A Month To Live - Extras

The Grey Day

‘You think this is formal enough?’ I asked Remi, nervously pulling at my dress to adjust it.

‘Yeah, I think so. Hard to tell with funerals, isn’t it?’ she muttered.

‘Not sure. I haven’t been to one before,’ I sighed, turning to her with a frown.

‘Really? I’ve been to a couple. Mom’s was the most recent though,’ she said.

I rubbed her arm soothingly, feeling jittery as I glanced up at the clock. She seemed surprisingly calm. Remi was kind of known for having... well let’s just say less control over her emotions. She could be over the moon one second and murderous the next. It was hard to get used to when you first knew her but it seemed almost normal now.

‘You feeling okay?’ I asked.

‘I’ll be fine. More worried about Bradley,’ she said, waving her hand. ‘I didn’t really know Tommy’s mom that well to be honest. Tommy is more of a guy’s guy, isn’t he?’

‘I really don’t know,’ I admitted. ‘I spent most of my time at school avoiding him. I’ve only really hung out with him with Bradley the past few weeks, never on my own.’

‘Weird. I forget that you’ve only lived here a while,’ Remi said, glancing down her phone. ‘Kyle’s here. Ready? Where’s Bradley?’

‘I’ll go find him. He was sorting his hair out last time I saw him.’

I set my bag down on the small table by the door and headed for the stairs quickly.

‘Bradley?’ I called, making my way down the upstairs hallway. ‘We’ve got to get moving.’

I didn’t hear his reply so assumed he was probably in his bathroom getting ready still. But when I opened his bedroom door, I immediately saw him perched on the end of the bed looking down at his hands seemingly deep in thought.

‘You hear me? We’ve got to leave,’ I told him, hovering in the doorway.

He didn’t reply again or even look up when I spoke. I frowned and quietly closed the door behind myself before making my way over to him in an almost cautious manner. Something definitely wasn’t right.

‘Bradley?’ I asked hesitantly, standing just in front of him.

‘I don’t want to go,’ he said quietly.

His tone of voice made chest tighten and my hand jumped to his shoulder of its own accord, squeezing tightly.

‘You don’t want to go?’ I repeated. ‘You know we have to,’ I added gently. ‘We can’t leave Tommy there by himself, can we?’

‘I can’t go,’ he said, still not lifting his head.

‘Bradley,’ I said, pushing on his shoulders so he leaned back a little. Once there was room, I sat myself down on his knee and cupped his face in my hands. ‘Talk to me.’

‘I can’t do it,’ he said, meeting my eyes at last.

The expression in his own made me want to cry. It was the most dejected look I’d ever seen on him. He’d been quiet before I’d gone downstairs to check on the others but, I mean, we’d all been pretty quiet the past day. I was kind of disappointed in myself that I didn’t see it earlier.

I stroked his cheek gently, silently urging him to go on. I couldn’t help him if I didn’t know what exactly he was feeling.

‘You should go without me,’ he said hoarsely, swallowing before his next words. ‘You’re a lot stronger than I am, I’ll just fuck up and make Tommy feel even worse. He’ll need someone like you there, not me.’