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Chapter 23 : Funeral day

Chapter 23

Later...    

Riker POV

"Riker, wake up."

I opened my eyes to see Selena standing next to my bed.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Almost midnight."

I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"Can I stay here tonight?" Selena asked.

"Yeah, of course."

I got up and locked my door.

"Did you talk to your dad about coming to the funeral?"

I got back into bed next to Selena.

"Yeah. He said I could go."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's great."

I wrapped my arms around Selena.

"Tomorrow's going to be the worst day of my life. So I'm really glad you'll be with me."

"Well I'm glad there's something I can do to help."

"Tomorrow I want to give you one of my old phones so you'll have one to contact me if something happens. Did your dad say anything about your smashed phone?"

"No."

"Well you can just have one of my old ones."

"Thanks."

"I'm surprised you didn't clean up all the glass and blood."

"I was too tired. And I just really didn't feel like it."

"That's ok. I can help you clean it up tomorrow. For now, let's just get some sleep."

The next day...

Riker POV

I'd never been to a funeral before. I mean, the only family member that I know I have is my dad. Sometimes I wonder if I have aunts, uncles, or cousins. But dad won't talk about that stuff with me. And that just makes me want to steal that thumb drive back even more.

I felt kind of awkward and out of place because I didn't know anyone here besides Selena and I didn't know what to say or do. I just stuck by Selena the whole time.

Even though I didn't know her dad, it was still really sad. Selena is just taking this really hard.

I didn't see Curt here. I was kind of curious if he would show up, but I guess not.

When it was over, Selena went home because she and her mom had more stuff to sort out. So I went back home too. Dad was waiting for me in the kitchen.

"How was it?" He asked.

"Sad," I said.

"Let me check you for cuts."

I sighed. I don't want to do this.

"Do you have to?" I asked.

"Yes."

It took me a lot longer to get undressed because of all the stuff I was wearing for the funeral, like a tie. Dad checked me for new cuts, and then I went to my bedroom to change into comfy clothes.

My floor was still a mess. And I still don't feel like cleaning it up.

I was getting really worried about Curt though. We haven't seen him since the fight and he wasn't at the funeral. I just hate fighting with people and I just want to be friends again.

I decided to text him and ask him if he could come over and talk. And I was kind of surprised when he said yes.

I didn't know if I was allowed to have people over since I was grounded. So I told him to come in through my window, and I locked my door.

But I was kind of nervous. What if he's mad at me? What if he yells at me?

About 5 minutes later, Curt climbed through my window and sat down on the end of my bed.

"What did you want to talk about?" Curt asked.

"Do you hate me?" I asked, quietly.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Riker, I don't hate you."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No. I'm mad at Selena."

"You weren't at her dad's funeral today."

"I figured she wouldn't want me there."

"So then if you're not mad at me, can we still be friends? Because I miss you."

"Yeah, we can be friends. But I don't want to hang out while Selena is here, ok?"

"Ok. Do you think you'll make up with her?"

"I don't know."

I sighed. I just want all of us to be friends again.

"You haven't cleaned up all the glass and blood?" Curt asked.

"I didn't feel like it," I mumbled.

"Do you want help?"

"Really?"

"Well I'm the one that smashed the window."

"I would love help. You really promise we're ok?"

"I promise."

I hugged him tight. I felt a little better now that we were friends again.

Later...

Riker POV

Curt and I cleaned up all of the glass and blood. And now we were sitting on the floor because we were tired. But things were back to normal. It wasn't awkward anymore. We were friends again.

"Riker?"

"What?"

"I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"If I tell you, can you promise to not be mad at me?"

"Yeah, I promise."

He pulled up his sleeves, showing me fresh cuts on his arms.

"I thought you didn't do that anymore," I said, quietly.

"I didn't. But then after we got into a fight, I just got really upset. I couldn't stop myself."

"Well it's ok. You know I just cut too, and had to get stitches, so I get it."

"How is your wrist doing?"

I pulled up my sleeve to show him.

"Does it still hurt?"

"It's sore."

"Does your dad know?"

"Yeah, he got the hospital bill. I had to tell him. And now he's checking me for new cuts every single day, and it's really annoying."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No. He wasn't even really mad."

"That's good."

"Yeah, but I'm grounded until he determines I'm done cutting."

"Oh... That kind of sucks."

"Yeah. And he's probably going to do something to my window so I can't sneak out again, and then I won't be able to see you or Selena."

"Maybe we can figure something out."

"Yeah, maybe..."