Author's Note: This was written when I was in a place of high school angst and had less nuance, so I can't vouch for the quality. Read on if you want or don't care; more power to you, but I won't be finishing this story.

"Wow, this game looks super boring," bellowed out a teenage girl of average height with black hair that seemed to have been dyed a dark blue. She was standing behind an older boy who was seated at a desk with a computer on it, both hands on his shoulders, rocking the both of them back and forth rapidly. "It looks like something Lucas would play, even."

The game that was running on the computer was a 3D one, which was dark and dreary. The boy at the desk, who had messy brown hair and slight bags under his eyes, was controlling a single character at the center of the screen. The girl recalled the word "souls" and the Roman numeral three flashing across the screen when the boy booted the game up. She was too lazy to catch the first word of the title.

After mashing the space bar on his keyboard several times in a row, the boy swiftly moved his right hand to swat at the girl, as if to say, "Shoo, not now." His eyes never left the screen. The girl let go of her grasp on the boy and resorted to slouching down to rest her elbow on the table to the left of the boy. With her body at a curved right angle, she placed her head on her hand, letting out an exaggerated sigh.

Two harsh knocks at the door caused the girl to jolt up in shock. Then, the door was opened halfway, and a middle-aged man in a suit poked his head in. He had a stern face that meant no nonsense, but otherwise looked like another generic man. "Are you going to school today?" he asked in monotone.

Without looking at the man or changing his position, the boy replied emotionlessly, "No." This was the drill. The answer's not going to change anytime soon, the boy thought. The first day's not until tomorrow, even. Nice to know you care, Dad. The man wordlessly turned, closed the door, and exited the house. The girl took a sharp intake of air.

"Yikes, stone cold and scary as always, huh?" She tried to get the boy to chuckle with her. He didn't say anything. "Interesting that he can't see me. It happened yesterday, too. Last night, I walked into the bathroom as he was shaving his face. I screamed pretty loudly, and he didn't even stutter for a moment. Hey, maybe you're the only one who can see me," she joked with the last sentence. But, it wasn't implausible given that the boy's father didn't react at all to her.

He stopped gliding his fingers across the keyboard. A few moments later, the screen flashed white from the blast of a large boss, and "You Died" lingered at the center of the monitor for a few seconds in red text. "You died," the girl said mockingly, one eyebrow raised with a cheeky smirk on her face. The boy only sighed.

His character rose before a bonfire and stood idly as the boy got up to stretch. "Whoo, look at me, I'm just as good as Riley!" the girl shouted out to no one in particular a few seconds later. She took the seat that the boy, Riley, had been sitting in and was mashing the keys W, A, S, and D in quick succession, effectively making the character run around in a circle like an idiot.

Thank God I'm not playing online, Riley thought as he watched the bad game play in front of him. The girl accidentally hit another key, prompting the character to start chugging from a glowing flask. She muttered, "Whoops," with genuine worry. He held his face in his hand as she slowly stood up, distancing herself from the computer.

Once again, the girl put her hands on the boy's shoulders, this time jumping up and down behind him. Riley seemed mentally unaffected by this, acting as if she weren't there. His wild shaking in response to her movement didn't even bother him. "Riley, come on, I'm bored! Play with me, do something! I'm not going to stop acting like a brat until you do!"

"Heh, I must be going insane," he whispered to himself. The girl moved herself so that they were facing each other. She stopped whining when she saw the look on Riley's face. He looked as if he had fallen into madness, head clutched in both his hands with his eyes wide open while muttering about his sanity. "I'm hallucinating. There's no such thing as ghosts, or any of that bull."

The girl had enough. She puffed her cheeks out and furrowed her brows. In one fluid movement, she clapped her hands right in front of his face the loudest she could. Both figures were still, and the boy stopped talking. "What are you talking about?" She was really worried about her friend.

"No, this can't be." He was still spurting words that the girl could not understand. He was shaking his head left and right. Not that he would admit it, but what he felt the most in that moment was scared. To avoid sobbing and completely breaking down, he clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth wildly.

"What do you mean? Riley, just tell me. I'm right here for you," she said in the most soothing voice she could muster. She left her hands on his shoulders and stood up on her toes while slightly pushing him lower to be able to look him in the eye. Their faces were inches apart and each following second of silence made the girl frown harder. "You know me, I'm just your best friend... or, at least, one of them. Nothing to brag about or anything." She picked at her nails before checking to see if the boy even smiled in the least bit.

"No, you're not, because… because..." Riley couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. She gave him a hug and patted his back exactly five times, then parted to give him a playful slap on the cheek. The feeling that Riley got from that interaction, as well as the nostalgia that was oozing from just being around the girl was overwhelming to him. "Because… because Dawn's dead."

The girl, Dawn, froze up and tensed her shoulders. Then, she gave a sad smile. "Yeah, well... I'm here now."

Riley couldn't believe what was happening. For the past almost twenty-four hours, he had been pestered by the apparition of a girl that seemed like a more mature looking version of his childhood friend. The whole time, he was glued to his computer screen, so he didn't give her much thought, believing her to be the result of his lack of sleep and guilt coming back to bite him five years late. Only a few minutes ago did he actually acknowledged her presence.

