Carl Fuller found themselves standing in a large, empty waiting room in a hospital at 1 am, arms folded, staring out the window, in the direction of their house. All they could think of was everything they'd ever been too afraid to do in life, and how they hadn't told their father about their intentions to transition, and how now they may never get the chance to. Suddenly, Carl felt someone sidle up beside them, and looked to see their sister Ashley Fuller standing there, her eyes bloodshot from crying.

"...I was on the porch," Carl finally said in a low tone.

"What?" Ashley asked.

"I was on the porch," Carl repeated, "Every single game night, I've been in the kitchen with dad before it started, and for some reason, tonight, I was on the porch. Of all the nights to sit on the porch and not at the island...this'll haunt me for the rest of my life."

"...he'll be okay. He's dad. Dad is unstoppable...at least that's what every kid thinks about their father," Ashley said, chewing her nails, "Every kid thinks their father is unstoppable until they get older, and they see for themselves that this once fantastic superman is actually just as flesh and blood as anyone else, and that they WILL die one day. Anna doesn't really have a family, and I know that upsets her, but sometimes I think she doesn't recognize the pros that come with that, like having to grieve over losing them."

Carl nodded and looked at their sister, who looked back at them.

"I never got to tell dad about my plans," Carl said, "What if he dies without knowing?"

"He knows how you feel, it's not like you didn't openly admit that weeks ago," Ashley said, "Dad knows, and he'd understand support you, you know that. He'll be okay. He HAS to be okay....where the hell is Jason??"

Meanwhile, in the hallway down from the waiting room, Betty was standing in front of a candy vending machine when Anna came up behind her, touching her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked.

"I am not okay, no, my husband might be dead and my other son is nowhere to be found and now this piece of shit won't give me my fucking Almond Joy!" Betty said loudly, before turning back to the machine, grabbing it and shaking it hard, "Give me my candy you bitch ass sugar dispensary!"

"Betty," Anna said, trying not to smile at her attitude, "Betty, Harold will be alright. Now, from what I saw, I think it might've been a heart attack."

"And where did you acrue this medical knowledge? From the comfort of your doctors office couch watching General Hospital?" Betty asked, before recognizing her own tone and rubbing her forehead, "God, I'm...I'm sorry, Anna. I'm sorry, dear. I shouldn't be so-"

"You have every right to be so upset," Anna said, taking one of Bettys hands, "It's a scary situation, okay? And nothing's going to change that until you're told your husband is fine and you can go in and see him...in the kitchen, he told me that I am part of your family now. That...that you guys love me and welcome me, even if Jason and I aren't together. I'm glad I got to talk to him right before it happened."

"Anna, about Jason-"

"Don't. He tried to apologize to me about him too, but...marriage isn't one persons responsibility. I'm not the best wife, and it's just as much my fault as it is his in many ways. The difference between Jason and I is that I recognized my shortcomings ages ago and was willing to work on them, while he denied things and then when finally confronted with his reality, denied it outright until it was too damn late. I just wish he could be here...I've tried calling him but nobody's answering."

"Um," Carl said from behind, as they turned to look at them, "I was thinking of going home and getting some snacks and books and stuff, in case we're here for a while. I just wanted to let you know in case you wondered where I went."

Betty nodded and hugged them, kissing their cheek. Carl turned and walked down the hall, heading for the front of the hospital. Just then they heard a *clunk!* and looked at the vending machine, where Anna bent over and picked up an Almond Joy, handing it to Betty.

"What do you know, there might be some hope after all," Betty said.

                                                                                             ***

Carl pulled into the driveway, and just sat there with the car turned off, their hands gripping the steering wheel. They couldn't think straight, and felt like everything was crumbling around them. Carl's knuckles turned bright red as their grip on the steering wheel tightened and they started to scream and throttle it violently. After a few minutes of crying, they looked up and noticed the upstairs bedroom light was on. Carl took their seatbelt off, opened the car door and headed into the house.

They stepped quietly, in case it was a burglar or something, but as they headed up the stairs to the upstairs bedroom, they could hear rummaging going on in their parents room. Carl pushed the bedroom door open slowly and saw Jason digging through their parents closet, muttering to himself.

"Jason?" Carl asked meekly, making Jason jump and turn, facing them.

"Oh," he said, putting his hand to his chest, "It's just you, god, you scared me half to death."

"What're you doing here?" Carl asked, "...didn't you get any of our messages?"

"Yeah...I took a taxi here," Jason said, sitting on the end of the bed and sighing, "...I can't go to the hospital. I've let dad down so badly, especially recently. I don't wanna be there if something happens. It's easier to cope with from afar."

Carl came and sat down next to Jason, not saying a word, as Jason looked around the bedroom and then down at their parents bed.

"When we were little, I used to have nightmares that were so bad, that I'd have to come in here and get in bed with mom and dad. I acted tough, and was never picked on at school, but I...was such a scared kid. I would come climb in here between them and knew that I was safe, because you're safe when you have family, when you have your parents, or just someone to love you. But once you're grown up, once you're alone, and on your own...I've lost them all. I've disappointed everyone, and I pushed my wife away and now my father's in the hospital and we are gonna lose him too and-"

"We're not gonna lose dad," Carl said, "Trust me, he'll be fine."

"Even still," Jason continued, on the verge of tears, "...I...I feel so alone in the world. I don't know who I am, what I even really want...where I'm supposed to be."

"Well there's nothing wrong with that as long as you're wiling to look and learn and grow," Carl said, "I mean I-"

"I quit my job," Jason said, taking Carl by surprise.

"...wh...what? You did what?"

"I quit my job today. I'm leaving the country for a while, going on a trip," Jason said, "...I just need some time to find out who I am and what I want to really do. I need to become better. I need to grow, like you said. This is what I'm doing. I'm leaving in a few days."

Carl didn't really know what to say. They just looked at their brother, seeing them as a terrified, vulnerable human being, and knew they'd been much too harsh on them lately, as had everyone. Yes, Jason had made some very bad mistakes, but it was never intentional, and he wanted to make amends, to grow and better himself. Carl put their hand on Jasons back and smiled as Jason looked at them.

"You wanna play something?" Carl asked and Jason laughed, half crying.

"What?"

"You wanna play a game? Dad always played stuff with me when I was sad," Carl said, "Let's find the game closet and play something."

Jason nodded, getting up with Carl and following them out of the room.

                                                                                            ***

Ashley was standing at the window when Anna joined her. Anna took her hand and kissed it softly, making Ashley smirk just a bit, which she so badly needed this night. As Anna hugged her arm and looked out the window with her, she heard Ashley sigh and wipe her eyes on her sleeve.

"Mom and dad have been together for so long," Ashley said, "They love eachother so much and I want that. I feel like you're giving me that. It's all I've wanted my whole life is to have what my parents had. To not be alone, to have someone by my side who believes in me supports me...I mean, isn't that what everyone really wants?"

"I'd think so, yeah," Anna said, "But you know Harold's gonna be okay."

"Even so, it doesn't change the fact that things like this put life into perspective. The funny thing is, it's always these 'very special episodes' on TV shows that force people to put aside their issues and finally get introspective, to look at themselves, look at life and realize what really matters. Life is so filtered through media that it's always supposed to be peachy and happy and everything works out in the end, but that's not life at all, that's just life we've packaged to ourselves to be consumed as what we wish life was, because it's so not what life is. Life is messy and scary and confusing and dangerous and hard but...but sometimes you don't have to do it alone and that's the luckiest thing in the world."

Anna blushed as Ashley kissed her cheek, gently biting her ear.

"Anna," she continued, "I don't wanna be alone. I know things are hard right now, and I know your life is going to weird and complicated for a while, but I'm willing to be by your side and help you through it. I promise. No matter how fucked up everything gets, I will be there. I love you."

"I love you," Anna repeated, looking into Ashleys eyes, kissing her back.

Betty, who was sitting a few benches away, eating her Almond Joy, was watching this and smiled to herself. She looked at her wedding ring and thought of Harold, of all the good they'd done together, raising these kids, doing good in the world by volunteering and helping others. All the places they'd seen together, all the fun they'd had together. Now she wished her children could have that, and it looked like they would. She just didn't want herself to be without it too. She needed Harold. She loved him more than words could ever begin to express. He was-

"Miss Fuller?" A doctor asked, and she turned her head.

"Yes?"

"Come with me," they said, and she nodded.

                                                                                           ***

Carl and Jason were sitting in their parents bedroom, playing Operation on the bed. Carl was looking at their fingernails while Jason tried desperately to remove something from the stomach of the Operation guy, the buzzing from the gameboard filling the room nonstop.

"It's a good thing this guy's already in the fuckin' hospital, 'cause I'd send him there if he wasn't!" Jason muttered angrily, making Carl smirk.

"So where do you think you're gonna go?" Carl asked.

"I don't know..." Jason said, "I guess, maybe like Africa or something."

"Why does every single white person go to Africa to find themselves?" Carl asked, and Jason shrugged, smiling at the very true statement they'd just made, "Well, whatever you're looking for, I hope you find it. You deserve to be happy too."

"You too," Jason said.

"...I'm going to transition," Carl said, and Jason looked up from the gameboard.

"Yeah?"

"Why not? People obviously can seem perfectly fine and then just fall over in their own damn kitchen at the drop of a dime, so why not just do whatever the fuck I want with my life," Carl said, "Anyway, I'm going to start seeing a therapist about it soon. I'm nervous."

"You shouldn't be nervous, I mean it's understandable since it's such a change, but...you've always been way better than I have in doing whatever the hell you want to. I think that's been made pretty damn clear these last few weeks, considering how much everyone hates me," Jason said, "Ya know, it's funny; a few weeks ago, on the drive over here, Anna told me she really didn't want to keep coming to these Family Game Nights. I'm the one who pushed her to keep coming and look, it's cost me everything. If I'd just listened to her for once in my sad life..."

"You'll be okay," Carl said.

"So will you," Jason said, "Alright, that's it, I've had it with this buzzy motherfucker, let's find something else to play. We need to find the actual game closet, and not just whatever dad had picked out for next week. Come on."

The two got off their parents bed and started down the upstairs hallway, with Jason staying upstairs while Carl headed downstairs. After a few moments, Jason leaned over the banister and looked down at Carl, who just shrugged. Carl leaned against the wall by the stairs, and felt it nudge. Jason was coming down the stairs when they spotted Carl looking at the wall.

"This wall shifted...like a door, but there's no...there's no doorknob or anything," Carl said.

"Really?" Jason asked, as he put his palm on the wall and pushed, feeling it shift. He then went to the fireplace, grabbed the poker and came back, shoving it into the wall a bit, until it slid through a slim slit, and he pushed it sideways, forcing the door wall to slide like a sliding glass door to the side, revealing an enormous closet of board games. Jason and Carl stood there, staring at this collection, both their jaws somewhat dropped.

"God...dad really loves board games," Jason said, "There's nothing of us really anywhere in the house outside a few school or family photos or some shit on the fridge, but no, he loves fuckin board games. Hey, there's Mouse Trap! Let's play Mouse Trap! That was one of my favorites growing up!"

As Jason pulled an ottoman over so he could climb up on it, he reached into the top of the closet and pulled Mouse Trap down, pulling down along with it, The Game of Life, which tumbled to the floor, the lid flopping off.

"Shit," Jason said, "Put the lid back on that and hand it to me, I'll put it back."

"Jason..." Carl said, kneeling down over the game box. Jason looked down, and slowly climbed down, kneeling on the other side of the game box on the floor, the both of them peering into, not an actual board game, but just a box full of drawings, photos, awards and other things from their childhood, up to and including copies of their graduation certificates and whatnot.

"...Dad...he...he saved everything in this, this is where everything's been," Jason said softly, picking up a few pictures of them at Halloween when they were children, "...he saved it all. I knew dad loved us, I just didn't expect him and mom to be sentimental like this. A few weeks ago I told Anna that they never cared about anything we ever did really, but here's Ashleys dance recital tapes, and every good essay I ever wrote and everything you ever draw in art class and-"

Carl started sobbing, and Jason crawled over to their side, cradling their sibling in their arms, stroking their hair, his eyes still sitting on a family photo they'd taken when camping one year when they were in their early teens, their fathers arms around them both, and Ashley sitting on his shoulders while their mother stoked a campfire.

Family is weird. They're the one group you can't decide for yourself to associate with. You're just born to them, and while they can decide not to have you or you not to have them, they will always be a part of you to some extent. Family can be the best thing in your life, the worst thing in your life, but it's also the one singular constant thing in your life no matter what. It's the one thing that will always be there, even if you don't speak to them, they're still there. That's what Jason learned that night, was that even if they hated how he acted, they were still there for him, and it was time for him to be there for them as well, even if Harold was fine.

"Ironic," Jason thought to himself, "Dad put all of our childhood in The Game of Life."

Yeah. Harold Fuller really loved board games. He loved his children even more.

"Okay, you almost got it," Rachel said, laughing as she watched Ella climb up a tree to retrieve a kite. Ella grumbled as she finally reached the kite and started to pull it down, sliding down the tree with Rachel catching her around the waist, the both of them falling onto their backs and laughing hard. Rachel got up and pulled Ella up, still holding onto the kite.

"That wasn't so hard!" Rachel said.

"Yeah, says the one who didn't have to get it!" Ella said, laughing, "I'm not one to climb trees, I'm not used to it! It's hard! I'm not very strong, you know?"

"Ah, it's not that tough," Rachel said, as Gilly came racing up to them and tugging at Ella's arm.

"What is it?" Ella asked, still laughing as she turned towards Gilly.

"You have to come see this!" Gilly said in a hushed voice, "You need to come see this, you won't believe it!"

