Luna Goodwin watched from her bedroom window as slews of people entered her house, carrying an assortment of decorative items: ice sculptures, flowers, balloons and anything else Mrs. Haverstock thought the party needed. It was exactly three days until her eighteenth birthday and though Luna was excited to hit the big one eight, she couldn't rid herself of the sinking feeling in her gut. She could practically feel the tension. It was suffocating her with each breath. Only, she didn't know where all of those negative feelings were coming from.

"Okay, I give up," Jane stormed into her room, "That woman is a maniac."

Jane threw herself on Luna's bed. The skirt of her lavender halter dress fluttered around her legs. She ripped the Bobby pins out of her bun and untangled her ebony locks. When she arrived early in the morning, Jane had every intention of helping out but after listening Mrs. Haverstock's nagging for three hours she was ready to hit someone over the head with the ice sculpture. Grabbing one of Luna's gold, sequined pillows, she crushed it in between her hands. Luna cocked a brow at Jane's antics.

"That woman is Will's mom," Luna reminded her.

"Ugh! Poor him. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Will is a miracle survivor," Jane continued to batter the pillow.

The pillow was just one of many and she knew Luna didn't mind. If anything, Luna would be more upset that Jane ruined the ambiance of her room. She worked very hard in creating her own personal heaven. Luna's queen sized, flowy curtains, shaggy carpet and walls were all the color of pure winter snow. The chrome molding, full sized mirror, decorative trinkets- such as her round table side clock, Angel dolls- and her flat screen TV were all gold. The room was fit for an angel like Luna herself.

"She's just trying to give me a nice birthday party."

"Can't she do that without turning into Satan?" Jane abandoned the pillow for the latest edition of teen vogue. The crease between her brows only deepened as she stared the picturesque models on the glossy page.

"I suppose you're right," Luna agreed. Turning away from the windowsill she joined Jane on her bed. "But she has good intentions."

Jane sighed, "Yes, she does. It's your eighteenth birthday nobody can fault her for wanting to make it... perfect."

Perfect. The word that seemed to rule Luna's life was sounding more and more awful each time she heard it. The charade she forced herself to play was becoming tedious and Luna didn't know how much longer she could keep it up. Six years, that's how long she had been playing that game, and after six years she was tempted to take a vacation. Shaking her head, Luna expelled those sudden thoughts from her mind. As tempting as a break from reality was, she couldn't afford it. She only had to endure eight more months and then, she promised herself, she could relax.

"You're wrinkling your dress," Luna said.

Whereas Luna was sitting on the edge of her bed, legs crossed daintily, so her light cream sweater dress didn't expose any unnecessary skin, Jane sat cross-legged- completely forgetting that she was even in a skirt. The dress wasn't hers, just another article of clothing she borrowed from Luna. After trying it on, Luna gave her closed-lipped smile and told her to keep it. She claimed that it contrasted nicely with the mocha color of Jane's skin.

Giving Luna a sheepish look, she carefully fixed herself and mirrored her best friend's posture. "Do you still have a headache?" Jane asked, noticing the tight way Luna held her mouth.

"It hasn't let up," Luna winced. She massaged the side of her head, for a second, before willing herself to forget about it. The incessant pounding in her head was bad, but endurable.

"It's been a week, Luna, I'm worried about you. Maybe you should see-"

"No!" Luna cut her off.

Jane flinched. Her almond shaped eyes fluttered close for a second, concealing her molten chocolate stare. Guilt flooded through Luna instantly. She reached out and intertwined her fingers through Jane's. Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, she regained the attention of her best friend.

"I'm sorry," Luna knew Jane was sensitive when it came to yelling, "But I'm fine. There's nothing in this world, not even a cold, that can make this week from being anything less than perfect."

"Still," Jane persisted, "This doesn't seem like just any headache."

The door swung open, revealing a very tired Will, before Luna could respond. He was in a paint splattered t-shirt and faded blue jeans. The haggard look on his handsome features caused both Jane and Luna to crack a smile. They had no doubt he had just escaped the torturous wrath of his mother.

"You left me alone with her!" Will sneered at Jane.

"You should be used to being alone with her. She's your mother after all," Jane bit back.

