I dropped the phone. She was gone, something I’d loved for so long, was just gone. Almost like the love that, somewhere along the way, I didn’t feel anymore. I couldn’t believe she was gone just like that, but she was.

I found it so hard to believe that she killed herself. But she did.

I laid back on my bed, and threw the blankets over my head.

Noon, Monday, the day of Kale’s funeral

Brad’s POV

“Come on Brad, you need to go to her funeral,” Jake my older brother came in.

He sat on the bed and pulled the cover from over my head.

“Come on, we all know you loved her, nobody thinks it’s your fault,” Jake said.

I sat up, and exhaled deeply.

“I stopped loving her, Jake, she killed herself, because I stopped loving her, it’s all in the note,” I said, the tears fell down like the waterfalls at Niagra Falls.

Jake pulled me in for a hug.

“It’s my fault,”

“No, no, it’s not your fault.” Jake said, and I knew he was unsure too.

I mustered up the courage from somewhere, deep down, and I mean deep down to go to the funeral. Seeing her parents, and her younger sister, was painful, and I could barely look at them when they came to speak to me. I knew they’d all read the note, and I knew they all thought I was the reason for everything that had happened, but then again I couldn’t blame them, most of me thought the same thing.

“Brad,” I heard a girl’s voice yell.

I turned and looked, I hadn’t talked to her in so long.

It was Emily, she uses to be my best friend, growing up we did everything together, but I hadn’t seen her since Kale and I started dating, kale took up a lot of my time.

“Hey Em,” I said looking down at the grass.

“You need to talk?” she asked putting her hand on my shoulder.

I shook my head, and she led the way.

We went to our old fort, which had been taken over by Emily’s younger brothers, you could tell because it had action figures laid all around.

“Well,” Emily said sitting criss-cross her face cupped in her hands.

“Brad,” she said putting her arm around me.

“It was my fault, al-everything is my fault, all of this,” I said shaking my head.

“So am I supposed to say it wasn’t your fault, I mean she did kill herself because you stopped loving her, right?” Emily asked.

If anyone else had said those words to me, I probably would have freaked out, but I knew Emily, or at least I remembered how she used to be, I knew her way.

“Right,” I said nodding.

“that’s the most lame thing I have ever heard you say,” she said picking at grass.

“it’s the truth,” I said, I didn’t want to cry in front of her, crying in front of my brother, it was acceptable, but not in front of Emily.

I could feel my eyes start to well up, and I could feel her looking at me.

“You’re such a pansy,” she said hitting my on the shoulder.

“Hey!” I exclaimed.

“I’m just sayin,” she said looking at me.

She stood, and walked in front of me, and sat down.

“It’s not your fault,” she said looking deep into my eyes.

I breathed out heavily, and shook my head.