Ella and Rachel shrugged and followed Gilly as they headed back past the rest of the camp and into the woods. After about 15 minutes, Ella stopped to catch her breath as Rachel unscrewed the canteen she kept strapped across her chest and drank from it before handing it to Ella. After Ella drank some water, she wiped her mouth and looked at Gilly.

"Where are you taking us?" she asked.

"There's a boys camp," Gilly said, grinning, "There's a boys camp, like, right across from us!"

The unbridled enthusiasm in her voice confused and surprised Ella, who up to this point had been under the impression that Gilly solely liked girls, but she'd never really made that super clear, so. Ella glanced at Rachel, who just shrugged and screwed the cap back on her canteen when they heard someone coming up on the trail behind them, and they all turned to see Aime there.

"Where are you guys going? I saw you leaving," she said.

"We're going to see the boys camp, apparently," Rachel said.

"There's a boys camp?" Aime asked, smiling, sounding rather happy about it herself, "How did you find out about that?"

"I was catching frogs and I heard some guys shouting, and so I followed the voices until I found their camp," Gilly said, "They're not even that far from here! They've been there the whole time! I guess the counselors don't tell us cause they don't want girls and boys mixing, so."

"Alright, well let's get going," Aime said, walking next to Gilly, leaving Ella and Rachel to bring up the rear. As they walked behind them, Rachel slipped her hand in Ella's, making her blush. Rachel smiled and then quickly leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"Stooop," Ella said quietly, "God, they might see."

"So?" Rachel asked, "Are you...ashamed of me?"

Rachel and Ella started laughing again as they followed Aime and Gilly deeper into the woods.

                                                                                           ***

"You cannot keep doing this!" Gillys mother shouted, pacing back and forth in front of the couch, "This has got to stop! Not only are you painting a target on yourself, but I don't have the time to continually be called into the school to come get you!"

"Ramona," her father, sitting in the armchair next to the couch, said as he leaned forward, hands cupped, "Why are you doing this? What started this?"

"I...I don't know," Gilly said, stammering and looking at her shoes, "I don't know why. I'm sorry."

"The more you draw attention to it, the more you're going to get made fun of," her mother said, "Like BOYS, that is what you should be doing. That won't get you made fun of because that's what's expected of you."

"But I...I don't want to, I don't like them," Gilly said, "What's so wrong with-"

"It's not that there's anything wrong with it," her father said, "It's that in a public space like a school, especially at your age, it's going to draw ire, do you understand? If you want to just survive school, you're going to have to fit in."

"There's a dance coming up, right? Winter formal?" her mother asked, "You'll be going, and you're going to ask a boy."

"No!" Gilly shouted, near tears, before getting up and running upstairs to her bedroom. Once inside her bedroom, she flopped on her back and looked up at the ceiling, where her glowing stars were put. All she could think of was her History teacher at her private school, and how pretty she was...her dark, curly hair and her pale skin and her big, brown eyes. Gilly shut her eyes and tried to focus on this image in her head when her father came into the room and sat down on the bed with her.

"Ramona," he said, sounding exhausted as he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "I love you. Things were so much easier when you were a kid. I could just fix everything by kissing you or putting a band aide on something or getting you ice cream or your favorite stuffed animal, but now...now everything is so hard."

"I'm not hard," Gilly said quietly, "You just don't understand me."

Her father smiled and stroked her hair, leaned in and kissed the side of her head.

"I may not but it doesn't mean I don't love you any less," he said, making her smile a little.

                                                                                            ***

The girls hid behind a group of bushes as Gilly parted them cautiously and they all peered through, seeing in fact that there was indeed a second camp here, a camp for boys. Gilly turned to Aime, who was grinning ear to ear as she looked from boy to boy, and for a moment, Ella noticed a sad look flash across Gilly's face, as if she felt jealous that Aime felt this way towards boys. But, as quickly as she spotted it, the look vanished, and Gilly turned back to looking at the boys.

"Boys are so boring," Rachel groaned as she sat a rock nearby, running her hands through her hair and pulling it back into a ponytail, "Seriously, there's nothing there to look at. They're so...paper doll."

"I'm sorry we all have different tastes," Aime said annoyed, "God forbid we aren't all as cool as you."

"Well, that's uncalled for," Rachel said, annoyed.

"So is putting down something you don't happen to like," Aime said, "I like boys, I'm sorry for that."

"Nobody is saying you have to apologize, jeez," Rachel said, half laughing, "Forget it."

"Should we go talk to them?" Gilly asked.

"Are we going to get in trouble if we do?" Aime asked, "They obviously didn't tell us the boys camp was this close for a reason, so it's possible they might punish us if we speak to them."

"What're they gonna do, send us home?" Rachel asked, making Ella laugh and Gilly smirk, "I mean, we're at camp, how much worse a punishment can they come up with?"

Ella sat down on a tree stump and looked at the kite as Rachel sat in her lap. Gilly and Aime continued to look through the bushes, and much as Gilly wanted to make everyone proud of her, she struggled to find the bravery of going through with talking to any of the guys she saw. Still...she knew if she was ever going to get her mothers approval, she had to do this...

                                                                                         ***

All the students were filing out of the classroom while Gilly sat at her desk, her bag packed on top of it, playing with her hands in her lap. After all the students left, her History teacher, Miss Norris, came down the isle and stopped at her desk. Norris sat down at a desk beside her and smiled at her.

"What's going on?" Norris asked, "You haven't been doing too well in class lately. Is everything okay?"

"...I'm sorry, I'll try harder."

"I'm not...Ramona, I'm not saying this to make you feel bad or guilt you into doing better, good lord," Norris said, chuckling, "No, I'm sincerely interested in how well you're doing. Talk to me. Are there students bothering you, or-"

"I don't want to go to the winter dance and my parents are making me ask a boy," Gilly said, near tears, wiping her eyes on her uniformed sleeve, "...have you...ever liked a girl, Miss Norris?"

"Back in college, yes," Norris said, crossing her legs and looking at Gilly seriously, "There was this girl in a blowoff class I took for fun, and we quickly became friends and spent a lot of time together. Once she realized how I felt, she became completely uninterested in even being my friend, and I was devastated. It wasn't the last time I've had feelings for another girl, but it was the last time i was honest about it, because I was too scared of losing people I cared about simply for being myself."

"...I don't want to not be me," Gilly mumbled and Norris smiled.

"You won't have to," she said, "Ramona, you're an extremely smart, empathetic, wonderful girl and with all the skills and talents you possess, nothing will stop you from being the best you, the you that you want to be."

Gilly smiled and stood up, picked up her bag and hugged Miss Norris before leaving the classroom. Sometimes the adults who care the most about us, Gilly discovered that day, were the ones we weren't even related to, sadly.

                                                                                              ***

"I like him," Aime said, pointing at a guy with curly brown hair, "But...there's no point in going out there to talk to him. He won't like me. Everyone always makes fun of my brace..."

"That's a stupid reason," Rachel said, "You never know, he may think it's cool."

"So then he only likes me for it?" Aime asked.

"My god you're impossible," Rachel muttered under her breath, "Listen, all I'm saying is if you do nothing, you gain nothing, but if you do something, sure you have a fifty fifty chance of things not working out, but you also have that same fifty fifty chance of something working out, and that's better than doing nothing at all, right?"

Suddenly a soccer ball came flying through the bushes and hit Gilly right in the head, knocking her onto her back. As Aime scrambled to help her up, a boy with short black hair and dark grey eyes poked his head through the bushes and smiled.

"Sorry," he said, "Are you okay? I didn't even know there was anyone back here."

"It's ok, it's not like we let you know," Aime said, as Gilly sat upright and rubbed the side of her head.

"You're not in pain are you?" the boy asked, and Gilly shook her head, slowly smiling.

"No. No I'm fine."

"Cool. Where did you guys come from?"

"The girls camp, about 25 minutes walking distance through the woods," Rachel said, "We didn't know there was a boys camp. Probably a reason for that. Not wanting boys and girls to get together in the woods...alone."

"Can I have my ball?" the boy asked as Gilly tossed it to him, and he smiled, "Sorry about hitting you. You know, me and some of my friends get together near the well about 10 minutes from here sometimes if you guys wanna come hang out."

"That sounds cool," Aime said, blushing, "We'll see you there sometime."

As the boy exited, Gilly couldn't figure out if she had butterflies in her stomach, or hornets.

                                                                                         ***

Standing in the main hall of the school during the winter formal, in her sparkly light blue dress her mother had had custom made for her, Ramona Gilly felt so out of place. She'd asked Brian Turner, and while he'd agreed reluctantly to go with her, he was now leaving her alone while he went off with some other guys and girls at another part of the room. Gilly wanted so badly to go home, knowing she didn't feel comfortable here, but she knew her mother would make a big scene out of it if she came home early, so her only choice was to stay.

"It's all so dumb isn't it?" Miss Norris asked, now standing beside her in her own dress, arms folded.

"What is?" Gilly asked, surprise her presence.

"Dances like this, trying to force awkward kids together, knowing full well none of them are really comfortable, and then telling them 99% of the time that being together is wrong," Norris said, Gilly now noticing that her hair pulled was back into a messy bun, "But it's a time honored tradition, or whatever, so we have it every year."

"I don't want to be here," Gilly said quietly.

"...you can dance with me," Norris said.

"Wouldn't that be weird? A student dancing with a teacher?"

"Who cares?" Norris asked, "Ramona, everything is weird and nothing makes sense. So you try and make sense of it on your own, in any way that you can. I'm here, I'm your friend, and I will dance with you if you want so you don't have to feel alone. To be honest, I'd rather be anywhere else but here also."

"I don't really know how to dance."

"Neither do I," Norris said, the two of them laughing as they headed onto the dance floor together. After the formal ended, Norris agreed to drive Gilly home, but not before stopping for donuts at an all night donut shop first. Sitting in a booth inside, both still in their ridiculous gowns, eating donuts right from the box, Gilly had never been happier.

"I just want you to know," Norris said, "That there is nothing wrong with you."

"I don't know why nobody else will say it."

"Because they're dumb, Ramona. You're a good kid. You'll go far and end up happy, it's just going to hurt a lot before you get there," Norris said, "I got made fun of so much growing up because I had headgear for the first few years in elementary school, but look at me now. Teacher at a prestigious private school? Who'd have thunk?"

"I like you," Gilly blurted out and Norris smiled, taking another donut from the box.

"I know you do," she said, "And that's okay. We all have crushes on teachers growing up. I'm happy to be the one thing telling you you're normal. Because trust me, I didn't have that growing up, and I'd have killed for it."

A few moments passed as they both continued to eat donuts.

"Thank you Miss Norris."

"You're welcome Ramona."

Harold and Betty were standing in the kitchen, Harold just finishing doing the dishes while Betty was putting some things away. It would still be about a half hour before anyone arrived for this weeks Family Game Night, so they were enjoying the nice time they had to themselves. As Harold finished and shut the water off, he rubbed his chest with his hand.

"Are you okay?" Betty asked, shutting a cabinet and turning towards him.

"Yeah, I just don't feel good today," Harold said, "I think I'm getting a cold. I can't remember the last time I got sick though, so this isn't gonna be fun."

"...Harold," Betty said, "Do you think our children are doing okay?"

"What do you mean? I think they're doing great," Harold said, "I mean, okay, Jason's a bit lost, but he'll find his way again. But Ashley and Carl, they're both doing better than I've ever seen them do, especially Carl, and I am so SO proud of them for that. I think our children are doing better than okay, yeah."

"The world isn't as accepting as our household is though, Harold. Sure, here Carl feels loved and accepted and safe, but that doesn't carry much beyond our foyer. The world is cruel and cold and mean. People kill people like our children every single day. I cannot tell you how many friends I've lost because they were gay, or fell under the LGBT spectrum, or something. I want them to be themselves but I want them to be safe."

"Bets, at a certain point, you just gotta accept that they're gonna have to be on their own and hope for the best. We can be here, give them advice, guide them through some things, but their life is their own. Besides, I think Carl is safe enough. They know how to take care of themselves," Harold said, kissing his wife and rubbing her shoulders, "Everything's gonna be great. Trust me. None of us are goin' anywhere anytime soon. We all got too many more Family Game Nights to endure. We're stuck with eachother until the bitter end."

"And boy will it be bitter," Betty added, making Harold laugh.

                                                                                           ***

Ashley and Anna were driving in Anna's car on their way to the house, Ashley braiding her hair while sitting in the passenger seat while Anna drove. Anna seemed frustrated, but Ashley didn't want to push it, so she just didn't say much of anything. As they came to a red light, Anna grabbed the steering wheel and repeatedly banged her forehead against it before screaming loudly and violently throttling it.

"You okay?" Ashley asked.

"I never thought this would be my life. I don't mean that in the whole 'oh no, I'm 30 and my life hasn't turned out the way I thought, I'm not a model!' sort of thing, but my husband and I are breaking up, I'm sleeping with his sister and I'm pregnant," Anna said, "Not that any of that is BAD exactly, it's just...unexpected."

"Hey, you're telling me," Ashley said, "I never in a million years thought that I'd be living with my brothers ex wife. But you know what? I am, and it's awesome."

Ashley leaned in and kissed Anna's cheek, making her blush. As the light turned green, Anna kept driving while Ashley continued braiding her hair. As they pulled up to the house, they noticed Carl sitting on the porch, looking at their cell phone, wearing not just a nice floral dress but also their hair was styled now, a bit curly, and they looked very pretty. As Anna parked and the girls got out, approaching Carl from the walk, they waved at them and Carl waved back, smiling.

"Watcha doin' out here?" Anna asked.

