Maddie was waiting outside the gates of the school, across the street, near a tree, trying to stay out of sight of any adults. She was pacing back and forth anxiously, until she heard the sound of shoes running across the street breaking through her thoughts, and she glanced up, spotting Lux coming across to her. Lux stopped in front of Maddie and tugged the strap of her bookbag over her shoulder.

"I've never once skipped school," Maddie said, and Lux nodded as they both turned and began to walk.

"Neither have I," she replied, "but I think this is important."

"...I'm really sorry," Maddie said, "if it makes you feel any better, it wasn't...he shouldn't have...it was meant for my father. My mom was trying to kill my dad, and it just happened to get mixed in with everything else and your brother ate it. He shouldn't have died."

"I don't know what's worse, it being accidental, or him just being a victim of a crime meant for someone else," Lux said, sighing, tossing her hair from her face, "but I guess I appreciate the apology. Though, you don't have to apologize."

"Cause it wasn't my fault?" Maddie asked.

"No, cause it just isn't necessary," Lux said, and this confused Maddie, but she didn't push it.

                                                                            ***

Alexis was in Geena's car, in the passenger seat, eating the remainder of a meatball sub they'd gotten for lunch before heading out while Geena drove. Alexis was trying not to think about things, about the day ahead of her. She was already nervous enough without it. Geena turned the radio down - she only ever played an old jazz station in her car - and sighed as Alexis took another large bite into her sandwich.

"You know," Geena said, "this is just as uncomfortable for me as it is for you."

"Is that so?" Alexis asked.

"You think I wanna go do this?" Geena asked, "I don't, I really, really don't. But I also wanna prove them wrong. I wanna rub it in their smug, self-absorbed faces that their interaction, or really rather lack thereof, didn't have a negative impact on us and instead we've flourished in spite of it."

"But it did have a negative impact," Alexis said, chewing.

"Yeah but they don't need to know that," Geena replied, making Alexis laugh; Geena continued, "they don't have to know the history or anything. All they really need to know is that we're okay now. We're both okay. You're sober, on your way to being stable, and I'm happier than I've ever been."

"People who feel the need to exclaim they're happier than they've ever been often actually aren't and are instead simply trying to convince those around them they are," Alexis said, shrugging, "just an observation."

While Geena had had some interaction with their family over the years, Alexis had, more or less, gone completely cold turkey, opting instead to cut their folks out of her life entirely instead of attempting to placate them. And, for what it was worth, it'd been the right choice for her. Geena, on the other hand, had such a necessity within her to prove they had failed her and she was better than them that she'd kept the lines of communication open, albeit somewhat barely. A holiday card here and there, a long winded e-mail sometimes, the occasional phone call. Anything she could do to just drop the not so subtlelest of hints that she'd walked away from the terrible adolescence they'd thrust upon her to be a wonderful adult.

"...you think Ellen is gonna be there?" Alexis asked, and Genna shrugged, shaking her head.

"No idea, but I figure she would be," Geena said, "I think, honestly, she has the most communication with them out of the three of us."

Alexis nodded, thinking about that. She hadn't seen or spoken to Ellen in years, and she wondered what that might be like, what she might be like. As they came to a stop sign, reaching their neighborhood, only a few blocks from the house they grew up in, both women felt a sense of dread and unease in their gut. Geena tapped on the steering wheel with her fingers as she waited to continue, while Alexis kept thinking back to when they were children, and how each of them had been, amongst their folks and between eachother. Ellen had always been the one she couldn't place a finger on. Geena was the overachiever, Alexis herself the underachiever, but where did that leave Ellen?

Maybe, god forbid, she was just normal.

One could hope.

                                                                             ***

Lux and Maddie had set their respective bags down on the ground in the wood chips, leaning against the metal of the swingset they'd seated themselves upon. As they each pushed back and forth of their own momentum, Maddie couldn't help but feel how nice it was to have a friend her own age. She loved Lilian, Miranda, Alexis, everyone she knew, but they were adults. She spent all her waking time with adults. It was nice to actually be around her peers, or one of them anyway.

"How has it been for your parents?" Maddie asked, and Lux shrugged, or shrugged best one could while on a swing.

"They're definitely sad, but it's gotten less sad over time. Maybe having lots of time between then and now makes it easier? Mom used to be really upset," Lux said, "and dad used to be really quiet about it, but now they both talk about stuff in a calm voice so I guess it's getting easier to deal with?"

