by Stacey Quinn
“To Sam!” Lee cried, his voice cracking with the strain of holding back tears.
“To Sam!” The rest of them repeated in unison, voices sounding equally strained.
“Gone but never forgotten.” Johnny added quietly. They finished the rest of their drinks in morose, contemplative silence, Dan having to half turn away in an attempt to conceal the emotion that poured silently from his eyes. They waited for the rest of the crowd of students to disperse before slowly making their way in.
“Didn’t that girl die around this time as well?” Dan asked the group tentatively. “What was her name? The weird one - she wasn’t here for long.”
“Oh yeah.” Lee recalled. “Sasha or Siarra or something wasn’t it?”
“Well, nobody knows if she actually died do they?”Johnny interjected. “Didn’t they just find her clothes next to the river or something? Don’t think they actually found a body.”
“Yeah, something like that.” Lee mumbled disinterestedly. The group remained silent after that, making their way miserably to their first lecture, unable to tear their thoughts away from the memory of the smiling, jovial friend they had lost.
THE END