After an immensely long and painfully boring day, 2pm has finally arrived and school is over.

Thank god.

In class I mainly either zone out, scribble random little ugly drawings in the margines, or read.

I don't know how I manage to get passing grades.

As I walk out of the school I see Madeline shooting me daggers.  Her eyes squint as they look at me with hatred.  She standing with the cheer team, they're all talking amongst each other.

She thinks I want to steal "her man" which is ridiculous because first of all: I don't want to date Owen.  Second of all: she doesn't own Owen and Owen isn't even dating her.

There is no reason why I can't be friends with him.  It's not like he wants to be friends with me anyways so I don't see the big deal.

I roll my eyes and continue my journey back home. I stop for a second as I look around and notice Owen's back as he walks further away from the school.

I quicken my pace to catch up to him.

Time to annoy the shit out of him.

Reaching my hand out I tap his shoulder, he jumps.

An ugly snort-laugh leaves my nose.  His look of shock drops once he realizes it's me.

He probably doesn't want to see me, but oh well.

"Hi friend." I grin up at him, squinting due to the sun.

"We aren't friends." His eyes look like a warm grey in the daylight. 

They remind me of rain.  The gloomy yet comfortable feeling that they bring makes them so beautiful to look into.  I wish I had eyes like his.

"Well...you helped me pick one of my new books.  I consider that a friend." I retaliate while still smiling at him.  We begin walking again.

"I stood there while you picked a book.  I didn't do shit." He stuffs his hands in his sweater pockets.  Today he is wearing green dickies with a grey zip up hoodie that matches his eyes, along with the same thin silver chain he seems to wear everyday.  A black t-shirt is under the grey sweater.  White air forces are on his feet.

When he notices my lack of a response he turns  his head to look at me, "Are you done checking me out?"

My cheeks flush.  God, kill me now.

"Yes." I might as well be honest.  "Where do you shop? I like your clothes." I look at his side profile as he stares ahead of him.

"The store." I want to push him in front of a car.

"I hate you." I look back towards the sidewalk ahead of us, and place my hands in my pockets so that my fingers don't freeze off.

"If you did you wouldn't talk to me every chance you got."

True.

"Yeah duh.  Obviously I don't hate you, but sometimes your answers annoy me." The wind is causing my eyes to water.

"Good." I'm so close to pushing him in the street right now.  I won't even feel bad if a car hits him.

That's a lie.

I scoff, not even bothering to respond to him.

Silence settles over us.

Questions of what I could ask him run through my mind.  I'm not good with awkward silence.

"Where do you live?" Now that I say that out loud it sounds very creepy.

He gives me a weird look.

"Not telling you." Understandable.

"Where have you traveled?" At this point I'm just going to ask him every question that pops into my mind.

"A few places." I'm going to push him in the road.

"I want to rip your hair out." Annoyance floods my emotions.  He gives me a questioning look again.  My face burns with anger at the realization of what's running through his dirty little mind.  "And not in the sexual way because I know that your teenage boy mind is probably so far in the gutter to the point of no savior."

A grin tugs at the corner of his lips except he pushes his tongue against the side of his cheek to prevent it.  That shouldn't be as attractive as it is.

Tearing my focus away from his way I conjure up more questions.

"Favorite video game? Mine is Roblox."

"Roblox, seriously?" He looks amused.

"Yes.  Now answer the fucking question." This boy is getting on my damn nerves.  This is how he must feel around me, poor him.  Actually I don't really care.

"Um- I'm not sure I haven't played video games in a long time." Liar.  He is probably lying.  He must have a secret Roblox account.  Everyone does.

"Do you wanna play Roblox with me one day?" My heart warms at the idea.  Me and Owen cyber-bullying little kids together.  I've always wanted a friend to play Roblox with.  Instead I have to play with Mateo and Camila.  Well I'm kind of forced to.  Which is torture because all they do is try to kill me in every game.  They made me cry once about it a several years ago. Not one of my best moments.

"No." He responds quickly.

My smile falters, "Whatever, your loss."

I move onto the next topic, "Ever dated someone?"

"Yes." He answers honestly.

"What's it like?" I've always wanted to ask someone that.  I have zero luck in the romance department.  I can't even make a friend let alone get someone to like me.  Well, there was once a boy in middle school who seemed to like me, but I scared him off accidentally.

He said I read too much which made him uncomfortable.  I still don't understand that knowledge.

"Why? You've never had a boyfriend?" His eyebrows furrow together, appearing kind of shocked.

"No.  Which is why I'm asking you, because you're my friend now." I'm going to keep calling him my friend to purposefully piss him off.  I love doing that.

In the corner of my eye I see him roll his eyes while blowing out a breath.

"I don't know."

"What does that mean?" He is confusing me.

"Luna, you ask way too many questions." He sighs.

"I know, you've said this several times already." Does he have memory loss?

"Yeah, because you ask a lot of questions that aren't your business." I guess there may be some truth to that.

Silence encase us once again.

"Sorry.  I'll ask less questions if you want." I didn't mean to pry.  Now I feel bad and want to hug him to show him I'm sorry.  Except I know he wouldn't let me do that.  Not in a million years.

"Please do." He closes his eyes for a second.

