I think I felt my heart crack a little.

I have never seen Jack so...so...vulnerable, so fragile, so broken. His chestnut colored eyes that usually held exuberance, were now dark and sullen. It was as if someone turned off a light switch inside of him. There were no traces of happiness left...it has all been replaced with grief and sorrow.

I cautiously walked up to Jack. The other guys slowly backed away as they saw me approaching. They whispered a few more words of sympathy before they left the room to give Jack and I some privacy.

The presence of Jack's grandmother was nowhere to be found. She was gone, but I knew I would be seeing her again soon.

I didn't know what to say. How was I supposed to react?

'Oh, I'm sorry for your loss, but it's not really a loss because your grandmother is still here. In fact, I talked to her no more than ten minutes ago.'

Yeah...totally not the right moment to say something like that. Ever.

"People said I looked like her, my Grandma," Jack said quietly, interrupting the silence that had fell between us. "She was so nice and caring. When she was in the hospital before I moved, I would visit her everyday, even when my parents were too lazy to drive me there. I just had to see her at least once a day, to know that she was okay. I loved her so much because she was the only one who truly cared."

I sat down beside Jack, and pulled him into my arms. He leaned into me and laid his head in the crook of my neck. Then he broke down. He began sobbing, his crumpled form shaking violently as I rubbed his back. I could feel his warm tears trailing down my skin, tickling the little baby hairs that were in their paths and wetting my shirt.

"Shh," I cooed.

We stayed like that for what seemed like hours, until his sobs fell silent. I could feel him breathing slowly and evenly now. Even asleep, his face looked tense as his eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth seemed to be frowning. Seeing Jack like this made the pit of my stomach burn with empathy. It reminded me of the time when I went through the same thing.

I was only 5 years old.

The school bus dropped me off at home after a tiring day of play at school. I walked through the front door humming Apples and Bananas, but abruptly stopped when I saw my mom sitting at the dining room table with her face in her hands. My dad stood beside her with an indescribable look of pain on his face.

"Mommy? Daddy?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

I then noticed that my older sister, Selene, wasn't home yet. She usually arrived home from school before I did.

"Where's Sissy?"

They didn't answer.

"Where's Sissy?" I repeat, worry rushing into my voice.

"Kim, sweetie," my dad said while slowly walking towards me. I backed up a little. My little 5-year-old mind sensed I wasn't going to like what he was about to tell me.

He continued, "Selene won't be coming home."

I paused. "Well...where is she? Did she run away?"

Fresh tears began streaming down my dad's face. "She's – she's," my dad sighed, then bluntly spoke two words that would change my life forever.

"She's dead."

My body went completely rigid and my mind froze. My throat tightened and I suddenly felt nauseous. Even at 5, those words were just as devastating as it would be for a person who was mature enough to actually understand the extent of death.

No. No. Nonono. This couldn't be true. Sissy's bus was supposed to take her home from her middle school today. Sissy was supposed to be home, talking and laughing with us. Sissy was supposed to help me with my vowels homework tonight. Sissy was supposed to sleep in the room that we shared. Sissy was supposed to kiss me goodnight. Sissy was supposed to be here...

Here.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I'm gonna throw up."

And in a flash, my dad guided me to the bathroom and held my hair as I released my dinosaur chicken nuggets, animal crackers, and apple juice into the toilet bowl.

After I finished and my dad flushed the toilet, I leaned against the bathtub to cool down my scorching hot skin. My hair started to plaster against my face and I stared up at my father. Then I realized something...

"Daddy, Sissy's not dead," I said in a confused tone.

A small smile graced my Dad's lips. "Yeah, in a way. She's in Heaven right now with your Granny and Pappy."

"Noo." I shook my head. "She's right behind you."

Next thing I knew, my dad was passed out on the bathroom tiles.

After he regained consciousness, Daddy and Mommy both debunked my statement as denial. Apparently my young mind couldn't handle the news so I imagined up Selene, so I would believe she wasn't truly dead.

But I knew it really was her. She would visit me every night to give me a goodnight kiss, and I could actually feel her warm lips on my forehead.

She was the first dead person I saw.

But after a while, I decided not to tell my parents about Selene any further, because after 3 years of trying to convince them that I truly was seeing and spending time with her, they still didn't believe me. They hired a therapist to help me through my "loss," thinking that seeing my sister was a figment of my imagination. I was taken to various doctors, but they all gave the same "diagnosis," and I was put on countless medications. All the constant pills made me feel horrible. I would make myself throw up at night, because I knew my body didn't need the medications. They didn't need to sit in my stomach and do further damage to my body.

