“Stop! Stop!” I giggled, shoving Luna off of me. We collapsed in the grass, hearts racing, breathing hard. I closed my eyes trying to get my heart rate to slow. The cool wetness of the morning dew seeped slowly through my jeans and t-shirt. The scent of the Earth enveloped me. For the first time since Luna had gotten back, the old house felt like home. I opened my eyes slowly and peered over at Luna with a stupidly huge smile on my face. I would never tell her but I missed her when she went away to school.

“Kids! Breakfast is ready!” Momma called from the dusty kitchen window. Luna scrambled onto her feet and took off towards the house calling over her shoulder, “Last one there is a rotten egg!” I clambered onto my still shaky legs and rushed after her. I had always been an athletic kid but since Luna had started running track at her new boarding school, she had become much faster than me. Her chocolate braid flew out behind her as she ran. The morning breeze was magnified by her speed and her clothes clung to her skin. I dashed forward with all of my might, even though I knew there wasn’t a chance of me winning. The moment I stumbled through the door I heard her classic, “What took you so long?” coming from the dining room; although I could hear her struggling to catch her breath. I kicked my shoes off, shuffled around the corner, and collapsed in the nearest chair, exhausted.

“You really shouldn't land in those chairs so hard Jack. They’ve been in this house since I was a little girl and we don’t want to break any more of Grandpa's things do we?” Momma said, putting a plate of eggs, toast, and fruit in front of me.

“No Momma,” I answered, poking at the food on the plate in front of me.

“That’s what I thought. Now, since Luna is back home, I think it’s about time we go over our ground rules again.” Luna and I groaned and rolled our eyes. We’d been living in our Grandpa’s house for over a year but whenever Luna came home we had to go over the rules again.

“I’m sorry but it’s for your safety! Who knows what your grandpa has lying around here. While we’re living here I think it’s best we heed his warnings. One, don’t go near the marsh in the yard. Two, Stay away from windows at night. And three, nev-”

“Touch the book in the study. We know Momma.”

“Why can’t we touch the book in the study?” Luna asked.

“Sometimes it’s better not to know. Your grandfather was a very strange man. I think it’s best not to question anything.”

“Thank you for breakfast Momma,” I said, clearing my place. Although I didn’t understand the rules, I had a strange feeling that it was very important we follow them. I’d always been a rule follower but with Luna home, I’d become the police. She was never big on following rules. She wasn’t stupid though. If there was a good reason for a rule to be in place she’d follow it. But if she found a rule unreasonable or didn’t understand it, there was very little chance she would follow it.

I placed my plate in the sink and abruptly turned around, almost plowing into Luna.

“I’m gonna go read the book in the study tonight,” she whispered, “Wanna’ come with?”

“No! You can’t break those rules!”

“It’s just one rule. Besides what’s a little book gonna’ do?”

“I’m telling you it’s a bad idea!”

“Why?”

“I just have a bad feeling...”

“That’s not a reason!”

“Please, Luna! Grandpa said it was for our safety. Don’t touch it.”

“Fine. I won’t.” Luna pouted, dropping her plate in the sink with a loud clang. Then, without looking at each other, we rushed out the door again to resume our overly competitive game of tag. We chased each other around finding new tactics and advantages to use against the other for hours. Before we knew it the sun was starting to sink beyond the horizon, turning the sky bright shades of crimson and orange. We slowly made our way towards the house. I glanced over at Luna as soon as we came in the door. She was covered head to foot with mud and grass. I began to laugh but then stopped realizing she had been tackled to the ground about half as many times as I had. I ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I looked more like a mud monster from some horror movie than a boy.

I quickly turned on the shower to heat up. It took me a solid 5 minutes to remove the mud-plastered clothing from my body then hopped into the shower. The warm water melted the hardened mud out of my hair easily. The warm, gentle touch of the water soothed my sore muscles. The soap filled my nose with the relaxing scent of lilies and lavender. I closed my eyes, taking in the pure relaxation that the ancient shower provided. A blood-curdling scream broke through the air. I collapsed in the bathtub, landing hard with my back against the faucet. My heart was racing with adrenaline both from fear and pain. I quickly turned the shower off, dried myself with a towel, and wrapped it around my waist.

“Momma?! Luna?!” I called.

“I’m in here Jack!” Momma called back. Her voice shook. I could tell something was wrong. Which way had her voice come from? I froze. The study. Her voice had come from the study. Hot tears of fear, anger, and frustration begin to roll down my face as I ran towards the study. I peered in to see Momma hunched over my sister who was collapsed, unconscious on the floor.

"What happened!" I sobbed looking at my baby sister, lying motionless on the ground. I glanced around the room. My eyes fell on the pedestal in corner of the room that held the normally closed, ancient, slightly creepy book except now it was open. I choked. A large bundle of thorny vines had tumbled from the center of the book and now hung off the edge of the pedestal. There was something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. The vines seemed to be alive, moving, glowing. The corner had a strange foggy feeling. I was frozen. I couldn't blink. I couldn't breathe. I thought of the last time we had seen grandpa. He had warned her about the book, but now it was too late. I collapsed sobbing in my Momma's arms. I felt terrified, devastated, and hopeless. I could tell by looking at Momma nothing would ever be the same. My only sister. My only playmate. My best friend. She was gone.

