It scared me to look at all the tubes and wires that were everywhere. To think, it was these things that were keeping him alive right now. I knew that now was not the time to act so scared. I needed to be strong for my mom…and dad…I was all they had left now. I went on with my final goodbye to my brother. It was really hard to say goodbye; in fact, I almost couldn't get any words to move past my lips.

I must've talked for hours, mostly about the things we used to do and the times we spent together. I told him that I loved him with all my heart…and would never forget him. You can see from this that I still haven't. Finally, I got done and my parents took their turn saying goodbye to their only real son. Telling him that he was going to be missed so much by everyone.

After they were done, a doctor showed me back in to spend the remaining minutes with him. The doctor turned to my parents and they nodded with somber eyes. Then that was it, he was gone. I remember looking at the clock and listening to the doctor pronounce the time. It was at 12:32 A.M. on June 1st 2000, about two weeks before my birthday; Mark CJ Kent died.

I went home that night in a complete daze. This couldn't have just happened; my brother was only seventeen! He was too young to be gone. As the car pulled into the driveway, I got out and ran. I didn't care where I went to; I just ran. My mom had tried to stop me, but I kicked in my speed as she got closer. I came to a stop in the middle of one of our back pastures and broke down, screaming to the Heavens. I asked God why I couldn't save him, why he had to die like that. To this day, I still don't know why such a great person had to be taken away from this earth.

My parents took me out of school for about a month so I could get my life back together. I guess that somewhere in that month something inside my parents just snapped. They started fighting with each other and soon all there was left in the house was silence. I'm starting to think that Mark was the glue that held our family together. When I went back to school, my parents started to push down on me; forcing me to excel in everything I did. I don't know if they knew what they were doing…

As the years went by, the pressure on me began to build up. I had so many classes that I was expected to get A's in, that when I hit seventh grade; I had to find a way out. I talked to some of my friends that I knew I really shouldn't hang around, but they'd helped me get through my pain. They told me about this guy that could make it all go away but for a cost, of course. I figured I had nothing to lose so I passed a message through some of my friends that I'd be at the next meeting that was held.

About a day later, I got word that there was going to be a meeting at the park across the school before first period started. I went just like I said I would, then stood in a small crowd of students making an oath never to tell about this. Then he pulled out the pills; he told us that he'd sell them for ten bucks a bottle. I dug into my jeans and found a twenty that my mom had given me for lunch.

I had taken all the courses about being drug free and other things like that. Now, all that didn't matter; I needed them so I took the twenty, gulped back my fear, and bought two bottles. He told me that if I took just one, I'd instantly feel better. Doing what he told me, I took the tiny, blue pill in my hand and popped it into my mouth, followed by a quick swallow of water. I waited…nothing happened. I glanced at the bottle again, and reasoned that if I took some more, it wouldn't hurt me at all. I took two more from the bottle and followed the same process.

This time, the effects were there and I felt great, better, and happier. I was in high spirits at last. The pills had worked. By the time night fell, I was depressed yet again. I now understood that the pills only had a short-lasting effect on me. Then I got it in my head that the more I took; maybe it would last until I was up to my room and almost asleep. The next day, I took more from my now precious stash and popped them into my mouth. The effect came quicker this time and lasted longer. For a while, that was okay for me. Then, I needed more and more each day to fulfill my needs.

That's when I discovered the kryptonite combinations. I knew I was allergic to the green stuff, but once I combined it with the red, it was like they cancelled each other out. That was the stuff that really got me in good moods. Sometimes though, I would almost pass out from what little green stuff I had around. I didn't want my parents to find out about what I was doing, so I had to be careful of how I crushed it all into a fine powder. After I did that, I'd always add one of my pills to add a kick to it.

Soon I wasn't eating, and my friends began worrying about me, but I told them not to and that I was fine. It went on like that for a while; I took the pills with kryptonite instead of eating. Usually, I'd put the mixtures in with any drink I could; and soon my appetite dwindled down to nothing. I began losing weight next. At first nothing showed; then about a week after, it started to show and I had to double up on all my clothes. After the effects of the pills started to get shorter I stopped sleeping. It wasn't a very big deal to me at the time because I was still young and didn't need much sleep.

One day however, while I was talking to Chloe, Pete, and Lana I got dizzy. I thought after a moment it would go away like it usually did. That didn't happen though. It just got worse and I passed out. The next time I woke up, I found myself in the back of an ambulance and panicked. I couldn't go to the hospital, they'd discover who I was! I tried to take a breath but realized there was none to take. I looked up into the EMT's caring eyes as he continued to squeeze the much-needed air into my body. Before I could register anything else, a sharp pain engulfed my body; once again, I fell into darkness.