Ain't Life Just Wonderful?

Cory’s funeral was a week after his death. His parents wanted me to present a speech.

"Lily, would you like to say a few words?” Mr. Espio asked.

I nodded, and made my way towards the front of the Church.

“Cory was a friend. He had his quirks, his particularities. He had his run-ins with some people, but don’t we all? Sure, I disliked him sometimes, he hated himself sometimes too. But no matter what, he cared.

“I remember the beginning of our friendship, he didn’t even want to be friends with me. You could say I won him over in the end, but he won the real war. For weeks he used to say that he hated this world, he was suicidal. He landed himself in the hospital a few times, but every single time he came back to school he cared even more about my health.

"He was always doing things for everyone else. He would die for his friends, which ironically, is what happened. He only wanted to talk to me, to make me listen to his explanations, but it ended terribly wrong. I know he had plenty of things to tell me, he’d left a lot out of his life when he was telling me about it. Part of me still wants to know everything, but the rest of me, just wants this nightmare to be over.

"I’ve had enough of the questions from the police, and everyone else; I’ve had enough of the looks that everyone gives me, the pitying stares; the guilt. I want the guilt to go away. The only good thing about all this, is that now I understand exactly how Cory felt when he was taken in for questioning after the death of Mrs. Asbury. Testifying in court was the scariest thing I’d ever done, but it was the least I could do for Cory after he helped me through the most difficult month of my life."

Too bad I lied in court. At that point, I didn’t hate Cory, I loved him. I wanted to spend every day with him. Even after he ran down Mrs. Asbury, I thought it was a mistake. He had been drunk. I couldn’t tell the police that. I didn’t. But if they figured out I had lied to them, I wouldn’t have even been at the funeral.

"Anyways, Cory was a one-of-a-kind kind of guy. Never again will I find anyone who cared so much about what I did, where I went, and who said what to me. He respected me, he cared for me, and he’d do anything for me."

He also manipulated me, under-minded me, and belittled and didn’t understand me for the most part.

"I hate going home everyday just to sit at the window and have the realization that Cory never will walk past my house again. I’ll never see him again. I’ll never see that smile that so rarely played on his lips, the laugh that was rarely genuine; I’ll never get another hug that made me feel like everything was fine.

"As sad as I am, I’m sure the Espio’s feel ten times worse then I do, and I’m sure they’ll want me to shut up before we all start bawling again. I love you Cory, I always have, and I always will."

What a lie. I have absolutely no feelings for Cory. They all left after I found out that he had willingly been the cause of Mrs. Asbury's death. He may have been drunk, but he knew exactly what was going on. During his hearing, I saw the real Cory, I saw the real plot. I was just a pawn in a game. A game that’s finally over.