He stumbled over to Luna and pulled her into hug. Laughing to herself, Luna snuggled deeper into the warm embrace of Will. She was completely unaware of the childish behavior happening behind her, as Will and Jane stuck their tongues out at each other. Her nose twitched as she breathed in the intoxicating scent of Will cologne- it was spicy with touch of pine and lemon. He had been wearing the same cologne since middle school and Luna found comfort in it. She could feel her headache slowly fade as one of her favorite memories came to the forefront of her mind.

The gentle crashing of waves was faintly heard over the sound of laughing children. People from all ages were stretched across the length of the beach, sinking their toes into the simmering sand while basking in the heat of the blazing sun. Luna stood mid-waist in the ocean- her white bikini contrasted nicely with her sun-kissed skin. Her golden curls were sopping wet as they clung to her back and shoulders. She felt the water ripple as someone approached but she didn't turn around. Two muscular toned arms were wrapped around her waist, the spicy scent of Will's cologne infiltrated her senses as she collapsed against his broad chest.

"Don't you want to swim?" Will teased, "Most people don't come to the beach just so they can stand in the water."

"I was planning on swimming," Luna gestured to the sparkling ocean, "But then I got caught by the view. Look at it, isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah. Beautiful," Will whispered huskily.

Tilting her head to the side, Luna saw that his eyes were trained on her, instead of the water. Her cheeks flushed pink. Biting her lip, She held back a giggle as giddiness began to spread through her body. Luna tried to calm herself down, he was her boyfriend for two years now, and yet she never stopped acting liking a little schoolgirl when he complimented her. It was embarrassing. If Jane or the girls ever caught wind of that, they would never let her live it down. They looked at Luna as if I was something larger than life, a human God, and she couldn't afford to lose that.

"You can let out a laugh, Luna, no one's going to judge you," He said softly. He bumped his nose against her's, while sending her a meaningful look. It was the same look of concern and sympathy, that he had been sending Luna since that night four years ago.

Pushing those memories to the side, she turned in his embrace and cupped his face. She tilted my head up and brushed my lips against his. Will tried to kiss her back but before things could get to heated, she grabbed him by the shoulders and dunked his head under the water. Giggles fell from her mouth as he jumped up, his golden curls were dripping, a scowl was etched onto his face.

"Oh you're gonna get it," he growled and lifted her up in the air.

"Will- no!" Luna squealed. He disregarded her wishes and threw her into the water.

Luna didn't remember much else from that day except for his burning gaze and comforting embrace. He was the only reason she able to keep up with her act. Without Will's support, Luna could only imagine how dreadful her life would have been.

"Jane!" The high-pitched squealing noise, that was Mrs. Haverstock's voice broke Luna out of her retrieve.

Pulling out of Will's embrace, she gave her friend a sympathetic smile. Jane froze, her face had visibly paled. Luna had to force herself to reign in a laugh for Jane's expense- she knew Mrs. Haverstock her whole life and while she agreed that the woman was a bit of control freak, she never thought she could incite that much fear into one person. The woman baked brownies every Saturday, binged watched General Hospital and forced her son into helping her with charity work- she was hardly a monster.

"Back to work, Jane," Will didn't bother to hold back his laugh like Luna had.

Throwing Luna's magazine onto her dresser, she reluctantly hopped off her bed and left the room. The door slammed shut behind her, leaving Will and Luna to wallow in the silence.

"Luna," Will began but she cut him off.

"I don't want to talk about this Will," She walked away from him, and leaned against the windowsill.

Will ran a hand through his honey colored curls, a frown tugged at the edge of his lips. He didn't want to bring up the past anymore than Luna did but something needed to be said. Though she refused to say anything, he could see that she was steadily falling apart. She couldn't just brush off her feelings like she did with Jane, Will would never allow her. Luna felt Will's gaze burning a hole in the back of her head but she willed herself to stay rooted in place. He knew her better than anyone else, better than herself sometimes and she knew that if she turned around and looked at him, every emotion she tried to suppress would come out.

"Just talk to me." Luna flinched. His tone was so broken and pleading. He wanted to help her but had no idea how.

