Fourth grade went like the previous years. Him and Raven hanging out alone in the same spots as before. Raven being picked on. Justin being shy. The cycle was repeating itself like it had previously. However, Justin had invited Raven over. He had began to trust her and felt as if she was a true friend of his, now. The day she came over was one of the best days he remembered. She loved his room and all the toys he had. Both the girl toys and the boy toys. They played outside with the two dogs and Raven scraped her knee. Justin rushed over to her to give her a bandaid, but she was just excited to have a “cool scar”. It wasn’t deep enough to scar, but when you’re in fourth grade, anyone believes you. She made up stories about fighting off pacts of wolves, and stealing the secret launch codes, and even escaping sharks. The only person she told those stories to were kindergarteners, since they were too scared to bully her. It still made her excited though.

Towards the end of the year, Justin noticed that Raven’s mom never picked her up anymore. He saw her dad all the time, but never her mother. He asked Raven and she just shrugged and said she just disappeared. One day, when they were being picked up Elizabeth was talking to Raven’s dad for a long time. Justin and Raven didn’t mind. They just got to stand next to each other and have fun for longer. When the conversation ended and they were taken home, Justin was told that he’d be going over to Raven’s house. He got the biggest smile on his face and started counting the days down. He imagined a huge palace with all the bread in the world. Imagination wasn’t reality though. When they got to Raven’s house they noticed broken windows, stained walls, and broken fencing. Justin seemed scared, but was still a little excited. When Raven’s dad opened the door, he showed Justin around and got Raven. They ran off to Raven’s room and Justin was extremely confused. She didn’t have any new toys and she had a inflatable mattress with little to no blankets on it. It was duct taped in places where it was ripped before.

He didn’t mind it of course, but it confused him. Soon after they got in the room, they left it. They heard their parents talking and wanted to know what they were talking about. “We can take her home from school if you need us to.”, Elizabeth seemed concerned. “I need all the help I can get. I didn’t know she started using again.”, Raven’s dad seemed stressed. “I don’t think anyone did, Daniel.”, Elizabeth tried to comfort him. “She was my wife. She promised me she wouldn’t do it again. She said she was getting better!”, He hit the couch with his hand. “It’s not your fault. You can’t help someone that refuses to help themselves.”, Elizabeth’s voice was still calm. “If I can’t even watch my own wife, how am I supposed to raise Raven? It was already hard before and now I’m doing it alone.”, His voice had started to get shaky. “You’re not doing this alone. Me and Smith will do anything you need us to do.”, She was still staying calm. “Maybe you should just take Raven. Her and Justin get along great and I’m not even fit to live anymore.”, His voice broke down, but Elizabeth responded quickly, “Daniel, does your daughter matter to you?” He quietly spoke in between sniffles, “Of course she does.” “Does giving your daughter a good life matter to you?”, Elizabeth interrogated him. He responded with a quick and quiet, “Of course.” Elizabeth’s voice softened again, “Things that matter in life aren’t easy. It’s going to be difficult, but the only person who can raise Raven right is you. If it matters to you, you’ll find a way, no matter what it takes. If you leave, Raven loses her only family.”

They got quiet for a second and Raven and Justin got bored, so they snuck back to Raven’s room. They didn’t understand what was happening so they just went back to playing with their toys. A few hours later, Justin was heading home and Raven decided to ask Daniel where her mother had gone. Daniel looked up at Elizabeth and she gave him a small nod. “Listen, sweetheart.”, he squatted down and held both her hands in his own, “Me and mommy aren’t together anymore. She did some bad things and we had to send her away for a bit. She’ll be back one day, but you’re gonna be staying with me no matter what. Okay?” Raven was quiet for a second then spoke again, “Okay! You’re my favorite anyway!” She didn’t seem to grasp how serious the situation was, but David sighed with relief. Justin looked up at his mother confused, but decided not to question their previous conversation. He climbed into the car and they headed home.

