The Invisible

Jesse Fitzgerald. 17. Tall, pretty sky blue eyes, unruly dirty blond hair. Dyslexic. Likes to play with fire. Painted. Two sisters, Kate, and Anna. Kate has leukemia.

He never hated Kate. Not when his parents didn't realize he had a problem with his numbers and letters, not when she took all the attention. He couldn't hate Anna, who, like him, was only called upon when needed. He didn't hate his father, nor his mother; he just hated what they became. Kate, the sick one, Anna, her temporary cure, his father, the breadwinner, his mother, Kate's sole protector, and him, the Invisible.

I met Jesse when he had gotten lost coming home from school, or was he running away? I can't remember. But he had run to the nearby park, and he was about to hide in the bushes when he ran into me. He played with me, but he seemed distracted. Every few minutes or so he would look over his shoulder as if he expected, or hoped, that someone would follow him. No one ever came. My father decided in the end to drop him off at his house. When we got there, the large home was dark. Then as my father was about to pull away, a van pulled into the driveway. With a small murmur of "Thanks" Jesse flew out of the car to greet his parents, who looked terribly exhausted. They looked at him with surprise, but then ushered him into the house.

They didn't even know he was gone.

I met Jesse again two years later when I transferred to his school. I was in the third grade. Being the new girl, I was picked on, but not like Jesse. They teased him because he was dyslexic, though no one knew he was at the time, that he didn't get permission slips signed, or that he got poor marks. I was his only friend. I didn't mind that I couldn't ever come over because Kate was sick, or that he was sometimes not around due to Kate, but I stuck by him. At one point, I stopped handing in permission slips just because he didn't.

"They want me to go to some special kid's camp because they don't want to bother with what's wrong with me, not while Kate's sick," he said one sunny afternoon, angry tears streaming down his face. He tried to wipe them away, but more came in their place.

"I…I hate them! All they care about is Kate! Kate, Kate, Kate! What about me? What about Anna? Aren't we here too?"

He was shaking now. I didn't remember what came over me. At that age, girls and boys avoided one another like they were the plague, but then; it was as if we were exactly the same. I wrapped my small arms around his shoulders and held him. Unfortunately, he was much bigger than me, and I couldn't wrap myself all around him, but I did my best. And that's all he ever wanted.

Years past and we grew closer. I couldn't stop him with his bad habits, but he always came to me. It would be like a pattern. If Kate was sick, then he'd be over my house all day, and for dinner. But if his family was having a good day, and they were home, he wouldn't stay long that day. But he always came back. I knew I was only his crutch, his band-aid until he was strong enough without me, and I knew I needed to be put away like a memory. It was when Anna finally cut the binds to set her sister free when I knew it was time to let him go.

"Jesse," I murmured, trying to wake him from his nap on my futon. He had been up all of last night and had snuck away to see me. Kate was in the hospital again.

"Jesse, you need to wake up. Your dad is going to be at your house soon."

"I don't care," he said sleepily, pulling the pillow over his head.

I giggled softly as I pulled the pillow away.

"Come on, you need to go. They're gonna worry if you're not there."

I was lying, and we both knew it. Everything seemed to always be a lie in the end.

He looked up and stared at me with those knowing glassy blue eyes. He sat up, stretched, and did something he never did before. He wrapped his arms around me waist and pulled me to him. He held me close without saying anything. He stroked my cheek, his fingers lightly brushing my eyelid.

"You're the only one who has ever worried about me," he said quietly.

"I won't always be," I whispered back, my eyes fluttering open.

His eyes bore into me, and I felt like he knew what was going to happen. But he didn't say anything. There was nothing to say.

He left through the open window, quickly skimming across the roof to quietly step onto the driveway, but before he jumped off, he ran back and kissed me. It felt like wildfire, fierce and burning.

"Goodbye," he said, and he was gone.

In the end, Anna won the case. And at the same time, Anna saved her sister. She saved her family, and she saved my Jesse. He never came back to see me, not while I lived in that house that was his comfort. In the end it was an accident. Something or another went wrong, and the house burned. There was nothing anyone could do. Jesse was miserable for a very long time. He missed Anna, and a small part of him missed me. But he became stronger, and he didn't need a crutch anymore. He now had all the support he needed. He visits my grave twice a year, on my birthday, and on the last day he saw me. He brings a beautiful bouquet of forget-me-nots, and he just sits and talks to me. This time, he speaks of happier things, and every time, he first tells me he still loves me, and asks if Anna is with me.

And as I watch him, with Anna by my side, I say, "Yes."