Page 55 of Aftershock

And it was all thanks to Lexi and my mother.

My mom then wagged her finger, motioning for both of us to lean in closer.

“Not that I’m disappointed more people showed up for your father's funeral, but do either of you know who those two men back there are?” My mom questioned.

A smile appeared on my face as Lexi and I looked at each other knowingly and broke out into hysterics.

This is what I needed.

Startled at the unconventional sound that was usually not present during a wake, the pastor glared at us suspiciously and asked, “Is everything okay?”

Yes, it was.

“Actually,” I replied, taking hold of both of their hands. “Everything is perfect.”

I later found out it was a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that had struck the East Coast. There were no deaths, thankfully…All in all I think it was a perfect disaster.

There are five stages of grief. Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. I’m happy to say that right now, I think I finally found my way to acceptance. Denial is when I’d lay awake at night creating fake scenarios of the perfect family in my head that seemed so real, I started to actually believe them. Anger is where I spent most of my time. It’s when I wished my father never existed. Bargaining is when I tried to put him on a pedestal and pretend he was someone that he wasn't. Depression is when I became lost in the thought that my family would never be whole again. Acceptance is when I realized the loss of my father was not worth the loss of myself.

Grief is not the same for everyone and it isn’t just a straight path. This is just my story. And it’s a goddamn good one, if I do say so myself.

Maybe autumn isn’t so bad after all.

Epilogue

This cafe is so fucking loud.

There was a large bay window on the left side of the table I was sitting at. The crimson leaves scattered in the wind as the they blew down Fifth Avenue. Autumn really was my favorite season. In the chair across from me was Claire, Autumn’s mom. We sat in silence, sipping our coffee and avoiding each other's gaze. I gripped the cup in my hands tightly, bending the plastic without meaning to. I wouldn’t describe myself as an anxious person considering I had been scrutinized for most of my life, but this felt different. This was Autumn's mom. I had to practically sneak out this morning to avoid Brian and Andrew following me. Not to mention, I had to cancel my lunch date with Autumn.

But it was worth it. I needed to do this.

The sound of a loud pop rang out as I looked down at my hand, which was clutching the cup. There was a small crack on the side of the plastic causing the coffee to leak out. I quickly sat the cup down as I fumbled with the napkins on the table and stuck them against the side of the cup to prevent any more liquid from spilling out. I could sense Claire’s eyes on me, staring intently. Huffing out a breath of air, I calmly stood and walked to throw my coffee in the trash.

Well, that was a waste of ten dollars.

I walked up to the barista and ordered another drink. “One large caramel macchiato, please.”

“Sure thing.”

The barista began preparing my order and then handed me the coffee.

“How much will that be?” I asked, pulling out my wallet.

“It’s on the house,” the young girl smiled.

She must've known who I was.

“Thanks,” I nodded before walking back over to my table.

“Just try not to break this one.”

Oh.

Oh, she just saw me break the cup. Perfect.

I gave her a quick nod before walking back over to Claire. Nervously, I sat back in my chair, giving her a small grin. Claire eyed me closely before sighing softly.

“So, you and Autumn were trapped in an airport bathroom together?” She stated the obvious.

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