Day Of

Riley

My hands shook as I buttoned the front of my black dress. Something about funeral homes and caskets and tombstones left me unraveled. The fact that I was going to bury my mother in an hour was beyond comprehensible, but to know that she was going to be laid to rest next to my older brother...

"Hey. You ready to go?" Charlotte poked her head into the bathroom where I stood.

"Yeah. Sure." I reached for a tube of pink lipstick and put a little on my lips, not wanting to overdo it too much. The dark circles under my eyes had been a bitch to cover up, but somehow between me and Char, we'd done it.

"I'm going to be right beside you, okay? Jace is too. He's meeting us there." She gave me a quick hug and reached up to reposition the gold charm necklace on my neck. "Let's get some ice cream after this. I think we're going to need it a lot over the next few months."

"Me too." I moved around her and picked up my small black purse. Numbness had settled around me, and I wanted to question ev