"I can't," She choked out. The pounding in her head returned at full force.

"It's been six years Luna," he persisted, "I let you create you're own fictional world where everything is perfect but we can't live like this forever."

"What world, Will? This is my life. This is our life, our perfectly normal life. We go to school, we ace our tests, go to sports practice and hang out with friends- nothing about that is fake." Outside, the sky darkened as storm clouds rolled in. The workers frantically dashed to their trucks to grab the last of their orders before the storm could settle. Luna watched with growing intensity as her own personal storm began to brew within herself.

Behind her, Will was trying to hold onto his last wit as he thought of a new way to break through to her. She was stubborn, that was for certain but he could tell by the way her voice was cracking and her nose was crinkling that she was ready to explode. All he needed was that moment for her to let her emotions out, from there he was certain that he could bring forth the old Luna- the girl who forced him to play barbies with her and watch Disney movies. The one who didn't care what other people thought of her because she was happy in her own personal bubble. He understood that somethings would never be the same, they weren't kids anymore but Will also knew he wouldn't last another eight months of fake smiles and equally fake conversations. He was ready to put the soccer ball the side and bring out his old Dungeons and Dragons playing cards. He was ready to be real but he wasn't going to change anything without her.

"Sure that's real. But you wanna know what's not real? The smiles, the waves, the polite 'how are you doings', all of the things that should be real, we fake on a daily basis. Hell, I'm sure you can't even name half the people that consider us their friend. I know I can't. We manipulated all of New Brooks. So congratulations, you got what you wanted nobody knows the real us. No one remembers that I was a geek with a speech impediment and no one remembers that your sister-"

"Don't!" Luna spun around. Her eyes narrowed as she seethed.

"She's not Voldemort Luna," Will snapped, "You can say her name."

No she couldn't. She couldn't even think of her dreadful sister's name before all of the horrid memories of her past would start flooding into her mind. All she needed was one little name and Luna would find herself lost in a sea of misery. Tears would pour down her cheeks as her body would tremble uncontrollably. Forbidden memories would seize her mind as she was forced to remember the monstrosity that was her twin. The last time her sister's name was mentioned, three years ago, Luna found herself in a panic attack that lasted six hours. She would remember the day her sister first flew off the handle, coincidentally enough it was in their first year of school, on their birthday. Andy Rogers had made the perilous mistake of yanking on her ponytail to grab her attention, little did the tyke know that by doing so he had accidentally opened Pandora's box. The windows shattered as the walls threatened to cave in. The sky rained broken glass, slicing the students into bits. Though there were no deaths but the scars the children bared, both physically and mentally would never heal. Poor Andy had received the blunt of the force, he was practically a walking wound by the time it stopped- he was rushed to the emergency room and by the end of the week his parents decided to pack their bags and leave. There was only one person who made it out of the room unscathed- Luna's sister. Most of the people in New Brooks tried to give the small child the benefit of the doubt. After all, claiming that a six year old caused damage equivalent to a small tornado from just screaming was a pretty lofty claim but after the mysterious death of her father and the disappearance of Tommy Young, most of everyone was in agreeance that she was indeed a devil child.

From the age of six to twelve Luna was just as much of an outcast as her sister but not by choice. Nobody wanted to befriend the sister of the freak. So, she sat alone, fantasizing of a perfect world where her sister never existed. Will came to her aid most of the time, she still considered him her knight in shining armor. He saved her from ever being completely alone but at the same time, he too was an exile of society. Her best friend and boyfriend- every girl in New Brooks' dream boy was a complete geek. He memorized every word line from the Star Wars movies and carried around a Pokemon catcher ball in his pant pocket. When her sister disappeared Luna took it as an opportunity of new beginnings for the both of them. She followed her mother's lead, by changing her appearance and learning how to charm people. In little less than a year Will and Luna were practically unrecognizable and on top of the social food chain.

"She's the Devil Child, Will. She is much worse than Voldemort," Luna groaned.

