"Mom, we're heading upstairs to my room!" I had to pull Kash out of that kitchen. Beth had talked our ears off, but then Kash was also intoxicated by her charm and her cooking. Sometimes I wondered if she put just a slight amount of booze in the tea‒‒not enough to be detectable under the entire bag of Domino she blended into the pitcher, but maybe just enough to have an effect after 3-4 glasses.

Either way, Kash and I more urgently needed to get upstairs and at least attempt to start on our English homework. Beth could keep anyone kept put in that kitchen for who knows how many hours, and I was getting the creeping sense that if we spent not fifteen more minutes plopped in the breakfast nook‒‒placating to her motherly inquiries while she rushed back and forth from fridge to stove keeping us fed‒‒Beth might break out the Sorry! board.

No, Kash just isn't ready for that yet... Shit, I'm not even ready for it after the last time she and Tina played.

Beth cried so loud that our neighbors back in Georgia called the cops. Alas, Beth could cry at the drop of a pin, but then again board game nights in this household are not for the lighthearted.

"Bye Mrs. Sinclair! Thank you for the cookies," Kash mumbled as he stuffed another chocolate chip down his mouth and I pulled him by his arm up the stairs to my room.

I dropped my backpack next to my desk and collapsed onto my bed. Kash placed his bag down next to mine and quietly walked around my room. When he was done with his room tour, he sat next to me on the edge of the bed.

"Dude, your room needs a makeover man. It's depressing," he stated bluntly.

I looked around at my barren room. All I had was a tiny black desk with a laptop, my bed, my tv stand with my PlayStation, and my dresser. It looked like the room of a thirty-two-year-old YouTuber who publishes three videos a week on how minimalism changed their life forever.

Wow...he was kinda right, it does look depressing.

The room looked devoid of life and personality, no decorations, no posters. There were only a few pictures of my moms and not much else. Our first Christmas photo, which was really cheesy, was the only festive item in my room.

I knew my room was an easy fix, but I had a thing against asking my parents for things that weren't exactly necessary. I had a roof over my head, and three square meals a day. It felt awkward asking for more than that.

I was so lost in my thought about the barren state of my room that I had forgotten my ugly secret: my medications were still sitting out on the dresser! I quickly dashed over to my dresser, trying to cover them up but it was too late. Kash had already seen them.

Did he even notice? Gahh, why did I not put them away before rushing out this morning!

Kash shot me a confused glare at my sudden scramble from the bed over to my dresser, but he soon eyed the orange-colored containers behind me and did a double-take before glancing back at me.

"Dude, I'm not sure why you are freaking out, but I don't care about that," he said casually, lying on my bed, unaware of the impact his words left. "I mean whatever those are... You need them, right?"

I stared back at him, nervous and shaking, I couldn't make direct eye contact with him for some reason, so I just stared into his forehead trying to form some kind of adequate response. "I‒‒I, umm..."

"I think lots of people have prescriptions, man. Don't know why you gotta knock yours all over the place like that," he gestured down at the floor. In my haste to hide my meds, a few of the bottles had dropped onto the floor, along with some other clutter from my dresser. I laughed before I could think, but then the weight of a lump in my throat hit me like a brick. His words weren't incredibly eloquent, but no less struck a chord deep within me.

Anytime that someone found out I was different, they would stop talking to me and treat me as an outsider, a defect to society. I never had anyone close to me, but then it mostly felt like I wasn't worthy of anyone's attention other than my adoptive parents. I was speechless...I was processing my thoughts a million miles an hour, dismantling years and years of rejection in a matter of seconds because, for Kash, it didn't even seem like a question. It felt like I didn't have to explain any of it to him. It felt like he just understood.

"Hey listen man," Kash could sense I was having a hard time speaking, "We all have things we deal with, and... Well, there's no judgment here from me." He laughed again, rolling his eyes, "Damn, dude! If you knew what my life was like, you wouldn't think twice about your little orange bottles down there." He stood up with his usual cheesy smile.