Carl shrugged, "Just enjoying how nice it is. I always sit in the kitchen, but I don't know, I just figured tonight I'd sit out here and enjoy the air, look at the sky. It's pretty."

"I like your hair," Anna said, gently touching it and Carl blushed.

"Thank you, I had a friend from work do it," they said, "I think it looks okay right now, plus it gives me something to work with until my hair grows out a bit more."

"You're growing your hair out?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah, I..." Carl started, but then looked at their feet, trailing off.

"What?" Anna and Ashley asked in unison.

"...I'm thinking that...I'm going to do it," they finished, leaving both Anna and Ashley slightly confused until it dawned on Ashley.

"You mean you're going to-" she started but Carl interrupted her.

"Yeah," they said, "Yeah, I'm going to do it. I'm going to start seeing a doctor and therapist in a few weeks, and uh...and hopefully get on medication by the end of the year. I haven't told mom or dad yet, so don't say anything okay? I know they won't mind, but still, I'm nervous."

"It's not our place to, so don't worry," Anna said, "Has Jason come by yet?"

"Nope."

"Alright, well I'm going in, I'm cold out here," Anna said, patting Carl on the shoulder and heading inside. Ashley sat down on the banister by Carl, putting her hands on her legs and exhaling loudly. Carl looked over at her, and after a few minutes, she finally spoke, not looking at them, but looking up instead at the stars.

"...I want you to know how sorry I am that you never felt like you could talk to me about how you felt," Ashley said, "Nobody should ever feel that alone, and I know because growing up gay, I felt so alone. It's a different kind of loneliness, for sure, but still...it's....I am so proud of you, I really am. You are SO brave, and I cannot express how much I love and support you. I'm thrilled to have a sister. I love you."

She finally looked at Carl, who had tears coming down their face, and she smiled and leaned in, wiping them away with her jacket sleeve, and then hugged them. Meanwhile, Anna came into the kitchen and saw Harold and Betty making out in front of the sink. She shielded her eyes as she came in, her jacket hanging half off now.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!," Anna said as she entered.

"Hey, we had to watch our teenagers make out in our house, you uncover those eyes and show your elders some respect!" Harold said, making Anna chuckle as she took a seat at the island. She hung her jacket on the back of the chair as Harold and Betty went about their business, continuing their cleaning from earlier.

"Is Jason here?" Betty asked and Anna shook her head.

"Nope. Carl's out on the porch and they said they haven't seen him so far," Anna said, "Frankly...I'm not surprised, given the last few months, especially just between himself and I. He's probably just running late, though."

"I'll be right back, I have to use the little boys room," Harold said, wiping his hands on his pants and heading to the bathroom. Betty stopped her cleaning and stood on the other side of the island, taking an apple from the fruit bowl and biting into it.

"So," she said, mouthful of apple, "Jason tells me you're seeing Ashley."

This surprised Anna.

"Ye...yeah, I...am...he told you that?"

"All men are little boys, Anna, you should know that by now. When they don't get their way and nobody else will listen to them, they turn to their mothers. He called me a few nights ago, extremely upset, telling me about alot of the things that've been going on between you two lately."

"Is he...upset that I'm with Ashley?" Anna asked, feeling embarrassed.

"He didn't sound embarrassed, no. In fact, he said he was glad his sister could love you in a way that he couldn't, and that you deserve everything she gives you," Betty said, sighing, "I just never expected my childrens lives to be such messes. You know, we all have kids thinking they're be the stereotypical norm, straight, accomplished, successful, happy, but they're people. Just as parents can be flawed because they're people, children can be different because they're people. I'm happy my children feel that they can be themselves, that they feel safe enough in our home, that we've cultivated such an open mindedness in our kids that they feel they can openly be themselves and live the lives they feel are what make them happy...but it doesn't make me feel like a very good mother when I see how sad they are, even if I know it isn't my fault."

"You're a good mother, Betty, trust me," Anna said, "If anything, I'M the one who should be ashamed of her parenting...leaving my child and husband and just-"

"Anna, sweetheart, don't make your life be about others if you're not happy yourself," Betty said, "You're a good person and a good mother, and you deserve to be happy yourself."

Just then, Carl and Ashley came into the kitchen as Harold came back from the bathroom.

"Hello kiddies," he said, and they hugged. Carl took a seat at the island and looked at Harold.

"So what's the game tonight?" they asked.

"Clue," Harold said, "One of my personal favorites. Also possibly the only board game to get a movie. Jumanji doesn't count."

"Yeah, there really haven't been too many board game films have there?" Carl asked, "Clue is the only one I can really think of."

"I set the board up like an hour ago, so we can just go in and play," Harold said. As they headed through the doorway passing from the kitchen to the living room, Harold rubbed his arm and sighed. Ashley stopped and put her hand on her fathers back.

"You okay dad?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did some yard work earlier, just kinda sore," Harold said, "I'm just not as young as I used to be, plus I think I'm catching a cold. Usually happens around this time of the year, but I'll be okay."

Ashley and Harold continued and got to the living room. She sat beside Anna, while Carl sat beside Betty. Harold took the big chair Betty usually sat in and started handing everyone their pieces while he took the dice. As the game started, Anna looked up at the front door and furrowed her brow.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Jason's just running late," Betty said as Carl took the first turn.

"So," Carl said, exhaling, "I had a date last weekend. After dad told me about Sarah Riddley asking about me, I looked her up online and friended her, and we started talking and went out. She...she's really cool, honestly. We had a lot of fun. Must've been the first date I've been on in months."

"That's awesome," Ashley said, "What'd you two do?"

"We had dinner and talked and then she wanted to go see this, like, small band and live theatre show thing downtown, so we did that. It was nice. We're gonna go out again next week when she's back in town. She has to travel for her job."

"You should bring her over sometime," Harold said, "It's always nice to have someone else for Game Night and I always like to know who my children are seeing."

Ashley and Anna glanced at one another, but said nothing. Carl blushed and looked down at the game board.

"I'll do that, yeah," they said, smiling about the prospect, and twirling the idea of telling their parents about their decision to transition, but decided they'd be better suited NOT in the middle of a board game to handle that kind of news.

"So," Harold said, "Your mother and I are thinking of taking a trip this summer."

"Where you going?" Anna asked.

"We're thinking of going to New England," Betty chimed in, "I've always wanted to go, and we've talked about going for a few years now, but we just...you know how it is, you always have something else to do. So, we're finally going to go and have a nice vacation, which...god...when was the last actual vacation we took? I don't even remember."

Anna stood up and went to the kitchen for a drink, while Betty and Harold talked about their vacation plans. As she stood at the fridge, drinking out of a beer, her eyes were caught by the photos and drawings on the fridge. How had she never noticed these things before? She ran her fingers down them; things the kids had drawn when they were small, and some fine art Ashley had done in a high school class, and photos of the kids growing up during various points in life. Holidays, birthdays, family vacations. Anna felt a pang in her chest, realizing she'd never have this with her own family, but maybe she could have it here....or with Ashley.

"You okay?" Ashley asked, grabbing the bowl of chips from the island and heading over to her, nodding at the fridge as she approached, "Awww, look at what a cute kitty cat I made. I loved halloween when I was a little girl."

"Yeah...you know, it just dawned on me how little Jason and I ever had like this in our home. We only have a few pictures up, like wedding photos and whatnot. We have a lot of stuff with Belle up, past birthdays and first days of school and such, but...not much of ourselves. I guess we did always sort of know it'd never last. By the way, your mother knows about us. I guess Jason called and told her."

"He would," Ashley muttered, holding the chip bowl out to Anna, who took a handful and shoved them in her mouth. Ashley leaned in and kissed Anna on the neck, gently biting her ear, before looking back at the fridge photos and chuckling, pointing with a free finger at one, saying, "God...this was back when dad chaperoned my 6th grade dance and danced with me the whole night because no other boy would cause of my braces....he danced with me so I would feel beautiful and not left out...he's such a good dad."

"He really is," Anna said, smiling at the warmth of Ashleys memory.

"Hey! You're missing the game!" Harold said, coming into the kitchen, stopping at the sink, "Come on, get your butts in gear and let's go. SOMEBODY'S gotta kill someone here eventually."

Harold reached into the cabinet and pulled a glass out, starting to fill it up with water as the girls still looked at the fridge. Ashley finally patted Annas butt and headed back to the living room. Suddenly, a loud shattering sound made her heart race and Anna spun around to see Harold standing, staring at the glass on the floor.

"Dammit!" he said, grabbing his wrist, "God, I hate getting old."

"Are you okay, Harold?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, just sore. I told Ashley, I did some yard work earlier, and I think I'm catching a cold," Harold said, "I just...I don't...it happens once a year, and..."

Harold just stared off into space. Anna finished chewing the chips and swallowed, looking at him.

"Harold?" she asked, approaching him. Harold looked at her, and shook his head.

"Sorry," he said, "I zoned out, uh...anyway I rarely get sick, but...um...but yeah, it's like what I told you earlier, Ashley, I just-"

"Anna," Anna said, correcting him, "I'm Anna?"

"Sorry, fuck, see. Well, whatever, you're my daughter in law, so it's fine," Harold said, kneeling down to clean up the broken glass, he continued, "I know you never really had much of a family, but you know you're welcomed here and loved. Both Bets and myself love you to death, and we're very sorry about the divorce."

"It's okay," Anna said, "I'm...working through it."

Harold slid, his hand catching the glass on the linoleum kitchen floor, tearing his hand up, blood smearing on the floor. He grabbed the floor with his other hand, putting his bloodied one to his chest, wheezing. Anna dropped the bowl of chips and rushed to his side, grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Harold?!" she yelled, "Harold?! Are you....Harold?! Betty! Ashley! Carl! Get in here!"

"Anna..." he muttered, "An...call...."

"Dad?!" Carl screamed, rushing into the kitchen, running to their fathers side, "Dad?! What's happening!?"

"I'm calling an ambulance!" Ashley shouted from the doorway, already on her cell.

"Dad?!" Carl shouted, "Dad, talk to me! Stay awake, okay?!"

Carl looked up at Anna.

"What happened?!" they asked and she shrugged.

"I don't know, I'm not a doctor!" Anna replied, as they looked at Harold, his eyes now closed, his breathing tight and sparse.

Harold smiled, reached up and touched Carls shoulder.

"Carl..."

"Dad?"

"...it was a heart attack....in the kitchen...on Colonel Mustard," Harold said, before losing consciousness.

An ambulance arrived moments later.

Ella opened her eyes to bright sunlight coming in through a window; as she blinked a few times, waiting for her eyesight to adjust, she looked around and saw she was in her bed in her bedroom, in her pajamas. She sighed and sat up, carefully running her hands through her hair until she realized it was soaking wet, and suddenly the room was starting to flood, the floor filling up with water, her bed beginning to float. She glanced across the room at Gordons fishbowl and saw it sliding off the table. Ella crawled quickly to the end of the bed and reached her arms out, but she couldn't reach it. Then she heard shouting, and she glanced around the bed, seeing Gilly, Rachel and Amie all sinking, drowning, in various spots. Ella started to panic, there was nothing she could do, but she had to act...her friends were going to die.

"Ella!" Gilly shouted, sounding legitimately terrified. Ella spun her head from Gilly to Rachel, who had crawled onto a floating dresser and seemed to be okay. Ella looked to Amie, who was also struggling to stay above water. Ella had to make a decision. She grabbed a jacket and, holding onto one sleeve, tossed it out over the water towards Gilly, who grabbed the other sleeve, and Ella reeled her in. As Gilly got onto the bed with her, she threw her arms around Ella, sobbing, and Ella stroked her soaking wet hair as she watched Amie slowly drown in front of her. Ella shut her eyes and started crying too. There was nothing she could've done. Not everyone can be saved.

And then she woke up. The wind was howling, and her right cheek was scraped and bleeding a bit from where she'd fallen face first into a tree stump at the bottom of the small hill. She groaned, trying to use her elbows to push herself up. Once she was finally sitting upright, she grabbed the tree and tried to stand, and then realized the tupperware with Gordon was nowhere to be found. She started to hyperventilate as she searched around on the ground for it, and finally found it, a few feet from her, and he was perfectly fine. Gordon, and his tupperware had fared much better than she had. She picked it up and kissed it, before looking around and trying to get her bearings.

"Help!" a voice cried out over the darkness, and Ella instantly knew it was Amie. She immediately took off in that direction without a second thought.

                                                                                             ***

"You're going because we need some time," Thomas said as he sat in the car by the bus stop, Amie in the passenger seat, brooding. She had her arms folded, softly swinging her legs, the brace squeaking a bit, making Thomas grimace.

"Just admit it, you don't like being around me around other people," Amie said under her breath, "I understand. I don't want to be around me either."

"Amie, it isn't that," Thomas said, sounding exhausted at having this conversation again, "Your mother and I just haven't been on vacation alone in a long time, and we really want to do this. Plus, you might make friends at this camp. It's all girls, and girls are much nicer than boys are, so they're less likely to-"

"Girls are not nicer than boys," Amie said, "You just think that because you've never had to deal with them. They can be just as vicious. Girls are the ones who mostly make fun of me in class, so yeah, I don't think I really want to be friends with anyone, anywhere, at any time."

"Amie, god...I...I just want you to have a good time."

"Then let me come with you guys!"

"No, this is just for us and-"

"Why can't I come?!"

"Because we don't want you there!" he finally shouted, slamming the steering wheel, honking the horn and scaring her. Amie looked away as he rubbed his forehead and reached out to touch her shoulder, but she grabbed her backpack and got out of the car. She swore she'd never speak to him again, and considering how things were going currently, that looked to very much come true.

