A whole year had passed since he died, and yet I found myself expecting to see his face when I looked up or hear his laughter behind me. But there was nothing. Just the tranquillity of the cemetery and the coolness of the evening.

I glanced at my watch. It was half past four and I didn’t have to pick up my brother till after six. Carefully smoothing my skirt, I sat down on the dry ground and allowed the tears to roll down my cheeks. It still hurt. Even after so long, it still hurt.

"Shannon, I’ve got a huge favor to ask you," my namesake cried when I walked out of my Trig class. He picked up his knapsack and followed me towards my car.

"What?" I asked him pleasantly. Shannon Kadison always had a favor to ask.

"Well," he began, faking complete innocence. "You know how Kristine’s been so busy with the drama club and we haven’t been able to spend any time with each other. But rehearsals were called off tonight and so she asked if I would like to have dinner at her place, and I said yes."

I ignored the sharp stab inside me. "And?"

" And I completely forgot that we had to pass up the Lit. paper tomorrow and I was planning to do it today, but now--."

"But now that you’re going to be having dinner at your girlfriend’s, you won’t be able to do the paper and since you know that I’ve already done mine, you want me to do yours for you. How am I doing so far?"

Shannon looked at me sheepishly. "Well, I’ve got most of the stuff jotted down. You just have to make sense out of it and type it out." Before I could say anything, he continued. "Please, Shan, you’re my best friend in the whole world! You’ve got to do this for me!" He folded his hands and looked at me pleadingly.

"I’ve never said no, have I?" I asked him. "What’s your paper on?"

He grinned and his face lit up happily. "Thanks so much, best friend. You’re the absolute greatest!" He pulled out a sheet of paper from between his books. "I was comparing Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Hamlet. I’ll never forget this, Shannon." Then he was gone.

"Sure you will, best friend, sure you will."

It was nearly midnight when I switched off the computer in my room. With Shannon’s paper neatly sealed in a document envelope, I slipped it into my bag and got into bed.

Suddenly the phone rang and I groaned before reaching to answer it. "Hello?"

"Shannon?" a familiar voice asked.

"Mrs. Kadison? What’s wrong?"

Shannon’s mother’s voice shook as she quietly said, "Shannon’s in the hospital. He fainted at Kristine’s."

Panic shook me. "The cancer?" I asked.

"It’s gotten worse. They say he might not make it. He’s conscious now and he wanted me to call you."

I checked the time. It was after midnight. "I’ll be right there."

In the hospital room, Shannon was asleep on the bed. His usually tan skin was pale and several tubes were attached to his arms. It hurt just to look at him. I reached out to brush a strand of chocolate-colored hair away from his face. He opened his eyes and smiled. "Hey, best friend," he greeted me softly.

"Hey best friend."

He moved his arm slightly and winced. "How do I look?" he asked.

I smiled. "Pretty horrid."

"You’ve got such a wonderful beside manner."

"How are you feeling?"

He took several deep breaths before replying, "Okay, I guess. They want to do a bone-marrow transplant. They say it might help."

"What about the chemo?"

"They said that all that it’s doing is making me weak and…," he paused, inhaling another breath of air. "My hair is starting to fall." He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

I laughed. "Your mom said you fainted at your girlfriend’s place."

Shannon grinned. "Yeah. She came in to see me before and she’s so worried. She said she’d come back tomorrow. Girls really go for this stuff."

"Go to sleep, Shannon."

"Only if you promise you’ll be here when I wake up."

"I promise."

I rolled the wheelchair, with Shannon sitting uncomfortably in it, down the hospital ramp and towards my car. "I hate this thing," Shannon complained and jumped out of the seat as soon as we got to the station wagon. "Can I drive?" he asked.
I looked over at the nurse, who had walked with us, and waited her reply. She smiled pleasantly and nodded. "Just don’t go too fast," she warned and handed me a sheet of paper to sign. "Thanks," she said, before waving to Shannon and heading back into the hospital, taking the wheelchair with her.

Shannon had crawled into the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition. "Come on, Shan, and let’s hit the beach before the sun sets."

I climbed into the passenger seat and leaned against the leather seat. Shannon had been discharged a week before the transplant so he could spend some time out of the hospital before having to go in and spend nearly three weeks there. After having been kept indoors for six days, Shannon was craving for the bright sunshine of California and his favorite spot, the private beach he had inherited from his grandfather. Shannon and I had spent a lot of time there, especially watching the sun set in the evening.

"What are you thinking about?" Shannon asked me, turning off at the corner and heading down to the beach.

I shook my head. "Nothing." I looked over at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh come on, Shan, don’t fret. I feel absolutely fine! You’ve gotta loosen up," he cried. "It’s beautiful day and we’re going to watch a beautiful sunset. Then I’m going to pick up Kristine and we’re going dancing at the country club."

"Sure you’re ready for that?"

Shannon pulled over into the space in the lot the beach provided for parking. He turned to me. "Shannon, I’m really okay," he said seriously. "If I didn’t feel okay, I wouldn’t be here."

