Faster We Burn

still couldn’t go into my parents’ room. Mom had cleaned and scrubbed the rest of the house, but she hadn’t touched his stuff. Guess I wasn’t the only one in denial.
    I tried to call and talk to Lottie, but she ended up rambling and then crying and apologizing so much that I told her I had to go, and from then on Stryker kept my phone and was responsible for calling everyone and giving them updates.
    I knew he was missing his classes, but he told me not to worry about it, so I didn’t. I had enough things to worry about.

 
     
    Chapter Twenty
     
     
    Stryker
     
    Mr. Hallman’s funeral was less than a week after he’d died. Mrs. Hallman had turned into a woman possessed, as if the funeral was some sort of grand event, like a wedding, or a terribly important party. I just kept Katie out of the fray and tried to be invisible, but Mrs. Hallman barely noticed I was there.
    I helped Katie zip up the back of her dress in her room, which she hadn’t slept in since she’d come home. We usually ended up in the basement, snatching sleep whenever.
    “How do I look?” She was gorgeous, even in her sadness.
    “Beautiful.” I kissed her shoulder and she turned slowly. I’d barely kissed her since we’d gotten back from the hospital and it wasn’t just because it didn’t seem like the right thing to do in light of her father’s death.
    I didn’t deserve to kiss her; not after what I’d done with Ric. In a stupid way, I thought that she might find out, if she kissed me. Like the truth would be written on my lips.
    “You ready?” Katie didn’t know it, but everyone was coming down for the funeral. I’d organized what Trish had dubbed the “Grief Committee” when she’d come down to bring me some clothes a few days ago. I told them not to go overboard, but I had no idea what to expect.
    The house was full of people. Lots of relatives and friends that I’d become acquainted with. They all gave me strange looks until I explained who I was, which was always awkward. I just told them that I was Katie’s friend and let them make their own conclusions, which they were going to do anyway.
    Katie’s phone buzzed with a message from Trish saying that they were waiting out front.
    “Come with me.” I took her hand and led her through the living room as Mrs. Hallman yelled at someone about making sure the flowers had arrived at the funeral home.
    There they were, all dressed in black, standing on the porch.
    “What are you doing here?” Katie said. “I said you didn’t have to come.”
    “Of course we had to come,” Audrey said coming forward and giving Katie a hug. Will and Lottie and Trish and Simon and Zan followed, each giving her a hug and their sympathies. I’d heard enough of them by now to know which were genuine and which weren’t. These were of the former.
    “When are you coming back to school?” Trish said as we shivered on the porch. There wasn’t really enough room in the house, but I had an idea.
    “Hey, why don’t we move this inside? We can go down to the basement.” Adam and I had consolidated a lot of the furniture and moved it around so we’d have a place to sleep, and we could probably fit down there.
    I led them all through the house, and everyone gave us looks but no one asked any questions.
    “Oh my God, it’s Hoarders, The Furniture E dition,” Lottie said when she saw it.
    “Don’t talk about Hoarders ,” Simon said, shuddering. I’d been right to invite them. Katie almost cracked a smile.
    “Oh, sorry,” Lottie said. “I should be more respectful.”
    “No, you should be however you want to be. Everyone’s been so damn respectful it makes me want to scream,” Katie said, sitting on the bed. “Be normal. I need some normal, because everything else isn’t normal.”
    “I’ve got it,” Simon said, snapping his fingers. “Picnic game.” I remembered playing it while waiting outside Katie’s hospital room the night Zack attacked her. It seemed as good a plan as any, and Katie actually did smile. I could count on one hand the amount of smiles I’d seen from her in the past few days.
    I put my arm around her and she leaned into me.
    “Thank you, again,” she whispered. “I needed them.”
    “I know,” I said as Simon started the game.
    We played until it was time for everyone to go over to the funeral home. We’d all laughed and it had been like a completely normal thing, with the exception of everyone wearing black.
    Katie relaxed a little and