The pounding in her head sped up. She could hear her heartbeat palpitating as a strange tingling sensation ran down her spine. Heat began to spread throughout her limbs, it crept from her toes up her midsection until the heat grew impatient and rushed to her head. The sudden attack from her own body, sent Luna teetering backwards. Her body collided with the window pane before she slid to the floor, clutching her head in agony. Shocked, by Luna's sudden movement Will stood frozen in place. A dead silence hung in the air, both of them were too wrapped up in their conflictions to even notice it until Luna released a earsplitting shriek. Snapping out of his retrieve, Will grabbed Luna by the arms and shook her. He was hoping the jostled movement would free her from whatever horrific images plagued her mind but her condition did not change. Her eyes had a faraway look in them, she was in his arms and yet her mind was a millions of miles away.

Inside Luna's mind, an image unfolded in crystal clear detail. She was standing in her foyer. Right away she recognized the mahogany rimmed- staircase with twisted iron bars and varnished wooden flooring. The cream walls were decorated with large family portraits, all done when Luna was a much younger girl. In the middle of the foyer was a tall but compact, black table with legs that were beautifully shaped with gracious curves. On top of the table was usually one vase stacked with an assortment of roses, lilies and chrysanthemums. In the vision, however, there were several vases on the little table as the florists stood off to the side debating which one looked the best. The foyer, which Luna always exorbitantly large, was packed with all sorts of workers. They bickered amongst themselves, fighting over space and time as the rain poured outside.

Mrs. Haverstock stood in the middle of the room, in between a giant ice sculpture of a crescent shaped moon and the table of the flowers. She tried her best to calm all of the laborers down but the petite woman was drowned out by the sea of people. One of the florists made flippant gesture towards the vase but accidentally hit Mrs. Haverstock in the stomach. She teetered in her black pumps, before stumbling into the ice sculpture. Luna watched with growing horror, as the moon swayed from side to side before falling off the side of the cart and breaking over the top of Mrs. Haverstock's head. Silence resonated in the foyer as they watched the scene fold out. Nobody knew what to do or say especially when a sticky red substance began to ooze out of Mrs. Haverstock's head, staining her honey colored curls.

The vision of the foyer left as quickly as it came. Luna's eyes flickered around her bedroom, jumping from object to object until her gaze finally settled on Will's face. He was hovering above her, his face was inches from hers, she could clearly see the worried tears forming in his sparkling blue eyes as he stared down at her but all Luna could think about was the frightening image that she just saw. Before she could contemplate her actions, she pushed Will away and ran out of her room- taking the stairs two at a time. When she reached the bottom, Luna pushed through the crowd of people until she found herself face to face with Will's mom. She went to reach out and grab Mrs. Haverstock when the florist struck. Just like in the vision, Mrs. Haverstock was sent teetering backwards into the ice sculpture.

"No!" Luna screamed. She grabbed Will's mom and pushed her away. A loud crack resonated in the air as the moon shattered on the floor.

"Oh my god!" Mrs. Haverstock's piercing voice broke the silence, "Look at this mess! Someone clean this up right now and get me another one!"

She looked down, at her clipboard and noticed Luna standing in front of her, with her mouth agape and eyes wide. "Oh Luna sweetie I'm so sorry! But we'll get you another one, okay?"

She patted her on the arm and walked off, yelling at different people as she went. Luna still stood rooted in place, unable to keep her eyes off of the shattered ice.

"Are you okay, Luna?" Jane asked, standing beside her.

She knew wasn't feeling well but her recent display of behavior was honestly frightening. Jane didn't miss how Luna had stormed down the stairs, plowing through the entire crowd until she reached Mrs. Haverstock. It was like she knew what was going to happen, Jane thought but quickly dismissed the notion. That could never be possible.

Luna turned her haunted stare upon her friend and asked in a breathy whisper, "What's happening to me?"

**So it turns out that even the most perfect people have demons. Little Luna definitely didn't have an easy childhood. Not as hard as Twyla but it's clear both of the girls have isolation problems. And there will be one or two or three more tough times in the future.  I hope you guys liked this chapter, please tell me what you guys think about Luna, Will and Jane. Do your first impressions still hold true? And what do you predict will happen now?
Thank you guys for all of the support!
XOXO,
Ro.*

(P.S. If you want to see what the characters look like, you can check out the character list which is the first part of the book).