Sitting against this tree as the area around her started to flood, Amie figured this was it. This was how it ended for her. She didn't want to die like this, alone, cold, terrified, but in a way, it was almost fitting for her life. She'd always be the loner, the scared little girl. As she wiped her eyes on her sleeve, she suddenly could hear Ellas voice, and her eyes widened. She waved her arms above her head and shouted.

"Ella!!" she yelled, "Ella, I'm over here!"

She saw Ella coming over a large rock, rising water starting to surround her. Ella shined her flashlight towards Amie, and Amie for one brief moment couldn't believe this. Someone...had come looking for her? Someone cared, and was worried, and had come to get her? This couldn't be happening. This wasn't supposed to happen to her. Nobody was supposed to like her.

"Amie! How do I get to you?" Ella shouted, and Amie just shrugged.

"I...I don't know!" she shouted back, "Be careful! The water is really powerful!"

Suddenly, they heard a cracking sound, and Ella looked at the large tree behind the rock she was standing on, and it was starting to come down. Amie screamed, as Ella fell backwards while the tree came slamming down on the rock. For a few seconds, Amie wondered if Ella was alive, until she came back up from the water and climbed onto the now fallen tree.

"Swim to me!" Ella shouted, and Amie pointed at her leg braces, making Ella smack her own forehead, forgetting her friends handicap. Amie looked around as they heard something else now, something louder, some sort of rumbling. The water that had come flowing down above her had finally fully crested the ridge and was now coming at her in full force. She had no choice, and she grabbed her pack and took off towards Ella. The water was deep, but not so deep she couldn't wade to the tree, as the water came and surrounded them more. Lightening crackled across the sky, as Ella helped her friend up on the tree trunk and hugged her tightly.

"Are you okay?" Ella asked.

"Are you okay?" Amie asked, touching the scrape on Ellas face, making Ella smile.

"I'm fine, I'm just glad you're alright. What're you doing out here?" Ella asked, and Amie looked embarrassed as she reached into her pack and pulled out a small canister and handed it to Ella, making her ask, quizzically, "What is this?"

"It's Scrambles," Amie said, finally sobbing, "It's Scrambles" she repeated.

"Scrambles?"

"When I first got my braces, my mom got me a support dog. He was this big fluffy German Shepard, and he was my best friend. He slept with me and made me feel better when I was sad. My stepdad left the gate open while doing yard work one afternoon and Scrambles got out and was hit by a car. I told him I'd let him go out here, because he liked being outside so much. I was going to dump him out here."

"...Amie," Ella said softly, "I...why didn't you just come to me? You know I have Gordon, you know I'd understand, so why-"

"Because I needed to do it by myself, and how was I supposed to know this would happen?" Amie replied, "...if you can just get me somewhere where I can dump him safely, I'd be so thankful. Please help me Ella, nobody else ever does."

Ella nodded, knowing how that felt, and decided then and there she had to help Amie finish this mission, as dangerous as it had become.

                                                                                            ***

Back in the cave, Rachel standing at the opening to the cave and looking out and Gilly sitting on a rock in front of a fire Rachel had started, the girls felt worried that their friends may never come back. Rachel was swinging a stick, thinking to herself about Ella, and what a good person she was. How she was going out to search for her friend, no matter the weather conditions. Behind her, Gilly sniffled and wiped her nose on her arm. Rachel turned and the two locked eyes.

"She'll come back," Rachel said softly, "Don't be scared."

"I know she'll come back," Gilly said, "I just hate myself. I didn't stop Amie from leaving this morning, and I caused all of this."

"You didn't cause anything, Gil," Rachel said, "These things aren't your fault."

"Everything is my fault!" Gilly screamed, "Everything is my fault! Ask anyone around here! Everyone thinks I'm weird and is scared of me, and nobody wants to be my friend, and everything that goes wrong is because of me! Just like Jessica! This is just like Jessica!"

Rachels brow raised, curious now, "Jessica?"

"...last year, there was this girl named Jessica, and she was an intern who was working with my cabin leader," Gilly said, trying not to cry, "She actually wanted to be my friend, and I was so happy. She actually took an interest in me, and always took the time to talk to me, and...and she suggested we go on a hike, so I thought it'd be fine. It was fine, at first, and then...I don't know...an hour or so into the hike, we got to this clearing, and it had this tent and a campsite, and we didn't know where it had come from. We started to look inside it, and it had a sleep bag and stuff, so it looked like it was being used."

"...that's...creepy," Rachel said, Gilly nodding in agreement, her tears rolling down her cheeks.

"And then she zipped the tent up while we were in it, and she told me it was her camp site, so she'd lied about not knowing where it'd come from, and she told me this was where she came to get away from people and stuff, and I understood because I guess growing up she also was made fun of a lot and that's why she liked me because she saw a lot of herself in who I was. She told me...."

Gillys voice cracked, as if struggling to speak, so Rachel sat beside her and rubbed her back.

"She told me that what the world needs is to love one another so that nobody ever feels left out again, and that we should start that right now, and she..."

Gilly looked at Rachel, who finally understood where this story was going. Rachel put a hand to her mouth in shock, shaking her head as Gilly broke down and sobbed.

"Oh god, oh, Gilly, I am so...god...did she get fired, or?"

"I never told anyone," Gilly said, "She said she'd done this to other girls too, that she was helping us, but it didn't feel like help..."

"Gilly, you...you need to tell-"

"Why bother, she isn't here anymore," Gilly said, "Nobody would listen anyway. Nobody listens to me, and everyone would say I deserved it anyway, or was lying, so who cares. I did deserve it."

"You did not deserve that!" Rachel said, "Nobody deserves that! Gilly, I am so so sorry that happened to you."

Gilly didn't talk, she just started sobbing harder, laying on her side on the floor of this cave, while Rachel sat beside her. Now Rachel understood why Gilly felt so bad...because these really were the first true friends she had, and she felt like she'd lost them now. She felt like she deserved to lose her friends. Rachel was finally starting to understand this broken group of girls she'd aligned herself with.

                                                                                             ***

Amie and Ella had fought their way up to the top of a hill, despite all reasoning not to, and were now standing looking out over the forest below. Ella handed Amie back the canister and she took it carefully, unscrewed the lid and exhaled slowly.

"Scrambles, I wish you could've met Ella, because she's a good friend, and she would've liked you a lot. As much as I loved you, I'm glad knowing you weren't in pain, and I have people who care about me now, so while you did a really good job, you can rest knowing I won't be alone. I love you Scrambles."

And with that, she tossed it into the air over the cliff, and Amie suddenly hugged Ella, taking her by surprise, but Ella wasn't too bothered by it. She just smiled and hugged her friend.

"You're right," Ella said, "You have friends. You really do."

"I know."

"Come on, we have to get Gilly and Rachel," Ella said, "And then I want to sleep for a few days straight."

The girls laughed as they headed off back through the woods, the storm dying down, as they went back to find the cave with their friends. For the first time in her life, Amie didn't feel alone. When they finally reached the cave, Rachel was happy but Gilly was ecstatic, and hugs went all around. After Amie told them why she'd come out in the first place, Rachel and Gilly gave their condolences and understood, and wanted to go back to camp and sleep a few days off as well. This whole experience had been downright exhausting. As the girls packed up and headed off, Rachel stopped Ella, grabbing her arm.

"What's up?" Ella asked.

"I just want you to know that you're a really good friend, and a great person," Rachel said, "I hope you know that. These girls really need you."

Ella blushed, "Come on, I can't be that-"

"I really like you, Ella."

Rachel put her hands on Ellas shoulders and kissed her, Ella happily kissing her back. Outside, Amie asked Gilly where the other two were, and as Gilly glanced back into the cave, she felt a terrible pain in the pit of her stomach. Gilly didn't say a thing the rest of the walk home.

                                                                                            ***

The following morning, in the cafeteria, the girls were seated at the breakfast table eating.

"Why would you want shark teeth?" Rachel asked.

"Because I could chew through anything!" Gilly said, "I'd be unstoppable! Plus maybe they'd make a cartoon after me. Shark Girl!"

"That would be pretty cool, she's right," Ella said, as Amie came and stood by the table, Ella looked up and smiled, "Good morning. Sitting with us?"

"If that's okay."

"It's always okay," Rachel said, as Amie took a seat with them. With her friends.

With her first best friends.

"There's a distinct difference between board games and anything else, that's why we don't play things like dominoes or backgammon or anything with anything other than a board," Harold said, "So the next time you ask why we don't play something other than a board game, maybe think before you speak you ungrateful little shits."

Carl and Ashley were sitting at the kitchen island, Ashley with half a chicken wing out of her mouth.

"Jeez, I just asked a question, excuse me," Carl said, wearing a light blue sleeved blouse and a black floral skirt, "I just...there's other kinds of games, so why limit ourselves to one type of game?"

"Carl's right," Ashley said, "We should just try and go outside our comfort zone, even if for one evening."

"You know what happens when someone goes outside their comfort zone? People get hurt. I had a friend in college, Brian Turner, and he was a complete introvert and he had this girlfriend once who told him that he just needed to get out into the world and see it, experience it, to really visualize how beautiful it all really was, show him what it was he was truly missing. So, she took him driving on a road trip, living out of her camper and everything, and one morning he's brushing his teeth outside, and this Komodo Dragon comes up, grabs his ankle and drags him off. Ate his face right there in the desert. Do you wanna die like Brian Turner? Cause that's what happens when you leave your comfort zone, Komodo Dragons eat your face."

"...there's no Brian Turner is there?" Carl asked.

"We're ALL Brian Turner, Carl, that's the moral!" Harold said loudly, throwing his arms into the air.

"Is he using that Brian Turner story on you guys?" Betty asked, coming into the kitchen, drinking a bottle of carrot juice, "He's used that on so many people just to 'prove a point'. He used it on our insurance agent last year when he was trying to explain what happened when 'Brian' went with a different insurance agency, and how important our agent actually is. Brian's more important than any of you kids, let me just clue you in on that. Brian has lived a more interesting life than any of you kids. You will NEVER be as loved as Brian Turner."

"Brian Turner isn't even real," Carl said, "How am I supposed to compete with someone who isn't real? That's not fair."

"I'll kick Brian Turners bitch ass," Ashley said, dropping her chicken wing bones and licking her fingers, "I'll kick YOUR ass, dad, if you ever bring him up again."

"Don't kick your fathers ass, dear," Betty said, putting her carrot juice back into the fridge.

"Well let's kick SOMEBODY'S ass," Carl said, "I'm in a brawlin' mood. Fuck this game night shit."

"Family Fight Night," Ashley said, starting into another chicken wing.

"As much as I am impressed by your entrepreneurial modesty, I don't think that would go well," Harold said, "Besides, your mother would kick all of our asses. She took Karate for years. Don't fight your mother, seriously, that's coming from experience."

"Damn mom, you scary," Ashley said.

"You ever wonder what other families talk about?" Carl asked.

                                                                                      ***

Jason pulled up in the driveway, Anna in the passenger seat, brushing her hair. He exhaled, both hands gripping the steering wheel firmly. He glanced over at Anna, who looked at him and shrugged. Jason just sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I...don't know how to face them anymore," he finally said, "I want to be a better person, but I feel like everyone goes out of their way to upset me. I'm trying to be better."

"I know you are," Anna said.

"How do you DO it? Not you specifically, but the proverbial you. How does one just...BE a good person? It feels like it takes so much effort, you know? I want to be supportive of Carl, even if I don't understand it well, but do I call them by Carl or do I call them by some other name? And then there's you and Ashley...I'm not even touching that one with a ten foot pole right now. Hate is easy. That I understand. Being angry comes naturally to me, but...being good, being nice..."

"I understand," Anna said, setting her hair brush back into her purse, "But you have to ask yourself WHY is anger and hate so easy for you? You have a good job, and despite what's going on between us, we have a wonderful daughter and your family is really solid. So what is it that's making you so angry?"

"I don't know, and that's even MORE frustrating!" Jason said loudly, clearly annoyed, "Is it just because I'm a straight, white male? Is that simply enough for being angry? We normalized the world to work for ourselves, oppressed everyone else and now that things are changing, we feel threatened because we recognize we might lose 'power', but it's not power, it's just this idea of power, and power should be available to everyone. Everybody matters. Everyone is a human being. But I don't think that's MY reason, and if it IS, that's...that...sucks."

"You're trying, and that's enough for right now, okay? So come on, let's just go inside and play a nice game," Anna said, smiling warmly, resting one hand on his shoulder.

                                                                                      ***

"So let me get this straight," Ashley said, staring in disbelief at the game board in front of them, "Every week hasn't been enough fighting for you, but now you want us to play Monopoly? Mom, does dad hate us?"

"It's possible," Betty said, sitting on the couch and eating a piece of celery.

"Monopoly is a classic," Harold said, "It's just gotten a bad wrap over the years."

"No, you know what's gotten a bad wrap? Rap music. Violent movies. Video games. But this...I have looked into the eyes of hell, and let me tell you, Monopoly IS pure evil," Carl said.

"Monopoly is a totally fine game that's been ruined by the poor team cooperation of bad families. We are not a bad family, we can handle this," Harold said.

"We can't even handle Hungry, Hungry Hippos," Carl replied.

"Okay, you know what, you named your band in high school Painkiller Picnic, so you don't have any right to say what is or isn't acceptable," Ashley said, "Despite that, I agree with Carl. This is a terrible idea. Look at the last few game nights, we've literally gotten into physical altercations-"

"Told you we should just fight eachother," Carl said.