She took his hand in hers and just giggled so lightly that he couldn't help but relax. In his mind, Riley felt that he had two options for the position he was in. One was to ignore this Dawn's presence once more and try to keep telling himself that things were all right. The other was to stop asking questions and just roll with the punches, accepting that Dawn was really in front of him.

Both choices were unhealthy. For the first one, even if she was just some weird figment of his imagination, she actually seemed tangible. She was able to move Riley as if she were real, and that was a problem, especially if her attention span was as short as the Dawn that he knew. Also, it probably wouldn't be the best option to try to ignore the potential fact that he was hallucinating. For the latter, he would just be conforming to the madness and it was obvious what was wrong with that. But, at the same time, it wasn't as if Riley had anywhere to go or anyone to talk to.

"Fuck it." He couldn't be bothered. He didn't want his head to hurt, and he knew that soon, his heart would follow if he kept asking questions. Dawn laughed at his outburst. I'm lonely anyway. Might as well roll with it until she's gone again, like my drive to do anything. Maybe this is the change of pace that I needed. "But, if you are real, then why are you here? You're…"

Dawn quieted down and had a sullen look on her face. "I know that. But, I seem to be stuck here."

"What do you mean?" Riley just gave up on focusing on logic and the like. All he cared about that moment was Dawn, his game now well forgotten. She was just like he remembered her, just a tad taller and somehow more charming. He was still a head higher than her, however.

"I can't leave until my wish is granted," Dawn mumbled. She was looking at the floor and blushing, one hand resting on a hip with her weight shifted on her left leg.

"Your wish?" Riley was at a loss. But, looking at her, he knew that she wasn't lying. It's not like she was big on lying to begin with, he thought. Nor was she too selfish. Purposely obnoxious at times for a laugh, yes, but not a spotlight hog. A faint smile couldn't help but find its place on his face.

"Yeah. I know there's no real reason to believe me on that, and I know that Calem would go crazy over this 'nonsense,' but it's true. I feel it. Please believe me." She had her arms up like she was surrendering to something, not putting them down after she made air quotes. Riley flinched noticeably when she said "Calem".

"No, I believe you. Just… please, don't leave," Riley quickly responded. Way to not sound desperate, he mentally chastised himself. Dawn just gave him that smile that he knew all too well. The dimple on her left cheek showed as Riley couldn't help but smile with her, albeit a small one.

"Will you help me?" Dawn scratched her head, embarrassed at having to ask her friend something so outlandish.

"Of course," Riley said after taking a second to reflect on how he got to this point in his life. But, if he could help his friend in any way he could, it would probably be better than spending all day playing his computer. Even if she was a spirit, or ghost, or whatever she was. At least he would be doing something productive. Hell, he could even get a few kicks out of it.

"Thank you," Dawn said. "I might not know what my wish is specifically, but I have a feeling. I know that I need everyone together!"

Riley froze. His mind started racing the moment she said "together" and started fist pumping shyly, never mind the fact that her wish was undefined. "Are you sure?" He tried to see if there was any way out of getting the gang back together. It's impossible. I, no, we can't.

"Huh? What, is something wrong? I can't wait to see everyone again. How is everyone, anyway? I see you're good, for the most part." Dawn had that look in her eyes of wonder and innocence. "Come on, you, me, Moon, Serena, Ash, and Calem all together like the good ol' days."

"Yeah, uh, I don't think that's happening," Riley answered, the corner of his room suddenly becoming more interesting than his resurrected friend.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Dawn could not follow.

"The six of us," Riley managed to utter. His throat felt dry, and he immediately had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He did not want to talk about the four other friends they had, but he knew that Dawn wouldn't let it go until she knew, no matter how badly the information made her feel. Her tapping foot didn't make things better.

"It's impossible. The five of us, we… had a falling out." Riley looked at the floor between them, hands clenched at his side, head ducked.

"A falling out? What does that even mean?" Dawn couldn't believe her ears. The six of them were as close as close could get. But, knowing Riley, he wasn't lying. "We, we're Shadow of Losers, we're friends." She knew how corny that sounded, but she couldn't think of any reason as to why they couldn't hang out again.

Riley flinched at the mention of the edgy name their group of friends had given themselves. How young they had to be to take the name "Shadow of Losers" seriously. It was always the six of them together since the late stages of elementary school. The operative word was "was." That was then; the now was not the same. Riley would have spent a few minutes lingering on the name origin, but Dawn was waiting on him.

"It's complicated," he said, dragging his words out in reluctance. "Actually, no, it's not."

"Which is it? Can't we just go hang with Moon or Serena or someone right now?" Dawn got progressively quieter with each word to fall out of her mouth as Riley's fists started shaking.

"No." Riley took a deep breath. Just say it all right now and spare the pain. "After it happened, it wasn't the same. We just couldn't get along. We needed you. We changed."

"What?" It just did not compute with Dawn. "Me? No, not even that. Why did you guys let each other go?"

