The week passed by really fast and before I knew it, it was already Saturday again. A few factors like helping out at the arcade, my brother staying out of my way and my parents being out of town helped the time fly by which I was grateful for. After Willow, who would still not admit to it, stabbed my brother with a pencil it had mellowed him down. He still made me do his homework but that was it; he didn't throw any snide comments my way or rough me up. What Willow had done to him had really put him in line.

I couldn't thank her because she probably hadn't done it for me but I was still grateful. I knew from the moment I met her that she was a badass and everytime I saw my brothers injured hand it reminded me just how true that was. Matthew was sticking to the story of how he accidentally stabbed himself but I knew it was all bullshit. First of the wound was too deep to be self inflicted and second Matthew was the most well-coordinated person I knew so he couldn't have hurt himself. He would never admit to being hurt by a girl though so he always lied whenever someone asked.

"Where are you going?"My mom asked stopping me in my tracks.

"To the arcade."I replied thinking it would have been obvious by now where I went every day.

I had no idea that she and my dad were already back from their trip to God knows where. I didn't care anyway because them being around or not didn't really affect me that much.

"Not today you're not."My mom countered.

It was Saturday afternoon and I'd spent all morning working on my assignments and coding so yes I was going to the arcade. I'd earned myself a few hours of nonstop gaming.

"Yes I am."I insisted.

My mother never really cared if I went to the arcade or not, she was actually always glad when I was out of the house so her insisting that I stay was a shock.

"You're staying here. We have a few guests coming over and we need to be here as a family so go back upstairs. I need you here when they arrive and not at that damned arcade."My mother instructed and I felt like screaming out loud in frustration.

"But mom..."I lamented hating how I lame I sounded.

"No buts, upstairs now and don't you dare sneak out. Make sure to wear something presentable. Party begins in three hours."My mom insisted.

"I can go to the arcade and be back by then."I pleaded.

"I already said no so go up to your room now and don't leave until I call for you."She screeched and I knew there was no need to fight her.

She had won that round of the battle.

Turning around I walked back up the stairs running into Matthew who was smirking at me. He had probably heard the whole conversation. I pushed past him and rushed to my room slamming the door before I locked it behind me. I hated it when my mom forced me to attend her pretentious parties but I never really had a choice. Since there was nothing I could do to get out of attending the party, I put my headphones back on and got back to working on designing my game.

Three hours later my mom sent one of the maids to call me down so I saved all the work I'd done and got dressed. I didn't want to make my mom any angrier than she already was so I changed into a black full neck sweater and black jeans. It was a casual look but still classy enough to fit in in with her esteemed guests.

When I walked downstairs the house had been transformed to host a full-blown party. I knew most of the people in attendance as they were all of my parents elite friends, people I'd known my whole life. I had no idea what the party was about because of how often they happened. The rich circle in Crescent was always looking for any lame excuse to party and my mom loved playing host. I hated parties but my mom liked faking that we were a perfect family so I was always forced to attend and play nice.

My mom waved me over to say hello to the couple that she was talking to. My dad was in another corner talking to the town's Sheriff while my brother was entertaining some old ladies with his charm. Everyone was playing their part and it was now my turn to join the circus. I plastered on a fake smile and prepared myself for all the lies I'd have to tell over the course of the night. Being a professional liar did come with the Brown name after all.

Two hours later I felt like I was suffocating and would literally do anything to get out of the God awful party. People were already getting drunk from all the alcohol being served which meant their tongues were looser. No one was really watching what they were saying anymore and it was getting to my nerves.

"Mom please let me leave."I begged my mom after I cornered her alone in the kitchen.

"No, you are staying in with the rest of us."She answered refilling her glass of wine from the bottle on the kitchen island.

"Nobody cares if I'm here or not and I know you don't either. After all you already have your perfect son Matthew by your side to win over your guests."I argued and realized my mistake too late.

It had always been pretty obvious to everyone, including my mom that she favored Matthew but she always hated it when it was pointed out.

"Matthias Henry Brown you are out of line young man. Now apologize so we can go back to the party."My mom hissed glaring at me.

