Most Lovely Words

Chapter 15: Friend

After the tension had started to calm down, Ms. Taylor invited everyone to a reception at a nearby restaurant. I, however, had other plans. I searched the parking lot of the cemetery for Kevin, seeing him standing outside of a pickup truck as Philip wore a stressed expression. I approached slowly, hoping not to anger them as I went to thank them properly.

"No, Kev, don't. Come on, it's not worth it. We shouldn't be here," Philip pleaded. "I hate when you get like this."

"Guys," I walked to their side, trying to calm my still speeding heart. "We cool?"

"Oh, yeah. We're cool. What're you doing here, Kallie? Shouldn't you be with the others?" Kevin asked, his hand on his head.

"I saw you two talking, and I wanted to say thank you, but properly. So... thank you for the help. I appreciate it. I know we were a little rushed back there, so..." I bit the inside of my lip as Philip eyed Kevin wearily. "Is everything ok with you two?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Philip assured me, his face still visibly scrunched. "Kevin here was just... being stubborn, that's all."

"Oh, I'm being stubborn?" A slight bit of amusement washed into Kevin's gritty tone. "Who was stubbornly asking to leave?"

"Did you want to stay?" I questioned, watching them both share a glance.

"Yeah-"

"No, we were just leaving," Philip said in a matter-of-fact voice before he could finish.

"I do love how you take charge," Kevin mumbled as he rolled his eyes.

"Funny, I could say the same about you. Get in," Philip got into the drivers side, smirking at Kevin.

"Hey, you two weren't arguing because of me, right?" I asked before Kevin could leave.

"What? What made you think we were arguing?" He frowned.

"I don't know, you guys seemed stressed, and it sounded like he was telling you not to do something, so I figured... I don't know." I sighed.

"Oh, yeah, that's just Philip being Philip. I was trying to tell him we should at least apologize to Bry's mom about that guy, but... yeah. I guess you heard the rest." He said, continuing his walk to the passenger side.

"Alright, well, hey, don't worry about what he said, it's just... stupid being stupid." I told him lightly.

As he opened the passenger side door, he grinned. "Yeah. Thanks."

I watched the two drive away, and Caroline came up to me then. "He seems nice. He your friend?"

"Yeah, he's... a friend. Look, Ms. Taylor, I'm really sorry-"

"Enough. Callum's behavior was completely uncalled for. There is no reason for you to apologize. I'm just sorry I was too blind to see it." She stopped me short, giving me a weary half-smile.

"See what?" I asked.

"How rotten that boy is. Hmph. Then again, Bry always said he had a temper." She shrugged. "Alright, I think we've spent enough time on this. Are you coming?"

"Uh... sure." I nodded feebly.

As I sat in the car five minutes later, the last thing I wanted was dinner with a family and bunch of people that I didn't know. And if any one of them had known that I hadn't been eating, they would've freaked out at me for thinking that. Especially once we got to the reception and a whole room of food and tables had been set up. They all sat down together, everyone turning to the topic of Bry.

"Oh, I heard he was going to that college. Good kid, he was." One person said.

"Didn't you hear? Tsk. His poor mother." A woman caught my interest as she sat by herself with another person standing nearby. "It's a shame really."