"I didn't want us to drift apart. I can't say anything for everyone else, but I wanted us to stick together. But, we changed." Riley's eyes were wide open and his nose started tingling. I don't want to say this. I don't want to remember what was and think about what could have been. His deep voice rose a few octaves despite his efforts to be brave for the both of them.

"Changed? What is that supposed to mean?" Change was never easy to accept. Dawn wanted to know that everything was going to be okay, which seemed impossible given what Riley was telling her.

"We, no, none of us are the same as before. Everything's different." Riley couldn't look at Dawn.

"That's impossible. I refuse to believe that. Moon's lovably awkward, Serena manages to be modest and proud at the same time, Calem's the know-it-all, and Ash is the likable goof." Dawn tried to give her friends the most accurate yet flattering short descriptions as she could. "And, you're the reliable constant."

"No, you're wrong." Riley hated correcting people, but he couldn't stand Dawn talking about the group like it was five years ago. "We changed."

"Stop being a broken record and explain, then!" Dawn shouted. Their conversation was going nowhere, and she was getting angry. Not only were they going in circles, but Riley was spewing what appeared to be nonsense to her about their friends.

"Like I said, none of us are who we were when you were around. After you died, we couldn't stand to be around each other. We stand stopped hanging out, we stopped talking, we stopped looking at each other, even!" Riley was tugging at his hair. "No one could say anything. No one wanted to say anything. Without you there, being around each other felt like the life was getting sucked out of us. We, I hated it!" He stomped his foot and let out a guttural growl.

Now it was Dawn's turn to stare at the floor as Riley stared at her with large eyes. She grabbed her left wrist with her other hand and started twisting the combo. Biting her lip, she started tasting blood; her tooth had peeled off a segment of dried skin, prompting it to bleed. At least it gave her something to focus on other than the news crashing down on her. "No."

"Yes, Dawn, yes. It's a nightmare. Ash turned into a jock, Serena's a brat, Moon's become forgettable, and Calem only cares about studying! And me? Look at me, I haven't gone to school regularly since the beginning of seventh grade! I only go to school for about five days a year to pass. Otherwise, I waste my life away at home," Riley breathlessly barked out. "None of us have come together since you were here. There's no reason to, anyway. We hate each other!"

"No, you're exaggerating. You're lying! Let's just meet everyone at Calem's treehouse and-" Dawn desperately said. It was all falling apart.

"No, we'll stay right here and not dig up what should stay in the past." Riley cut her off.

"What are you talking about? Are you mad, man? What's wrong with you? How could you give up like that?" Dawn could not comprehend Riley's train of thought.

"Dawn, stop it," Riley commanded. That was the most forceful he had ever been with her. He was not going to budge on his stance. He refused to dig up the past. He just barely managed to keep his sanity intact after Dawn's untimely death, and meeting up with anyone else would probably cause him to blow a gasket somewhere in his head. "Just face it: the lot of us aren't friends anymore."

"No, we are! There's no reason as to why you guys had a falling out. You didn't need me. I was just there to have fun. You guys were the life of the party. If you guys got into a fight or something, just meet up with everyone, say 'sorry' simultaneously, then laugh it off like some Hollywood movie. Make up, laugh, be friends, have fun! Just don't hate each other!" Dawn shouted at the top of her lungs. She almost never shouted unless she was excited, so her behavior was quite worrying.

"That's not happening. I don't care how much you hate it, but I'll keep saying it. People change, we changed. And by changing, I guess we moved on. Don't open up a can of worms just because you want your stupid wish granted! Things were just fine as they were, and they'll stay that way." Riley hated himself once he saw the look on Dawn's face. Her mouth was agape with her eyes narrowed, hurt evident in them, tears already falling down. "Just accept it, Dawn. Grow up."

Riley hated himself even more for saying those last two words. He wasn't one who could justifiably say such sage words, especially when he had yet to grow up himself. "You sound like Calem. I hated it when he said that, too. We all did. We're still kids." Dawn managed to cough those words out.

She couldn't hold it in any longer. Her shoulders started shaking uncontrollably as she sobbed loudly, despite covering her mouth with both hands. Riley just wanted to disappear. The closest thing he could do was run away, but he just couldn't abandon Dawn. Not when she was right there in front of him after five painful years, acting as though nothing bad happened since the last time he saw her. But of all things, this is what we're fighting each other on. I hate to say it, but we're not kids anymore. We're all over seventeen, about to graduate and move on.

Instinctively, his hands found her shoulders. Pulling her into a hug, Riley could only stiffen and stare at the wall as his mind raced with too many thoughts for him to process at once. Dawn forced herself to stop crying, but didn't push Riley away. "Why? That didn't have to happen."

"But it did. And I can't exactly do anything about it," he answered in the softest voice he could find. He started patting her on the head with one hand as they just stood there.

They enjoyed a few seconds of pleasant silence until a chime interrupted the moment. Riley was brought out of his trance with the sounding off of his doorbell. He groaned before leaving his room, descending the staircase and standing before the front door, Dawn trailing behind.