"-and you think 'hey kids, you know what'll stop all this fighting? a family game of Monopoly!', like, I say this with the upmost respect because you're my father and I love you, but you're a horrible human being and Brian Turner would be ashamed of you right now," Ashley finished.

"We are going to sit down and play Monopoly, and if any of you have a problem with it, I will write you out of my will," Harold said.

"I'm in the will?" Carl asked.

"Keep complaining and you'll never find out," Harold said, "Now sit down."

The front door swung open and Jason and Anna waltzed in, taking their coats off.

"What's going on?" Jason asked.

"Monopoly," Carl & Ashley said in unison.

"Dad, seriously, the fuck?" Jason asked, as he and Anna sat down, Anna seating herself beside Ashley.

"How am I going to win this game? I'm not even good with REAL money," Carl said, and Jason laughed, as Carl turned to sneer at him, "Okay, you wanna make a bet, Mr. 401k? How about you put your money where your mouth is."

"Gladly," Jason replied.

"Thank god, maybe since his mouth is now an object, he won't talk so much," Ashley said.

"Hey! There will be no low stakes betting under my roof!" Harold said loudly, "You only go hard or go home here, okay?"

As Anna took her seat, Ashley touched her shoulder and Anna looked behind her at Ashley, smiling. Ashley nodded her head towards the kitchen, and so she helped Anna up from her seat and the two of them headed into the kitchen for a moment of privacy. Ashley sat down at the island, and Anna sat on the other side.

"So..." Ashley said, clearing her throat and pulling her hair back into a bun, "...I've never done this before, and I know it might not be the right time but I was just...I was thinking that...if things are uncomfortable and stuff and you want to make this transitional period easier, you could...move in with me?"

"I could?" Anna asked, blushing, surprised.

"Yeah," Ashley said, beaming nervously, "Yeah, uh, I mean, obviously you could. I mean..."

Ashley took a long, deep breath and looked Anna dead straight in the eyes.

"I love you," she said, "And I've rarely ever said that, but it's true. I know it's weird cause you're still with my brother and you guys will be getting divorced and it might be messy, but I...I've been in love with you since the first time I ever saw you. I really...I cannot believe how lucky I am to even be having this conversation with you right now, it seems so completely unreal. Anyway...uh...yeah, the option's there if you want it."

"...I love you too," Anna said, and Ashley felt tears well up in her eyes as Anna continued, "I always used to joke with Jason about it, like 'heh, your sister, she's cool and pretty hot' and stuff, but...you've been so much better to me than anyone I've ever met, Jason included. I can't believe I get this lucky to have two people, from the same family even, love me. It makes up for my own family not wanting me in any capacity. If you really will let me, and think it'll work, then yes, of course I'll move in with you."

Ashley didn't know what to say, so Anna took the opportunity to lean across the table and kiss her, with a sense of real longing and passion that Ashley had never gotten from another woman kissing her before. After it broke, Anna smiled, stood up and headed back to the living room, Ashley in tow. They sat down beside one another, and Jason and Anna smiled at one another.

"So, as an aside to your earlier story, what would've happened to Brian Turner after the Komodo Dragon attack? Did he survive, and if so, how did he survive without a face? He couldn't have had a facial transplant or anything grafted on, especially when it was when you guys were in college. That technology at that time was rather minimal," Carl asked, "So what's the next leap in the Brian Turner saga?"

"Brian Turner would've persevered, thank you very much," Harold said joyfully, "He would've moved on with his life, been left by his shallow faux worldly girlfriend and met a new, truly open minded love in David from Spain. Together they would live a happy, fulfilling life together, enriching all of those around them."

"That's beautiful dad," Ashley said.

"It doesn't matter, he's not real," Harold said, "That's the thing about Brian Turner. Any one of us can be Brian Turner. He's an analogy for not trying, for not believing in yourself, for not taking chances. For not being you. That's why we can't play anything besides board games, because it'd feel like my face was being ripped off and eaten by Komodo Dragons."

"I guess I could see that," Carl said, "And I'm sorry for suggesting it if that's the case."

"Would you love me more if I changed my name to Brian Turner?" Ashley asked.

"Honey please," Harold said, smirking, "Where did you ever get the idea that I loved you?"

Ashley laughed and Harold patted her back from the side of the table.

"I guess in that sense, I could be Brian Turner," Jason said solemnly, "I mean...I'm afraid of everything changing around me, of discovering things about myself, and learning more about the world. In a sense, I am Brian Turner. I'm afraid to take that leap because of the consequences, but I am trying. I'm, in a way, better than Brian Turner, and that says loads."

"That's the spirit, see, Jason gets it," Harold said.

"Maybe then, if that's the case, I really COULD win this bet," Carl said, and Jason furrowed his brow.

                                                                                          ***

As midnight approached, Jason and Carl were deep in it, and Carl was actually winning, much to everyones surprise. Anna had been knocked out and was resting her head on Ashley's shoulder, watching her struggle to stay in, along with Betty, who too was on the verge of bankruptcy.

"So what do I get when I inevitably triumph over you?" Carl asked.

"You're gonna get a swift fuckin kick in the-" Jason started, before Ashley interrupted.

"I think you should pay Carl a thousand dollars," she said, "That'd more than make up for your disparaging remarks a few weeks prior."

"Fine, you want a thousand dollars? I'll do one more than that. I'll sell my car," Jason said, and everyone gasped, but he continued, "And I'll give you the bluebook value. So, even if it doesn't sell for that, I'll pay the difference and give you all of it, how's that?"

"I like this restitution stuff," Carl said, chuckling.

"I think Carl's gonna win, to be honest," Ashley said and even Harold nodded solemnly.

"How're you doing so much better than me!? You can't even do well financially in real life! How're you doing so well with fake money?!" Jason shouted, "This is ridiculous! Just once can I win a Family Game Night please!?"

"Not with that bitch ass attitude," Carl said.

"They've already got you outbanked, that's for damn sure," Anna remarked, "You're not gonna have much money to buy anything, especially if it comes down to just the two of you, because if they're the only one left then they're the only one able to land on your property and pay you, and that's just not enough to live off of."

"Good, it's what you deserve," Carl said.

"I really can't do anything right, I cannot be successful at all," Jason muttered, "Losing my car, my game night, my wife. Christ."

Just then all the lights in the house went out. Everyone looked around for a moment, and then there was the sound of something knocking at the glass back door. Everyones necks snapped in that direction, terrified. Harold got up and grabbed a flashlight from out of the end table by the couch.

"Everyone stay put and be quiet, I'll take care of this," he said, before heading down the long hall towards the back door. He opened the door, stepped outside and turned the flashlight on. A few moments went by and nothing. Carl and Jason exchanged nervous glances, and Ashley held onto Anna tightly, just in case. And then...Harold ran into the house, his right hand missing and blood squirting out of it onto his shirt, staining across the floor.

Everyone screamed on demand at the sight as their father dropped to the floor and didn't move. Anna buried her face into Ashley's neck as Jason and Carl clung to eachother tightly, as Betty stood up and broke a beer bottle on the end of the coffee table, and just then, from the darkness of the hall came a man, his face looking scratched and bloodied, like something had tried to eat him. He stood, towering over them all, and then pointed down at their father, his voice low and gravely.

"That's why you believe in yourselves, because if you don't...your dads dead friend will come back and murder your father," he said, and that's when Ashley put her hand to her face.

"Oh jesus christ," she muttered, as the lights snapped back on and Harold stood up, taking the fake arm off of him, revealing himself to be perfectly fine. He and the man started laughing, hugging.

"Kids, this is my friend Martin, from the college. Or, for tonight, you may call him Brian Turner," Harold said.

"Dad, what the fuck?!" Carl screamed.

"You sick son of a bitch!" Jason chimed in.

"Mom, dad's scarring us psychologically!" Ashley said.

"Don't I know it..." Betty said, sitting back down.

                                                                                      ***
As everyone exited the house, Ashley and Anna got on Ashley's scooter, while Jason pushed his car keys into Carl's hands. Carl got into Jason's car, started it up and pulled out of the driveway, all of them leaving Jason alone in the driveway, his hands in his pants pockets. Jason felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Martin, Brian Turner, standing beside him, still in costume.

"Rough night huh?" he asked, and Jason shook his head.

"Fuck off Brian Turner," Jason said, as he started walking home.

Ella came into the bathroom where Gilly was already standing at the sink, brushing her teeth. Ella started to brush her hair out while Gilly spat into the sink, then pulled her lips back and looked at her teeth, her brow furrowing.

"I wish I had more teeth," she said, "I wish I was like a shark."

"There's nothing really stopping you, you go out there and be the best shark you can be," Ella replied, the two of them laughing, "I told Amie to meet me outside this morning, but I haven't seen her yet..."

"She's gone," Gilly said, this blunt statement making Ella stop brushing her hair and look at her.

"What do you mean she's gone?"

"She took off, I passed her this morning. She was outside, already dressed, and she was heading into the woods," Gilly said, "Said she had something to do."

"Gilly!" Ella replied, "You just let her go?"

"Why not, she would've just let me go," Gilly said solemnly, making Ella scoff and rush back into the main room. She pulled her suitcase out, quickly got dressed and then pulled a small, tall rectangular tupperware out, opened Gordons trunk and poured him and some water into it, then shut it. Gilly came in, noticing the tupperware with the holes in the lid, and looked at Ella.

"What're you doing?" Gilly asked.

"I'm going to find her!" Ella said, "She might be going to do something to herself, Gilly! Just because you don't like her doesn't mean she should leave."

"I do like her," Gilly said, "She's the one who doesn't like me."

"Well, I'm going after her," Ella said, "See ya."

And with that, Ella was out the door in a flash. A few moments passed as Gilly contemplated all of this, stomped her foot and started out the door after her.

                                                                                              ***

Amie had left early that morning, pack and all, and had passed by Gilly on her way out. Gilly was coming back from the kitchen early, having gained a friend in there who would give her desserts in the mornings for breakfast. The two saw one another, made direct eye contact, but neither one stopped to talk. Walking alone in the woods now, enjoying the peace and quiet, the beauty in nature surrounding her, Amie actually didn't feel all that bad for once. She stopped, pulled her pack back up a little and grunted.

"God you're heavy," she mumbled, continuing to walk.

This shouldn't take that long. She'd planned this as soon as she was told she'd be going to camp. She just would be gone for the afternoon, and back by the evening, and nothing would go wrong, and nobody would notice. It was a free day, it wasn't like there were any activities planned, so nobody would probably even notice she was gone. Yes, everything would be fine.

                                                                                              ***

"I just don't think it's that big a deal," Gilly said, marching alongside Ella.

"It's a big deal because the entire time Amie has been here, she's felt incredibly alone and out of place, and I've been trying to make her not feel like that because that's how I always feel, so I know how bad it is. Has she been rude to you? Yeah, and sure her home life sucks and that's no reason to be mean to other people who have nothing to do with it, but still, we need to be nice to her. We have to have eachothers backs, because nobody else has them," Ella said.

"...I'm sorry," Gilly mumbled, "I guess I screwed up."

"Ahoy!" a voice called out, as Rachel, wearing an eyepatch and swinging a stick at them, jumped onto a large rock ahead, "Avast ye mateys, where ye scallywags be off to?"

"We be searchin for someone dat abandoned ship, cap'n!" Gilly said, not missing a beat in the sudden roleplay and making Ella laugh in the process.

"Arrr, I see...well then my bonnie lasses, let us sail onward and bring this traitor back to pay for their crimes against the sea!" Rachel exclaimed as she hopped off the rock and lifted her eyepatch, "Seriously though, what's going on?"

"Amie ran off," Ella said, "So we're going to find her."

"She ran away?" Rachel asked, pulling her hair back into a ponytail, "Alright, well, let's see if we can find her."

"How? We can't track people by scent, we're not dogs," Gilly said, "One day we will be, but not today."

"We may not be able to sniff her out, but we can shout for her," Rachel said, cupping her hands around her mouth and shouting loudly, "AMIE!"

No response came.

"Hmmm," Rachel said.

"I don't think she's close enough," Ella said.

"If a girl shouts in the woods and nobody's around to hear it, did she make a sound?" Gilly asked, making Ella laugh and Rachel smirk.

"Well then, saddle up and let's move out, we gotta find her," Rachel said.

                                                                                           ***

Aime was lost deep in thought as she continued to hike towards her destination when suddenly she felt soft raindrops hitting her face. She wiped them away and the noticed fatter raindrops splashing against her glasses, and she groaned. This wasn't supposed to happen! It was supposed to be nice today! It was summer for god sakes! Aime pulled her pack up on her shoulder and continued uphill. A little rain wasn't going to stop her, she was determined to finish what she'd started months ago.

She could remember laying in bed, making this promise to herself that she'd do this as soon as she could when she got to camp, that it was only fair. Nobody else was ever going to do something for her, so she had to take care of everything on her own, and she knew what was best anyway. The rain started getting harder and harder, and the wind picked up as Aime ducked under a bent over tree, trying to stay relatively dry and safe. She was starting to entertain the idea that maybe she had made a mistake after all...

She narrowed her eyes and stared ahead at the darkened skies ahead of her...nothing was going to stop her, not when she was this close.

                                                                                           ***

"I'm not so sure this is the smartest thing to be doing..." Gilly shouted, as the girls headed into a small cave between some rocks to get out of the rain. Ella now felt particularly stupid...this had been her idea, to come out here and search for her friend, and now it seemed like she might have put them all in danger.