"Thanks man, I... I really mean that," I held down a wave of emotion that was trying to get out, my voice coming out almost a full octave higher. I'll be damned if Beth wasn't rubbing off on me, but then Kash just gave me something that Beth (try as she might) never could: a friend.

I sat down on my bed and turned my back to Kash, wiping away the few tears that managed to escape my control. Kash patted my back to comfort me through my mini-breakdown.

"Dude I should totally sleepover this weekend and help you redecorate your room," he beamed, quickly changing the subject.

"I would love that. Thanks, man," I answered with a small half-sobbing chuckle.

"Nice, sounds like a plan," he said. He soon found my remote and turned on my tv to Netflix.

"Wanna watch season two?" he prompted me, pulling up the first episode right from our continue-watching. He adjusted himself into a corner on my bed, patting the area next to him for me to join.

"Sure." I sniffled as I adjusted myself to the spot. This was nice, to just hang out. This felt good. This felt normal.

We spent the rest of the night watching Netflix and talking about our lives. Beth ordered pizza and with Kash's stomach, we were able to finish 3 boxes. I wasn't sure how Kash was able to stay so skinny with the appetite he had.

I opened up to Kash about how I was adopted by my parents and how we ended up in Rosewood Creek. I skirted around the reason why I was on so many medications, but I talked about my struggles of never fitting in anywhere I went. I found it therapeutic to unpack everything to someone who wasn't my therapist (I couldn't fully do that with my parents). Kash listened attentively, eating his pizza and drinking soda while I spilled all of my life problems on him.

And compellingly, when I was done it then was Kash's turn to unravel, and it seemed like there was a lot beneath the surface with him. It was just Kash and his father after his mother died in a tragic incident. He wouldn't fully go into detail, but it seemed pretty grim.

Kash's father was an important community leader and always looked down on Kash for not being the son he'd always wanted. I felt that pain like my own. Being rejected so decisively by your own flesh and blood. Being made into an outsider. There's loneliness there that you just can't control.

The night felt like a lifetime of talking to each other. We continued to eat pizza and leftover cookies. I then decided to ask Kash the real questions that were bothering me.

"Kash," I made sure to draw his eyes in. I wanted him to answer me this time. I didn't want him to skirt around it like he did back at school. "What is going on in this town?"

Kash's eyes got a little wide, but he sighed because he knew this had to be coming at some point. I pressed into him. "Why are Theo and Nate fighting each other? And why doesn't anyone stop the violence? Are they, like, in gangs? It just all seems so weird." I could tell my barrage of questions was making him crack in some way. He couldn't ignore me now, and I needed to know what was going on in this town.

He stopped chewing his pizza and turned to look out the window, up at the moon hanging low and large in the sky. A pregnant pause held his body still for a few moments as he thought of something to say.

"Wow, you sound like your mom," he joked, one last fleeting attempt to deflect me.

"Man I didn't mean to... Fuck, can you just explain to me what's going on here," I had raised my voice. I covered my mouth, embarrassed. But recovering quickly, I continued before Kash could respond. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. It's just that this town's weird, man! Not just Nate and Theo, but like everyone."

Kash placed his pizza on his paper plate and let out a big sigh.

"I can't really tell you. It's... complicated." He looked away.

"That's fine if it's complicated, but can't you at least give me something? If I'm going to keep running into those two, I need to be able to know what I'm getting myself into," I pleaded my case.

Kash grabbed the lock on his gold chain and fiddled with it for a while. I waited patiently for his response, the suspense dragging on the silence.

"Ok...Ummm... where do I begin?" He struggled to find the words.

I remained quiet, leaning on the anticipation of his next few words.

"The town of Rosewood was founded long ago by two groups. Ancient settlers came into this area due to the resources and geographic location. And because of this, these two groups were constantly at war with each other, each trying to claim this territory as their own," Kash recounted.

"They were Native Americans? I mean, when you say "ancient," you don't mean European, right?"

