Chapter 12: Funeral *Luke's POV* I wanted to hold Millie's hand. I wanted her to know she wasn't alone, but I was stuck on the other side of a damn wall. My hand rested on the windowsill, though she had backed away from the window. We've never had good timing. We've had ridiculous accidents and moments I don't even understand happen. It still surprises me that she's been living across the street this whole time. And I was too self-absorbed to notice. Millie Ripley drove into my life with a beat-up car and some story about a raccoon. I've been making up for lost time since. And that's how I found myself in her backyard with a dead cat. Someone murdered a cat, dipped Art's basketball jersey in its blood and then hung it on her doorknob. It's sick sh*t. But this wasn't going to go down without someone getting their *ss handed to them. Chad and I had been searching for clues in her backyard before we stumbled across the cat. Chad had shrieked like an ambulance until he ran out of voice. Then Flora supplied her off-pitch harmony and, together, they sounded like a bad audition for Choir Boy. Now Austin was convincing Gloria not to approach the window. She'd run out of the kitchen with a frying pan after she heard everyone's screams. Seriously, Gloria deserves a vacation. "What do you think Millie's thinking?" Chad asked. His voice was hoarse after so much yelling. I looked down at my sneakers. New UA Curry 6's. I retired my Air Jordan's recently- But to answer Chad's question - if there's one thing I know, it's that I never know what Millie Ripley is thinking. *Millie's POV* Curiosity killed the cat. I damn well knew that. But satisfaction brought it back... so I was going to find out who did this sick, misguided thing and I was going to do something about it. I don't know what, how or when... but those are great questions so I'll get back to them later. This was animal cruelty. Surely, I could prosecute. My thoughts went to Luke. He had been with Chad when they found the cat and I felt guilty for dragging him and his friends into this. I didn't know it would escalate to murder. Now we all had to deal with the trauma. My mother yelled at me to help my sister. Flora was passed out upstairs from shock. But I was barely able to keep my own nerves together. How was I going to keep calm for anyone else? I forced the tears back as I passed by Austin and Gloria. I dodged the frying pan she was waving in the air, to avoid being knocked out. KO'd by Gloria That doesn't seem like a bad option right about now. I mean, there's a crime scene in my backyard. When do CSI get here? ** *Third person POV, twenty minutes later* Millie's car was parked in the middle of the driveway, after Gloria dropped it off thirty minutes ago. Now Chad was leaning against it, looking sick. "Man, I tried," Chad sighed, "But I can't do it. I can't move that cat." He was talking to Luke's back. Luke was hugging Millie, making sure she was ok. He was whispering something in her ear and brushing her hair. She nodded and buried her head into his chest. "Is anyone listening to me?" Chad asked louder, "Hello? It's me." Chad needed attention too. "Sorry," Millie answered, wiping a hand over her eyes. She removed her arms from around Luke and said, "I'll do it. Did you take pictures?" "Yeah," Chad sighed, handing her his phone. Millie scrolled through recent images, looking for the dead cat photos. She wanted them as evidence for the police. "Um..." she scrolled, "These are shirtless selfies of you." "My bad," Chad pulled out another iPhone from his left pocket, "It must be on this phone then." Millie stared at the two phones. She decided not to ask any questions, especially not about the zoolander look in picture #3. Blue Steel. Austin came out of the house and joined them in the driveway. "Gloria found a cardboard box and other cleaning supplies in your cupboard, Millie." "Thanks, Austin. I can bury the cat in the cardboard box," Millie said sadly, "And give him a proper funeral service." "Ugh," Chad looked like he was about to throw up, "Whenever you say cat, it makes me want to-" Luke signaled him to follow, "Pull yourself together." Chad dramatically sighed and pushed himself off the car, "Thanks, man." "Don't throw up on me," Luke warned, taking him across the street. ** For a few minutes, Dupont Avenue returned to its usual calm. The Ripleys were recovering in #4 Dupont Avenue and Luke was treating Chad like a baby in #9. Chad was sitting in the Dawson's living room couch, drinking a bottle of Gatorade. Luke handed him a pill to calm his stomach. "Can I borrow your laptop?" Chad asked in a weak voice, overplaying his sickness to continue getting preferential treatment. Luke looked increasingly p*ssed off to be playing parent but handed it to him. "What's your password?" Chad asked. He ignored him. "Luke?" "Ssh." Luke was looking out of a window and saw Austin waving him over from the first floor of Millie's home. Without addressing Chad, he walked out of the living room and out