#ft.starter

"How you holding up?"

"That was just so touching. What a speech." Alana said, looking over at the person next to her. She wished she could roll her eyes. Everyone being here in the same place, acting like they cared about some random girl, pissed her off. Sure, she was a nice girl, but the fakeness everywhere was astounding. "Anyway, you got something a little harder to drink?"

location: kingdom bluffs by the cliffs

maybe she's still in shock but the urge to distract herself tonight was strong. rory found herself tipsy already, and desperate to get her hands on a blunt. "you know..." rory mused out loud when she realized she wasn't alone, a mischievous grin in her eye. "this is probably the only time they'll let you jump off the cliffs during nighttime. you think you can do it?" she challenged.

Alcohol was forbidden at the event and yet three separate people had come up to him asking if he had anything hidden in his truck they could have, as if their asses were worth him going through the effort of being a traveling bar for them. If they wanted to drown their sorrows, they could either go home and get themselves wasted blind, or go to the bar. He wasn't too interested in them, more focused on those lingering on the edges, those that were being quiet and not taking focus on themselves. A skeptic by nature, Frank didn't trust everyone's motivation for being there, even though he could admit that Marcy was one of the good ones and deserved better than what happened to her. That kind of cruelty wasn't the kind that was just going to disappear, and Frank sighed as he approached the bonfire, pulling a letter of unsaid things out of his jacket and throwing it onto the flames.

"I'm sure the township thought this was a good idea." Riley paused as she shook her head. Gabby was her best friend, her ride or die. She gripped her white cane a little tighter. "She deserved more than this. Whoever did this to her... they need to catch them." She let out an exhale as she took a step away from the fire.

location: kingdom bluffs by the shoreline

it didn't sit right with him, how someone so nice, someone he had dated could just die like that, be found in pieces and yet no one had any clue what happened. there had to be something, and it frustrated him that there wasn't anything to be done other than to continue life as usual. tonight was supposed to be a celebration of gabby's life, but he found himself sulking, drinking from his flask in the near darkness, lost in thought for a moment before realizing he wasn't alone. "what? you want something?"

Funerals and memorials were not a pleasant endeavour. Vik regretted coming almost immediately. It made him miss family, made him livid nobody had invited him to his grandfather's funeral years ago, made him bitter at the thought of no one coming when he died, either.

He'd hidden away by the catering service tent with a mortadella focaccia and a nicked bottle of Château Musar, his black suit stark against the damp green grass, his back against the perfect white tablecloth as he took a drag of a joint.

At the sound of someone rounding the table, he shifted one knee aside, silently making room on the grass.