"Nobody knows where we are, but somebody is going to eventually notice we're missing," Rachel said as she sat down and squeezed her hair, the water pouring from it onto the dirt below, "So we stay here until the storm passes, it shouldn't be too long, and then we'll go back to camp and-"

Rachel and Gilly trailed off, as Ella stood at the cave front, looking out at the sky. Somewhere out there was a girl who had no friends, and thought the friends she did have here weren't her friends. Somewhere out there was this scared little girl, and Ella knew what that was like, to be scared. She couldn't let this happen. Ella pulled her pack on tighter, made sure the lid on Gordons container was airtight and then took off into the forest again. Rachel rushed to the cave front, peering out.

"Ella!" she shouted, "Ella come back!"

"...She just ran out there," Gilly said, eyes wide, appearing shocked. Rachel turned and looked at Gilly, then walked to her and put her hands on Gillys shoulders. Gilly was shaking, like she was about to have a meltdown of some kind, Gilly continued to mutter, "This is all my fault. I should've stopped Aime this morning. I did this. I did this."

"Gilly, shhh, calm down," Rachel said, hugging Gilly and stroking her hair, "You're okay."

Out in the wind and the rain, the sound of thunder overhead, and no way to see much in front of herself, Ella kept fighting to move forward. She had to find Amie. She had to show this girl that she was their friend. Nobody deserved to be alone, Ella knew what that was like, and she never wanted anyone else to feel that way. Suddenly she skidded, her heel sliding on a rock in the mud, and she slipped and tumbled down a hill, eventually hitting a tree and breaking her roll. She didn't get back up.

And Aime...Aime sat beneath the trees she'd stopped at, too scared to move forward, too scared to leave their comforting safety. The rain was turning everything around her to mud and water from an uphill stream rushed past her, creating tiny waterfalls on each side of the tree. This was all her fault. She really was a bad friend, a bad person, and she was going to die here.

She was going to die here.

It was a quiet evening. Harold and Betty Fuller were out of town, Ashley was working late and having a dinner date with a potential client and Carl had gotten hired by that job they'd mentioned so they were working. For once in the past few months, Anna thought she had a night free. As she came into the apartment, setting her coat up on a hanger by the door, she tossed her purse on the kitchen counter and noticed Jason setting up a game on the coffee table in their living room. Anna stopped in her tracks.

"...watcha doin'?" she asked.

"Well, just because everyone else is gone, you heard my folks, doesn't mean we can't have game night," Jason said, putting his hands on his knees and looking at the game, "I picked battleship, mostly because it's not really a board game and my father would never include it."

"...no," Anna said, starting to laugh, "No, we aren't doing this, not this week. I'm taking a shower, I'm eating something and I am going to bed and reading. I have the night off for once and I am not gonna waste it playing a game," she finished, her voice trailing off into their hallway to their bedroom.

"I guess you wouldn't, being a chicken and all," Jason said. Anna popped her head back out from the hallway and looked at him.

"Did you just call me a chicken?" she asked, "Did you...did you seriously just call me a chicken?"

"I call 'em like I see 'em," Jason said, grinning.

"Ok, first of all, I think everyone in our lives has made it very clear that you are actually the chicken. I'll go on rollercoasters. You won't. You're the chicken."

"Takes one to know one."

"What're you, five years old?" Anna asked, putting her hands on her hips, laughing. She sighed and came to sit on the other side of the coffee table, where Jason had set up her Battleship station. She took a few minutes putting her ships onto the board. Once she was done, he rubbed his hands together and started the game, taking his turn.

"F5. So," Jason started, "How's my sister?"

"Miss. She's doing fine. She's having dinner with a potential client tonight, working late. I'm seeing her tomorrow," Anna said, "Uh...J7."

"Miss," Jason replied, "What time is Belle's recital tomorrow? C4."

"Hit, ironically," Anna said, placing a peg on her boat, "It's at 6, so we need to be there early enough to set up a camera and stuff. A6."

"They're never going to watch it," Jason replied, "Hit."

"What do you mean they're never going to watch it?"

"Ashley did a lot of dance stuff, and they were always busy working or something so Carl or I taped the performances. They never watched them. Our parents act great, and in many ways are great. They're loving and accepting and all that wonderful stuff, but they aren't perfect," Jason said as he put a peg on his boat, "A3."

"...miss," Anna said, "...Well, just because your parents are that way doesn't mean we have to be that way. A7."

"Hit," Jason said, placing a peg on a boat, "No, but we're already way worse than my parents. Look at this failed fucking marriage. Not that that's a bad thing, I mean, at least we tried. Too many people don't even try. We at least gave it a fair shot, had a kid, spent some nice years together. There's no shame in things falling apart, that's what I'm trying to teach myself. H6."

"Hit," Anna said, placing a peg on her boat, and clearing her throat, "Yeah, but there's shame that comes from others judging you. Okay, so you don't feel bad that you failed, but everyone else feels bad that we failed. Doesn't that mean anything to you? Or are you just so in denial now that you're going to claim you don't care what others think? Because the people who don't care what others think are goddamned liars. B2."

"Hit," Jason said, "Anna, you're overlooking the big picture here. I have come to terms with what I've done, how I've hurt people, and that I'm kind of a bad person, yes. That I need to change. So okay sure, I care what others think, but their opinions about me aren't why I'm trying to fix myself."

"You're sure as hell not trying for me," Anna said.

"I'm trying for the best of everyone," Jason said, "I'm the only one in the family who is detached from reality. You're all growing, learning, changing. I'm stuck in believing that I have to be who I've been my entire life because that's what society pounds into our heads from the second we're born. It assigns us a gender role and tells us 'you can only be gay or straight' or 'you can only fail or succeed' when that is really such fucking bullshit. I am tired of being the only one at family game night who isn't part of the family."

"You're not not part of the family, Jason, for chrissakes, it's YOUR family. I'M your wife. I'M the one not related to them," Anna said, "If anyone isn't a part of the family, it's ME. You wanna spout off some pop therapy platitudes to make yourself feel better, that's fine, but don't deny the fact that if and when this divorce happens, you're the one who still has a family, and you're the one who'll still go to game night and you-"

"You'll come, you're seeing Ashley," Jason interrupted.

"It's your turn, by the way," Anna said.

"C5," Jason said as Anna plugged another peg into her boat.

"B3," Anna said, watching Jason peg another, "Don't turn this around to be about you and what you're going to lose, okay? YOU'RE the one who wants this divorce. I'm fine with a separation, taking some time apart and thinking about things, and-"

"No," Jason said sternly, shaking his head, "No, it's divorce or nothing."

"Why are you so deadset on-"

"Because I don't like limbo!" Jason shouted, "J2!"

"Hit," Anna said, pegging her ship, "B4! Jason, I'm willing to work on things, but you're so deadset against things already being so far gone that you aren't willing to listen to the possibilities! We could fix stuff, we could-"

"I don't wanna be with you!" Jason shouted, "I...I don't want to ruin your life anymore! I've held you back so long! Go and be with my sister, or whoever your wanna be with, just stop trying to be with ME!"

They both exhaled, panting, out of breath. They sat back down, looking at their game boards as Anna wiped her eyes on her sleeve, trying not to openly cry in front of him. Jason rubbed his face with his hands and groaned.

"B6," Jason said.

"Miss," Anna said, "B5. I can't...I don't....I don't know what to say to you anymore."

"Anna," Jason said, "When you told me about you and Ashley, god, your eyes lit up. They lit up in a way I haven't seen in years now. I used to see that light, but I don't get to see it anymore, and if I'm not making you light up like that, someone else should be able to. You...you deserve to be happy and loved, and if my sister can make you do that..."

"What about Belle?"

"Plenty of children have divorced parents."

"Doesn't mean they SHOULD. I don't want Belle having no family like I had," Anna said, starting to cry.

"Anna, she won't have no family!" Jason said, almost laughing, "God, I love my daughter, she's the only good thing I've ever done, and she'll still have my family and you and...Belle will be loved, I will go out of my way to make sure of that. J5."

After a few seconds, Anna pegged something and looked at her lap.

"You sunk my battleship, Jason," she said quietly, "you've sunk everything."

"...I'm sorry, Anna, but you'll be happy, trust me," Jason said.

"Trust you? Trust you about dissolving our marriage? Thinking I'll be okay?" Anna said, "...I already trusted you when you said you wanted to marry me, and that you loved me. I recognize I've made mistakes too, but at least I'm willing to try and fix things and-"

"For Belle. You're fixing them for Belle. Not for you. That's the difference," Jason said, "Our child deserves a happy home, yes, and to be loved, yes, and for things to be stable, but...not at the expense of you spending the rest of your life being unhappy. I'm trying to change, Anna, and this is the first part of that."

Anna pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them and wrapped her arms around her knees, looking at the battleship board.

"You know, when I was a little kid, Monica and I played board games all the time," Anna said, "It was the only thing we had to do, ya know, our family was so distant and split up and unhappy. But we had eachother and we spent so much time playing board games. Even well into high school we spent so much time together at nights just...playing board games, because we loved being with one another."

"....and?"

"I fucking hate board games now," Anna said, "I also fucking hate my sister. Guess who's fault both of those are."

"I take full responsibility for those, yes," Jason said.

Anna stood up and grabbed her jacket, pulling it back on.

"Do you wanna play another game? There's still a lot to discuss," Jason said.

"No, Jason, I don't wanna play another fucking game. I am done playing games. Fuck battleship and fuck you," Anna said as she exited the apartment, slamming the door behind her. Jason sat on the couch, just listening to the traffic outside when Belle appeared in the living room, looking at him.

"Daddy?" she asked.

"Hey pumpkin," Jason said, "C'mere."

Belle walked over and sat beside Jason, snuggling up alongside her father as he gently stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.

"What's going on?" Belle asked.

"Oh...nothing really. Your father's just kind of a bad person. You want me to read you a bedtime story?" he asked, and she nodded happily. Jason picked her up and carried her off to bed.

                                                                                ***

Anna pulled over on the bridge connecting the two sides of the city, took a few deep breaths and then started pounding her steering wheel, screaming "fuck you" at he top of her lungs repeatedly. After a few minutes, she opened the glove compartment, pulled out a pen and a scrap of paper and started writing furiously. When she was done, she took a bobbypin from her hair and pinned the note to her shirt, then got out of the car. Anna walked slowly from the car over to the bridge wall and took a deep breath, then climbed on top. Below was the dark cold bay, crashing and swirling. All it would take was a single step.

*bzzzzz!*

Anna stopped, her foot dangling over the edge. Her phone buzzed again within her jacket pocket. She pulled it out and swiped the screen to see a text.

"Hey, out early. You wanna play Scrabble on fb?" from Ashley Fuller.

Anna took a few quick breaths, and realized that board games have ruined her marriage, but they've also just saved her life. She stepped off the bridge back onto the road and replied she would like that, but in person, and that she was coming over with chinese food.

Scrabble stopped her suicide. Fucking Hasbro.

Ella couldn't sleep.

She had rolled over time and time again, hearing Gilly snore softly under her bunk. Ella leaned over the bunk and looked at Gilly, who was asleep with a bag of chips on her chest, and her sleep mask covering her eyes.

"Pssst," Ella whispered, "Gilly? Are you up?"

No response except she mumbled and rolled over, then hugged the bag of chips like a teddy bear. Ella laughed to herself at this sight, and then noticed the tapping sound. She looked around, unsure of where it was coming from. She heard it again.

*tap! tap tap!*

Finally her eyes caught sight of a hand with salmon colored nails tapping at the cabin window. After a few seconds, Rachel's face peered in through the window, and when their eyes locked, Rachel smiled and waved, then made a "come here" gesture with her hand before disappearing again. Ella slowly crawled out of bed, and landed softly next to Gilly's bunk, waking her for a split second. As Gilly's eyes fluttered open, her breath barely a whisper, she asked Ella what was going on, and Ella told her she was going to pee and to go back to sleep. With that, Gilly rolled back over and went back to sleep, as Ella headed to the door. Once outside, she heard the bush beside her rustle, and saw Rachel coming out in black, high waisted shorts and a tank top.

"What're you doing?" Ella asked, "It's really late. If you get caught out here-"

"Come with me, I wanna do something," Rachel said, grinning.

"...what...do you want to-"

"Just come with me, it'll be cool, I promise!" Rachel said, taking Ella by the hand and pulling her away from the cabin. As Ella followed Rachel through the nearby woods and down a path, she could hear the sound of water flowing, and once they broke through the clearing, she could see it was coming from a small waterfall in a hidden lake. The trees overhead acted as a wonderful canopy, and they could hear crickets singing all around them.

"How did you find this?" Ella asked.

"I was with a few other girls from Turtle Cabin and one of the older ones showed it to me, she said a camp counselor showed it to her and her friends a few years back," Rachel said, "Isn't it beautiful? Come on."

Rachel approached the water and stepped into it, shaking a bit at first as it was clearly colder than she'd expected, before finally submerging her entire body in it. She looked back at Ella, standing by a tree stump, still in her pajamas. Rachel waved at her, trying to get her to come in, but Ella merely clung at her pajama top even tighter, unsure of what to do in this situation. After a few minutes of watching Rachel swim, Ella approached the water a bit more and stuck her right foot in.

"Come on!" Rachel said, "It's nice!"

"Is it really cold? It feels really cold," Ella said and Rachel shrugged.

"I mean, at first, but you get used to it," she replied. Ella waited a few more moments, and then took her pajamas off and, just in her underwear, walked slowly into the lake. It was freezing, but it was also refreshing, and she felt like she was feeling water for the first time. Ella put her hair up in a bun and looked around.

"Why did you bring me here?" Ella asked.

"Because you're like your fish, you wanna make friends, but you're stuck in a tiny little suitcase," Rachel said, "So I'm making it easier for you. Besides, anytime I try and talk to you in a group, those other two always make sure there's drama."