"Why should I apologize for the truth?"I asked poking the bear further.

The damage was already done and maybe if she got pissed enough she'd send me away which is what I was hoping for in the first place.

"That's enough from you young man. To your bedroom now."She yelled pointing at the stairs.

I held in my smirk because I'd gotten what I wanted so I did exactly that and ran up to my room. All I wanted was some peace but it didn't last long because Matthew came bursting into my room a few minutes later.

"What did you say to mom?"He yelled eyes narrowed at me.

"What's it's to you?"I asked talking back at him.

I hadn't done that in a while and even he seemed surprised by my reply.

"Look who is growing some balls now."He commented chuckling sarcastically.

"You need to go apologize to mom because I'm not cleaning up your mess this time."He demanded.

"No I won't and you can't make me. You go back downstairs, smooch up to those rich bastards and keep being the perfect son."I shouted back.

It felt good standing up for myself for once. Looks likes Willow was rubbing off on me.

"What did you just say?"Matthew asked stalking towards me.

"You heard me."I answered refusing to back down.

"I have to be the perfect son because you are the disappointment. Let me tell you a little secret bro, there is nothing special about you. You are a disgrace to the Brown name and an entitled loser who thinks he is all high and mighty for the rest of us."Matthew spat out venomously.

"And I wish I was never born a Brown. There's nothing to be proud of with that name."I retorted.

Matthew looked like he wanted to hit me but he knew that I was too riled up and would fight back. He didn't want to ruin his pretty face in the middle of a party so he cussed at me one last time before turning around and leaving my room. I was feeling suffocated after my confrontation with both my mom and brother. I needed to breath and relax to get my mind off things so I left my room and used the back door to get to the backyard. There was no one outside which was good as I wanted to be alone.

I wanted to scream and shout but the music wasn't loud enough inside so I bit my tongue and swallowed that urge. The backyard was pretty quiet except for a few crickets and the sound of crunching. There was no one else there with me so who could be making that noise. It was coming over from the Millers backyard so I moved closer to investigate. The backyards were separated by a short fence and had a gate you could use to pass through. Lying on the grass on the other side was none other than Willow munching on packet of doritos. I had no idea what I was doing but I found myself climbing over the fence and walking towards her.

She looked up at me having heard my footsteps, her eyes roaming over my outfit before she patted the space next to her. I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before I lay back on the slightly wet grass putting my hands behind my head for support. We didn't say anything to each other for a few minutes until the silence because too deafening. I couldn't stand it anymore so I spoke up, which was a first as I was never the one to initiate conversation between us.

"Aren't you going to ask?"I inquired turning my heard slightly to get a good look at the side of her face.

God, she really was gorgeous. No wonder my brother was obsessed with her and my crush on her wasn't fading.

"Not unless you want to tell me."Willow replied glancing at me for a second before looking back up.

I didn't say anything after that because honestly I really didn't want to talk about my messed up family and she seemed to understand that without me tell her. I looked up and a smile tugged at my lips from how beautiful the sky looked. There was a clear night sky with a full moon and lots of stars. Being from a small town meant there weren't as many lights as major cities so we got to enjoy the beauty of a full night sky.

"Why are you out in the cold alone?"I asked hoping to start a conversation with her.

Willow was always making the effort to get to know me so I was hoping to do the same. It didn't mean I wanted us to become friends, I just didn't want to be with my family and she was the only company available as I didn't have friends. Sad but true.

"Charlie and I were stargazing but he fell asleep so I put him to bed and came back here as I couldn't sleep."She replied.

Her relationship with Charlie always made me jealous because Matthew and I would never have that type of relationship. Willow was the loving, protective and caring big sister while my brother had bullied me practically our whole lives.

"Are you okay?"Willow asked randomly taking me by surprise.

I realized in that moment that nobody had ever asked me that question. I put up a fake front for Jack so he didn't have to worry about me. Willow saw past my facade and I knew it was because she was putting up one herself. No one noticed unless they really looked but Willow was carrying the whole world on her shoulders. I wanted to help and ease that load but I was carrying my own set of burdens.