Like a bandage, Riley ripped the door open and was surprised at who he saw. Standing in front of him was a girl with black hair just past her shoulders and dark eyes. She wore a plain white t-shirt with a floral skirt over black tights. She had a nervous toothy smile on her face, biting her right thumb nail while holding an envelope with her other hand. Dawn's face lit up, a total one-eighty-degree flip from just a minute ago. "Moon!" But, her word seemed to only reach Riley.

"Uh, can I help you?" Riley hesitantly inquired. It's been years since I talked to her. I've seen her once or twice in the hallway, but haven't instigated a conversation.

"Oh, uh, hi!" Moon awkwardly replied. She waved with both her hands and her head tilted slightly to the right. Her arms immediately dropped to her sides once she saw Riley's dead eyes. She slowly laughed a laugh that Dawn and Riley knew all too well. It meant that she was super uncomfortable and had no idea as to what to say. Its unusually high volume, stilted manner, and inconsistent rhythm gave it away quickly.

"Is something wrong, or can we stop this right now?" Riley wanted it to end, especially because of the argument he just had with Dawn. His hand rested on the doorknob, rocking the door back and forth. Noticing this once she stopped laughing, Moon flapped her arms wildly.

"No, no, no, wait!" she shouted unnecessarily loudly. Another uncomfortable laugh escaped her lips. "Um, here!"

Moon had shoved the envelope that was in her hand towards Riley. He slowly lifted his arm to grab it. Once he clutched the end opposite to the one Moon was grabbing, he tugged it towards him only to find himself pulling Moon towards him as well. "Moon, come on, what are you acting so stiff for? Let's go goof off!" Dawn directed her words to Moon until she realized her situation. "Oh, right, so only Riley can really hear… Riley, speak for me?"

Riley ignored Dawn the best he could. He knew that she would just keep trying to bring everyone together, something he wanted to avoid so badly. "You can let go, you know." The awkwardness was spreading as Riley could only stand and wait for Moon to react.

"Oh, yeah, sorry!" she immediately exclaimed, once again too loudly. Another odd chuckle left her. "Here you go." She finally let it go.

"What is it?" Riley inquired. He didn't want to continue the conversation, but he needed to know why Moon was knocking on his door after five years just to give him a dumb envelope.

"Oh, Ms. Jackson wanted me to give it to you," Moon replied.

The name was slightly familiar to Riley. "The counselor social worker lady?" Eloquent, Riley mentally rolled his eyes at himself. He paused for a second, realizing that Dawn had calmed down. Looking back at her, she stood a few yards behind him with a small smile on her face, wringing her hands together.

"Yeah, she wanted me to give you this. I'm not sure what's in it, but…" Moon trailed off, hoping that she didn't have to elaborate any more.

"Why? I mean, why you, and why this?" Riley paused for a second. This was kind of suspect.

"Well, I was helping her out a few weeks ago and she started talking about students that don't go to school regularly and how she was worried about them. I was sorting papers for her and wasn't really paying attention. When she mentioned your name and how she was only ever able to talk to you twice, and how she wished she could give you a few papers, I kind of let it slip that I knew you and where you lived," she rambled on. "Oh, but not in a creepy way, I assure you!" she quickly added with a huge, unconvincing smile.

Riley only needed a second to find a hole in what she was telling her. "It's summer vacation."

"Last month, there was summer school. I took extra classes," she proclaimed somewhat proudly. "Although, it was just health and music," she said under her breath, donning a momentary grimace.

"Right, well then, that was interesting to learn," Riley retorted with sarcasm evident. I'm not sure what else to say. This feels more uncomfortable than the time when Serena and Calem argued over who was more- Riley cut himself off. Why am I thinking of that?

"Yeah?" Moon asked with large, oblivious eyes. She hadn't heard his comment. One glance at the older boy made her grasp at anything she could reach to continue the conversation. "Well, school's tomorrow, the first day. We're seniors! Ha, heh, uh, are you gonna go?"

That was it, the last thing Riley had to hear. "No," he deadpanned. Then, he closed the door on her. But, because he had to yank the envelope away from Moon earlier, he ended up pulling her slightly into his house. In other words, she was standing in the way of the door and the doorframe, so Riley ended up hitting her with the door. "Sorry," he instantly muttered.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Uh, I guess I'll see you around!" she quickly said and turned on her heel, her uncomfortable laugh booming. She sped walked her way off into the distance, but not before Dawn tried to stop her.

"Wait, Moon, let's hang out! Get back here!" Dawn shouted as she cupped her hands around her mouth. She would have ran after her friend, but Riley grabbed the back of her shirt before she got too far. "Riley, lemme go! No, wait, you get her back here and let's hang out like we used to!" She knew she was repeating herself, but she really had to hammer her point across to Riley.

"No, Dawn," Riley coldly commanded her like she was an antsy dog. "Didn't you hear me before? We changed, we can't stand being around each other, and things aren't going back to the way they were."

"You're wrong! And you lied! Moon's still the same as she always was. You just chased her off. Who knows how everyone else is. Just because you isolated yourself from the rest of them doesn't mean you can label them like that!"

