Privileged

74| Gone Girl

Two months later

Zachary was sitting in the school's main hall that was decorated with hundreds of photos of Althea. He could hear voices of his father and mother, giving their respective speeches but he didn't understand a word they said. His mind was focused on his own fumbling hands.

Never did he think one day, he would be asked to speak at his sister's memorial. Never did he imagine a gathering in Majesty High that won't involve Althea barking orders at everyone else. They both had always been together since childhood; same elementary school, same middle school, same highschool, same gym, same music academy. Never did he think he would lose one half of his whole just like that.

Moisture blurred his vision and that's when he felt a hand on top of his. Angling his neck, he found Maya massaging his palm in soothing strokes. "It's your turn." She said.

"I can't." He whispered.

"You have to. You owe her this." Maya smiled briefly.

Nodding, he stood up and walked over to the podium. He lifted his head and gave a glance to the whole hall. Hundreds of people had gathered there to mourn for her; people that Zachary never saw before, people he had never heard of.

"Respected principal, faculty members, parents and my classmates, Good morning." He said and he could feel his voice breaking. He turned his head to his left, where a full sized picture of Althea was placed. She was dressed in best clothes with not a hear out of place. But he couldn't erase the last memory of hers from his mind; Althea stained with blood, tubes in her mouth, her head bald from a side and covered with a huge bandage.

"Althea and I, we had our fair share of fights, like every other siblings. She is sometimes really annoying; was. She was really annoying." He sucked a sharp breath. "But without her, nothing feels the same. We always fought but if I could trade places with her, I would do it in a heartbeat because I don't want to live on a world where my sister doesn't exist." Zachary said and with that, a tear rolled down his cheeks.

Lowering his head, he smiled. "Knowing her, she will be dancing in heaven with joy, considering the attention she is getting today."

His eyes fell over to the audience and he searched for familiar faces. There was Zoey, sitting in a corner with Travis by her side. On her left was sitting Olive and Cindy. He looked for Ethan but there was no sign of him.

"We had done everything together since childhood. We always had same friends, we took same classes but Althea, she was always better than me in everything. I did everything for myself but Althea, she did everything for others. She always put our parents first and moulded herself into the perfect daughter. She cared for all our friends, even if she appeared a control freak. She always had everyone's best interest in mind, but it took her death to make everyone realize that." He said.

"It hurts me to think she will never get to go to a college. She will never get to see a world beyond this city. The world had so much to offer, she had so much to offer to the world. There are so many things she won't get to go because apparently, that's life. And we are supposed to suck it up. Well, guess what, it isn't as easy as it sounds."

After speaking for five more minutes, he finally left the stage and went back to where Maya was sitting. After a while, Zoey made his way to their seats and sat beside Zachary.

"You did great." She patted his arm.

"Thanks." Zachary said as he blinked to clear his vision. To change the topic, he said, "When is your flight?"

"Tomorrow morning." She replied.

At this, his heart once again drowned in darkness. Althea was the glue holding them together and now they rarely met. Ethan had separated himself from everyone and refused to attend any call. Zoey was leaving for Milan, Olive was also leaving for her college a week later. He was left behind in this city, where everything reminded him of her.