It was only the three of us after Clara Finn's funeral, walking in the fog through the graveyard. Everyone else had stayed behind after her casket had gotten lowered, or had gone home. Not us. We loved her too much for that, but I don't think Luke could have stood there any longer if he tried. Luke, the serious one in our school, the rock everyone went to for advice. Cool and collected Luke, always strong no matter what the circumstance. That day, our rock was crumbling, and Daevyd and I were his only solidity. So we walked away from it all. I remembered the mornings on the way to school, going through the same graveyard. The four of us. The Four Freakateers, we used to call ourselves. Clara came up with that back in middle school. Now here we were, soon to graduate, and still called the Freakateers - only now, Clara was gone. The crazy quartet, now narrowed down to only three, and lacking our support beam: Clara, the girl who had brought us all together back in second grade. Clara, the girl who loved her friends more then anything else in the world. She taught us all a little bit about devotion. "Man, I hope my funeral isn't like this," I mumbled. "All those sad faces. I just can't stand it." "This is what funerals are like, Josie," Daevyd said. "People die, everyone gets sad." "All I'm saying is that when I die, hire a comedian to do stand-up or something, will you? I don't want anyone to be upset. I'll be stiff enough for everybody." My eyes shifted to the gray wool dress my mother had given me to wear for the day. "And for God's sake, make it casual." "You're a little young to plan your funeral." "Clara was my age," I reminded him. Luke sighed, the first sound from him since we'd been walking other then his footsteps on the wet grass. "It never hurts to plan for anything..." He touched the slice that ran down the right side of his face. "No one really plans to die," Daevyd said. Luke frowned. "No...no one really does." "I'm sorry about Clara," I said softly, placing a hand on his back. My first words of condolence to the guy that had loved her since they both were in diapers. "She was an amazing person," he murmured. "I know she was...but Luke...it wasn't your fault." He lowered his head and wiped his nose. It took me a moment to realize that he was crying. I stopped walking and turned, pulling him to me in a tight embrace. Luke fell, trembling, into my arms. He clung to me and buried his face in my shoulder. I could feel his tears leaking through the wool of my dress. "It'll be alright," I whispered. "She's gone," he sobbed. "We were going to get married after college, you know? Things were good! We had plans, we were going to stay together and have a family, but now she's...she's..." He shook violently. "But you're still here," I told him soothingly. "Clara would want you to remember your life, too. Clara's gone, Luke...but she wouldn't want to see you like this. You know that. Don't let her down. Live for her, man." "It won't be the same without her, but you can't keep beating yourself up about it," Daevyd added. Luke groaned. "But if I had just slowed down..." "There would have been nothing you could do," Daevyd interjected. "The other guy was going too fast. He would have hit you either way." Luke pulled away from me and sniffled, trying to compose himself. "Look, you guys...I'm gonna head home." "Alright, man," I said. "I'll call you later or something." "Would you come by?" he asked with hope in his eyes. "I don't want to be alone, and mom's working late tonight." "No problem," I replied with a smile. "Maybe I'll give the others a call, and we can--" "No," he interrupted. "Please, Josie...just you." "Want me to bring over some Chinese food?" I nudged him. An inside joke from middle school, one of probably hundreds between us. He laughed quietly and nodded. "Sure, that'd be great." He turned to Daevyd. "Nothing personal, I just..." "I know." Daevyd chuckled. "I understand." Luke was silent a moment. "I really want to thank you guys for all you've done over the last few days." "No problem," Daevyd and I said in unison. "We're friends, aren't we?" I added. Luke smiled. "I hope we always are." He looked at me. "See you later, Josie." With this, he turned around and began walking in the direction from which we came. I watched Luke leave, until he was merely a shadow in the mist that the rain had left behind. "Do you think he'll be alright?" I asked Daevyd. He sighed. "He'll be okay. It's hard for all of us right now, Jo." "I know." I paused. "Daevyd...what would you do if I died?" He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach and holding me close. "I don't know," he admitted. He kissed the side of my head. "But let's not find out, though, okay?" I nodded and went silent for a good few minutes, just feeling the warmth of him against me. It was comforting. Finally, again, I spoke. "Daevyd..." "Mm?" A shudder went through me. "I...I'm going to miss her." Tears welled up in my eyes and I sobbed. Daevyd held me tighter. "Me too, Josie...me too."