Braxten High

Chapter 28

Zara's POV:

"I just wish I had spent more time with him in his last days. I wasn't there for him when he needed me the most and I regret it with every breath I take and will continue to do so till my last. I'm sorry I let you down." Azriel said, visibly shaking and seeming like he's going to cry.

"I love you, dad. I really do." he finished his speech and hurried down the little raised platform.

I walked up to him and led him to the back where Scar and Ayden were seated.

"You did so well. I'm proud of you," I cupped his face in my hands and kissed him lightly before hugging him. He smiled slightly and wrapped his arms around my waist, burying his face in my neck.

"Thank you" he whispered.

____________________

Once the eulogies were delivered by everyone who knew and loved Mr. Dayton, we had a little time before the burial for refreshments.

Azriel and I were still seated on the chairs when Scar nudged me slightly and signaled me to look ahead.

When I did, I quickly released Azriel's hand which I'd held throughout the speeches because my father was fast approaching and didn't seem to be happy about the fact that I had organized an entire funeral using his contact and hadn't invited him.

Something tells me his cause of agitation might have to do with the fact that I was also dating a boy without ever mentioning it in our monthly calls, and that he looked very little like the kind of boy he would want me to date.

I stood up when he was close enough. "Hello father," I said, my voice sounding steadier than I'd expect.

"Looks like you're quite the funeral organizer, but I don't think you're as good as you think at sneaking around behind my back while using my contacts," he stated casually, looking around.

"This isn't the time father, we'll talk about this later," I said quietly.

"Then, pray tell, is the right time to talk about the funeral you organized for a strange man and didn't even bother to send me an invitation to, all for some stupid boy," he demanded, shooting Azriel a dirty look from the corner of his eye.

I clenched my fists at my sides. How dare he? "Excuse me, but the last time I checked, Azriel was here for me a lot more than you or mother ever were. And the 'stupid boy' has a name, and I'd like it if you referred to him with his name."

"Looks like you've forgotten your manners," my father said coolly while tucking his hands into his pant pockets.

I felt Azriel's hand on my tightly clenched fists, silently signaling me to calm down. I held his hand and started to speak when Ayden interrupted us. "The burial's about to begin."

"I guess that's your cue to take your unwanted ass out back to whatever you do in your stuffy office," Scar said to father casually while walking past us towards the graveside.

"I think I'm going to stick around for a while," he responded, glaring at Scar.

Once everyone was led to the graveside by the minister, the ceremony began. We all said a prayer for Brian Dayton and then lowered the coffin in the ground.

Everyone close to him took turns grabbing a handful of mud and throwing it over the coffin, starting with Azriel. He seemed to take it pretty hard because he'd never get to see Mr. Dayton again. We all had tears in our eyes as the final prayers were uttered by the minister and just like that, the ceremony was over.

Everyone kind of gathered around Azriel, to offer their sympathy and apologies before leaving and I noticed how it was starting to overwhelm him, so I led him a little farther from the crowd and sat down in silence with him on a little raised step.

"I'm sorry, was runnin' a little late. I hope I didn't miss a lot," we heard a man's voice say from behind us, and we turned to see Noah Baker walk towards us. At least, I think that was Noah Baker from that one time Azriel had mentioned him when we were going through the old yearbooks.

"Oh no, not at all. Only late enough to miss the whole ceremony and barely make it when there were around ten guests left," Azriel said sarcastically, not bothering to stand up or to greet him.

"Oh come on now, that's no way to treat your potential step-father, now is it, son?" Noah responded, emphasizing the last word.

"Do not call me that. I'm not your fucking son," Azriel spat bitterly. "You can take your fake-"

Azriel was cut off by Mrs. Dayton walking up to us. "Hello Azriel, Zara. what's going on here?" she asked, and I didn't feel the need to reply because one look at Noah and Azriel seemed to inform her of the increasing tension between them.

"Azriel, you've got to start treating Noah better. Give him some damn respect, he is soon going to be your stepfather; if everything works out well, that is," she reprimanded, looping her arm around Noah's.

"Maybe if you stopped acting like this funeral was a fucking social event or a party, I'd have considered that. Just maybe. But because you can't act right or ever be a nice mother or wife, I'd prefer if you just kept your fucking opinions to yourself."

Ms. Walker chose to reply to that with an angry comment about how she'd rather not have a child than having one as disrespectful as Azriel and stomped away, leaving Azriel and I quite exhausted.

"That was so weird, I really don't like Noah," I said, walking towards the rapidly thinning crowd. "Let's just go back home and rest for a bit, okay?"

"That's fine, no one likes him. God knows what mom likes about Noah. now that I think of it, probably his money," Azriel said lightly and agreed with me on going back to the penthouse.

I spotted Scar with Ayden and walked up to her. "Hey, did you see Noah? He gave me the weirdest vibe ever. I thought he was heading towards y'all and tried to stop him but he went anyway," she said.

"Yeah, he and Azriel had a little back and forth and Ms. Walker found us too, making it worse. Anyways we are going to head back to the penthouse."

"Okay, rest up! Ayden's mom is being extra nice to me and asked me to come over for the weekend, so I guess I'm going with them. You guys take care, and text me if you're free tomorrow so we can maybe meet at Salty Beans," Scar said, waving a farewell.

"Will do, you take care too!"

-zoie and dawn