The Face in the Mirror

Prolouge- Jasmine

Do you ever feel like you're lonely, like you've lost all hope, like absolutely nothing is going right for you?

Up until age five, I felt like that nearly every day. School was a mess, I had no friends, and even my go-to-girl was losing touch with me. Then, it happened.

By it, I mean my twin sister was dying.

It was a horrible death. Every second she was living she was in horrible pain, and I knew all she wanted was death, but that wasn't coming easily.

Chloe pleaded with my mother to let her go. 'It hurts so much," she whispered. "Please, make it stop."

But my mother refused. She clung to every chance that Chloe would get better, and there was no way Chloe was leaving if there was even a tiny chance that she'd live.

The problem was, there was no chance. With every breath Chloe took, you could tell she was dying; her whole body shuddered, her face turned even paler-if that was possible- and she was gone long before she actually died.

I remember the day she died like it was yesterday. I remember her taking in her last, deep, shuddering breath, then... Nothing.

I didn't mourn her, because I never had to say goodbye. To me, Chloe never died, because for me, when the monitor showed her heart had stopped, her spirit was standing right beside me.