"That's enough!" Riley's heart started beating faster, louder. "Just stop it, Dawn, please, I'm begging you. Just stop talking." He would have fallen to his knees and started pleading with her had she not clammed up.

"Fine," she whispered, not wanting to fight anymore. "But Moon still seems alright." Even though she stopped fighting, she wouldn't let it go entirely. Moon's still the same, she kept thinking over and over again.

"No, she's not. She sided with her sister and her sister's friends and barely talks at all. Yes, even Moon changed, and that's the end of this conversation, Dawn," Riley concluded. She only dropped her jaw in disbelief.

He almost forgot the envelope gripped tightly in his hand. The edge that he was holding it by was curled and creased due to how tightly he had clenched his fists. With one swift movement, he ripped the sealed flap open and shook it upside down. Several mini booklets fell out. Upon closer inspection, they were all self-help pamphlets.

What is Depression?, How to Cope with Depression, Friends are There to Help, Self-Harm isn't the Answer, Why School is Worth It, and It's okay to ask for Help were some of the titles of the pamphlets in the envelope. All of them made Riley roll his eyes, almost laughing, and rip them into pieces while shouting in frustration. A whole became two halves, became four fourths, became eight eighths in no time flat. He then crumpled all the pieces of laminated paper scraps into a pointy ball. He dropped the ball of paper into the trash can and didn't look back. If he had a lighter or match and wasn't scared of possible repercussions, he would have set fire to the garbage.

I'm not even depressed or hurting myself. Just because I rarely go to school and look like I always wake up on the wrong side of the bed doesn't mean any of that stuff. No one knows what I feel right now, much less what I have been feeling for the past few years, Riley thought to himself. He stopped moving for a second before continuing. Okay, maybe I am a bit depressed. But seriously, "friends" and "school" are there to help me? Yeah, right. If you really care, ma'am, why don't you tell me it yourself instead of sending cheap, generic messages my way? No one can help me. I've tried my best to help everyone else out in the past, and look what that got me.

Dawn wanted to say something more, but she didn't want Riley to abandon her either. She saw how hard he was thinking, and just gave him some room to breathe. But, wow, is that really the situation he's in? She thought. Dawn had read the pamphlet titles over Riley's shoulder from a distance. Why is it so hard to be happy? I'm gonna try harder to make Riley smile like he used to.

The sound of footsteps ascending the staircase snapped her out of her sulking. She followed him back upstairs to his room. Riley took his seat once more in front of the computer, waking it up and resuming play. Dawn plopped herself on his bed and just watched him. The analog alarm clock that was placed on the bedside table alongside a digital one caught her attention. She grabbed it and wanted to watch as the hands ticked on and on, but found it to be broken. The clock hands were completely still. After shaking it wildly for a few seconds, she set it back down.

Dawn shifted her attention to the watch on her right wrist. Holding it above her head as she lied on her back, the motion of the seconds hand hypnotized her like it always had. The predictable movement fell in sync with the sound of Riley hitting his keyboard keys. She knew that eventually sleep would overcome her, so she forced herself into an upright position.

Her eyes became set on the drawers of the bedside table, squatting in front of it and sliding open one compartment. Laying inside were dozens of plastic square cases of games from days past. An unfamiliar black portable game console caught Dawn's eye that flipped open to reveal two screens. A slider on the right side of the console that had "3D" written adjacent to it made her raise an eyebrow. A game case with "3DS" printed on the side, "Pokemon Y" in big letters at the bottom center of the front, and a huge red and black beast as the focus made her smile like a madman.

"Holy cow, this looks awesome! Hey, how many new Pokemon games have there been since I lef - I mean Unova?" She caught herself before she caused another awkward silence. Dawn had to know the answer, Pokemon being her favorite franchise. Altogether, it was the collective favorite for the six friends throughout the years. The last game she had played was Black 2.

Riley stayed quiet for two reasons. One was that he didn't know the answer, having stopped buying Nintendo merchandise after what happened to Dawn. The other was that he knew she would pester him to no end about playing it together. He was not up for a nostalgia wash-over. Another little tidbit about that specific game copy was that Riley never started up a file. He got the game as a gift, ripped off the wrapper, then lost all drive to play it, much less to put it into his 3DS.

"Hey, why won't it turn on?" Dawn asked. After flipping it open and pressing the big square power button on the bottom half of the console, nothing changed. It didn't boot up, just stayed a haunting black screen that did not show her reflection. She would have joked about being a vampire, but she knew that it would be wise to avoid talking about her mortality, at least for then. It would have also been interesting to know as to why she was tangible, but some things might be better left unanswered.

Riley just kept playing his own game. Please, Dawn, just leave it alone. I can't do this right now. Just wait until I'm ready, he thought. But when was "ready"?

"Hey, where's the charger? I want to play," she said as she rummaged around the drawer next to her. It was nowhere to be found. There was a DSI, DS, and a Gameboy Advanced charger, yes, but no outstanding one. She could only deduce that the charger for the console she was holding, a 3DS, wasn't in the drawer since she didn't know its charger, but recognized all the others. She wasn't around long enough to get a 3DS, but owned all the other ones.

