Grave Concern
 | This chapter is exclusively available to members of Bittersweet Club International. |
| Grave Concern | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Published | March 29, 2019 |
| Page count | 21 |
| Major characters | Mike, Lucy |
| Minor characters | Paulo, Daisy, David, Rachel, Stacy, Lani Amalu |
| Locations | Roseville High School, Hospital |
| Chapter navigation | |
| ← Everyday Life | Ice Breaker → |
| Read in the BCI Members’ Library | |
Grave Concern is a non-canon Bittersweet Club International-exclusive comic set in a world where Lucy didn’t survive her jump. She’s gone before Mike can ever say he’s sorry, and her ghost has all of eternity to decide what his apology is worth.
Partial synopsis
The comic opens on Lucy’s empty desk as the class talks about her absence. David wonders aloud whether she’s going to fail the year, and Daisy agrees that she’s pushing it.[1] Lani Amalu then calls the class to order with some “extremely sad news”. Lucy passed away last night.[2]
He runs through the streets and takes a bus to the hospital. At the front desk, he pleads for help, but the receptionist can only look down apologetically.[3] Later, he kneels against a brick wall and tells himself her death cannot be his fault. She was horrible to him, and he did not deserve any of it. He finally says “I’m sorry.”[4]
Hovering beside him, translucent and grinning, Lucy answers, “Took ya long enough, jerkface.”[5] She tells Mike that he is now “Haunted”. Her soul never found peace, no thanks to him, and she refuses to make forgiveness easy just because he finally apologized.[6] They soon start shouting at each other again, although passersby can see only Mike.
Lucy, for her part, has nowhere in particular she needs to be anymore. Finding peace is going to take her a while, and she intends to have company for every minute of it...
Character dynamics
- Mike and Lucy: Lucy and Mike quickly return to trading insults and shouting over one another.[6] Mike blames himself for her death, while Lucy says her soul found no peace because of him.[4][6] In the main comic, Mike makes the same apology at the brick wall after Lucy has moved away, with no one there to hear it.[7][8] This time Lucy answers and tells him that forgiveness will not come easily.
Trivia & observations
- Passersby can’t see Lucy, which leaves Mike looking like a boy screaming at thin air. One passing mother shields her son from the sight, telling him “Billy, don’t look.”[6]
- In the main comic, Mike once tells Lucy, “Maybe it’d be fixed if she just died.”[9]
Related chapters
- Love Again: Its flashback shows Lucy’s jump from the old furniture place.[10] In main continuity, Augustus finds her afterward and takes out his phone.[11] This story branches from the same event, with Lucy not surviving the jump.
- Breaking Up: The opening restages the main-continuity classroom scene, including Lucy’s empty desk and her classmates wondering whether she will fail the year.[12] During that scene, Lani Amalu announces that Lucy will no longer be attending the school.[13] The chapter ends with Mike making the same apology at the same brick wall, but no one answers.[7][8]
- Leaving Home: This chapter follows the classroom and hospital scenes reworked in the opening. After Lucy leaves, Paulo punches Mike in the street and breaks down because he never told her how he felt.[14][15]
References
- ↑ Grave Concern, page 1 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Grave Concern, page 2 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Grave Concern, page 4 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Grave Concern, page 5 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Grave Concern, page 6 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Grave Concern, page 7 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 75: Breaking Up, page 27
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 75: Breaking Up, page 28
- ↑ Chapter 71: Just Beautiful, page 19
- ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 36
- ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 39
- ↑ Chapter 75: Breaking Up, page 3
- ↑ Chapter 75: Breaking Up, page 5
- ↑ Chapter 76: Leaving Home, page 2
- ↑ Chapter 76: Leaving Home, page 4