Kaylee's POV
The sky was a dull gray, as if it, too, mourned the girl who once chased sunsets on her motorbike and laughed like the world hadn't betrayed her.
Zara's funeral was held in the small chapel near the cemetery—intimate, quiet, and heavy with unshed tears. Rows of students from school filled the pews. Some came out of guilt, some out of shock, and a few, like me, came because their hearts would never be the same again.
I sat beside Nick, our hands tangled tightly, grounding each other in the kind of pain words couldn't reach. Nick hadn't said much since the accident. Just stayed quiet. Angry. Protective. Devastated.
Zara's picture sat at the front of the chapel—one of her rare smiling photos. Hair down. Eyes gleaming. She looked happy in it. Carefree. Like she had no idea how cruel the world could be.
I hated that picture.
Because it felt like a lie now.
The priest spoke, but I barely heard the words. Something about finding peace, about eternal rest, about how Zara had touched lives she never knew she changed.
But all I could think of was the first day we met in third grade. She stood up for me when the others laughed at my stutter. I had no voice back then. Zara lent me hers.
Now she was gone.
Forever.
The casket was closed. I knew why. The crash had been that bad. Nick told me she didn't even look like herself anymore. The thought made my stomach churn.
When it was time to give our final goodbyes, I walked up with trembling knees, my hands gripping a folded letter I had written. My voice broke as I tried to read it aloud.
"Hey Zee," I began, the nickname only I used for her.
"I'm sorry I wasn't always the strongest friend. You were always the bold one—the one who shielded everyone else. And I just… I wish I had done more for you. I wish I had warned you louder. I wish I had held on when you pushed us away."
My lips quivered as tears dropped onto the paper.
"You didn't deserve what they did to you. And even though you're not here, I promise—they'll never forget you. We'll carry your fire. Your stubbornness. Your laughter. You may be gone, Zee… but you will never, ever be forgotten."
I placed the letter beside her casket. A single white rose tucked beneath it.
When I turned to walk back, my eyes met Liam's across the chapel.
He looked like a ghost of himself. Hollow. Wrecked. His face was pale, his shoulders slumped. And for the first time, I didn't feel hate when I looked at him.
I just felt pity.
Because he was living with what he did. And from the look in his eyes, it was going to eat him alive.
Nick stood when it was his turn and placed Zara's old gloves—her favorite ones—on the casket. He didn't say a word. He didn't need to.
His silence screamed louder than anyone else's sorrow.
When the service ended and we stepped out into the cold, overcast air, I looked up.
Not a single star.
Just gray clouds stretching endlessly above.
Zara always said she felt closest to the universe when she looked at the stars.
But today, even the sky mourned her absence