The next months were as good as every other month. He went to school, he did his homework, he hung out with Shaun.

School was as it always was, long, dull, boring, painful, hard, etc, etc. A building full of people his age who couldn’t care any less about him or his existence and teachers who would rather be anywhere else. It sucked. The homework was horrible as well. It was only set to check a box, no one really cared about it; everyone hated it. Finn always left it to the last minute as well, making things slightly worse for himself. He couldn’t wait for June to be over so that school would cut for the holiday. It was the best time of the year; just over two whole months off school? Incredible.

Finn's birthday was on the fifteenth of June, he was turning thirteen this year. His party was attended by a couple of people though not many. Finn knew that the ones that did show up only came for the party, not for him. He was okay with it though. He only invited them so his mum would think he had more friends than just Shaun. He knew it worried her somewhat. He didn’t know why though. He was happy with just Shaun. Everyone else was too loud or too strange or just didn’t like him.

“Here you go.” Jack, one of the loud boys, handed him a small wrapped box. Jack was the leader of the loud boys, always the loudest laugh, the meanest punch, the most obnoxious jokes. Finn detested him, though knew that if Jack came to his party, so would everyone else, pleasing his mother.

“Thanks Jack.” Finn smiled politely at the empty space left by the boy running off to the changing room. He hadn’t expected conversation, but at least a smile back would have been nice.

His birthday party was at a waterpark. He had been excited for it all year. It was great having a summer birthday. In June, everyone wanted to go to a waterpark. Sure, July would have been nicer, no school, but you take what you get. Besides it was a Saturday this year, he would get Sunday to chill at home after this.

“This is awesome!” Shaun smiled as he handed another small badly wrapped box to Finn. He had just arrived, Sandra had found Grace and they were chatting a few yards away. Finn gave his friend a hug as he took his gift.

“Did you wrap this yourself?” He asked with a small grin as he looked down at it.

“Yes. And I did it brilliantly.” Shaun nodded proudly with a sarcastic grin.

“I love it.” Finn hugged his friend.

“You haven’t even opened it yet!” Shaun laughed.

“I love your wrapping skills.” He laughed along.

“As you should! Let’s go, I want to go down the slides!” Shaun started to walk off.

“I can’t.” Finn frowned.

“You can’t?” Shaun returned with a curious frown.

“No. I have to wait for everyone to show up to say hello first.” Finn groaned.

“Oh. That sucks. Why did you invite so many people anyway?” Shaun was confused. He hadn’t asked up until that point because he didn’t want to. He knew that neither of them had many friends and knew better than to point it out. But now curiosity had gotten the better of him.

“Didn’t want mum to think I had no friends.” He explained.

“Oh.” Shaun related, Finn was his only real friend as well.

“Yeah.”

“Ah well. I’ll wait with you then.” Shaun said as he sat down beside Finn on the path.

“Thanks. It’s really boring.”

“I’d imagine so.” Shaun laughed.

The waiting being so boring just made the waterpark more fun. The dullness of sitting around made them even more ready to swim and mess around. It was great. Everyone went off and did their own thing really. Jenny, Pamela, Daisy, and Jolene went on the slides over and over again. Jack and Sam raced. Shaun and Finn went to the inflatable obstacle course. Larry, Nell and Owen mostly ran around from thing to thing. None of the other kids came over to see Shaun and Finn, but they didn’t mind. They preferred it. If everyone else was around them, it would have been awkward.

When the whistle blew an hour later, nobody wanted to leave.

“Do we have to?” Shaun groaned.

“Think so.” Finn laughed as he began to head back to the seat where the parents waited.

“Lets just hide. Then we can stay.” Shaun practically dragged his heels the whole way.

“We can come back another day.”

“No we can’t.” It was quite expensive to come all the way out here. Dangerous too. The boys didn’t pay much attention to the news but knew that for some reason some people got angry when they drove too far south.

“Maybe not. But there’s always next year.” Finn reassured him.

“Yeah.” Shaun sighed. “You’re lucky you get to do all these cool things for your birthday. October birthdays suck.”

“We can go camping for your birthday. That’s always cool. And we can get cool Halloween themed things and tell scary stories.” He suggested.

“Yeah. Good point.” Shaun nodded and then grinned. “We’ll do that.”

The rest of the birthday party was awkward. Hanging out with random people from his class that he would usually not even say more than a sentence to was difficult but he managed. He did breathe a sigh of relief when they finally left though.

“That sucked.” He groaned in his room.

“Didn’t it.” Shaun laughed as he sat on Finn’s bed. “Guess we’ll not invite them next year then?”

“Definitely not.” Finn laughed. “Just you and me.”

“Good.” Shaun nodded wisely. You shouldn’t have invited them in the first place.”

“I know. I just didn’t want mum to think I had no friends.”

“She wouldn’t have, she knows you have me.” Shaun laughed quietly.