"Yeah, Amie's...I don't know," Ella said, "I mean, from what she's told me, she has every right to be angry, but I don't think she realizes she's not the only one who feels like that. Gilly feels just as bad about her home life. I think it's because they're too similar, they can't see how much they actually have in common."

"Probably," Rachel said, "But you're spending all your time at camp making sure they don't fight instead of having fun for yourself."

"I have plenty of fun!" Ella said, just as Rachel filled her mouth up with lake water and spit it at her, making her squeal and cover her face. With that, Ella started splashing at Rachel, the both of them laughing and playing. Ella thought back to all the times she'd gone to the beach. She used to enjoy it, she loved the sand and the water, all the birds, but these days...the last few times had been so awkward and she felt so uncomfortable in her skin, around all those people.

"Camp is the first time I've been in the water in a while," Ella said after the splash fight stopped, the two of them now just wading, treading water.

"Really? I try and go swimming at least once a week," Rachel said.

"I used to like going to the beach, but I don't know, as I've gotten older, I feel like people are judging me, you know? Like, they stare me up and down and I feel so weird, and unwelcome. It makes me hate how I look."

"Welcome to the wonderful world of puberty," Rachel said, "I know that when I got my period over a year ago, that's exactly what my mom told me. They are judging us, Ella, because society expects girls, even girls as young as us, to look a certain way. We're the latest model, Girl 2.0, with faster downloads from the internet."

Ella smirked, scratching her forehead, "I just mean...I wish it didn't make me feel so uncomfortable in my own body. I should be able to go swimming without-"

"Yeah, I know. But guess what, you can't. You can't go swimming, you can't wear any outfit, eat certain foods, without being judged, leered at, commented on. You're a walking art installation," Rachel said, "And it sucks."

"...I don't want to get older," Ella whispered.

"Well, hey, it's not all bad," Rachel said, swimming closer, "I mean, there's some good things about growing up that I've discovered. People take you more seriously, and treat you with a little more respect...at least my parents do. Also, I can't wait to go to college and have, like, a career doing what I love. That's pretty exciting."

"I guess..." Ella said, "I don't know. I don't like change, really, and growing up is nothing but change. Plus I..."

Rachel cocked her head to the side, seeming interested, so Ella went on.

"I don't know, I've been having these dreams. I talked with Gilly about it a few nights ago, but like..." Ella stopped, unable to find the courage to go on before she caught the moonlight breaking through the overhead canopy and slicing across Rachels face, lighting up her eyes. Ella continued, "I really...in my dream, I'm often like...seeing this girl, and she's really pretty, and she kisses me and then I wake up."

"I had those," Rachel said, taking Ella by surprise, "I only had it about three times, and mine were a bit different, it was this girl in my homeroom class, but it always ended like that. With us kissing. I invited her to dance with me last year at the end of the year dance, but she didn't really...I don't know, she just said no and sort of walked away."

Rachel glanced away and wiped her nose, before going on.

"But I mean, it's not like I was too heartbroken, I barely even knew her. Besides, there's lots of cute guys at my school too, so it's not like I didn't have someone to dance with," Rachel said, smiling again.

"Well, I'm glad you have a workaround," Ella said sternly.

"Hey hey, whoa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset," Rachel said, "I'm just sharing!"

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm glad you were still able to have a nice time," Ella said, "But for me, I have never really thought any guy was cute. That's why I spend most of my time indoors these days, just hanging out with Gordon, because...it's like, all the girls I know wanna do now. We used to do things together and now they just wanna watch guys play sports or go to the mall and look for boys, and I..."

"You don't?"

"I...don't...like boys," Ella said, the words finally making sense to her brain as they left her lips, "Oh. I don't like boys."

Rachel swam closer, smiling at her.

"There's nothing wrong with that," Rachel said, "This isn't like when our grandparents were growing up. It's so much more accepted today, to like the same gender, and you're not alone cause you know I do too."

Ella looked at Rachel again, swam closer to her and, bobbing up and down gently in the water together, she reached out and put her hands on Rachel's shoulders. Ella could feel her heartbeat thudding, her breath shortening, and she leaned closer, shutting her eyes, pressing her lips against Rachel's lips. They kissed for what felt like minutes, but was likely only seconds, and when it ended, Ella couldn't bring herself to look at her again.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked.

"I don't feel like I'm cool enough or something," Ella said, "I don't know."

"You're totally fine, Ella," Rachel said, giggling, "And you're not alone. We're all here together."

Ella blushed, and the two of them spent the remaining time sitting on the shore of the lake, talking about school, the first time Rachel accepted her feelings for girls and how Ella could accept herself better. After it finished and her hair was dryer, Ella put her pajamas back on, and Rachel took her back to her cabin. Before heading inside for the night, Rachel gave her a quick peck on the cheek, making her blush deeper, and then headed to her own cabin. Ella started to climb back up to her bunk, but stopped and looked at Gilly, realizing that something was different when she'd kissed Gilly than kissing Rachel tonight. Ella tapped Gilly on the shoulder, and one of her eyes slowly lifted open.

"What?" Gilly asked groggily, before burping.

"I'm glad you're here," Ella said, smiling, and Gilly smiled back.

"I'm glad I'm here too," Gilly replied, "Otherwise I don't know where I would be and that would be so scary, right? Not knowing where you are? How would you find yourself?"

Ella laughed and pushed Gilly on the shoulder, telling her to go back to sleep. With that, she got into her top bunk, settled in and went to sleep.

She didn't have the dream that night.

Jason Fuller could remember the first time he ever met Anna Chlumsky. It was in college, about their third year in, and he met her at a book fair. She was reciting poetry she'd written herself, and then a few weeks later he spotted her playing a ukulele outside in the quad for the sake of performance one night. He couldn't stop thinking about her, thinking about how god damned beautiful she was. She was about 5'7, she had that farm girl paleness to her, freckles splattered across her face over the bridge of her nose and her cheeks, that medium length auburn hair that glinted in any light she stood in. She had a laugh that could hypnotize anyone else into laughing as well, and was so thoughtful, so caring, so funny. He just had to get to know her.

By the time they were out of college, they were a serious couple, and she'd met the Fuller family on numerous occasions. They loved her, and she liked them well enough too. She and Jason wanted the same things from life, they were both driven and hard working, they liked a lot of the same stuff. It seemed like a match made in heaven.

To hear Jason tell it.

Anna, however, felt trapped. Sure, she loved Jason. She knew she could have a life with this person. But that didn't stop her from questioning things. She knew she didn't want to be that settled down that early into her life. She didn't want to be that pigeonholed. She wanted...a life, first. She wanted to live. So whereas Jason could remember the first time he ever saw Anna Chlumsky, Anna Chlumsky could remember the first time she ever met Ashley Fuller. Admiring her own boyfriends sister from a distance, always wondering, always thinking...and now it was real. Now she was sitting in Ashley's car, down the street from the Fuller household, kissing the woman she'd forever wondered if she could be with. Anna was pushed against the passenger side, the back of her head against the window, as Ashley kissed her neck, biting gently, Anna moaning softly. After a few minutes, Ashley stopped and looked at Anna.

"Are you okay?" Ashley asked.

"I am really okay, yeah," Anna said, "I feel like a hypocrite, being with someone and yet being mad at my husband for doing the same thing, but, that's life I guess. Nothing is every cut and dry or crystal clear."

"You are so goddamned beautiful, I can't imagine why my brother would EVER sleep with someone else," Ashley said. Anna smirked, ran her hands through her own hair and exhaled.

"There's a lot of history between your brother and I," Anna said, "A lot of stuff you don't know about. Men romanticize their relationships because they want to think they're emulating what they see in films, women romanticize films because they want it to be real life. Jason isn't a bad guy. He's....he has said some cruel things, and he has done some bad stuff, but everyone does, everyone has, and he's not that bad a person. He's just lost and confused and angry."

"I get it," Ashley said, "...when Jason left for college, I was still in high school and I wanted to be him, I wanted to be out on my own and experiencing life, but...people always say 'isn't it funny' when referring to how when you're a kid you wanna be an adult and when you're an adult you yearn for childhood, but they're wrong, it isn't funny. It's sick. It's cruel."

Anna looked out the windshield and saw Jason pull up and park in the driveway. After a few minutes, he got out and went inside. Anna turned to Ashley, grabbed the back of her neck and kept right on kissing her.

                                                                                     ***

Jason entered the foyer and found Carl sitting alone at the island in the kitchen. He walked in and unzipped his windbreaker, only to recognize that Carl was...in a dress, and, from what he could tell, had makeup on? Jason walked to the island and stood opposite from them, finishing unzipping his windbreaker before pulling a stool aside to sit on.

"Hey," Jason said, and Carl just nodded, not even looking up from what they were reading, so Jason continued, "Where is everyone?"

"Mom and dad are upstairs, and I don't know where Ashley is. I guess she isn't here yet," they replied, "How're you?"

"I'm okay," Jason said, "My jaw's still a little sore," he added as he walked to the fridge and got out a fruit juice drink, twisting the cap off and taking a drink, "I uh...I like your dress, it's a very nice pattern."

"Oh," Carl said, looking at it and then at their brother, smiling, "Thank you."

"What's the game tonight?" Jason asked.

"Trouble," Carl said, "...speaks volumes, actually."

"...Carl, I really want to apologize for last week. I...I am so so fucking sorry. I am just so frustrated and upset and angry. You and Ashley and Anna, you all know who you are and I...I don't know who I am. I feel like I just took what society TOLD me I am and have been living as that for all these years. I wish I was as confident about myself as you all are. I love you. If you're my brother, I love you, if you're my sister I love you, no matter what I love you."

Carl stood up, walked around the isle and hugged Jason tightly, crying into their shirt. Jason just hugged them back, ruffling their hair. He smiled and laid his chin on the top of their head, just embracing the moment. Ashley and Anna came into the kitchen to this sight and were confused, until Carl pulled away from Jason and Ashley grinned.

"You look so good!" Ashley said, giving Carl a hug, "Did you do your own makeup?"

"Yeah..." Carl said, their voice shaking, clearly nervous. While Ashley and Carl talked, Anna grabbed Jason's sleeve and nodded toward the front porch. He followed her out there, shutting the door behind them. Anna sat on the porch swing, while Jason did the same, a bit of space between them.

"Um..." Anna said, "...I figured this was the right thing to do, so I've discussed it and I'm going to do it. I forgive you for what you did with my sister. I know you're unhappy, and I know that things aren't good between us, like, at ALL, and uh...I've been spending the night at your sisters a lot, so if you've been wondering where I am, that's where I've been."

"Well that's nice of her," Jason said, "You just talking about me? Hahaha."

"...I'm sleeping with your sister," Anna said, "I know, the irony is hilarious, believe me I get it."

"You don't have to say anything, Anna. I feel like I trapped you inadvertently by marrying you without really asking you more about what you wanted. I...have done some terrible things the last few weeks, and I've said some awful stuff to everyone, and I just don't think I'm the person you're meant to be with."

"...what?"

"I just think you deserve someone a lot better than me," Jason said, smiling, "You're a beautiful, intelligent, remarkable woman, Anna, and you deserve so much more than I've ever managed to give you in the entire time you've been with me. Come on, let's go in and see if the game's ready."

As it turned out, Harold and Betty were already finished setting up, and Ashley and Carl were sitting side by side on the floor. Anna sat on the couch beside Jason, as everyone put their pieces on the starting lines and started taking their turns. Carl cleared their throat and smiled as they finished their turn.

"I have a job interview," Carl said, "I think...I might get this job. It's tomorrow. This is the second interview, so I'm really nervous but I'm excited."

"That's awesome," Ashley said, taking her turn, "I've been turning in work like crazy trying to catch up on the lost revenue from Snack Cats, but it's going pretty well. Still, I'm exhausted every night because I've been working so much."

"Well, your mother and I won't be here for next weeks game night," Harold said, as everyone turned to look in surprise.

"Yeah, we're going to see my uncle in the hospital, so we'll be out of town for a bit," Betty said, "You all feel free to play though if you want."

"Carl," Jason said, clearing his throat, scratching the back of his neck, "Uh...will your work let you..wear whatever you want, or?"

"...I...I don't even know that I would, I mean, I'm almost not even comfortable doing it here," they replied, "It's kind of new for me to be this open around people, even if those people are you assholes. But maybe?"

"If you run into any trouble, I know someone who can help you legally, if you want to pursue that," Jason said, everyone sort of quiet in awe at his kind nature, especially in regards towards Carl, "But that's totally up to you."

"Thank you, Jason," Carl replied, watching Anna take their turn.

"It's a shame that you guys will be out of town next week because Belle is in a play at school and she asked if you guys could come," Anna said, "She'll be a bit upset."

"We're sorry, you know we would but this is very urgent," Betty said, "We don't even know if he's gonna last until we get there. It's a real shot in the dark even trying, but I owe it to him. He's my favorite uncle, and I wish I'd seen him more recently."

"I understand," Anna said, "We'll videotape it for you and you can watch it when you get back."

"That would be lovely," Betty said, "We'll make sure to get it from you when we get back."

"You know, I went to the store earlier and ran into Sarah Riddley, the girl who used to babysit you guys, remember? She was a teenager at the time. She's getting married now and it's just so weird to see other people you knew who aren't your children getting older and growing up," Harold said, "She was really nice still, she said to tell you hi Carl."

"She asked for me by name?"

