3 Chapter 3

The next day, it was time to head down to attend her father's wake before the funeral started. The hospital was not accepting any visitors, so they would send her father straight to where the wake was to be held. The two childhood friends helped each other get ready, both mentally exhausted from the shock of suddenly losing a loved one. Xavier had decided to skip a day of school to accompany Skyler and let his parents know as well. He threw on a sleeveless black muscle tee tucked into dark grey straight-cut jeans he had left at her place, while Skyler wore a white blouse tucked into high-waisted black jeggings. 

The entire ride there, Skyler braced herself to prepare the funeral place with Xavier by her side. To her utmost confusion, everything had been taken care of when they arrived at the location.

"You must be Skyler." A beautiful middle-aged woman dressed in a smart black suit came up to her.

"Yes, that's me. You are…" She asked the woman, still confused at the scene around her.

"I'm… was, your dad's boss." The older woman corrected herself after a pause and took out a name card that she presented to Skyler.

"I'm Dezmel Sun, you can call me Dezmel." The older woman told her as Skyler stared at the name card for a moment.

She looked back up just in time to catch an odd look in Mrs. Sun's eyes, like she was imprinting how she looked into her memory. Brushing it off as an older people thing, as she had caught her father looking at her the same way a few times before.

If only Skyler had observed the woman a little longer, she would have noticed the swollen eyes behind the heavy makeup of the woman.

Skyler looked around the venue again.

"Thank you… for your help?" Skyler thanked her awkwardly. Meanwhile, Xavier lingered behind Skyler, barely within hearing distance.

"No, it was all we could do after losing an important, loyal friend." Dezmel replied.

Was it normal for a company to do this for their employee? The teen pushed that thought aside to be pondered upon later.

Skyler smiled painfully at her. It was then that she caught sight of the coffin. She took a breath to calm herself before going up to the coffin where her father now laid. Now witnessing him lying there, lifeless and pale, made her feel like she had slammed against the wall of reality yet again. It was official; he was gone.

Tears threatened to fall yet again, but she managed to hold them in as she reached out for Xavier's hand, who she knew was standing not far from her. His fingers immediately curled around hers, squeezing in support before he moved to hug her from behind as she stood in front of the coffin struggling to keep herself together. 

For 3 days, Skyler stayed all day and night at the funeral site. There was no one but her to stay anyways. She did not know of any existing relatives, just a few familiar faces she knew as friends of her father who came to the funeral. 

Xavier stayed by her side throughout, making sure she ate, took breaks, and emotional checks overall. His family even came and checked on her, which she appreciated very much after losing her only family. Rudy, Xavier's boyfriend, came in the evening with the rest of their dance crew after classes were over for them. Skyler simply gave them faint smiles. They would proceed to chat about simple things like dance and food. She lacked the mental energy to do anything else. The hurt of losing her father numbed her for the time being. All she could do was breathe and repeatedly tell herself that she could get through this, and everything would be alright. 

On the third day, Xavier had gone home to get clothes. While he was out, Dezmel visited again, but this time, she introduced Skyler to her son, Drew. 

He paid his respects to her father, and they sat down to talk. Drew's mannerisms were that of a gentleman as he pulled out the chair for both women quickly before taking his seat. When he talked, Skyler could tell he was smart, strong and independent. 

"Skyler, I know this is sudden but I would like you to stay with my son. At least until you are of age as I know you do not have a guardian." Dezmel told her with a kind of knowing look in her eyes. 

The older woman proceeded to explain that she would have asked Skyler to live with her if only she didn't travel so often. So by extension, her son would be her guardian, though on paper, it would be her. She promised he would take care of her while she was away. Meanwhile, her apartment would be rented out and all passive income would go to Skyler. 

Skyler was going to refuse when she stopped herself and thought for a moment. Dezmel was right. She would not be allowed to stay on her own, but why was she being this nice to her? It was to the point that it was suspicious. She asked that she give her some time to decide. 

"Will there be a contract? Terms and conditions? I still want to return to the apartment my dad has left me once I am of age to live alone." 

Dezmel almost seemed proud of her for a second.

"If that will make you feel better, I can have Drew here draft a contract and send it over to you later via whatsapp." The older lady told her. 

Skyler thanked her for her understanding before the older lady took her leave of the site. 

Drew approached Skyler before he took off after his mother. 

"Here's my number. Feel free to contact me if you need anything and when you're ready to move." Drew presented her with his name card and left with his mother, whom Skyler caught stealing a last look at her father as if..

Before she could ponder further, someone tapped her shoulder. She turned around only to come face to face with Jose. 

".. Jose? How did you?" It took Skyler a moment to recall his name and process how he knew about this place. 

"I was passing by and noticed you. It would have been rude to completely ignore even if we barely know each other." He said as his eyes trailed after the two people that had just left the site. 

Skyler simply nodded, taking his explanation as it was, too numb to suspect anything else. She thanked him for coming and invited him to take a seat. 

Just then Xavier entered the site, and eyed Jose suspiciously but said nothing as he handed a bag with a change of clothes and snacks to his childhood friend. 

"Here, I dropped by your place too." 

Skyler leafed through the bag briefly to see what clothes he had brought her, briefly blushing when she found a matching set of underwear in there as well. She thanked him and left to change leaving him with Jose. 

"So, how do you know Skyler?" Xavier asked. 

"We met by chance the other day." Jose replied politely with a smile. 

Xavier nodded in reply and no further conversation was made. When Skyler returned they sat around and played with their phones. 

"So what brings you to this site Jose?" Xavier asked, feeling that Jose was overstaying. 

From what Xavier garnered he barely knew Skyler and this stranger's presence was making him uncomfortable and annoyed for some reason. 

Jose simply smiled and got up taking the hint. "It looks like I've overstayed my welcome. I'll take my leave now." 

Before Skyler could say anything he was already leaving. Skyler smacked Xavier. 

"What was that for?" 

"He felt weird." Xavier sniffed and placed a bag of her favorite snacks on the table. 

"You haven't been eating much, yes I took note." 

Every time she thought she was numb enough, he went and did something like this. It took all her strength to not cry again. 

"Thank you." She said instead.