"That was a beautiful speech, Vivian. You're so brave for standing up there and sharing something so intimate."
Vivian nodded with a sullen look on her face, "I was lost until Kelly came around. I had no close friends, just a few people who I hung out with in the girl's home. When Kelly arrived and Wren introduced us, I fell head over heels. She became my world. I held her while she cried from nightmares on a number of occasions—"
"You don't have to tell me," Francine said.
"I want to."
Francine nodded and Vivian continued, "We didn't get much time together, but I knew that I loved her. We talked a lot, we hung out all day every day for three weeks. I could tell she was spiraling downward each night, though. All that had happened to her...it was just awful. I tried to help her forget it, but there was no way she ever could move past what happened."
Francine hugged Vivian, "Sounds like you were there when she most needed someone. It's not your fault she left that night, Viv. No one could have stopped her."
Vivian nodded, "I just miss her so much."
Francine pat Vivian's leg, "We all do."
The world seemed a darker, stranger place without Kelly in it. At least for her family. The girls at the home mourned the death of Kelly for the allotted mourning period, then had to move on. Most didn't know her well, but for Marsha, Wren, Jen and Vivian, it was hard to move past.
Kelly's old neighbor, Jessica was present at her funeral. She cried uncontrollably for weeks and never fully recovered over the fact that she would never see Kelly again.
Tyler showed up as well. He cried at the funeral because he felt guilty. If only he had been there for Kelly, shown her friendship and stayed with her, or even confirmed with her mother about her attendance at the party, none of this would have happened to her.
These boys and girls of only fifteenor sixteen years of age, already knowing so much pain and loss, some never torecover, was unbearable for everyone to live with. The mourning lasted for amonth before even the strongest were able to go back to their everyday lives.Still, the nagging feeling that something huge was missing from their lives neverfully left.