Riley would not have had a 3DS himself given the choice. He only had the console and the one game that Dawn wanted so much to play right then and there because his father bought it for him for his birthday. His father always took the easy way out and just bought his son a game each year, knowing that it would not be a worthless investment. His seventh-grade year just happened to be the same year as the launch of the 3DS, so his father got it for him for his fifteenth birthday. Why and how his fifteenth birthday? Let's just say that Riley got held back in his very early years and leave it at that for now.

"Riley, come on, it'll take a minute. Where is it?" Dawn then stood right behind him with the console in her hand. "Please, tell me! I won't stop being annoying until you tell me, you know."

"Dawn, stop," was all Riley could say. He didn't know what else to say. He only knew that he wasn't in the mood to remember the past, which Dawn seemed to make him do so easily.

"That's all you've said to me in the past ten minutes. Please, Riley, let's just have fun together like we always did. If you don't want anyone else here, then let's just have the two of us. Let's be happy together right now," Dawn pleaded. Boy, did that sound cheesy. Had it not come from Dawn, who seemed to realize romantic antics well too long after they were performed, Riley would have gagged and rolled his eyes. Still no response came her way. "Come on."

She started poking him in the back. You could see his muscles tense and his posture straighten out at the contact. She just kept repeating his name, "charger," and "please" over and over again. Then, she started prodding his cheek with the 3DS. She knew that Riley had a lot of patience. He finally reacted by pushing the console away.

"No." His cold tone made Dawn freeze for a second. She refused to obey, though, continuing to poke at him with the console. He had to give in some time.

On his computer monitor, one could see his abilities taking a dip. Previously, you could see him running through a dungeon, eliminating dozens of enemies without depleting his health at all. Now, he was facing off against the boss that he had lost to earlier. Instead of going in for the kill, he was just rolling around, getting hit nonetheless, and healing over and over again. Eventually he wiped out. Dawn didn't pay any mind to it, continuing to pester him.

Once his character revived, he made a run for the boss, ignoring other enemies. After emerging from a fog door, he ran straight for the boss and started whittling its health down. Then, he died in one shot. After that, he went for it eight more times in a row, not making any headway, all the while having Dawn poke his face with the 3DS and whine at him. And each game over drove him closer to his breaking point.

Dawn wasn't trying to be annoying or bothersome. She just wanted to make her friend smile, something he hadn't done once during her time with him. "Riley, please, just get up and-" she said, stopping when she heard the sound of his chair scraping against the wood floor.

"That's enough, Dawn. You told me to stop repeating myself, but I can't if you won't do it yourself. Stop it! I don't want to dive back into the past. I don't want to hang out with Ash, Moon, Calem, or Serena. I don't even want to see them. I don't want to change! I don't want to talk right now. I don't even want to play with you right now, so just stop it!" He shouted at her. Both of their ears were ringing once he finished.

Riley didn't stop there. He yanked the 3DS out of Dawn's hand and chucked it across the room. It hit the wall and fell to the floor. It probably would have broken had it not been in in a clear, plastic, protective casing. His breathing was erratic and his posture crooked

Dawn's eyes were big and wet. Tears started to cascade down her face once more, and she couldn't bring herself to respond with anything. Rough sobs escaped her lips and her face was unsightly. Her whole head was flushed as she lost control over herself. It was too much. She was scared and regretted her actions greatly. Before she could think anything through, she just ran away.

Riley heard his front door slam shut a few seconds later, and didn't do anything to catch up with Dawn. He just turned back to his desk and sat back down. His character awakened once more and was guided back to the boss room. But, the absence of Dawn did not seem to improve his skill level. He still lost just as quickly and kept retrying to no avail. All the while, Dawn was just running through the streets of Chanswell.

After his tenth death, Riley reclined the best he could in his wooden chair. Sighing loudly, his eyes shot to the plain white untextured ceiling. The silence of the room should have been comforting, but instead, it was torture. I didn't mean to hurt her. I didn't want to shout. Hopefully she'll be back soon. She'll probably run around in a circle like an idiot, tire herself out, and come back. Riley tried his best to tell himself that everything was going to be alright. "Yeah, I mean, apparently no one else can see her, so she won't have to worry about embarrassing herself. She'll make a lap around the main street and the… floodplain…" he said to himself. But, once the word "floodplain" came out, he froze. "The floodplain," he echoed.

His chair scraped against the floor once more as he instantly stood up, hands slammed against his desk. He pivoted and stared at his 3DS lying lonely on the floor. The next thing he knew, he was running. Despite being almost nightfall, Riley just ran out.

He didn't immediately dash out, though. Looking back in his room, one of the two remaining outlets on the power strip his computer was hooked up to was occupied by a DSI charger, leading to a clunky black 3DS. Goddamnit, the DSI and 3DS chargers are interchangeable, Dawn! You couldn't compare the sizes?

"Dawn!" he screamed as he ran through the streets of the town of Chanswell. One destination was on his mind, the one place he knew that Dawn could have went. He set his sights on Calem's place.

