der schmerz (kaylan+sissy)

"There are no rules as to how you're supposed to feel," the guidance counsellor's words echoed through her brain. She knew something was wrong with her - she didn't feel anything. The reality of Bubby being reaped had come into fruition, leaving her home cold and empty knowing that he would not be returning. He was dead, gone, yet all Sissy could do was watch helplessly as her father consoled her mother, tears no stranger to her eyes as she sobbed, relinquishing in the feeling of grief and sorrow. 

Sissy did not feel anything but a sharp pain in her stomach, hunger calling her name despite the mountains of gift baskets and casseroles piling in their home. She didn't understand - all the stories she'd heard of grief involved the loss of appetite, yet strangers to her continued to knock on their door offering condolences and snacks. They continued to pile and pile - she had not seen her mother or her father eat much in days, yet hunger called to her.

Days prior, her sobs were rescued by Kaylan Wake, in the form of a reassuring squeeze of a hand and fresh homemade cookies. She needed out - out of this house, haunted by the Bubby's ghost, bleeding out in front of her as a smiling Mauve Morganstern stood over his dead body, relishing in the sweet sweet taste of death. The last time she had cried, she found comfort in Kaylan's chocolate chip cookies, and her mind told her that was the secret to containing her grief (and hunger). She knew instantly that a visit to Kaylan's would be in order.

She wrapped on Kaylan's door, the pounding of her small hands against the door sending seismic waves through the Wake's house. She desperately sought the comfort of her newfound friend. Sissy was a hurricane, the eye of her storm weaving its way into timid Kaylan's life. Yet she had never felt so connected to someone before, even in her few days of knowing him. He had already saw her at her worst - the only one, really, and she planned to keep it that way.

As the door creaked open, Sissy cleared her throat, pushing away all of the brutal and bloody thoughts of Bubby aside and spoke. "Kaylan," she greeted, "I need chocolate chip cookies." She knew her mother would have a conniption fit over her lack of manners if she were there.