of his house. ** So Chad was left alone in Luke's living room. He was nosy and started to peer at the books on the Dawson's bookshelf. He wandered over to the family photos on the mantelpiece. There were a couple pictures of a younger Luke at game days, holding large trophies with his family beaming beside him. "Very photogenic family, huh?" Caught. In the reflection of a photo frame, Chad saw someone standing behind him. He turned around and came face-to-face with Nicole. "What are you doing here?" he asked her. Nicole was wearing a wool jumper tucked into jean trousers and a Chanel belt. She had a matching backpack. "I'm going to dinner with Charlotte," she pointed to the hallway where Luke's sister and her ex-boyfriend were flirting by the coat rack, "What's your excuse?" Nicole and Chad's parents were friends. 'Business associates' was the term they used. "I've been hanging out with Luke. Something crazy happened next door and I needed to come here to relax." "With his laptop?" Nicole stared at him suspiciously, "Without him?" Chad realized how this was starting to look. He guiltily held onto the laptop. "By the way, do you know his password?" They were interrupted by commotion in the hallway as Charlotte and her ex got ready to leave. The front door opened and Charlotte spotted her brother outside Millie's house. "Is Luke across the street again?" The question needed no answer. Charlotte was already marching across the street towards her brother. Her entourage followed. ** Austin was the first to notice and tapped Luke's shoulder. Luke slowly turned around, arms crossed over his chest. He had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows, revealing his arm muscles. "Yes?" Four people were standing in front of him. His eyes went from his sister, to her quiet ex-boyfriend, to Chad... to the laptop. His look stopped them in their tracks. His blue eyes were unreadable. "You remember my ex," Charlotte introduced the two of them. Luke said nothing. "We were in the same modeling agency during high school," Charlotte explained to ease the tension, "And now Luke has a quasi-girlfriend, isn't that right?" Just as they said that, the front door opened and Millie emerged, dressed all in black. She held a cardboard box and a shovel and walked slowly, sadly out of the house. It was like she was on her own funeral procession. Chad turned to Austin, "What did I miss?" "It's the cat's funeral," Austin explained, like this was normal behavior. They all watched Millie take sad steps across the house and towards the backyard. The shovel made an uncomfortable screeching sound as it was dragged across the concrete. Charlotte's ex-boyfriend pointed, "Is that her?" Chad shook his head, feeling second-hand embarrassment for Millie, "What an intro." Millie put on a pair of disposable gloves and went to pick up the cat. That's when Luke blocked their view, "Excuse us. We have a funeral to get to." "I'm going to be sick." Chad put the laptop on the ground and ran into the bushes. ** *Millie's POV* I scattered rose petals around the cat's shallow grave. May he rest in peace, poor creature. Take comfort in knowing that life is more painful than death. "MILLIE!" my mother screamed from the second floor. I looked up and saw Chad emerge from the bushes, where he might've just thrown up. Luke and Austin were also walking towards me. I had chosen a little patch near the lemon tree to bury our furry, fallen friend. "MIIIILLLLIEEEEE!" my mother screamed again. "I'll be just a minute," I called out to the boys as I jogged into the house through the back door. Entering the house, I felt the air con inside instantly cool me down. I heard Gloria packing up her things in the kitchen and the TV was still on. "What?" I yelled back up. My mother was coming down the stairs with a briefcase in her hand. "I have to go out," she informed me, "and your car is blocking mine in the driveway. There are about four different cars on our driveway right now and I have not given permission to any of them." "Sorry," I apologized, grabbing my keys. I didn't want to get into any more trouble and I had a funeral to return to. So I hurried out of the front of the house without complaint. That's when I saw Luke's sister on the sidewalk. Her ex-boyfriend was helping put on her jacket for her, and saying, "Babe, your brother's intimidating." She said something about a reservation and he agreed. I remember the first time I saw the two of them and how I thought they were a couple out of a Tom Ford ad. Turns out, they weren't a couple. I would've said hello but I felt my mom's eyes glaring through the back of my head. I had no choice but to jump into my car and put my seat belt on. It's been a while since I sat in this beauty. And I've missed it. I turned on the engine and started to back my car out of the driveway. "STOP!" Luke sprinted across the backyard at incredible speed and appeared in my rear-view window. But it was too late. I tried to stop but not before the tires rolled over- CRACK