After running down six winding streets, Riley spotted the oversized house of Calem Thompson. It might as well have been a mansion given how large it was. Calem was quite privileged to have a doctor and some sort of politician or lawman that Riley could not remember for the life of him as his mother and father, respectively.

He made a beeline for a gate off to the left side of the house which closed the gap between the house and the fence separating the Thompsons' property from their neighbors, the Laniers. It was one of two ways that one could enter the backyard. Preventing the gate from being open to the public was an over complicated looking numpad lock. There's no way I'm getting to the backyard through the house. Please don't have changed the password, Calem. A thick, even coat of dust on the keys gave him a little hope.

Riley whipped his phone out to use as reference. It had been far too long since he had done this. Slowly, he entered a fourteen-digit password that only six people should have known the answer to. A small, green LED lighting up and a ding signaled a correct input. Riley pushed the gate open, slammed it shut, and ran to the backyard. The password? "Shadow of Losers" typed out in numbers corresponding to the numbers on a phone dial pad.

A single large tree a tad off center of the backyard towered over Riley. In the branches was a big enough treehouse that must have been quite pricey. A couple of broken wood planks on the border of the treehouse acting as a fence and a rather dirty looking metal slide attached to the house as one of two exits showed its age.

Riley latched onto the entrance/exit that wasn't the slide, which was a strong looking rope ladder that must have been replaced some time lately. He didn't pay any mind as to why it was a new rope. He just climbed up like his life depended on it, almost slipping off a few times on his way up. Once he was on the platform before the door, he just tackled it in.

Inside, there was definitely someone. In fact, there were two someones, however neither were happy to see him. And neither happened to be Dawn. This made Riley's heart drop. He seriously thought about jumping out of the treehouse from where he stood when he realized who the two were.

There stood a boy and a girl inside the treehouse. The boy had neat longish black hair in a short sleeved white button up and black pants. A book was clutched in one hand and a pair of glasses in the other. The girl, on the other hand, looked like she did not belong, nor did she appear to want to be there. She had long honey-colored hair pulled into two large pigtails. Her clothing choice was a bit risqué. An off the shoulder red midriff baring shirt and a short black skirt with black high heels made her look like an outsider to the rather plain looking boys in the treehouse with her. Her phone captured her interest over all else. Before turning to look at the newcomer, she posed, winking, probably taking a picture of herself, followed by texting a string of words.

Well, apparently Calem has stayed the same the most. It's kind of ironic. But, Serena, what the hell happened to you? So much for the insecure, modest you we all knew. I guess in that aspect, it's good that Dawn's not here. Riley couldn't help but judge based on looks. The Serena in front of him was so drastically different from the one of the past.

As much as he yearned to do so, running away and hiding was not an option for Riley. He had to say something, so he did. "Hey Calem, Serena." A flaccid wave made Riley look absolutely pathetic.

"What are you doing here, Riley?" Calem said after absorbing the situation, not bothering to put down his book. "Care to explain why you burst into my treehouse without my permission?"

"Care to be any more annoying?" Serena said under her breath.

"So, what are you two doing together?" Riley tried to change the subject. If they're anything like they were before, they'll break out into a full-blown argument in a heartbeat. This thought made Riley's heart drop. Was Dawn right? Was he overreacting? Did they change? Or was he right and the truth too painful to accept?

"Don't get any ideas. I'm only here 'cause we're in the Astronomy Club together," Serena snapped, crossing her arms and looking in the opposite direction of Calem. Her phone went off and took her attention once more.

Riley was confused for a moment before he realized that there was a rather expensive looking telescope pointed outside the window. That's right, they go to the same school. High Horizon Academy, I think. It's specialized. If I tried harder, I could have gone there, too. But, the Astronomy Club? I would expect it out of Calem, but you? Riley thought.

"It's barely sunset," Riley commented.

"I made the mistake of coming early," she confessed. Riley soaked in the small interval of silence that came after Serena's remark. For a split second, he thought that they were back in time. He imagined that there were not just three standing there, but six. He expected Dawn or Moon, probably even both, to either stifle a laugh or burst out chortling at the unintentional double-entendre that Serena just made. Serena would then follow, as well as Ash and himself. Calem would shake his head at their childishness, but would probably be laughing in secret. He snapped out of his delusion in an instant.

"Care to answer my question?" Calem took the spotlight.

"Oh, I…" Riley couldn't answer. The real reason for his being there would have been shot down by Calem, a meticulous poindexter. On the other hand, Riley was horrible at coming up with things on the spot. Running away was still not an option.

Calem moved to his fancy looking telescope and fiddled with some knobs and the angle it was set at. "You…?" Calem led on while peering through the telescope. Don't have to be so haughty about it, Riley thought. Even if it was in his head, Riley used "haughty" as a euphemism for "douchey".

"I'm looking for Dawn," Riley admitted. He had absolutely no real intention of saying that. It just slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He just wanted to leave and forget anything ever happened right then and there.

The air became stagnant. Calem and Serena froze while Riley slumped down in embarrassment. "Dawn?" Serena breathed. She finally put her phone down.

