Page 17 of Eight Weeks
Only Colin could make people laugh at a funeral. Though I know, despite the slim smile on his face, whatever is going on inside of his head and heart, it’s far away from happiness and laughter.
I know I’m far from it.Mychest is hurting, my head is spinning in hopes for Eira that everything she expected death to be like… it’s just like it.
A couple more people go up on that tiny stage to say a few words, and with every other person, the heaviness around us seems to lighten as people no longer talk about how sad it is that Eira is gone, but about how much she loved laughing, how she would fall onto any soft surface all dramatically when she was about to ask a question, she knew wasn’t going to draw a good reaction out of the other person. They talked about her happy memories. The little moments in life people tend to overlook.
An hour later—I believe—the whole ceremony is over. The team is awfully quiet for once, yet they still somehow crack jokes despite looking like they’ve been run over by ten trucks and had bees sting their eyes.
We’re all invited to the Carter’s house for a little party in Eira’s honor. Yes, aparty. Just like she wished.
Tears aren’t allowed, so she said herself. Repetitively. She wanted everything glamorous, big, and happy. Eira didn’t want to go with people crying over her death, she wanted them to celebrate her life.
As we all make our way out of this cemetery, a wisteria-colored bow on dark chocolate colored hair catches my attention.
She’s kneeling by a grave, currently exchanging old roses with her favorite flowers.
I don’t have to see the woman’s face to know it’s Sofia.
I have absolutely no idea why she’s here, whose grave she is visiting, but I do know I won’t stop thinking about it until I get an answer.
But that answer will have to wait.
Today is about Eira, not my weird connection to my old childhood crush.
11
Sofia
“shooting for the stars when I couldn’t make a killing”— High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco
“How’s it going?”my brother asks after I finally pick up the phone at five in the goddamn morning. “Did you hear the news already?”
“What news?” Clearly, I didn’t.
“The ones about Leon and Julia.”
“No, but I’m sure you’ll enlighten me very soon, Lukas.” Lukas is five years older than me… and yetheis the one that loves gossip. With his twenty-six years on this earth, you’d think he finds gossiping childish. Well, he doesn’t. Especially not when it’s about our sister and that fucker that used to be my boyfriend.
If I’m being honest, I’ve always preferred Lukas over Julia. I never thought he preferred me over her though, given that they’re closer in age than we are. But the second I told him Julia fuckedmyboyfriend while I was still with him, he turned against her instantly.
Now, I know siblings should always stick together and have each other’s backs and such. But I refuse to call Julia my sister at this point.
She’s twenty-seven years old. Leon is my age. She knew very well that we were dating, and she still went and seduced him.
I’m not upset we’re no longer together. In fact, I knew Leon and I wouldn’t work out the second we started dating. Doesn’t mean she can go and fuck him while he’s in a relationship with me though.
And to make matters worse, they’re now a couple.
“Leon is going to propose to her on Christmas morning,” Lukas tells me. “As far as I know, Julia knows of it. They’re planning the proposal to makeyoufeel bad when you come back for the holidays.”
Only Julia would be this cruel.
She’s always been heartless. Even more so when we moved to Germany. In a country where people tend to take words too seriously sometimes, she definitely fits right in. That is unless you move to a small town on the countryside and the townies are all chirpy and not saying hello while passing someone on the streets is counted as being rude.
Such a nightmare for my dear sister. A definite laugh for me.
“I’m not even sure I can come,” I say. The thought of having to watch my sister get proposed to by a guy I’ve dated before just gives me one more reason not to have time to be home for this Christmas. “I’ll probably have tons of homework etcetera.”
“No, Sofia. Youwillbe there. I need you here. You think I can get through that act all by myself? If I’m the only one wasted, dad will make me clean our barn for a whole month. You know I can’t keep my mouth shut when I’m drunk, so I would tell Julia how much of a bitch she is only to get punished from our parents at the age of twenty-six.” He sure would. Our father is a little stricter than our mother, and yes, somehow, he still thinks punishing hisadultchildren is acceptable.
