"Oh, uh, Charlie, this is Maddox. He goes to my school. Maddox, this is my brother, Charlie," I nod as I introduce the two. For the first time, I see Maddox smile. He offers my brother a small, unabashed grin and my brother beams back. He happily laughs when he notices that Charlie's two, top front teeth are missing, as well as one of his bottom teeth. I'm too busy staring at a seemingly happy Maddox Finnegan to speak. He drops candy into my brother's bag and I manage to snap out of my daze. "I'll see you tomorrow, Maddox," I nod at him once my brother yanks my hand, muttering about being cold. "How are you getting home?" Maddox asks me after I take two steps down to the sidewalk. "Walking," I tell him simply. "I was going to make another candy run," Maddox announces. "Do you want a ride?" "Yes, please! It is so cold out here," my brother exclaims with a relieved sigh. "Here," Maddox says as he dumps the remaining candy, almost half a bowl, into my brother's bag. "Thanks! You're cool; I like you!" my brother grins in approval. I scoff as I stare down at my shoes. "That makes one of us," I mutter loud enough for him to hear. Maddox glares at me before backing into his house. "One second, I'm going to go get money for more candy." He walks away, leaving the door ajar as he does. My brother and I wait patiently for him. If he was like this all the time, maybe I'd like him. If he's not always so rude and mean, he could be a good friend. However, he's only acting this way because of Charlie. If Charlie wasn't here, he'd call me creepy and demand I get off his property before he calls the cops or beats me in the face with a coat-hanger. "Where are you going?" yet another male voice asks. I catch a glimpse of Abel when he sits up on the couch. "We need more candy," Maddox responds. I watch him jump around the living room as he puts shoes on. "We just had half a bowl! What are you talking about?" Abel questions him. Maddox is silent as he jogs towards something on the other side of the doorway. "I'm talking to you!" Abel calls as he goes to follow Maddox. He stops in the middle of the hallway when he makes brief eye contact with me. He stops and grins before jogging over. "Olivia!" He's shirtless and dressed only in orange plaid pajama bottoms. My brother is standing beside me and Abel looks at him. "Are you a tree?" he asks curiously as he acknowledges his outfit. "Yep!" my brother grins proudly as he shimmies around to show off his costume. "They ran out of Superman costumes?" Abel wonders as he kneels down and smiles at Charlie. "No, I'm an environmentalist!" my brother responds with something of a frown on his face. I snort as Abel's eyebrows knit together in slight confusion. "Protect the earth! Don't litter! Where's your recycling bin? I demand to see it this instant!" Abel looks at my little brother with an amused look on his face. He then points to something at the bottom of the steps and my brother nods approvingly. "That's what I like to see!" Maddox comes out onto the porch and he shoves his brother back into the house. "Go inside." "I see why you're leaving," Abel calls as closes the front door. I can already feel my face burning red as my mind processes what Abel said. Maddox glares at the door, despite the fact that his brother is probably already in the living room. "Come on," Maddox nods as we follow him down the steps. While I stare at all of the children laughing and smiling in their costumes, my brother brings up the topic of recycling to Maddox. He asks if Maddox is an environmentalist and Maddox shrugs. "I guess I am." "Answer me this, if you make a mistake on a printed sheet of paper, do you reprint it? Or do you fix it by yourself?" he hounds Maddox, who sheepishly looks away. "You have the nerve to call yourself an environmentalist?" My brother manages to calm down as he crawls in the backseat of the car. "How old is he?" Maddox asks curiously as he shuts the door behind Charlie. "Seven," I answer. With a confused look on his face, Maddox gets into the car. I can't help but chuckle. Maddox drops us off at my house and my mother is outside, along with my aunt. As my brother gets out of the car, he runs to the two women. During the short ride here, Maddox managed to convince him that he's definitely an environmentalist and even promised to change his paper-wasting ways, so my brother seems very fond of the teenage boy now. "Thanks for the ride," I mutter as I unlock the door. "Wait, about tomorrow," he starts, "since you know where I live now, you should have no problem getting there. Be there at three o'clock. If you're even a minute late, I'm locking the door and you're not coming in." I give him a flat look before shaking my head. As I get out of the car, I find that my mother is approaching me. "Charlie just told me that a boy named Maddox brought you guys home. The same boy that you went to homecoming with?" she wonders as she tries to look in the car. With wide eyes, I slowly shake my head. "What? No, of course not!" Before my mother can say anything, Maddox pulls off from the curb and makes his way down the street. My mother simply smirks at me before turning back around. I sighed in relief. Thank goodness. When it's time to see my family off, my brother insists on splitting his candy half and half with me, because he said it'd remind me that he cares about me. My mother urges me to so he wouldn't be anymore hyper than usual and it's less candy that she has to monitor his intake of. I don't complain; though I feel bad because he didn't get much candy to begin with. He gives me most of the chocolate because he doesn't really like chocolate and he's allergic to peanuts, which most of the chocolates contained. He hugs me tightly when my mother announces that it's time for them to leave. "I'll miss you a bunch, Olive," he whispers as he pulls away from me. "I'll miss you, too, Charlie," I murmur back. "Call me whenever you want." "When are you coming home?" he wonders with watery eyes. I smile down at him. "Soon enough, Charlie." I enter my house and refuse to eat dinner, which is on the table for me. I excuse myself and go straight to my room, not bothering to change or shower. Instead, I just go to sleep because it's the only sense of comfort I have.