She was pale.

  She was lifeless.

  Her body was cold as ice.

  Yet in that state, she still held her grace.

  Though there was no heartbeat, no signs of breath, nor life could be seen from her pursed lips as she rested peacefully in that lovely, cushioned casket of hers. Her face, glancing directly up at the marble statue of Calena—the goddess of life, who inspired my naming—signaled that it was her time. The midday sunlight cast a warm glow through the stained-glass windows of the chapel, bathing the white lilies fashioned into a small bouquet in their colors.

  I stood over the corpse.

  A turmoil of emotion stirred in my mind to the point where not even I was sure how to feel.

  It was all a blur until this point.

  The entire week, I mean.

  The reception had already begun in the hall next door. I could hear the chatter of the many folks who’ve acquainted themselves with the one who rested there silently underneath the altar over her lifetime.

  Some were faces I knew very well, others not so much.

  I remained silent in the process, sitting on one of the long arched steps leading up to the casket. My hands clasped tightly over one another. No tears fell that entire time, not that I had any more to cry out from my bloodshot eyes.

  Goodness, they hurt.

  Suddenly, I hear footsteps. The gentle tapping of them against the ground grew louder as they approached closer to where I sat.

  “Ryes, just leave it here,” My hoarse voice escaped my lips. “Let me sit here a bit longer-“

  “Sorry to disappoint, Hurlard, but I’m not your brother.”

  Pointed leather shoes materialized into my view. They were polished so well that my poor face could be seen in all its colors. For the record, those shoes were black.

  I tilt my head slowly, taking every millisecond to observe the figure before it from bottom up. Like all other male guests, he was dressed in all black. Though his slacks clung to his long, graceful legs that had been blessed on him by some God of Beauty if they ever existed. Broad shoulders hugged his blazer while his white collar was pressed crisp, outlining his neck. A button on his was undone, revealing his sharp jawline that could kill, and soft beige skin kissed by the delicate sunlight that bathed the Farroway Empire. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve been naive like many others to fall for his charms that have been clearly damped by his shaggy brown hair and forest green eyes hidden behind black glasses frames, implying he was more of a scholar as opposed to someone who cared about his appearance.

  This person before me was the bane of my existence. A no-filter, snarky, crude classmate and neighbor of ten years of mine from the Institution who contended against me for first place.

  I let out a dry laugh.

  “Now’s not the time for your humor, Tom.”

  “You say that,” He lightly scoffs, “And yet you chuckle. Care if I take a seat?”

  “The stairs aren’t mine.”

  Tom takes a comfortable position next to me, letting one leg relax comfortably on a wooden step and his other crossed over. We sit there in silence for a few. He was clearly itching to say something, no doubt about it, since he was scratching the back of his neck. Normally, my pride wouldn’t allow me to acknowledge Tom’s presence, but what was the point anymore? There was no recovering from this moment. But today is not about me.

  “Thank you.” I sniffle, grabbing another tissue from the box I settled in my lap. “Thanks for allowing us to use the venue on such short notice.”

  “Thank my uncle,” He replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. “He’s the one who arranged this.”

  I scoff, blowing my nose into a delicate white tissue.

  “Don’t play it off, I know you stayed up all last night to handle everything else.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Ryes asked me, Canna.”

  He almost never calls me by my first name, but to hear it roll off his tongue so naturally did not give me the “icks” for once.

  “And I’m grateful.”

  He laughs, not in the way that he usually mocked me during our days at the Institution. It’s one with a hint of sorrow and something else. Though he didn’t show it, his eyes were swollen. Clearly, he’s also been grieving.

  It comes as no surprise. Even though we were butting heads all the time, he was still close with everyone else in my family.

  His uncle, after all, was my mother’s superior, and they lived two streets down from us. There weren’t many kids who lived in the neighborhoods near the mortuary because of superstition about being around the dead, so it was only natural that Tom and I would become familiar with each other.

  Since his uncle was always busy, he would often camp out at our place when we were younger, but the visits grew less frequent as we got older.

  Good thing that he did, he was insufferable. Calling me Hurlard instead of my actual last name, Hyulard, after I puked that one time in class nine years ago.

  I turn to him.

  “I didn’t realize you cared.”

  “I may not like you personally, but Mrs. Hyulard has done a lot for me over the years. I respect her very much.”

  “And yet you disrespect me, her blood and flesh.”

