down to money. No doubt Headmaster Wyler was making a big showing about Hutch since there weren’t any future Hutchins kids coming up the pipeline to fill his ranks and keep the donations coming in. Wyler was an expert at reminding the parents that the school was basically raising their kids and turning them into productive adults. Or trying.
Whispering thinned into silence as Headmaster Wyler stepped up to the podium. After he welcomed the Hutchins family and Keaton community, he turned the floor over to seniors Thomas Anders and Becca Linden for a musical interlude. Naturally: Thomas and Becca were stars of the music program. (Even though, of course, they’d probably spent less time with Hutch than Devon had.) Thomas was considered a piano genius; Becca, a shoo-in for Julliard or American Idol or both with her angelic voice. And Devon had to admit, when Becca took to the front of the room, her backlit blonde braid almost looked like a halo.
Thomas sat down at the piano and started playing. Devon wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or barf. “In the Arms of an Angel,” by Sarah McLachlan. This was Hutch’s nightmare, come true. He wasn’t here to defend it, to wake up from the bad dream, or have anyone in his family protest. Devon remembered hearing somewhere once: “Funerals aren’t for the dead, they are for the living.” That made perfect sense now. This display was all about Hutch’s parents. They had to hold their heads up high.
Devon looked around the chapel. Two pews in front and to her left Presley sat with Pete, their heads were lowered, but Devon could see they were passing notes on the program back and forth. Sasha Harris was a few rows in front of Devon, trembling slightly. Maya sat near the front with her head bowed. She used a tissue to dab at her eyes every few minutes. Devon spotted Cleo standing in the back, looking bored. But where was Isla?
Matt sat in the front row next to Eric. The song came to a close (mercifully!) and Devon noticed Eric pass a few white index cards to Matt, who then stepped up to the dais. Devon sat up a little straighter, nervous for Matt, and congratulating herself for a good job on his tie. Grant patted her thigh, and she slipped her hand under his. It probably caught him off guard to see her holding hands with Matt, especially considering she and Matt weren’t friends publicly. She shouldn’t have been annoyed. Besides, it wasn’t as if she could ever tell Grant that Matt was in Peer Counseling with her, even though it was easy enough to assume.
Matt cleared his throat and read his index cards. The audience shuffled in their seats, blew noses, and dried their eyes. “The Hutchins family asked me to say a few words about Jason, Hutch to those of us who knew him best.” Matt projected his voice nicely to the back of the room, made good eye contact with the audience, but the cards shook in his hands. Devon held her breath for him to be able to finish this speech without breaking down. Matt exhaled slowly before continuing. Everywhere he went, Hutch made it his mission to make people happy.”
OUTSIDE THE CHAPEL, DEVON watched as the pallbearers loaded Hutch’s coffin into the waiting black hearse. The crowd started to dwindle. Students slowly walked uphill to the dining hall to get a late breakfast … when Devon heard something. Was it singing? A man’s voice … a thumping, like hooves … and that’s when she saw him: An old man in a cowboy hat, galloping downhill on horseback, singing out loud.
Reed Hutchins.
Devon blinked. She wasn’t hallucinating. This was really happening. She looked for Hutch’s parents. They stood by the limos near the hearse, mouths agape. That’s when Devon heard the words clearly, “Kodachrome. You give us those nice bright colors. You give us the greens of summers. Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah!”
Devon’s throat tightened. She almost laughed. At least someone was representing Hutch as he would have wanted. Reed slowed to a stop by Hutch’s father, Bill: his son. Devon couldn’t hear what Bill said, but she saw taut lips and the bulge of a pounding jaw. Reed simply shook his head and smiled. “Kodachrome,” he hollered, then started coughing. Bill stepped forward and grabbed the horse’s reins. He pointed sharply down the hill, but Reed kept singing in a