"Better than how my parents reacted to everything," Maddie said, making Lux grimace.

"Yeah...sorry your family fell apart," Lux remarked, "nobody's mom should be trying to kill their dads. I just remember, more than anything else, that first night it happened, my mom was laying on her bed crying and asking 'why' repeatedly. She sounded so sad and confused, like she really wanted to know the answer to something that had no answer."

"And now?" Maddie asked.

"Now she doesn't ask why," Lux said, "now she doesn't say much of anything about him."

A pause, as Maddie chewed her lipped and mulled her options.

"Does she say anything about you?" she asked, and Lux shook her head slowly, her eyes fixated on the wood chips below them. This was what Maddie was afraid of. That her brother had died, and her parents, so distraught by this horrific turn of events, then decided to neglect their other child indefinitely. Lux didn't look neglected. She had nice clothes, her hair was clean and shiny, she wasn't malnourished, but that's the thing about neglect that Maddie had learned...it doesn't have to create a physical form that others can witness. Neglect can be emotional, psychological. It doesn't have to take the shape of abuse that can be visible. It can just be being ignored.

"I'm sorry," Maddie finally said, and Lux nodded again in silence.

It wasn't her fault. But she sure fucking felt like it was.

                                                                             ***

Lilian and Rina had decided to have lunch this day, by Rina's request, so they were currently sitting in a BBQ joint each eating their respective meals. Rina had been working for the company for a while now, but she hadn't really been interacting with the group as a whole, and Lilian was somewhat concerned by this. She wanted Rina to integrate, much as she understood being introverted. Rina bit into her spare ribs while Lilian stabbed at the steak on her plate and started cutting.

"Are you happy with your costume? Sometimes I feel the need to fix mine up, add something new," Lilian said as she lifted a bite of steak to her lips and chewed.

"Everything's fine except that kids seem to be scared of a witch more often than they are excited to see me," Rina replied, shrugging, "so it is what it is. I just hope I get hired by the weird, spooky kids who like that kind of stuff and not the snobby uppity kids who would prefer something boring and traditional like a pri-"

Rina stopped herself mid chew and looked up at Lilian, who had one eyebrow raised.

"...like a principal of a school," Rina finished slowly, making Lilian smirk and nod.

"Nice save," she said, "no, I get what you mean, and yeah, I'm traditional and it is boring, you're not wrong. It's just that this character is safe for me, it's a comfort place, you know? In a way, being a princess willingly is sort a swift kick in the nads to having to forcefully be pretty all the time when I was doing beauty pageants growing up. Now I'm choosing to be beautiful and elegant."

"I understand, and I respect that," Rina said, leaning back in her chair as she let the clean bone drop from her hands back onto the silver plate in front of her on the table, adding, as she picked her teeth, "I guess I just maybe should've thought more about being a witch before deciding it was the character I actively would like to portray. Like, I'm almost certain I'll be busiest at Halloween if nothing else."

Lilian and Rina laughed. It was nice to catch up, get Rina's views on her time spent working. Lilian herself, actually had been talking with her therapist a lot lately about the necessity to continue to portray beauty, elegance and grace when she generally felt none of those things herself most of the time. Should she change characters, pick something that made more sense to her actual personality? Nah. It was fun playing pretend. Adulthood was so boring, but make believe and escapism were a treat. She didn't really like herself, so not being herself for a bit of time was a nice reprieve.

"I guess, more than anything," Rina said, "I should just count my lucky stars to even be able to have a job like this. To know the kinds of people who could allow me the chance to do this kind of work. I can't stand office jobs, I hate the service industry, like food prep, and I really don't like answering to others. Not everyone gets so lucky as to wind up with something this independent."

Lilian nodded, smiling. Rina was right. They all should be grateful for the opportunity this job had afforded them. Honestly, if she didn't have this job, she didn't even know what else she might do. Course, she was branching out into the beauty pageant judge world, but that was more a hobby than a career to her. Lilian shut her eyes, exhaled and grinned.

"Well," she said, "here's to getting the chance to just be ourselves, and not letting the world define us."

                                                                             ***

Geena parked in the driveway and exited the car, Alexis doing the same. Geena waited for Alexis to be by her side, and then together they headed up to the front door. The house didn't look like it'd changed much, honestly. It was still in various states of run down, the paint peeling, the shutters falling off one by one, the house weather worn and exhausted looking. Alexis looked it up and down while Geena knocked on the door and patiently waited.

