When former beauty pageant queen, Ellie Wilde, hears of her grandmother's sickness, she's the first to offer to drive her to her chemotherapy. What she didn't know she was agreeing to was an obnoxiously cheerful blond boy somehow nudging his way int...
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He slams the notebook shut, sloppily tossing the pen and it back onto the dresser before finally making his way to the shower.
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The bouquet of flowers in Ellie's hand feel heavy along with her steps as she makes her way towards her grandmother's grave. She stares down at the pink flowers, wondering if she got the right color or if her grandma would hate them. Knowing her, she'd probably smile even if she did hate the color.
A chill runs down Ellie's spine as she walks through the cemetery. The few times she'd visited Cooper at work play in her mind as she passes the grave of Ernie—the dead man Cooper once called his 'buddy.' Despite all her attempts at getting the boy out of her thoughts, he's always there. Just when she thinks she may be able to forget, something small and miniscule grabs her attention and he's on the forefront of her mind once more.
Eventually, she finds her grandmother's grave. The paved in words 'Willa Moretti' stare back at her like a hard slap to the face—reminding her of the finality of her grandmother's death.
Ellie stands, staring down at the grave for a moment before deciding to take a seat on the grass beside it. With her legs crossed over one another, she sets the bouquet down and glances up at the sky.
"I'm not sure whether I look up or down," she mumbles, laughing quietly to herself and returning her gaze to the grave.
"But hi, wherever you are." She leans back in the grass, deciding that the sky above is maybe a bit more pleasant than staring at the dark grey stone her grandmother rests under. "I got you pink flowers. Maybe you would've preferred yellow or something, but you're dead so you'll just have to deal with my choice."
A soft breeze rolls by and Ellie wraps her arms around her chest to keep warm. "I'm sorry I didn't come to visit sooner. I wanted to." She pauses. "Well. No. I didn't want to. I don't like the idea of visiting you this way if I'm being honest. But I'm here now. And again, you're dead. So you'll have to take your complaints up with me some other time."
Her fingers pull at the dewy grass beneath her and she can feel her shirt dampening as it lays flat against the wet ground. "I've sort of picked up a morbid sense of humor over the past few months. You can thank Cooper for that. Speaking of the dev—can I say that in a cemetery? Never mind. Cooper and I haven't spoken for a couple of weeks now. I miss him. I don't know if that's in poor taste of me to say while I'm visiting your grave. I miss you too, of course. But I also miss him. At least you didn't decide to leave me. I think it hurts more knowing that he's chosen to stay away.