  “You’re a different story.” Tom chuckled. “But let’s call it a truce for once in our ten-year feud for her sake.”

  “You know what?” I sniffed, doing my best to hold back tears. “I’ll accept that proposition.”

  Silence rang between us for a couple more awkward moments. Now that I think about it, we’ve never actually held a proper conversation without it evolving into a catfight. The thought made me reminisce more.

  I just wish I had more time.

  No, I wish she had more time.

  My heart ached with more yearning as those thoughts overwhelmed me.

  “She was perfectly healthy. I don’t understand…” I sighed, placing a hand under my chin. “I can’t wrap my head around it.”

  “What did the autopsy say?”

  “A stroke.” I sighed, combing through my brittle, chin-length ash colored hair. “A perfectly healthy woman in her mid-forties died because of a stroke. Neither Ryes nor I were home when it happened. By the time we found her, she was gone. Not a single heartbeat, and her body went cold.” I felt myself choke for a second, fumbling through my mind for the words to say. “We still called the hospital, of course, but we knew by then that she had returned to Calena’s embrace. It all happened too quickly…”

  And there it was.

  The waterfall of tears began flooding from my ducts. I could hear myself sniffle, no longer holding back from spilling out of my nostrils. The reality had finally sunken in.

  “Why did Calena have to take her from us so soon? What has she committed to that would have her part from us? I just…I just…”

  “Hyulard, take your time,” Tom assured me, bringing over a nearby tissue box from which I snagged a soft white towel, blowing the snot out of my system. To my dismay, that really didn’t help too much.

  “It was supposed to be a happy day. She was right there at graduation last week…” My voice cracked through the sobs. “She was smiling. That was the last time I saw her so happy. So radiant. What went wrong?” I slammed my fist against my knees. “There were no signs of struggle. No signs of diseases or ailments, anything for that matter—I’m sorry, Tom. I’m such a wreck right now.”

  Tom remained silent but inched closer to me.

  I couldn’t remember much of what happened, but I felt him pull me into an embrace. His arms wrapped gently around my body as he did. He didn’t say anything, but that hug told me everything I needed to know. The warmth, the bulging of his biceps, the slight movement of his glasses up the bridge of his nose, it was reassuring.

  “I’m sorry, Canna.” The words finally escaped his lips in that deep soprano voice of his that I only hear when he’s serious. And for the first time, instead of trembling, I could feel my body relax, melt into him as I inhaled his scent, citrus and sandalwood. My tears were wetting the shoulder of his blazer as he held me closer. “I wish I could’ve been there when it happened.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I spoke, placing my hands on his back. Tom had dropped by earlier that day with his uncle to hand my mother some documents while on their way to run errands. They wouldn’t have known what happened.

  “But, if we had stayed a few minutes longer, we could’ve at least prevented it.”

  “It’s all in retrospect,” I chuckle bitterly through my congestion, breaking free of his embrace and wiping away my snot with the edge of my tissue. “Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, there was no way to predict it.”

  I glanced over at him. He scooted back to his original position, letting his arm rest over his knee casually once more as he cast his eyes on the arches holding the ceiling of the church together. I never fully understood what the guy was thinking, but today I could feel his emotions slipping through.

  Those green eyes of his had a look I’ve never seen before.

  Something about the narrowing of pupils to the slight scrunching of his brows sent shivers down my spine. It wasn’t simply anger at himself. Clearly, he was bubbling under the usual carefree mask I’d seen him wearing over the years.

  What exactly was going on? Did he know something I wasn’t aware of?

  He let out a deep exhale. “My apologies, Canna. I got ahead of myself.”

  I shook my head from side to side.

  “You have nothing to apologize for. We’re all here to remember her. Remember the impact she had on all our lives.” I glance back at the coffin. “I know she wouldn’t want me looking like this. I know she’d want everyone to be happy, even when she’s gone. The world had other plans for her, unfortunately. I’m scared.”

  “Scared?”

  “Scared about what comes next. How am I going to navigate this life without her?”

  “You have many people who care for you, Canna. The ones who came here today wouldn’t mind helping you.”

  “I don’t want to impose.”

  “You won’t. Trust me on that.”

  “Not sure if I should be taking your word for it…”

  “I'm serious." Tom groaned, "My uncle and I are always open to lending an ear at the bare minimum.”

  The tears continued rolling down my face.

  “Thank you.” I sobbed, burying my head in my knees.

  “Any time.”