"Why was I so scared of this place as a kid?" Alexis asked, causing Geena to glance at her; Alexis went on, "you stand back, look at it now as an adult...what was I so afraid of? It's just a house. The people, not the place, are what's actually scary. I guess one could claim that the place is an extension of the person, but...you never know I guess. I just don't know why I let fear rule me for so long."

"That's deep," Geena said, "very insightful, and not inaccurate."

The door opened and standing there, half hidden by the door, was a meek looking woman with shoulder length curly black hair and big chestnut colored eyes. She was wearing a white v-neck with a faded pink windbreaker pulled over it, her jeans tight but clearly worn. Ellen. Jesus. She looked terrible.

"Can we come in? We're not selling anything," Alexis said, and Ellen nodded, not saying a word, stepping aside to allow them to enter. Alexis and Geena walked into the house, as Ellen shut the door behind them. The house was completely dark, the lights all out. As Geena headed towards the living room, looking for their folks, Alexis stayed in the foyer hall while Ellen stopped beside her, folding her arms and looking at her shoes.

"Did they not pay the electricity bill?" Alexis asked.

"They like it dark," Ellen said quietly, her voice a wavery feminine whisper.

"Are you okay?" Alexis asked, sounding genuine.

Ellen didn't answer, and instead headed into the kitchen, Alexis following closely behind. They could hear the quiet rumblings of muffled conversation between Geena and their parents in the living room, the sunds wafting through the paper thin walls. Ellen sat down at the table while Alexis went to the cabinet to get a glass for some tap water. After she got it into the glass and stood there, drinking, she couldn't help but notice Ellen was simply sitting at the table and eating slices of bread straight from the packaging. Alexis, having been to rehab and witnessing many different kinds of people, recognized trauma when she saw it. She cautiously approached the table and sat down as well.

"Ellen?" Alexis asked, but again to no response; Alexis sighed and sipped her water, then added, "I went to rehab."

"You did?" Ellen asked, still not looking up at her.

"Yeah, I needed to, I kinda didn't have a choice," Alexis said, "but it was good for me. I really needed it. I haven't drank or taken any kind of drug since then. It's been really good for me. It's helped me."

Alexis then felt Ellen's other hand grabbing hers and squeezing tight, her eyes still cast down at the bread on the table as she whispered, "help me." Alexis didn't know how to respond. She leaned in, setting her water down and lowering her voice.

"Are you okay?" Alexis asked. Now Ellen looked at her, tears running down her face as she collapsed into Alexis, crying as quietly as she could. Alexis, rarely ever the consoler, didn't know how to respond, but she did her best. She held her little sister and patted her on the back, telling her it would all be okay now. She hated platitudes like that, with no proof to back her words up, but sometimes that's just what someone needs to hear in the moment. So she held her sister and let her cry. So many had helped her.

Now was her chance to help someone she loved.

                                                                             ***

Maddie and Lux were walking back towards the school, Lux gently stepping on fallen leaves, crunching them satisfyingly underfoot, while Maddie skipped, almost playing hopscotch with general sidewalk squares. Lux had to get back to school for her parents to come get her, and Maddie had to do the same, otherwise Lilian would get suspicious. They'd only snuck out for lunch period anyway.

"If you ever wanna come over," Maddie said, "you can. If you don't wanna be at your home. I know how uncomfortable it can be to be around parents who don't really want you there."

"Thanks," Lux said, "that's nice of you. Honestly though, being home isn't so bad now. I mean, it's sad that my parents are so quiet and sad all the time, but it's better now that he's gone."

Maddie stopped in her tracks, confused. Lux stopped a bit in front of her, and sighed.

"...what do you mean? How is it better?" Maddie asked, and Lux sniffled, looking around at the changing trees overhead.

"It's better because he can't hurt me anymore," Lux said, "he was the one our parents loved, so they never thought he did anything wrong, and they never believed me if I told on him about anything. So of course I didn't say anything when he started touching me in ways I didn't like or want. You're kind of my hero, Maddie. You helped make my life safer."

Maddie couldn't believe what she was hearing, her jaw slightly ajar. Lux smiled and looked at the ground, kicking some leaves, chuckling.

"I'm so glad he's dead," she said softly.