Cole's death had a big effect on Jackie. She was well known for being one of the happiest girls in her class at school, but now she felt that she had no right to be happy. When Cole died, he was not happy, he was suffering. Besides her personailty, Jackie wouldn't sit at the table to eat or interact with anyone in the apartment. In addition to never sitting at the table, it took a lot of effort to get her to even take a bite of her dinner.

Mr. Vandel would come in occasionally and attempt to give food to her, but she would rarely eat it. Mr. Vandel made her favorite dish three days in a row in hopes of getting her appetite back, but each time he would check on the plate, nothing had been eaten.  Another big effect was that Jackie would not talk. Not even whisper. Finn would come in her room everyday to try and speak with her, but Jackie remained silent.

Mr. Vandel scheduled the funeral for today and of course this one time, Jackie was ready to go. She had a slightly wrinkled dress on and fancy shoes she hadn't worn in ages. Her brown hair was pulled back in two Dutch braids that rested lightly against her back. When they arrived at the funeral, she was surprised to see almost all of Cole's friends, except for George, who died in an attack earlier in the week according to a letter from his parents. Some of Jackie's family-friends were there too. She was filled with joy as she saw them especially when she spotted her best friend, Julia. Since the funeral already began, she could not receive her attention. She was the only person that she wanted to speak with. 

Soon, Mr. Vandel walked up to the podium and talked about Cole for a while and how he was such a great help around the cottage and how he loved his sister so much. Then, Cole's best friend, Lee, went up to talk about him also. Jackie's eyes welled up when she remembered some of those times that Lee talked about. She thought about being little again, Cole and her running around the yard playing tag, or playing pirates on the play set. She was always his servant and brought him cheese and crackers whenever he demanded for food, and Cole was obviously the pirate. Since Lee lived near by, he played with them quite a bit too. He would usually end up being Cole's sidekick. Finn shot a sympathetic glance at Jackie when he noticed a tear running down her cheek. She tried her hardest to stay calm but she kept feeling antsy. Finally, the end of the funeral rolled around and guests were invited for a dinner at a nearby restaurant afterwards.

"Jackie!" Someone shouted behind Jackie. 

She barely could hear the girl since there was so much commotion in the restaurant.

"Julia!" Jackie exclaimed as she finally recognized the voice and her face. 

She had been her best friend since Jackie could remember. The two had been tighter than two peas in a pod. She had beautiful hazel eyes and a warm smile that was always on her lips. Today, Julia's thick black curls were pulled back with a polka dotted bow and she wore a white-collared purple dress. She looked absolutely beautiful.

"Oh, Jackie!" Julia sighed giving her a great big hug filled with multiple emotions, "I am so, so sorry about what happened though."

As Julia and Jackie finished hugging, Julia had acquired an interesting face. She walked around Jackie in a circle and then stood in front of her again.

"What-"Jackie questioned before Julia cut her off.

"Wait. . ." Julia demanded running up next to Jackie, "oh my goodness, you are finally taller than me!"

"I think it may be the crutches." Jackie answered with a smile.

"Oh stop, I think you had a growth spurt, Jackie!" Julia added as she admired her height.

"Now you have got to tell me what happened and how you got those crutches, okay? I want to know every single detail. Even about that hot boy that was standing next you during the procession. Tell. Me. Everything."

Julia and Jackie giggled for a couple of minutes as Jackie began to tell Julia everything.

###

Jackie was still quiet around Finn and Mr. Vandel, but she had started to speak briefly to them.  After it being a while since she had not talked, Finn and Mr. Vandel decided one of them had to talk to Jackie about this. At first they agreed Finn would do it but then, Mr.Vandel thought he should do it instead since Jackie seemed really ticked off by Finn the most out of the two.

"Jackie?" Mr. Vandel whispered, knocking on her bedroom door.

Jackie sat up slowly and sighed, "yes?"

"We need to talk." Mr. Vandel stated as he walked in the room and shut the door behind him. He cleared his throat and then looked at Jackie.

Jackie felt stupid for answering him, but she was feeling a little more confident,"alright."

 Jackie scooted over to the side of the bed to make room for Mr. Vandel. When he sat down, he gave her an understanding look.

"Jackie, I know you've had a really hard time fighting for a little light in your life." Mr. Vandel stated," and you might not realize this but we miss your contagious laughs, your toothy smiles, your lovely voice when you speak and sing." Mr. Vandel put a comforting hand on her shoulder and continued,"please, please, Jackie. . . can you be yourself around Finn and I? We both wish we could help, but we've never experienced so many traumatic incidents in this little time period. I mean, my wife passed away, but not three people. We want you to know that we are always here for you Jackie . . . like a second family."

The words, like a second family stayed in Jackie's head for a moment, as if she had a moment of realization. Suddenly a smile was plastered across Jackie's face and she reached over to hug Mr.Vandel.

" Oh!" Mr. Vandel noted, surprised by Jackie's action as he hugged her back. 

They hugged for a moment and then Jackie let go.

"Thanks Mr. Vandel, for everything." Jackie thanked as she smiled even larger than before.

Mr.Vandel couldn't help but to smile himself, " Call me Dad." He added with a huge smile.

Jackie smiled so big for the first time in forever.