One Last Chance

~Adrienne's P.O.V~

The day of the funeral was truly something that has been tainted in my memory, something that will stick to the lobes of my brain till I die. In the early morning, we had hired a car and Billie, Mike, Tre, Ruri, Brittney and I crammed ourselves in and we drove to the destination. At first I was thinking that it would take place in one of those dark damp churches with a droning priest, but I was surprised when we had pulled up next to the entrance to a beach called Avalon Beach.
It had been an hour’s drive, so we had to force our stiff legs to move before attempting to get out of the car. The only one that wasn't moving was Billie.

Billie had been silent the whole drive, leaning his head against the window and staring into thin air. We had tried to start small conversations, but he would mumble and continuing staring out the window at the passing road and trees. Starting to get worried, I reached over and tapped him hard on the shoulder. Billie jumped and stared at me, wild eyed, before relaxing.

'Billie, are you going to be okay? You don't have to come if you don't want to.' I said softly, not wanting the others to over-hear.

'Oh, no, I'll be fine. I want to come.' he said in a tired voice. He tried to give me a small smile, but I could see that it pained him to even try. I sighed and gripped Billie's shoulder.

'I know it's really hard for you, but you don't have to keeping fighting and acting like the brave guy. They wont blame you if you don't show up!' I whispered.

Billie looked up from his feet and fixed me with a hard stare that scared me slightly.

'Adrienne, I'm going alright! Fran would have wanted me to come, and I'm not going to break down. I'm coming.' he said in a stiff voice.

Feeling my husband's pain was almost unbearable even for me. I leaned over and pulled him into a tight hug. I kissed his neck and leaned my head on his shoulder.

'I'm so proud of you Billie Joe, y'know that?' I said in his ear.

Billie was silent for a little while, and then he pulled out of my hug and kissed my cheek. Knowing that we had both comforted each other, we got out of the car and met up with everyone else.

As a group, we made our way onto the beach. I pulled off my shoes as we reached the sand, and I sighed to myself as I felt the soft white sand between my toes. We were all nervously looking at each other as we saw the rest of the funeral party near the shore. A huge number had showed up, with the family and almost over a hundred teenage kids dressed in black and holding flowers between each other.

I saw Billie tense up as he saw the group, but Mike put an arm around his shoulders and lead him towards the group. I stuck with Ruri and Brittney as we joined the edge of the group. Some of the kids glanced at us for a few seconds and looked away; others stopped and stared at the guys, obviously recognising them. I ignored their stares and looked to the front of the party, where Fran's uncle, aunt and twin brother stood. I noticed in Jeremy's hands he held a box. For a few seconds, my slow, tired brain tried to think what it was. But my stomach lurched with tension when I realised it was Fran's ashes.

After a few minutes, Greg took a few steps forward and looked at all of us. Everyone fell silent. There was hardly a noise to be heard save the occasional seagull passing overhead and the rumbling of a storm which was seen on the horizon. I though the whole scene to be tragically beautiful.

'I would like to thank everyone for coming out today - to say - to say goodbye to Francesca.' Greg stuttered, wringing his hands and looking on the verge of tears. I instantly felt so sorry for the man. He had lost nearly everything, including his niece. I started thinking of Joey and Jakob back home. My stomach felt as though it was about to drop out.

Greg broke into a slow, broken speech, talking about how much he loved Fran and all the things she had achieved. I found that tears were pouring down my cheeks. I leaned on Billie's shoulder for comfort. He kissed the top of my head and started playing with my hair. He was being very strong. Stronger than I expected.

Samantha also said a couple of words, and some of the teenage kids as well, but they would always burst into tears and would have to be walked over to a separate spot to let out all their emotion. After a little bit, Greg, Samantha and Jeremy were glancing in our direction. I turned to Billie.

'Billie, you should go up there and say something.' I whispered in his ear.