He seems like the type of person who loves silence and not speaking.  I'm obviously the compete opposite.

We stay in silence for several moments.  Awkward silence at that.  I hope a car runs over me right now.

"Do you play sports?" I disrespect his wishes by asking yet another question.

He side eyes me. "Not anymore." He grumbles.

"Why? What sport did you play?"

I think from the look on his face he wants to shove me into the road.

"Volleyball." He grumbles. "And I quit because I want to focus more on school."

I begin to chew on my lip, not sure of what to say next.

Looking for anyway out of this situation, I see the street my house is on coming up as we walk.

"See you tomorrow Owen.  Bye!" I offer him a warm smile and wave.

He stays quiet, just looking at me.

I turn around and start walking towards the house, crossing the wide street in the process.

This week my mom is working night shifts, meaning she is home during the day.

She is a nurse, and once im a while she works nights at the hospital, leaving me alone with Mateo and Camila.  Along with my father.

Wiggling my key in the old lock the door finally opens.  Ma is sitting on the couch, watching Keeping Up with the Kardashian's.  She's always loved reality shows.

With her eyes glued to the screen she doesn't even notice me until I'm kissing her cheek.

She jumps in shock, but quickly returns her form a hello with a hug.

"Have you been watching this all day?" I take a seat next to her and look at the TV.  Kim is currently talking about some stupid drama.

"Sí." She mumbles as she stuffs chips into her mouth. (Translation: Yes.)

I reach into the bowl to grab a chip except she smacks my hand away.  Stingy woman.

About an hour goes by of my mom and I watching reality shows about rich people until I hear the school bus driving coming up the block towards our house.

I look out the window and see Mateo and Camila dragging themselves off the bus.  Damn they look tired.

They run up the steps and open the front door.

"You guys look gross." They look like they need to shower.  Now.

"Love you too, fea." Camila rolls her eyes at my comment and drops her pink backpack to the floor in exhaustion. (Translation: Ugly.)

"At gym today they made us run so much.  I thought I was gonna die." Mateo dramatically collapses on-top of mom's lap.

"Ay! Get off, you almost knocked over my popcorn!" She looks at him in annoyance.  Instead of getting up like a normal person, he rolls off of her and onto the rug.

This boy.

"Luna, drag him to his room." My mom commands me, not daring to tear her eyes away from the television.

I sigh before getting off the couch and picking up a sleeping Mateo from the floor.  He is a scrawny kid, feels as though I'm carrying a feather.

He is fully passed out.  How much did they make him run in gym class?

I walk down the narrow hallway and gently kick open his room door.  Superhero stickers are stuck all over the front of it.

His room is a delicate blue color.  Posters of spider-man are hung on the walls.  Stepping over the random clothes sprawled across the floor, I gently place him in his bed.

I cringe at the thought of him sleeping in his bed in the clothes he went to school with, but then again I don't care enough to find him another place to nap.  I'll wake him up to shower later.

Walking back to the living room I see Camila sitting the spot on the couch where I was sitting, leaning her head on ma's shoulder.

My heart warms. They look so adorable.

I should probably get dinner started, helping ma out and then seeing the look of appreciation on her face makes my day.

~

For dinner I prepared spaghetti and pieces of buttered bread.

I honestly can't cook that well.  I only know how to make basic foods.  My mom didn't even let me use the toaster until I was twelve since she was convinced I was going to set the house on fire.  One candle accident when I was nine and suddenly she thinks I'm a klutz who can't handle flammable items.

There may be some truth to that.

The lighting of the house is dim, the only source of light is the setting sun shining through the open windows in the living and dining room.

We are all silently sitting at the small table.  Mom is still intently watching Kim and Kourtney fight on television.  She changes between her telenovelas occasionally.

The front door creeks open.  Mateo and Camila freeze.  Mateo's fork is holding pieces of spaghetti in the air and Camila has her mouth open, a piece of bread halfway in her mouth.

Dad sighs and closes the door behind him.  I continue looking at my food, paying him no mind.  I can visibly see Mateo and Camila become uncomfortable.  They squirm in their seats.  Dad hasn't been very present in their life.  They're not sure how to act around him. 

They know that dad isn't a good man.  I didn't have to tell them.  They hear the things he says to mom and I.

"Hi hunny." Mom tears her eyes off the television and looks up at him.  He grumbles a hello and serves himself a plate of food.

I want to dump the spaghetti on his fucking head.

I should.

Except I'm scared of what could possibly happen after that.

Suddenly he looks down at me in my seat while putting several pieces of bread on his plate.

"What did I tell you about dressing like that? Stop dressing like that for attention." He shares his unwanted opinion.

I'm wearing a black tank top and a pair of jeans shorts. Very little cleavage is showing.

"Okay." I look down. I don't want to fight right now. At least not in front of my mom and siblings.

Mom gives me a look of sympathy and then continues eating. She doesn't view comments like those as bad since she's been receiving them for her entire life.  She thinks it's okay. That it's normal.

We all continue eating in an uncomfortable silence.

As I twirl the pasta with my fork I imagine throwing the fork at my dad. I wouldn't even feel bad.

One of these days I'm going to snap at him, and I'm going to say things that as a daughter I shouldn't say, but as a person who is hurt I will say.