+ + + + + +

Justin was very happy on the first day of fifth grade. When he walked into his class, he saw Raven sitting down already. He rushed over to her and sat next to her. Sadly, he only got to say “Hi”, since they had opposite last names and a seating chart. He sat across the class from her, but they still met up at lunch. However, they started walking around school now. They didn’t sit and hide, they roamed and had fun. They’d race and laugh if one of them tripped. They’d laugh til their stomachs hurt and most people didn’t bother them. Justin was enjoying this year a lot, til he got home one day in october. He had gotten in the car and his mother started preparing him for bad news. He was worried as anyone would be, but didn’t suspect anything too bad. He got home and ran inside, but was confused when only Willow greeted him at the door. She was whining a lot, but all he could do was sit down and hug her, since she was too big to be held.

“Uh, mom?”, Justin sat next to Willow on the floor. No answer. He decided to stand up and look around to try to find Moon. Moon never used his bed, so he didn’t know where to look. After looking for about five minutes, He heard his parents talking in his living room about taking something somewhere. Justin checked his backyard. Nothing. He thought he might’ve forgotten to check the porch, so he checked again. He noticed a fairly large blanket over a oddly shaped lump. He lifted up the blanket to find moons paw. He tapped the blanket a few times, “Wake up, Moon. C’mon! I’m home! We can play now.” The lump didn’t move. “Moon?”, He tapped the dog again, panicked now. The dog didn’t respond. He grabbed Moon’s paw. Cold. It was cold. Why was it cold?

Justin sat on the ground next to the lump and speechlessly moved the blanket off of the body. His eyes were closed and his whole body was limp and cold. Justin fell backwards and started balling his eyes out. He curled up into a ball and cried, while his parents were still inside. “Come back. Please. I need you.”, He pleaded through his tears, “Please. Please Moon. Please wake up! I’ll do better!”, He continued to cry, “I’ll give you more treats and play with you more. I promise. Just open your eyes. Please.”, his sleeves were soaked with his own tears now, “Wake up. Please wake up. Please. Please. Please, Moon. Please…. I need you.”, He crawled back over to him and started petting him, “Wag your tail. Please. I need you, Moon.”, He laid down next to him and lined up their faces, “I love you. Good boy.”, He heard someone moving inside, so he sat up and went back to his former ball position. He tried to stay quiet through his tears.

When his parents finally noticed Justin sitting next to Moon, they held him and comforted him and agreed to get him cremated. They got in the car and Justin sat next to Moon, petting him the whole time they were being driven to the vet. When they got there and said goodbye to him for the final time, Justin took off the collar and vowed he’d keep it forever. Every night after that Justin would sleep next to Willow. At first they slept on the hallway floor, then in Justin’s room, and finally on Justin’s bed. The first morning after sleeping in Justin’s bed, Willow growled at Smith when he attempted to wake up Justin.

+ + + + + +

Justin adapted to having one dog and eventually didn’t think about it daily. He also headed into the sixth grade. After this, he’d be heading to middle school and everything would feel different. Him and Raven both were lucky enough to go to the same school. They were excited and continued to walk around the school on their breaks.

However, one day when they were walking a group of kids started harassing Raven. They called her gross racial slurs. Raven tried to walk away from it, but Justin wasn’t doing that. He was too mad to do anything. “Shut the hell up, you fish faced freaks!”, Justin spoke without thinking. He was going off on them. Cussing and yelling, as a crowd formed around them. One of the kids threw a rock at Justin and it hit him in his right eye. His eye was bleeding and felt like it was on fire, but he ran at the kid and tackled him. He hit him over and over again. Soon the school aids realized what was happening and all five of the people involved went to the office. Raven was sent back to class, the kid who threw the rock and Justin were suspended for a week, and the other two bullies got detention for a week. Raven sat in their hidden spot til Justin returned, but when he returned she noticed that his right eye was stuck shut and he had covered it with his hair. He had lost his sight in his right eye and it was now permanently stuck shut.