’s going on?” I asked utterly confused. “Oh, actually Paul’s coat tore while he was helping shift some boxes in my room. So I sewed it for him” she and gave me a 100 watt smile. “Very nice of you. I didn’t know you sewed Brittany” “she took classes during the summer” Paul said trying the coat on. “Perfect. You are an angel” he said handing her the coat he had worn temporarily. “Brittany, I hope it’s no problem if we stay here” I said half expecting a no. “Well, it’s totally okay with me but I will have to tell mother” “okay. Thanks a million” “no worries Cheryl. You are here to see my brother. I think you guys have a lot of catching up to do, so you deserve to stay” I was taken aback by her words. Did she undergo character change or something? I mean..why is she being nice to me? “uh..thank you” I said hesitantly. “I got to go help with the arrangements for the tomorrow, excuse me” “yes sure” Paul said and made way for her.

“What was that about?” I asked Paul. “What was what about?” he repeated. “Why was she being nice? Did you do something? You definitely did something. What did you do? Did you tell her anything?” I asked one question after the other. “Hold it! Breathe Cher. I didn’t tell her anything. I didn’t say a word. All I did was, give her a talk” “oh! I guess your ‘talk’ worked on her”  I said and chuckled. “Now what?” Paul asked. “Cheryl right?” Jenny said coming towards me. “Yes. I'm her” “Would you like to say a few words about Jake tomorrow?” “tomorrow? As in during the funeral?” I stuttered. “Yes dear. Brittany filled me in on what good friends Jake and you were. So I figured, you would  want to say goodbye to him in a special way” “by special you mean ruin my funeral?” my dead best friend shouted, appearing from nowhere. “Exactly!” I said forgetting I was the only one who could see him. “Well then, you can start preparing your speech” Jenny said and hugged me before she left. “Tell me Paul, Um…what talk did you give Brittany again!” I barked. “Whoa! Will you relax?” “I have to give a speech you idiot!” “it’s not my fault” “hey Cheryl, remember the speech when you were crowned ‘prom queen’? The one you delivered with perfection?” Jake teased.  “To hell with you Jake” I blurted and ran upstairs. He shouldn’t have reminded me about the prom thing. Now I have to narrate the story to you. Well, my humiliating moment went like this – I had too much to drink because I thought that would catch Greg Holfer’s attention (the guy every girl wanted to go out with). Jake kept handing me a glass every now and then saying I had the capacity and wouldn’t get drunk. Believing my best friend, I drank. I drank 30 glasses of wine. Not the mini glasses, the medium sized ones. Luckily I drank after all the dancing and twirling. When prom kind and queen were announced, instead of excitement taking over me, all the wine started to churn inside my stomach.  Not because I became the queen, because Greg Holfer became the king. You see, for yearbook pictures and stuff the king and queen need to pose. Romantically. I was even more excited when the crowd demanded that the king should kiss the queen.  My happiness can be compared to a 5 year old being given a golden ticket (if it really existed) to Charlie’s Chocolate Factory (if this really existed too). Just when he was leaning in, I barfed. Yes! All the cheese crackers, the wine, everything in the form of a yellow liquid landed on Greg’s suit, the one guy I always dreamed to click a picture with. Well, I did get the picture but it wasn’t a pretty one. Assuming that my stomach was empty and I was fine, I began to deliver my speech. “Good evening” I remember saying and then the same yellow liquid came out again! And it was on everybody. The reason was puking again, was because of all the nervousness. I am usually very confident when it comes to speaking. But, after you puke in public, it’s totally forgivable to be nervous.

Lost in memory lane, I suddenly realized that I reached Jake's room. Well, this would be a good place to write a speech for my best friend whom I am visiting after 3 long years. I pushed open the door but didn’t enter. I felt like I was frozen. Right in front of me stood that one person I needed answers from but was also trying to avoid. “William” I said and opened the door wider.