Favorite Record | Luke

𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫

No one asks to be born and more often than not, no one asks to die.

Tessa might not have asked for either, but for her life, she made the most of her full sixteen years. It was crazy to think that she was only seventeen for five minutes that felt more like three seconds, or if she wanted to be poetic, five seconds. 

But life and death came quickly and she wasn't asked how she felt about either and more than likely never would be. They say if you're lucky you're able to reflect on your life before dying, but Tessa wasn't lucky. She didn't see her life flash before her eyes or all of her loved ones. 

She saw sheer, unfathomable terror in the eyes of her best friend. She heard screeching tires and echoing screams before a flash of incomprehensible pain and then nothing. But the nothing only seemed to last as long as it took her to realize what happened.

The funeral home was packed with family, friends and morbidly curious strangers, and even press. Everyone was dressed in shades of black, the voices were soft hushes and low murmurs that fell upon deafened ears. 

Tessa herself wasn't dressed appropriately, not that it mattered much. Her Panic! band tee and gray skinny jeans stuck out like a sore thumb, only her black flats seemed to match others shoes.

"There's so many people," Tessa murmured to herself, tucked away in a corner inside the viewing room. The casket was a glossy black that had white floral designs. The top of the casket was raised open, allowing people to pay their final respects to the once lively Rose Molina.

Tessa had died shortly after her seventeenth birthday and the following month, her mother passed away due to a brain tumor that no one had caught or even knew she had. In the span of a month, the lively and joyful Molina family were husks of their former selves.

Ray's eyes were rimmed with red, his voice cracking with each offering thanks to those who offered their condolences both of the passing of his eldest daughter and now, his wife. Aunt Victoria was constantly blowing her nose and running back and forth to the bathroom in order to fix her make-up. 

Carlos sat on the overstuffed chair next to his father; he stared blankly at his Ipad despite a random video playing softly through his headphones. Julie stood in the same corner Tessa was tucked away in. 

Her frizzy hair was tamed into a single fish-tail braid, her thick-framed glasses were sat on her face, her contacts had arrived but she'd refused to put them in seeing as she, Rose and Tessa had all went two months back for the exam and for her to get them. 

Her eyes were glassy and her hands continuously smoothed the stiff fabric of the knee-length black dress she was wearing.

"Was it this stuffy at mine?" Tessa had found herself in a dark room, then she blinked and found herself sat in her family car with what was left of her family. 

The car ride was mostly silent as she sat between Carlos and Julie. Her dad drove and her aunt Tia was sat on the passenger side, prattling off about the final viewing being an hour away.

Shuffling her feet, Tessa's gaze swept the crowd. "There's Flynn and her parents." She watched the family make a beeline for her own. Her lips curved upward as Flynn wrapped her arms around Julie and just held her, rocking them back and forth as her own dad hugged Ray tightly while her mom talked to Carlos.

"They're so huggy, but that's what you need right now, isn't it?" Tessa was a fast learner and knew no one could see or hear her, she knew she was dead but she didn't know why she was stuck there. 

Though at the state of her family, she was glad because in some small way maybe she could help them move on from the tragic loss of herself and their mom. A flash, similar to that of a camera pulled Tessa's attention, prompting her feet to carry her away from the viewing room.