"Yeah, she said to tell everyone hi and tell Carl I miss them," Harold said and Carl blushed, as Harold continued, "It's just weird, you don't gauge how much time has passed until the time has passed, you know? You never realize how fast your kids are growing up until it's twenty years down the line and suddenly your kid's getting married and you wake up and go 'holy shit, I am old, what the fuck happened?' ya know. It's a very-"

"I want a divorce," Jason said, as Harold dropped his gamepiece onto the board and everyone stared at him. Anna's jaw was lowered, her eyes wide, nobody saying a word. This was not what they'd expected, and had they expected it, they especially hadn't expected Jason to be the one to ask for it. After a few moments, Anna managed to squeak out a quiet, "What?"

"I want a divorce," Jason said, smiling, looking calm as can be, "I want you to have a divorce from me, so you can live your life the way you want to and I can stop holding you back."

"...I...I don't...is it my turn?" Anna asked, as someone handed Jason the dice.

"After me," he said, rolling, "Anyway, I've already contacted a lawyer, so I suggest you do the same. We can do it really easy, we can just split things right down the middle. I don't want you to give anything up, and I'll pay child support. We can do split custody or you can have full custody and I'll just have weekends if that's what you want. Whatever you wanna do, Anna."

A long silence. Anna didn't respond. She just took her turn and then gave the dice back to Ashley as Carl folded their arms.

"I don't 'get' board games," they said, completely ignoring Jason's statements, "I mean the entire idea is friendly competition. That's a phrase we hear far too often, right? Friendly competition. That's an oxymoron. There's no such thing as 'friendly competition'. If you're competing, you're trying to win. The competition part totally undermines the friendly aspect. I don't know, just bugs me."

"You guys hear that siren? It's the semantics police," Ashley said, snickering.

"After what you did, after what I told you earlier, you want a divorce?" Anna asked, still apparently stuck in that moment, and then, turning to Harold, asked, "Did you ever fail to give your wife an orgasm?"

Betty, admittedly, did a spit take back into her wine glass, nearly laughing. Harold cracked up, as Ashley's jaw dropped now and even Carl looked a bit bewildered by this turn of events.

"Uh, well, if you're asking my ego then of course not, if you want the truth, you'd have to ask her," Harold said.

"Harold has been a very considerate lover," Betty said, "But nobody can be perfect all the time."

"Holy god, what're you doing," Carl asked, horrified at this conversation.

"But you tried, at least, yeah? You gave it your all? You didn't ask her to dress up like someone else, or call her by the wrong name repeatedly? You wanted her and only her? Why make love to someone you're clearly not in love with, am I right? Because that's what I've been dealing with the last few years," Anna said, now turning to look back at Jason, "It's obvious that what you said on the porch was true, that's why it surprised me, because even YOU recognized the reality of it. You obviously haven't been in love with me for a long time, you just love the CONCEPT of me, a wife, a homemaker, a child rearer."

"You're absolutely right, yes," Jason said, "That's what society has taught men to strive for. I did love you. I still do. But you're right, not in the way you want me to, that you need me to or that you even deserve to be loved. That's why I want you to leave me. Because I recognize my shortcomings and that you should be given more than I have given you or ever could give you."

"....is he a pod person?" Carl asked, "Did...did aliens take over your body? Where's our brother?"

Carl took their turn as Harold and Betty watched the tension and confusion between Jason and Anna. After a few minutes, Anna started laughing hysterically. Jason cracked a smile and began to laugh as well.

"What is WRONG with you people?" Carl asked, "Your marriage just fell apart!"

"I know!" Jason said, happily tossing his arms into the air, "Isn't it great?!"

"God, why didn't we just break up a long time ago?" Anna asked.

"I don't know!" Jason said gleefully, "I feel like an entire weight has been lifted off my shoulders! Let's just finish this fuckin game, guys! Family game night, right?!"

Carl and Ashley exchanged a nervous, confused glance behind Anna's back, as they continued with the game.

                                                                                   ***

That evening, after the game had ended and everyone went home, Ashley stayed behind to help clean up and shut the house down so her folks could go to sleep. Anna and Jason had actually gone home together, probably to discuss the dissolvement of their marriage, and Ashley felt alone. She walked out the front door and took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one and then spotted Carl sitting on the porch swing, still in their dress. Ashley sat down next to them and sighed, scratching her forehead with her pinky nail.

"Do you think....do you think the people we end up with will ever hate us like that?" Ashley asked.

"I don't think Jason and Anna hate eachother, that's the thing. I think they love and respect one another so much that they recognize they're not supposed to be together and they don't want to lie anymore. That's kind of beautiful, actually," Carl said.

"...you look really pretty," Ashley said and Carl smiled.

"I feel really comfortable," Carl said, "I actually feel really comfortable. It's amazing what just dressing in the right clothes can do for your mental health."

"I'm sorry if this is too personal or something but...are you going to go any further?" Ashley asked, "I mean, the strides made in this field, hormone replacement therapy is like magic, man, have you seen the shit it can do? Some shots or some pills and bam, that's that. I mean, I know it doesn't ease the overall pain, but it can make people so much happier, and more comfortable and-"

"I don't know, Ashley, honestly. Right now I really don't know," Carl said, "I just know that I look at Jason and Anna and I think 'I NEVER want to be THAT unhappy', you know? So yeah, maybe I will, because if I don't then I might never and then I'll die without really being who I am, and that's wrong. We should all be who we are."

A cool breeze wafted by, ringing their mothers wind chimes on the front porch. Ashley exhaled her smoke into the clear night sky and sighed.

"...I guess I'll go home," Ashley said, "...you know, I'm behind you 100% ok?"

"I know Ash, thanks," Carl said. She smiled, walked down the driveway, got into her car and left. Carl pulled out their cell phone and got onto social media. They searched for a bit and finally found Sarah Riddley. They smiled, put their finger on the screen and clicked "Send friend request".

Upstairs, Harold was reading a book while Betty flipped through the TV channels, landing on a cooking show. Harold cleared his throat and looked at his wife, lowering his reading glasses.

"So that stuff earlier, about how nobody can be perfect all the time?" he asked.

"Total lies, sweetheart," Betty said, "You rock my world."

"I knew it," Harold replied, going back to reading.

It was a major summer storm, brought on suddenly and without warning, causing everyone to gather all the kids into the main hall for the night, or at least until it seemed safe enough to send them back to their respective cabins. As the kids piled in and took seats on the floor wherever, Charlie and Ryan were sitting at a nearby table.

"This happened a lot in my summer camps, but, I went to summer camps in Kansas and you have a pretty good chance of the weather killing you there at any given time or the year," Ryan said, making Charlie giggle.

"The only times I ever had to be in the main hall at any camp I went to was when it was a mandatory thing or for eating," Charlie said, "I never wanted to spend time around adults."

"You still don't."

"Well, true, yes," Charlie said, "But at least they pay me to."

"Wait, you're getting paid?" Ryan asked, smirking, and making her laugh

A little bit in the back corner of the hall was Aimee, Ella and Gilly seated together in a small circle, not saying a word, just passing the time in the hall. Gilly was adjusting the lighting on the lantern that each group had been given, and she was trying to get it just so. Aimee sighed and pushed her curly bangs out of her eyes as she glanced around at everyone.

"I hate this, I wanna just sleep in my own bunk," Amiee said, as Ella shrugged.

"I mean, I'm not too happy about it either, but we don't have a choice until they tell us we can go back to the cabins," Ella said.

"This is the best kind of thing to happen at camp!" Gilly said excitedly, "Like, we can do so many things, like tell secrets or play 20 questions or have scary stories told!"

"It's late at night, I don't really feel like participating in slumber party games," Aimee said, making the giddiness on Gillys face slump a bit, until she looked at Ella and started smiling again.

"Ella, tell me something you've never told anyone else," Gilly said, and Ella twirled some hair around her finger, thinking.

"I guess, like, when I was in 3rd grade, I didn't like this girl because she made fun of how I dressed, and so one day during art, I walked by her chair and snipped some of her hair off. I never confessed, and now I feel really bad about it, but-"

"Hey, that's what she gets for being mean," Aimee interrupted, pulling her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

"Well, no, you shouldn't be mean back just because someone is mean to you," Ella replied, "Ya know, like, two wrongs don't make a right sorta thing? Anyway, I never told anyone about it but she was so upset. I think she thought it was me, but nobody saw me do it, so nobody could prove it was me."

"I actually think Amiee is right," Gilly said, making them both a bit surprised, "I mean, Ella is right too, just because someone is mean doesn't mean you should sink to their level, but hey, karma, right? She gave out bad energy and it came back at her worse."

Just then, they heard someone plop down beside them, and Ella noticed it was Rachel. She was in a nice, sleek, black robe, her hair back in a ponytail, chewing on some licorice.

"What're we talking about?" she asked.

"Being mean, and whether it's justifiable," Amiee said.

"Hmmm," Rachel said, "It really depends, honestly. I mean, defending yourself can be seen as being mean, but you're just doing what you think is right for you. I don't know, I'm tired, I'm probably not making a whole lotta sense."

"I need to pee," Amiee said.

"Oh!" Gilly said, hopping up, "We can go use the outhouse! It's right out back, basically attached to the main hall! I'll take you!"

Gilly grabbed Amiee's arm and started to tug her off towards it, as Rachel handed Ella a piece of licorice.

"Oh...um, okay, thank you," Ella said, taking it and chewing gently, "Um...I like your earrings."

"Oh, thanks," Rachel said, pushing her hair back to reveal cute little kitty earrings, "I begged my mom to let me get my ears pierced for my last birthday and she finally let me do it. I was so happy, oh my god. It kinda stings at first and you have to use this gross watery stuff to keep it clean, but, whatever, it's worth it."

"My mom won't let me pierce my ears," Ella said, "She said maybe when I'm 14. I don't know why she doesn't let me do it, I mean it's not like she might even be..." Ella stopped herself, tears forming on her eyes, afraid to go on, "...she might not even be alive when I'm 14. Why wouldn't she want me to do that now, so she could see it."

"Sometimes, by like, keeping things static, people feel like the world won't change after they're gone," Rachel said, surprising Ella as she continued, "That's how my dad put it anyway. When my grandma got sick, my grandpa didn't do a single thing differently. He lived every day like they'd lived every day together their whole lives, because by keeping that same routine, I don't know, I guess it helps the dying person feel like the world won't be that different, and they won't miss that much, or something."

Ella wiped her eyes and nodded, chewing on the licorice a bit more, watching Rachel as she glanced around the inside of the main hall at all the other girls in groups. Rachel sighed and twisted some of her hair around her finger, licorice hanging out of her lips.

"Camp is the only place I can talk to other people," she finally said, "At school, it's not the same...thanks for being my friend, Ella."

That smile. That slight smirky smile, that same smile that caught Ella's eyes when they first met...her soft pink lips, the sort of pink Ella didn't know lips could naturally be, that pastel pink, and her long curved eyelashes. Everything about Rachel made Ella's heartbeat faster, made her chest tight, made her skin goosebump. All she could do was nod, and say "You're welcome."

Meanwhile, Gilly was standing outside of the outhouse, waiting for Aimee to finish.

"I wish I brought my telescope!" Gilly said, "The stars look really cool! I meant to bring it, but I forgot!"

"I'm standing right here," Aimee said, coming out and wiping her hands.

"Oh, heh, sorry," Gilly said, "Do you like stars?"

"I mean, I guess?"

"I've got those sticky ones on my ceiling at home, the ones that light up in the dark, you know? When I was little, my dad would take me into the backyard and teach me the constellations, and-"

"Gilly, I don't really care," Aimee said, stopping Gilly in her tracks, "I'm sorry, I just...I don't wanna hear about your amazing dad who teaches you about stars, okay, cause...cause it's not fair that you have that and I don't."

"You think my parents love me?" Gilly asked, her voice flat, taking Aimee by surprise, "You think everything at home is just magical for Ramona Gilly don't you? Oh yeah, look how happy she is! Look how bubbly she is! You know what you are? You're just a mean person. I've tried to be nice to you the entire time we've been here, and really, our home lives probably aren't much different, okay? You're not the only kid who's allowed to be unhappy, alright? God. I'm sorry for being your friend, I'll stop."

Gilly turned, arms crossed, and stormed off back into the main hall. As she passed through the crowd, she felt a hand on her shoulder and stopped to see Keegan standing there.

"Hey," she said, "Are you ok?"

"...I'm never okay," Gilly said, almost in tears, "I need...I need to talk to someone."

"I'm here, you can talk to me," Keegan said, smiling.

"No, I mean, I appreciate that, but no, you're not who I need to talk to," Gilly said, "Thank you though."

Gilly continued heading through the main hall, until she found Ella alone again. Gilly stood there over her, looking down, until Ella glanced up at her.

"Where's Aimee?" she asked.

"Where's Rachel?" Gilly asked.

"She went to talk to a friend," Ella said, "Are you okay?"

Gilly continued walking, but Ella stood up and followed her out of the main hall, into the stormy winds. Rain was starting to come down hard as Gilly stood out there, staring up at the sky. Ella cautiously joined her, getting soaked in the process, as thunder rolled overhead.

"Gilly?" she asked, "Are you sure we should be out here?"

"...I don't know what to do," Gilly said, crying, "If I try and make people like me, they don't, but they don't like real me either. Who do I have to be to make people finally like me?"

"I like you," Ella said, "And...and that's why I brought my fish, because ya know, pets...they never care who you are. They just care that you love them and feed them. I know Gordon likes you."

"Do you really like me?" Gilly asked, sniffling as Ella came to her side. Gilly turned and the girls faced one another, their hair blowing wildly in the wind.

"You're my friend," Ella said, smiling, "So yeah, I like you."

The two stood there, staring at one another for a while, until Ella finally took Gilly's hand and led her back into the main hall. Both girls had come here as loners, but despite anything else that was to come, they knew they'd always have eachothers backs.