Things were different. As much as Lyric tried to deny it, she could tell that things had changed. Her parents were sad now. They knew the truth, and Lyric could see how it ate away at them. And seeing them so sad ate away at her.

That’s why she didn’t want to go home after school anymore. Other than Michael, nobody at school knew anything about what had happened. She was still her there. She didn’t want to go from feeling normal to walking on eggshells around her parents knowing that she was part of the reason their daughter was dead.

So, she wandered the city.

It was starting to get dark, about a week after meeting the Wolfes, when she found herself walking past a cemetery. She let out a bark of laughter, hating whatever had brought her here. Was this her life now? Was she going to constantly be reminded of death?

She glared at the tombstones through the fence as she walked past. Somewhere in the back of her brain, she knew that these people hadn’t done anything to earn her hatred. She would probably feel bad later, but later wasn’t now. Now she was angry.

Except her anger left immediately when her eyes landed on a tombstone near the end of a row.

‘Melody Wolfe’.

Lyric felt her blood chill.

Not fully aware of what she was doing, she backtracked until she found the gate. When she was back in front of Melody’s grave, she stared at it.

“November 13, 1998.” Lyric read the date of birth out loud. Melody really had been born on the same day she had. Her stomach twisted when it occurred to her that it was Melody who had been born at the lucky time her mom loved so much. Lyric had just been born on an unlucky day.

She felt bitterness fill her. Sure, Melody had died, something that would be considered unlucky, but she had decided to do that to herself. Lyric, on the other hand, had been left in her current situation without any say.

A thought occurred to her. What had she been doing when Melody killed herself? With dread, she realized that she probably wouldn’t remember. Even so, she checked the date of death.

“June, 2015.”

She stared at the tombstone. There was no day, just the month.

“Nobody knows when it happened.”

Lyric jumped and looked over her shoulder. Luke was walking toward her, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched.

“What are you doing here?” She blurted.

He shrugged and looked toward the road. “I saw you through the fence.”

Lyric spared a glance before turning back to the tombstone. “What do you mean nobody knows?”

“They don’t know when she jumped.” Luke spoke matter-of-factly. “Could have been late on the 21st, or just moments before the note was found on the 22nd.”

“Oh.” Lyric looked up at Luke, but he was still looking away. “Um, did you know her?”

She saw how his muscles tensed. It took him a moment to respond. “We ran in the same circles.”

Lyric nodded. For a moment, she wondered if his odd behaviour was because he had loved Melody. She wanted to ask, but thought that might be prying too much. Besides, the last time she asked if he liked someone she had been joking around. She didn’t want him to think she was joking this time.

“Why are you here?” He questioned her, although he still didn’t turn to look down at her.

“I, uh…” Lyric didn’t want to tell him about her and Melody. If he really had loved her, then he might blame her for what happened to her. “I recently met her parents.”

Luke whirled around to look at her. “How are they doing?”

His question caught her off guard. If he was that worried, why didn’t he just go see them himself?

“Uh, as well as can be expected, I guess?” She didn’t really have much to go on. “I think they’re trying not to blame themselves.”

“Oh.” For a moment, Luke’s gaze darted over to the tombstone. Then he was backing away. “I, uh, I should get going.”

Lyric watched him leave. Was looking at the tombstone that painful? All doubt in her mind was gone. She was sure that Luke had loved Melody.