Billie's eyes widened and he turned to Mike and Tre for help. They whispered that they would come up with him. And with deep intake of breath, he stepped out and started walking to the front, with Mike and Tre not far behind him.

~Billie's P.O.V~

Walking up to the front of that funeral party was the longest walk of my life, even though I had to take ten steps and I was there. Mike and Tre patted my back as we walked up. All those kids were looking at us, as though we could solve all their problems and bring Fran back to life. But we were just three average guys. I looked out into the small sea of pale tear smeared faces. All the attention was focused on us, and for once, I didn't like it. Not one bit.

Mike decided to speak up first. He confidently looked into the faces and spoke about Fran like she was an angel. He talked about how Fran was funny, caring and fun to hang around, and how he felt devastated when she died. Tre then stood up and said how pretty she looked, even without her hair. Soon, it was my turn. I felt my brains were going to explode as every eye made contact with mine.

'Well, I guess what Mike and Tre said summed up everything about Francesca.' I started, looking at my wife at the back of the party. She nodded at me, and I swallowed hard and continued my improvised speech

'Some of you may think we're being fakes because we only knew her for a few days.' I said, growing more confident. 'But, you may be surprised how much you get to know a person in such a short amount of time. People grow on you, and when after such a short time they leave your life, it's just - it's just so hard to move on and forget. They taint your memory, and sure it hurts, but I'm positive that the pain will go away after a little while. The same goes for everyone here today. It was the same for me and my dad's death, and it will be the same for all you guys. Just think about how brave Francesca was, and think of all those good times you spent with her. And like she said to me, you'll realise you had the times of your lives.'

I stopped it there, feeling like I had said enough. At the end of the speech, everyone's face had changed. They were looking at us with a sense of pride and appreciation. Jeremy smiled up at us, his eyes swimming with tears.

'Thank you guys. Thank you so much.' he whispered, giving us a smile. I nodded at him and smiled for the first time in several days.

After a few more minutes, everyone stood back while Jeremy walked forward slightly towards the water. A wave came up and brushed the tips of his toes. We all watched in wait for Jeremy to release the ashes. Adrienne came up and wrapped her arms around my arm. Ruri and Brittney stood by as well, waiting for that one moment. But Jeremy stood there, looking down at the box. He turned and looked back at us.

'Jeremy, you don't have to do it if you don't want to.' Samantha said nervously, reaching out to Jeremy. Jeremy pulled back and shook his head.

'No-I-I can do it. It's just that I don't want to do it by myself.' Jeremy stuttered, looking around nervously. His eyes rested on mine, and we stared at each other for what felt like years. I could have ignored it, but that was impossible. He wanted us to do it.

I looked over to Mike and Tre, to see what they thought. Both looked pale and nervous, but they both nodded to me. They were in, but was I? Was I prepared to actually let go of someone that I had cared about? I forced my legs to move as Mike and Tre walked over to Jeremy. Jeremy laid one hand on the box, and so did the rest of us, with my hand on the top. We looked around at each other, making sure that we were ready.

'Alright.' Jeremy said looking down at the box again. '3,2,1-'

We faced the box towards the sea and we lifted the lid of the box. The ashes flew out, being instantly caught on a wind heading out to sea. I stared at the ashes twirl around the air like a ribbon, until the ashes disappeared out into the grey stormy ocean.

'Goodbye sister.' I heard Jeremy mumble. He suddenly broke into a fresh cascade of tears, his sobs chocking him. I pulled him into a hug and let him cry on my shoulder while I rubbed his back. I continued to stare out to sea, even though Fran's ashes were long gone. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and small droplets of rain began to fall.

Mike laid a hand on my free shoulder and smiled down a me while Tre rubbed Jeremy's head soothingly. And together we stared out into the ocean, secretly knowing that we had given an extraordinary girl the time of her short time on earth.

As I continued to hold Jeremy in that hug, I hummed a tune that would be stuck in my head for now more than one reason.

It's something unpredictable
But in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life. . . .

T E
H N
E D <3 <3 <3