"Sure you would." I got out of the car and followed him towards his part of the beach that lay hidden behind large rocks. The beach was pretty much deserted as it usually was at this time.

The two of us sat down on the moist sand, a few feet apart, and watched in silence as the sun began its usual descent. The sky was painted with bright oranges and soft reds, the sea reflecting the colors and changing from its deep-blue to a shade of amber. So many evenings we had spent watching the sun sink into the ocean and each time it still took our breaths away.

I knocked on the hospital door and opened it. Shannon lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He was paler than ever and there were more tubes on him than I had ever seen. He looked so vulnerable amidst all that that I had the urge to just get him out of there.

Shannon was staring noncommittally at the ceiling when I sat down beside the bed. Tears welled up in my eyes and I didn’t know what to say. "Aren’t you even going to look at me, best friend?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly.

"You’d just start crying and I don’t think I could deal with that right now," he whispered. "The transplant didn’t turn out the way they had hoped it would. I’m still going to die." His voice was cold and bitter.

"I’m sorry, Shannon."

There was a pause before he looked over at me, his dark eyes shining with unshed tears. "Sorry? You’re sorry? I’m the one whose life span extends between two weeks and two months, and you’re sorry?" He turned away and the tears rolled down his cheeks. "Get out, Shannon. Just get out."

"Shannon?" the unfamiliar voice on the phone asked.

"Yeah?"

There was a slight hesitation and the voice continued. "This is Kristine."

"What can I do for you, Kristine?"

"I went to see Shannon today and he looks even worse."

"He’s dying. What did you expect?"

"I’m sorry." There was a brief silence. "Look, the reason I’m calling is because…well, my mother doesn’t want me to see him anymore and I don’t think I want to either."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Will you tell him for me?" She sounded nervous, almost scared.

"You knew from the very beginning that he had cancer. You’re his girlfriend, at least have the decency to tell him yourself."

"You’re his best friend, Shan."

"Go to hell, Kris."

"I’m only here to give you your papers so you could check out your grades and then I have to take it back to the teachers." Shannon still would not look at me. "Fine! You want to act like an ass, then to hell with you. I don’t need this." I picked up my things and headed for the door.

"I’m sorry," Shannon called out softly and I turned around to see him staring pleadingly at me. "I didn’t mean to hurt you." He chuckled softly to himself. "Kristine and I broke up this morning. I thought that she would stick with me till the end, but I guess I was wrong."

"I know," I said and walked to the bed.

He looked at me questioningly, but didn’t say anything. He gestured to a space beside him on the bed and I sat down next to him. "Do you think we can defy death?"

"The sun always sets, doesn’t it?"

"Okay. What do you think happens after we die?"

"We live," I replied.

Shannon smiled and took my hand, holding it tightly in his. "Now I know why we’re best friends."

"How long have we been friends?" Shannon asked me one day.

"Sixteen years."

"How come we never dated?"

I smiled. "You never asked."

He seemed to think about that for a moment. "Would you have said yes?"

"Definitely."

"Damn."

"I want to see the sunset before I die," Shannon said to me and I found myself wheeling him to my car, this time without any complaints from him. He could barely walk and he was a sick shade of gray. It was even hard for him to smile anymore.
I drove to the beach, parking as close to the sand as possible. Pulling out the wheelchair, I helped Shannon into the seat and began to push him down the beach. Since it would be impossible to maneuver the wheelchair across the rocks, we settled on a secluded spot just nearby.

"You okay?" I asked him.

Shannon nodded.

I held Shannon’s hand as he got out of the chair and we carefully sat down on the dry sand. We were close to the sea and at times, the cold water would gently caress our bare feet.

"Why do you put up with me?" Shannon asked me suddenly.

"What kind of an idiotic question is that?"

"We’re best friends right?’

I looked at him curiously. "You know the answer to that one."

"Can friends love each other?"

I considered his question. "I think so. Love doesn’t have to be restricted."

Very slowly Shannon leaned over to me and gently kissed me, his fingers tenderly brushing against my cheek. "We would have been a great couple, Shannon," he whispered when we drew apart. "I love you, best friend."

In those words were "I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve been" and "Thank you for always being there" and "I wish we had more time together" and "You are my best friend."

I shifted slightly so that Shannon was now leaning against me, his head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms tightly around his frail body, trying to give him some of my strength. But as the sun once again vanished into the ocean, and the sky transformed into the velvet carpet of deep blue…he was gone. Our final sunset together.

The awareness of the rain against my skin brought me out of my reverie and I quickly stood up, brushing the dirt off my skirt. I wiped the last traces of tears from my cheeks.

The sun was hidden behind the dark clouds that had formed and the sweet smell of rain lingered in the air. Suddenly I had an inspiration. I bent down and picked up the white rose from the ground.

The sand underneath my bare feet was wet and cool. Raising my arm, I flung the single flower into the water. The waves quickly swallowed the rose up and it disappeared from my view.

At that moment I could see Shannon’s face in front of me. I could hear his laughter in my ears and feel his touch against my skin. "I love you too, best friend." I stood there with Shannon, his hand in mine, and together we watched the sunset.