"Honestly no but I don't want to talk about it."I replied.

"Yes you do but you don't trust me enough to tell me and that's okay. I totally understand. You're messed up Henry but lucky for you I know how that feels so if you ever want to talk, vent or just sit in silence I'll be here for you."She offered and for the first time in a really long time I smiled, genuinely.

"Thank you."I replied.

Willow was right, I did want to talk, to vent all that I had bottled inside but I was scared of being that vulnerable. We weren't friends but it was nice of her to offer. I didn't know if I'd ever take her up on that offer but it was nice to know she was there to listen if I needed to talk.

"You're welcome. Doritos?"She asked holding out the open packet to me.

I smiled as reached in to take some from the bag. Instead of resuming back to silence I decided for once to put myself out there and talk to her. It was going to be strange but if there was one person in the world who made me want to get out of my comfort reserved zone it was Willow.

"The day you stood up to my brother you said that you knew how painful a punch can be, so have you ever been punched?"I asked.

Willow chuckled before replying"That's so random but yeah, I've been punched a few times before, even broke my jaw once."

"How?"I inquired intrigued.

"Your brother is not the only jackass in the world and unfortunately for me I've encountered quite a few of them. I never start fights, always try to avoid them but some people just need to be punched and they always hit back unfortunately."She explained.

I could definitely imagine Willow in a fight but thinking about her getting hurt brought up feelings in me that I didn't know I had. I wanted to pull her in for a hug and never let anything bad happen to her ever again. I wanted to shield her from the world, defend her and take all the punches for her. I had no idea where those feelings were stemming from and for once instead of fighting them, I embraced them. Willow was special and I wanted to get to know her better even if it meant going against everything I believed in about keeping my distance from people as I was leaving soon. She was the only genuine person I'd come across besides Jack and I didn't want to keep my distance anymore.

"Since we're already talking about punches why didn't you hit your brother back that day. You seem like the kind of person who can actually hold their own in a fight?"She asked turning the conversation to me.

"You're right but hitting him back would just make him angrier and make my mom pissed. Wouldn't want to ruin the face of her pretty golden boy."I answered my voice dripping with hate.

"You don't have to tell me all about the bad mom's club. My mom practically invented it but for what's it's worth, I'm sorry you have to go through that everyday."Willow consoled.

"Thank you, do you want to talk about it?"I offered.

"Not right now. Maybe someday."Willow replied before stuffing her mouth with doritos.

Looks like we were both avoiding talking about our messed up families. She did say later and a part of me was looking forward to getting to know her better.

No one said anything after that but this time it was comfortable silence. Just two broken souls staring up at the world passing by wishing our lives were better and we had good families.

"Shooting star, quick make a wish."Willow yelled excitedly.

"You seriously believe in that?"I asked laughing softly.

"No but there's no harm right."She replied and I shrugged.

"On three, we close our eyes and make a wish before they all disappear. One, two, three...." She said and I did just as she asked.

I closed my eyes and made a wish I'd made so many times before. To be happy and find that place in the world where I'd belong and he accepted for who I was.

When I opened my eyes again, I looked at Willow and found her staring at me. My eyes had adjusted to the dark so her amber eyes were glowing as she looked at me. In another world, I would have easily fallen in love with Willow, she was beautiful, fierce and her relationship with her brother showed just how loving and caring she could be. But our current lives were too harsh to entertain those thoughts.

"Well it's getting late and as much as I am enjoying seeing this talkative side of you, I have a shift at the arcade tomorrow so I have to turn in early."Willow excused herself as she broke eye contact.

She got up and dusting off dorito crumbs off her sweater.

"Goodnight Henry, it was nice getting to know you better."

"Goodnight Willow."

With one last wave she left me on my own and walked into her house. I stayed outside for a while longer basking in the afterglow of my first real and civil conversation with Willow. Our relationship had taken a turning point and I hoped we could become friends, my brother and his claim on her could go to hell for all I cared.