So my last resort was to give up on my parents. I told them that it took me 3 years to finally realize that it was all in my head. Of course, I was lying right through my teeth, but I couldn't stand the constant doctor visits, therapy appointments and useless medications any longer. Thankfully, they bought it. They tried to comfort me, telling me that I had overcome a challenging phase in my life.

I rolled my eyes. For God's sake, I was only 8, and they're telling me that I had overcome a challenging phase in my life? I hadn't even overcome elementary school! But nonetheless, they were happy, and we returned to our almost normal way of life, well...they did.

After a while, Selene stopped visiting me, but all these other strangers would come up to me and ask me for help. I knew they were dead too, I could feel it. Most of them looked like normal people, but some of them looked grotesque, and a few of them were negative entities, demonic...evil. It would make me hide under my blankets at night, knowing that they were standing right beside my bed, watching me. It was as if their eyes could pierce through my comforters and sheets. All I could do was pray to God and Selene to protect me.

But this was my life now. I see the dead. Simple as that.

"Jack?" I shook his shoulder gently.

"Hmm?" He groaned then returned back to the crook of my neck. I blushed, but ignored it as I shook him again.

"Jack, please wake up. It's me, Kim."

And in a snap, Jack was upright on the bench staring at me confusedly. His cheeks were tinged red, although I couldn't tell if it was from the crying or him realizing that he fell asleep on me with such close proximity.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Jack mumbled while staring at the huge tear stain on my shirt. "And I'm sorry about your shirt."

I chuckled. "It's okay. You needed a friend to lean on. I know how it feels to lose someon-"

"No, you don't know" Jack snapped. I jumped back, startled by his sudden outburst.

"What?"

He raised his voice. "I SAID NO! YOU DON'T KNOW, OKAY? NO ONE KNOWS HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW! WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOSE SOMEONE THEY LOVE!" The waterworks returned to his face. "I feel so – so..." He trailed off.

"So lost and alone," I finished the sentence for him. "You feel that you are in a dark place and that no one understands you. You feel as if a part of your heart was ripped out of your chest and buried 6 feet under. You sometimes even consider joining them, so you won't be alone in this hell we call life.

You're surprised aren't you? You're probably wondering, 'How could the selfish and overly-confident Kimberly Crawford possibly know how I feel?' You know, you're not the only one who has lost someone they loved! SO DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT I DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS, BECAUSE I KNOW EXACTLY HOW IT FEELS!" By the end of my rant, I realized that I was standing up and pointing an angry finger at Jack. I dropped my arm and tried to calm my breathing.

"Kim...How...?" Confusion was written across Jack's face. He was utterly speechless at my outburst.

"Follow me." I walked out of the dojo and exited the mall, heading down a gravel road with Jack following closely behind me. We walked down the road in silence, until Jack spoke up.

"Kim, I am so sorry for yelling at you like that and saying those things. My emotions were just so overwhelming, and I guess I just took it out on you."

"It's okay, Jack, really. I understand. And I'm sorry for snapping at you too." After traveling a few more blocks, we arrived at our destination. "We're here."

I stood outside of the metal gates of Seaford Cemetery. I climbed over the fence beside it and Jack, realizing what I was doing, helped me over it and then hopped the fence after me. We walked through the maze of graves until I suddenly stopped at a headstone. Jack ran into me, not noticing that I stopped walking. He looked down at the headstone in front of me and read the engraved calligraphy aloud.

"Selene Luna Crawford. July 3, 1988 to October 9, 2002. May you watch over your loving sister and family from the stars, just like the beautiful Moon. See you soon, little angel."

Jack gazed up at me in surprise. "You have an older sister?"

I nodded uncomfortably.

"What happened to her?"

"She had a severe allergic reaction at school. Peanuts. It was lethal. Her airways were blocked and she couldn't breathe. And those stupid teachers didn't do anything about it! They just panicked and called for the nurse. By the time real help came, it was too late." My eyes filled with tears. Jack was the first person outside my family that I told about my sister.

Jack pulled me into a hug and buried his face in my hair. "I am so, so sorry, Kim. But I'm glad someone understands what I'm going through."

I returned the hug and we walked out of the cemetery together, hand in hand. As we were leaving, I thought I saw Selene from the corner of my eye, smiling at me. As usual, though, by the time I turned to look, she was gone.