Calem stood up straight and turned around to face Riley. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he gave a tired sigh. "I see what this is. But before anything escalates, just leave right now, Riley. I don't have time for your delusions, nor do I want to be involved."

"What do you mean?" Riley had to ask.

"It's quite obvious. To cut to the chase, just give up. Stop living in the past, Riley."

"I'm not, I assure you. I just meant-" he tried to answer, but Calem cut him off.

"No, you are. You're not going to fight me on this. You, for some reason, are choosing to linger on the past, now of all times, after everyone else affected by said past has moved on. Honestly, I'm really surprised, Riley. Not only are you the oldest of us, but I felt that you were the only other mature one. But, look at you now. Let me guess: you're a truant who spends his time feeling sorry for himself locked inside his room alone because he can't accept reality." Calem crossed his arms, not amused. "Grow up."

Oh, how the tables have turned. Why does he have to be like this? The one thing that hasn't changed about him: his snark. Riley felt like he was shrinking. "I said that that's not it." He was at a loss for words.

"I beg to differ. Really, I'm pretty sure even Ash Collins, of all people, has moved on and matured a bit, more so that you have. Face it, Riley, people change. There is no exception to that. And with change, people mature. But for some reason, you have yet to. If you're going to talk to me, at least have the maturity level of a person of your age when you do so. It's been five years. Grow up. You're an adult now, even. Aren't you?" Calem sure knew how to get on people's nerves. To that, there is no exception.

"Oh, shut up, Calem!" Serena interjected. Even she couldn't sit through this travesty. "Speak for yourself! Change, grow up, mature. Do I sound like you yet?! That's all you ever say, you hypocrite. What the hell do you know?! Maybe you should mature yourself, because saying that other people should do so doesn't make you it any more. Maybe that's why no one wants to hang out with you. All you do is look down on people to make yourself feel better, pretend to be smart so you can always say something. At least Riley has feelings. At least he cared about Dawn!"

In the five years that Dawn had not been around to keep them together, the same five years that Serena and Calem have gone to the same schools together, Serena had never talked to Calem as much as she just had. A few words here and there were shared since they were in the same club, but nothing more. But, like he did in the past, he absolutely got on her nerves.

Serena didn't want to add to the conversation, but she knew that Riley wouldn't have the heart to say such brash things. But at the same time, she regretted saying anything at all greatly. Two pairs of eyes were on her as the door caught her interest.

"How nice of you to attempt to say something profound. It's a shame that you're fighting a losing battle." His face was so smug. "Interesting how you seem to have two faces depending on the peers around you."

Serena couldn't stay there any longer. What was once a place of comfort, friendship, and happiness became a suffocating trap of sudden animosity. She grabbed her purse and opened the door, pushing Riley out of the way. "Have fun staring at nothing for the rest of the night, alone, Calem. Ms. Ng only recommended that I helped you observe, anyway."

With that, Serena left the two boys' cone of vision, slowly climbing the rope ladder down to make sure her heels didn't slip off. The heavy silence once again found itself surrounding Riley.

"Unless you're able to identify the constellations on the spot as the bare minimum of intellect, just leave Riley." Calem returned to fiddling with his telescope, unfazed by what just happened. Riley decided to listen to him. He paused as Calem spoke once more. "Just face reality, Riley. Things aren't the way they used to be, and that's not going to change. Grow up. We're too old to be doing this."

Riley ended up dragging his feet through the streets as night fell. Easy for you to say, Calem. I wish I could. It seems impossible to do now. He shoved his hands into his pockets. I guess I know how Dawn felt when I said this junk. Someone just tell me that this is a nightmare. Change this, change that, I've heard that a hundred times today, mostly from my own mouth. But, grow up? Riley kicked a pebble ahead of him, which veered off to the left and rested in the middle of the street. What if I don't actually want to?

Author's note: Well, that's the first chapter done. As the summary said, the inspiration behind this was the anime Anohana: The Flower we saw that Day. I watched it over my winter break and absolutely adored it. It made me misty-eyed so many times, and I just felt that it was beautiful. I recommend that you check it out if you thought that this concept was interesting, if you want to watch a nice short anime, or if you felt that my story just didn't do it for you. I really hope that I can capture some semblance of it here.

I think it's important to note that I imagine Chanswell to be a town similar to Inaba from Persona 4, so keep that in mind or check it out if you don't know. It kinda matches the town in Anohana, and justifies the significance of a tree house.

As to why the cast I chose: well, why not?

To keep you here a little bit longer, I have one comment. Feel free to ignore this, but this fanfic archive sure has been dead lately. I took a break from reading stuff for about a year or two, now, and I'm greeted with a few stories that are nothing like they were before. No AUs, no summaries saying "IS, CS, PS and ORS" or anything like that, or anything that wacky. It's only, like, journey fics. I don't really mind it, I mean, some are really good; but it can get a little stale sometimes, and I can taste the edge of some of them. And some of the reviews seemed rather unsavory and rude on the few ones that I checked. What happened? Well, at least with my chosen characters, I'll be doing something different, huh?