EVERMORE | DEAD POETS SOCIETY

TWENTY SIX!

THE CHURCH WAS BEAUTIFUL, BUT SO STILL IN A WAY. Rebetta looked around as everyone followed in. Just a few weeks ago, she was expecting to be writing her piece for the paper with Richard and Todd, enjoying the summer air. But now, her friend was dead, the ghost of her past had shown up and Charlie was confusing her. So much was happening, but at least the church was peaceful enough that she could comprehend what was all happening.

They all gathered in the pews as a picture of Meeks and a casket with a United States of America flag was draped across it. Rebetta had found out from Knox that they couldn't recover his body from Vietnam. There were a few reasons. It was too badly damaged to transport it, even though he was long gone. The other reason, it was difficult to grab the bodies that had gotten bombed. They were heading into dangerous territory. It wasn't worth getting him.

His life was worth it though.

Rebetta knew that Steven Meeks life was so much worth a stupid war that nobody wanted. Steven Meeks was always still the remarkable seventeen year boy she had met. The one who would sneak in his home made a radio system into school, or the one that comforted her the day she had lost Neil.

She hated losing people, but funny enough, most of her life it felt like she had always lost people. From an early age, she wasn't close with her mother and father due to the fact she was much more intelligent than both of them combined. She had wished that maybe if she had gotten older that maybe she could "find" them and nothing could have been lost. It just didn't work out that way. The pain always sticks with you, no matter how long.

Rebetta turned her head to see Neil, looking straight ahead. She knew he was trying not to cry, trying not to break down. Neil. Another person she had lost, from ways she didn't want to lose. In such a tragic way, her first love had gotten ripped out of her hands. She had suffered the consequences for so long. She had to get other people to try and fix her mess, and there was always a part of her that knew that the pain when Neil left was never going to go away. Even though he was a person away from her. Time wasn't in their favor. Could time make up for it?

And then there was the person she had missed the most as of recent years, Rose Carmichael. The one person in her life who knew what advice she needed. The mother and father all combined in one. Her helping hand, her reading buddy, truly the best person in her life. She had missed her so much. Rose had taught Rebetta to be the woman that she was today. The strong, brave, kind-hearted Betta. She wished she was here right now. She could ask her how to handle Steven's death, or how to come to terms that Neil was actually here and not dead. Or the fact Charlie was showing signs that they had dealt when they were kids.

She couldn't cry. She had to be strong for her friends. As they sat down, she felt Charlie's eyes on her. Rebetta looked forward, staring hard at Steven's empty casket. Meeks wouldn't want her to cry about his death. He would want his friends to read some poetry in his honor, to celebrate his short life instead of mourning it.

Her lip quivered. She wished she could give Meeks a hug. She wanted to protect him from the stupid bombs in Vietnam, to scream not to hurt him, because he had family. He had an important life. Charlie's hand rested on top of Rebetta's hand, and gave it a squeeze.

She turned to him, glassy eyes and all. She remembered that he was the first person in her life to show her that it was alright to not be okay. That everybody deals with problems, and if the world didn't deal with problems then the world wouldn't go round. "You alright?" He whispered, making sure the other poets didn't hear him.

"Fantastic." She whispered.

"Now the truth." Charlie whispered again.

She shook her head. "Not so hot."