An Arranged Funeral for Two Jerks

Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Ready, Set, ACTION!

Ryan's POV

"Mark, I'm really not sure about this," I called our to him from outside the bathroom.

He peeked his head out of the door. "Trust me! It'll be fine."

"But all she said were a few snide little comments. And her parents did just die, you can't expect her to be cheerful about it."

"Why not? Everyone else is." Kim's voice resonated off the bathroom's high ceiling. I heard her gasp as fabric tore on her dress that she was trying on with Mark's assistance and cringed. Mark spent a lot of time on that. But Mark calmly reassured her and guided the conversation back to Allison's parents.

"Yeah, they were mean! And Kim is right, Allison has been treating me like dirt for years, it's time she got what's coming to her."

"But Mark, she named you her kids' godfather. Doesn't that count for anything? She obviously cares about you, and-"

He stepped out of the bathroom. "Well, Kim's ready. And I don't want to hear it. Allison needs to know that I deserve to be treated better. Don't you think so?"

I sighed and pushe dmy hair back out of my eyes. "Fine, fine, I give up. But if this heads south, don't say I didn't warn you." I kissed him on the cheek and tried to ignore the voice inside my head telling me this is a horrible idea. "So run this by me again?"

Kim opened the bathoom door and stepped out wearing Mark's specially designed pink sparkling dress. "Mark, your boyfriend is a little slow." She turned to me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Okay, okay, let's run through this one more time. You find Allison and tell her something horrible has happened and take her out to the backyard. Meanwhile, Mark rigs up a microphone up to the balcony overlooking the yard and I walk out, thanking everyone for coming, yadda yadda yadda. He trains a spotlight on me and I talk until Allison gets there. Then as she walks out, I turn the spotlight on her and tell everyone about how her parents forced her into planning the funeral, about how she hated them and about how she hates everyone there. People get angry, she gets defensive, then as she runs forward to take the mic from me, I push her over the balcony and into a huge pile of mud."

"But what about Connor? He'll kill you, Kim. And you, Mark."

Mark smiled grimly. "Don't worry, Simon's taking care of him."

I closed my eyes and walked to the window overlooking the yard. "But that balcony is a good ten feet from the ground. She could get hurt."

Kim rolled her eyes and applied some lipgloss. "Please, like I care about her well-being. Now, let's do this."

Mark nodded and followed her out into the living room. I put my hand on his shoulder and turned him around. "Are you sure about this?"

He swallowed and smiled a painful smile. "I guess. I know it's mean, but... she deserves it. Right?"

I shook my head. "I guess that's for you to decide."

He looked over my shoulder and then shook his head slowly. But he turned around and followed in Kim's footsteps anyway. I pondered whether or not I should warn Allison, whether or not it was my place to tell her what's going on. As Kim sent me the signal to find Allison, I dragged my feet, knowing full well the consequences of what we were doing. And just how wrong it really was.

***

Allison's POV

"Yes, yes, I completely trust them. Yes... of course... great! Oh my gosh, thank you so much! This means so much! Okay... okay... thank you! Good-bye!"