"Yeah," sniffled Madeline. "I have my friends."
Madeline's dad placed his hand on the back of her head then kissed her forehead. They smiled at each other before Madeline's mother gave her a long hug. She let go of her and smiled at her before leaving with her husband and the shoe box out of the yard.
Madeline then looked at her friends. Andrea wiped under Madeline's nose with her thumb quickly. They both giggled; it was the first time Madeline smiled genuinely in almost a week.
"I appreciate the funeral, you guys," Madeline remarked softly. "It was a bit stupid but I loved it."
"Thank Lizzie," said Andrea. "It was her idea."
"Really?" Madeline looked at Lizzie who smiled at her.
"Yeah," she said. "I know you weren't really liking me after the 'thing' happened. So I thought about what you wanted and then it hit me, not physically: you wanted to give Crystal a proper burial. I thought that would be the cure for your heartache. Besides, even though Crystal was a dog, she was your true best friend. She was all of our friends."
"Thank you, Lizzie," Madeline slightly smiled. "I'm sorry I was being cold to you. But you deserved it. You killed my dog."
"I know. It was an accident."
"I know."
"I still can't believe that Skye was crying."
"I wasn't crying!" said Skye. "My eyes were itchy. The wind was blowing like crazy."
"I didn't feel any wind," said Debra.
"That don't mean anything."
"I can't believe you blew up a picture of my Crystal," said Madeline, looking at the portrait by the table. "Ugh, her nose is running. You didn't notice? Remember when you guys are planning my funeral that my photo will be on fleek."
Andrea giggled and put her arm around Madeline's neck. "Don't worry, we will."
"Why would you die before us?" asked Lizzie.
"You're right," Madeline said. "You all will die before I do."
"Why?" asked Debra.
"Because I eat healthier. I mean you eat healthy, too, Debra. But you're probably gonna die before I do. I exercise and you do yoga. And that's not real exercise."
"She's back, you guys," said Skye. "I don't know if that's a good thing."
The girls laughed. Madeline tried to mess up Skye's hairdo by rubbing the top of her head. But Skye moved out the way and laughed it off.
Andrea looked at the picture of Crystal. Then she sighed. "She was a cute dog."
"I know," cooed Debra.
Andrea closed her eyes and started singing. She wasn't much of a good singer so she sang in a deep voice. But she was still off-key.
How do I say goodbye to what we had?
The good times that made us laugh
Outweigh the bad
The rest of the girls knew the words so they jumped in.
I thought we'd get to see forever
But forever's gone away
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday
I don't know where this road
Is going to lead
All I know is where we've been
And what we've been through
If we get to see tomorrow
I hope it's worth all the wait
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday
And I'll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday
Madeline began to cry again so her friends hugged her all at once. DeMarcus walked up to the girls and applauded for them. He then offered a five dollar bill.
"That was absolutely the bomb," he commented.
"Thanks but we're not a barbershop quartet," responded Skye.
"Yeah, we don't need your money," said Andrea, taking the dollar away from him. She folded it up then stuck it inside her bra.
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