How To Save A Life

epilogue

The weeks that followed Matt's suicide were painful for everyone. Neighbours watched with sullen eyes as his clothes were packed into boxes and thrown in the trash, donated or locked in the garage by his father. It wasn't only his peers who found it difficult to deal with the death - teachers were granted time away to cope with losing such a cheerful, popular student. His funeral took place two weeks after the news of his death was spread.

The chapel was full, students and teachers as well as family members all gathering for the funeral of a boy who nobody expected to lose so soon. Matthew's parents perched on opposite ends of a bench at the front, his mother clutching her two children and sobbing into their hair as they cried. His fathers eyes showed pain but his face was stone cold, eyes locked on the wooden casket where his son's lifeless body was lay.

Throughout the service more and more people entered the building and lined the walls, all shedding tears at the loss of their friend. Matt was loved by many people and it took almost 45 minutes for the many eulogies, letters and memories to be shared from the brokenhearted mourners.

A small speaker rested next to a tree nearby whilst the body was lowered into the ground. The quiet hum of music drifted through the people, Matt's iPhone plugged in and softly playing Be Still by The Fray. Almost everybody there had crowded to watch the memorial and be comforted by their peers but still there was one girl who stood alone, resting against a tree while her classmates shot her daggers and cried over the boy they barely even knew.

"If you forget the way to go
And lose where you came from
If no one is standing beside you
Be still and know I am..."

Cassie didn't bother wiping the tears from her eyes as they would only be replaced by fresh ones. She still found it difficult to cope, but the night that she received the message on her voicemail and the hours that followed were nothing but a blur; she remembered playing the desperate message and immediately trying to call him back, running to the cafe where his friends were gathered to see if they were playing a joke, sprinting across town to find his house and help him. When she arrived she was met by screaming, crying and the wailing of ambulance sirens.

It wasn't long until the rest of the school found out and immediately the blonde girl was blamed for his suicide. Cassie couldn't help but blame herself too. She knew that if she has forgiven him, not made a scene in front of everyone or just picked up the damn phone Matt would still be with them. "It's my fault," she whispered, letting more sobs erupt from her throat.

After the funeral, things only got worse. It didn't take long for Matthew's father to file divorce papers and permanently move into his apartment across town. The hearing wouldn't take place for months but neither parent knew how to deal with losing him. In school the atmosphere was drab. Students who had never spoken to Matt were taken out of lessons crying and it was impossible for Cassie to dodge the stares she received in the hallways; some were pitiful, others full of hatred.

The only person who seemed to be on Cassie's side was Matthew's mother. When she approached the young girl after the funeral, everyone expected her to cry or scream or assault her. Instead, the two hugged and Cassie was invited to see his bedroom and take anything she wanted before it was taken away. Before they parted, his mother took out a slip of paper with 'For Cassie' scribbled on the front. Weeks later, she still hasn't found the courage to open it.

When Cassie entered the vacated bedroom for the first time, her heart almost stopped. Everything was still in place, only his clothes had been taken away to choose his outfit to be buried in. After all, Matt hated formal things and there is no way he wanted to be in a suit for the rest of eternity. A CD reflected light around the room and she recognised Matthew's handwriting scrawled across the front. "My Song." She read aloud, and went straight to find a CD player to hear it. When the first chords played it wasn't hard to tell Matt was singing and recording himself.