My best friend is the most amazing human being in the universe. She is the most selfless person I’ve ever met. She is the person who drops everything so that she can help you with a confusing math problem or to check on a rough day. Every year she does a fundraiser to help support communities in foreign counties that are having a hard time supporting themselves. She is incredibly courageous. No matter the circumstance she stands up for what she believes in, protests for what she thinks is right, and pushes for a better world. She has the biggest heart I have ever witnessed. She wants to get along with everyone she meets, never ceases to show others deep compassion, and fights to make life long friendships. She dreams big. She aspires to do so many things. She wants her career to make a difference in the world. On top of this, she wants to join the peace core. She is the hardest worker I know. She always rises to every challenge no matter how big. She constantly has about 1000 things happening at once. My best friend inspires me to grow as a person in every way possible. I am beyond grateful for her unconditional friendship and support. She never stops pushing me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to grow. I have become obsessed with working to becoming the best version of myself. This obsession has definitely made me who I am today. She is the reason I have discovered so many of my passions that I didn’t even know I had. She has been there holding my hand through thick and thin. She has supported me for my entire life. I will always continue to work on myself so that maybe someday I will finally deserve her. This is my life long obsession.

Ally stirred. She sluggishly turned on to her side groaning loudly at the throbbing headache racing through her temple. She squinted at the unusual amount of light passing through her bedroom window. She tried to open her eyes, which was met by an aggressive throb near the front of her skull. As her eyes slowly adjusted she looked around the room confused and in shock to find she wasn’t in her own room. The room around her was painted a creamy, off-white color. There was a flat screen TV mounted on the wall, opposite the bed she was lying on. It hung delicately above a natural wood dresser with bronze legs and handles. There were several palm tree looking plants in weaved wicker baskets around the room. The light from a large sliding glass door was muted by a thin white curtain hanging from a bronze bar mounted on the wall. The floor was entirely wood except for the fluffy white rug under the bed. Ally turned onto her other side lazily, closing her eyes again. She didn’t want to deal with this right now.

All of a sudden a loud snore came from the bed beside her. She jumped out of the bed landing clumsily on the floor. Her head ached and throbbed at the sudden movement. Her legs wobbled and crumpled beneath her out of shock and exhaustion. She grasped for the bed frame, pulled herself up, and steadied her wobbling body. Her head spun, dehydration getting the best of her. To keep herself from collapsing on the floor again, she squeezed the bedpost so hard that her hands went numb. When her vision finally cleared and she was somewhat confident that her legs would support her weight, she let go of the bedpost. She shook her hands lazily until they stopped tingling. Only then did she remember what had startled her in the first place. She slowly turned her head, as to prevent any excessive throbbing, towards the person she had evidently shared a bed with the previous night. A shirtless man lay sprawled on the bed, his chocolate curls cascading past his shoulders. His face was peaceful and for a moment the tension Ally held in her jaw began to melt. He was beautiful. Ally smiled slightly to herself, unable to remove her eyes from his flawless face. Another thunderous snore roused Ally from her stupor. Her heart raced, her head spun, and her stomach churned. She heaved, running towards a door she could only hope was a bathroom.

She kneeled, hunched over the toilet for 10 minutes, her stomach determined to rid itself from any and all contents. Finally, her stomach settled. She was a mess. Her eyes were burning and crying, snot was dripping out of her nose, and she had vomit and drool on her lips and chin. She forced herself to stand up and move to the sink. She bent over slightly, ignoring the pain in her head, and splashed cool, refreshing water on her face. She filled one of the plastic cups from the side of the sink, filled it with the cool water and took small sips, washing the taste of last night’s alcohol and stomach acid out of the mouth. She started to feel better. As she finished her first cup water she checked her phone to try to remember what had happened last night. She found a dozen or so pictures and videos from her friend with the caption “Congratulations! I had so much fun last night! How’s Mexico?” Congratulations? Mexico? She was in Mexico? How had that happened? She opened her camera roll to find a multitude of pictures of herself and the man who now slept soundly in the room just outside the bathroom door. They were wearing very fancy clothes. She had a sparkly white dress and he wore a three-piece suit.

He was even more beautiful in the pictures! His dazzling smile reached his magnificent blue eyes. His long, curly hair was pulled into a messy bun on the top of his head. Ally trembled looking at the pictures. She knew this was wrong. She had been way too drunk the night before and definitely couldn’t have gotten together with anyone like that on her own. She’d always been horrible at flirting. Another giant snore snapped her back to reality. She was in Mexico, over 300 miles from her home! She needed to get out of here. She gathered herself and snuck back into the other room. She tiptoed past the bed, towards the room’s door. Careful to not make a sound she twisted the handle and began to sneak through the door.

“Ally?” She winced. Had she not been silent enough? She peeked her head back into the room to see the man sitting upright on the bed squinting towards the door. He was just as beautiful as he had been while sleeping, except there was something different. A glimmer of recognition began in Ally’s head. Suddenly everything made sense. Alcohol had always had a strange effect on her the day after. Whenever she was hungover her brain went back about 5 years. She smiled mockingly to herself, internally laughing at her foolishness.

“Hi,” she said half-laughing and breathing a sigh of relief, “Welcome to your honeymoon, babe.”