"Ummm... something like that," Kash hesitated, unsure how to answer me. "Anyways, sometimes small fights broke out between the two groups. These little skirmishes started rolling over into regular violent clashes in the streets, and in turn became a generations-long problem. A war, really. Many people died due to this relentless violence. No one's lives went untouched by it, both sides feeling the heaviness of losing loved ones. Finally, a small group of leaders from the two sides had had enough, managed to get their armies to stop killing each other in the streets, and after a few years, we had a peace agreement."

"They made a compromise, signed a treaty‒‒and in that treaty, the leaders created the town of Rosewood as a way to bridge the two rival groups and establish a neutral zone for the inhabitants to interact with each other. But even with the violence put to a standstill, there was never gonna be true peace. People acted neighborly, but get the two tribes riled up at the council meetings and you might even get a little flare-up here and there, ya know? Someone's mailbox on fire. A messy brawl down at the tavern. A body or two in the ravine every once in a while." The stories just seemed to be pouring effortlessly from Kash, now. My jaw was on the floor.

"Like the Hatfields and the Mccoys?" I tried chiming in with a stupid history joke.

"Umm, sure," he replied. "So Theo and Nathan are part of these two different groups, each set to become the next leaders. That's a big part of why they don't like each other."

"What group are you part of?" I interjected.

"I'm part of Theo's pack," he stated proudly.

Pack? Weird but okay I guess.

I continued my survey of questions. "What's it called?" I questioned, trying to pry any details I could get from Kash while he was being so gracious.

Kash shifted his eyes, fidgeting with his gold lock. "Silver Amoux," he whispered softly. "It's called Silver Amoux."

"Cool name... So why is Nate trying to start a new war? Wouldn't they just want to continue to honor the peace treaty?" I quizzed him, fully engrossed in the lore of this place‒‒this place which I had so foolishly thought to be just a quiet, isolated town hidden in the trees and Northern mountains. I honestly didn't know if what Kash was telling me was actually true, but I liked a good story.

"That's the thing. Nathan has always been like this, ever since we were kids. I'm not sure if he is serious about starting a pack war, or if he's just trying to get on Theo's nerves."

"I see. But this story isn't on the internet. I mean that's not what it says on the Google search page for Rosewood," I pointed to my phone. I had done a quick search while Kash was talking.

"Of course it's not going to be there, this is a local legend. Only people who grew up here know this. And to be honest, it's only people who are part of the groups that know this," he barked back, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Okay I understand now. I'll just have to ask my mom Beth if she knows about this. She did a lot of research about this town before we moved here..."

"No!" he yelled, cutting me off.

I stopped my browsing search and looked back at Kash to find a shocked expression holding Kash's face eerily still.

"Ummm I mean... you can't tell anyone. Please! I can get in real trouble if you mention this to anyone," he begged.

"Sorry, my bad man. I promise I won't say anything to anyone," I said, trying to reassure him.

"You got to pinky promise!" he insisted with a real serious expression on his face.

I couldn't help but laugh at him. I loved how Kash treated a pinky promise with the gravity of a blood oath.

"Pinky promise!" I said, as I stuck out my hand.

"Good," he said, as he wrapped his finger around mine. He proceeded to kiss his wrist and then spit on my floor.

"Dude what is wrong with you?!" I laughed at his antics.

"What? That's how you seal a promise!" He grinned with sincere honesty, oblivious to the idiocy he just displayed.

"Okay whatever man, but clean that up," I griped, pointing to the globber of gloo on the floor.

"Yeah, yeah! I heard you," he mocked as he wiped it up with a napkin from an empty pizza box.

My eyes made their way back to the tv screen, "Looks like we've conquered season two... Down for three?" I prompted with the remote in my hand.

"You bet!" Kash hopped onto the bed, grinning ear to ear. We continued the marathon until the early morning, solidifying our friendship. I was glad to end this day on a better note for what it's worth.

A/N How do you guys feel about the backstory of Rosewood Creek? Subscribe and let me know in the comments!