Chapter 1: The hardest goodbye.

It was a grey, cold, rainy day, a day that perfectly combined with Kimberly’s mood. She felt dark and cold in the inside, and all she was doing was look at that coffin where the person she had loved the most was lying, and, if they weren’t in a cemetery, anyone would’ve said that person was sleeping. Kim didn’t feel anything, only a distant voice belonged to a man that looked like a priest that was talking about the woman in the coffin, but all he was saying was rubbish that some idiot had written in his place; but he… no, he had no idea what he was talking about, he had no idea about the pain of the people standing there, probably he didn’t even know that woman’s name.

Kimberly felt a warm hand holding hers and turned to hug his dad, while only one question was in her mind: ‘Why to me?’

A few minutes later, she saw everybody was leaving the place and felt her dad’s hand was pulling hers. Then, she knew she had to say goodbye:

- Goodbye, mum…

Winter was coming, so when they went home it was already dark. As it was during the week, they had an early, quiet dinner. Later, John walked her daughter to bed.

- Dad, I don’t know why you made me wear this ridiculous dress. – Kim said to her dad, while she hung on her closet a horrible black dress with lace edging.

- Honey, you know that people wear black clothes in funerals, that mourning stuff. – John answered patiently.

- I’m not referring to the colour, dad, all my clothes are black, remember I’m Gothic. – Her dad rolled his eyes, as he hated that matter. – I’m referring to the fact that it has a horrible shape, and it was grandma’s…

- Kimberly, your grandma gave it to you with all his love and, plus, it was what… your mum would have wanted you to wear. – He added with grief.

- No, mum would have wanted me to wear what I wanted, being myself, and you know that.

Her dad sighed like saying uncle.

- Goodnight, honey. – He said, and kissed her in her forehead – If you need something or you feel alone, just call me.

- Ok. Wait, - she added as her dad was leaving – don’t you forget something? – Then, she pointed her eyes, which were covered by black make up that brought out their blue colour.

- Oh, right. Your mum always told you to remove your make up before going to bed…

- Exactly. – Kimberly nodded, smiling sadly, and went to the toilette.

There, she sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. Reflected in it, she saw the image of a 17 years old pretty girl. She had long, straight, blond hair, with black highlights underneath. Her skin, pale and thin, covered a slender body. Her lips were thick, and the lower one was pierced. Looking at her eyes, she noticed a tear going down her face, so she removed her make up quickly and went to bed.

Next morning, Kimberly woke up early to go to school. She went downstairs to the kitchen to have breakfast and said good morning to his dad.

- Hey, you don’t have to go to school today if you don’t want to, I’ll call your tutor.

- No, it’s Okay, it will be good to be with Sally and Tom. – She said while sitting down in the chair.

And it was true. Sally was her best and only friend; Kim was very fond of her because she didn’t care about what the girls in the school said, and she kept being her friend despite of the black clothes and make up. And Tom was her boyfriend; she loved him so much, plus, he and his friends were emos and they knew how it was like to be the freak of the school.

Kim noticed that in front of her there were honey spread toasts and a cup of coffee. She looked at her dad inquiringly.

- I made the breakfast for you. – He said full of pride and joy, because he didn’t do it since she was a little girl.

- I don’t drink coffee, dad. -  She answered in low voice.

It was a strange situation, and a bit embarrassing. John was trying to start filling the empty his wife had left but it seemed that there were details about his daughter that he didn’t know, like she didn’t drink coffee.

- Oh… I’m so sorry, Kim…

- No, it doesn’t matter, I’ll drink it anyway. I can’t stand black coffee, but white coffee is not that bad… - Kim said, raising the cup to drink it.

- You really don’t have to do it…

But Kim had already sipped it, and couldn’t avoid pulling a face.

- Ugh, it needs a bit of sugar. – She said after hardly swallowing. She added one more spoonful and drank again. – Oh, much better. – She lied.

Her dad smiled satisfied and continued reading the newspaper, and she took the opportunity to add three more spoonful of sugar.

At 7:55 John dropped her at school and went to work. At the moment that her friends hugged her, she felt happy for having gone to school.  When the hug finished, she looked at them as if she hadn’t seen them for months. Sally was a slim girl, with brown, curly hair, brown eyes and a great smile. And Tom, a hefty 18 years old good-looking boy; he had black hair and his fringe covered almost his two eyes, which were grey and had black make up. He wore piercings, in his ears, lips and in one eyebrow, and he wore black clothes.

- Honey, I’m really sorry…

- I’m so sorry, Kim…

Her friends didn’t stop saying things like that all the way to the entrance door, and she thanked them with a sad smile. Normally, and despite of their dark clothes, they went unnoticed at school, but that day Kim felt that everybody was looking at her. In that moment, they passed in front of the cool people of the school, the richest, the poshest, the ones that everybody looked up to.  There was the typical boy all the girls were crazy about: William. He was really good-looking, tall, fair hair, and had some light blue eyes that captivated anyone, like Sally, who was one of the girls that was crazy about him.

When they were passing in front of them, Kim wouldn’t have been surprised if they had started shouting things at them, as usual. However, when they saw her they stood quiet and looked at her with pity, only for a moment; then, they kept laughing and talking with each other.  

That day was a bit out of routine, since all her classmates and teachers offered her their condolences. They didn’t do it for her, but for his mum, that was famous around the neighbourhood because of her kind soul, and was very loved by the people in the area. It was a sad loss.

Some time later, Christmas arrived, a time that used to be cheerful and magical to the family, but that year was different. Normally, John and his wife, Rachel, had some days off and took the opportunity to make a little trip to the mountains. That year, though, father and daughter were invited by Sally’s family to spend Christmas at their house, since the girls’ parents were close friends. Those weren’t the happiest days, but John and Kim felt happy for having friends like them. That way, the grief was stopping.