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Troy walked slowly down the bleachers to the gym floor. He had asked permission for the Memorial Service to be held right here, in this gym. Where he and Chad had spent most of their high school days.
Only Chad wouldn't be here anymore, would he?
Troy stood in front of the entire school. It was strangely quiet. Nobody talked, or moved. It seemed as if nobody even breathed. So Troy started talking.
"Chad Danforth was a basketball player. I'm sure everybody here knows that. He had college scouts coming here all the way from New York to watch him play." Troy's voice was even, his face devoid of emotion. He wouldn't cry. He wouldn't.
"He was also a good student. He had to be to stay on the team." Troy's voice wasn't so even now, but he kept talking.
"But more then any of that, Chad Danforth was my best friend. Since kindergarten we would play together, and we kept that up all the way through High School." Troy's eyes were starting to water, but there was no turning back now.
"I don't know what you heard about Chad's death, but I bet it's not the truth. Chad was going to see a movie with his girlfriend and me. We were horsing around, and I pushed him." Tears were running freely down Troy's cheeks now.
"He went through surgery because he had suffered some head injuries, but by the next day he was fine." Troy's voice was on the verge of cracking.
"Then he wasn't. It all happened so fast. Chad went into a relapse. Four minutes later, my best friend had died. He didn't do anything wrong at all." Troy's voice was stronger now; he knew what he had to say.
"Chad was someone you could rely on to make you feel better. He lit up a room just by walking into it. When you think of Chad Danforth, you should remember a good basketball player, a great person." Here Troy stopped for a second before continuing. "And a loyal friend."
Troy slowly walked over to a basketball that had placed on the court beforehand. He took it in his hands and looked back over the shoulder at the crowd behind him. "If Chad could see this, he'd be laughing his head off right now."
And he let the ball go.
Nothing but net.
The ball bounced away from the basket until it finally stopped, as Chad had, in silence.
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