“I know.” Finn nodded. “It’s just that I don’t want her to worry.”

“Would she worry?” Shaun was surprised, Lisa and Barry would never have worried. Sandra might but she had never pointed it out. Was that something parents normally worried about?

“Yeah.” Finn understood Shaun wasn’t asking to be rude, he just didn’t know. “It’s because she wants to make sure I won’t be alone forever, y’know.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Shaun nodded.

They stayed at Finn’s house until late in the evening, recounting the day and drinking juice and tea. It was fun. With anyone other than each other, it would have been dreadfully boring, luckily they had been together for so long that even silence was interesting between them. That was very lucky because they often ran out of things to say.

A week later they went camping again. It was virtually the same as the last time; Shaun slept early, Finn slept late, Shaun went on a walk, they both went on a walk in the afternoon, they went home.

They set up their tent away from the campsite, same as the month before. They set up a fire again, and sat around it telling stories. When they ran out of stories they just sat and enjoyed the atmosphere.

“You gonna tell me about the stars this time?” Finn asked with a laugh.

“No.” Shaun shook his head.

“No?”

“No.” Shaun said ominously. “I’ll tell you about the moon instead!”

“Brilliant.” He laughed sarcastically. Shaun always loved the moon, it was his thing. He loved to share stupid little facts about it with Finn, and Finn listened reluctantly.

“Look, it’s a half moon. They are used in loads of religions. It’s also related to life and death.” Shaun informed. “It’s super cool, I like it more than any other form.”

“Why?” Finn didn’t know why anyone would have a favourite form of moon.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“It looks awesome.” Shaun said simply.

“Fair enough. I like crescent moons.” Finn picked one at random.

“Most people do.” Shaun laughed.

A little while later, Shaun fell asleep. Finn stayed awake a little longer, still not tired. He took care of the fire before going on a short walk around the area. He didn’t go too far, just a short distance to look around. When he got bored of that, he too went to sleep in the tent.

When Shaun woke up, Finn was still knocked out. Shaun guessed it was five in the morning. There would be many hours before Finn woke up. Shaun climbed out the tent quietly and carefully. Finn didn’t even stir at the noise or motion.

The walk wasn't as good as the one he remembered from months ago, this time there was no rain. He got to enjoy seeing a few dog walkers dogs without Finn though, which was nice. He loved the golden retriever the most, it was six years old and called Max. Shaun wished he had a pet dog, but his dad hated pets. Shaun had a plan that when he moved out he was going to get a dog, preferably a black labrador, and they would be best friends.

Then he went back to the tent and finally Finn woke up. This time they were picked up in the afternoon by Grace in her Ford Escort. It was always more awkward in Grace’s car than in Sandras, though not for lack of trying. Grace tried to talk and be fun, but she just cared too much. She kept asking what they were doing, had they been safe, had there been anything weird, were they hungry, were they too cold, etc. It was slightly annoying.

The months after were good. The summer holidays ended with the slow torture of the start of the school year. School was as boring as usual, the only excitement was Shaun’s upcoming birthday. Though they had agreed to go camping, they had to change their mind because of the storm. Grace and Sandra put their foot down and simply wouldn’t allow it. Instead they got to go to Shaun's house for the day.

It was more fun that it sounded, they got to share their favourite comics, run in the garden, and hang out with Sandra. They decided to bake today, to make Shaun a cake for his birthday. Neither of them were great at baking but it was worth the fun.

“Wait.” Shaun suddenly paused. The cake had been in the oven for ten minutes now and was about to come out.

“What?” Finn asked.

“Did we put eggs in that?” His eyes were wide and terrified.

Finn froze as well.

“No.”

They both lurched for the oven and almost burnt themselves taking the tray from it. The cake was more of a hockey puck than anything edible at this point. They set it on top of the oven and stared at it for a minute. Then they turned to each other and laughed.

“That went well.” Shaun giggled.

“Well we knew we weren’t bakers.” Finn nodded with a grin.

“Should we start again?” Shaun looked at the cake.

“Yeah. I don’t think this one can be saved.” Finn picked it up and carried it to the bin. “Goodbye.” He said solemnly as he dropped it into the open brown bin.

“Our poor cake.” Shaun frowned and shook his head as he got the ingredients out from the cupboards again.

They tried it again, taking a lot of care to ensure they followed the recipe to a T. They both watched carefully as Shaun cracked in the eggs. The cake was soon put into the oven and the timer was set. The boys were nervous but hopeful. Sandra walked into the kitchen and frowned.

“Where is it?” She asked. It had been over an hour and a half since the boys had gotten started and they should have been done by now.

“We had to start again.” Shaun concealed his laugh.

“Why?” She asked, eyebrows raised.

“Eggs.” Finn laughed with ptsd in his eyes.

“You forgot the eggs?” She laughed as well.

“Yep.” Shaun pointed to the bin. “There is the victim.”

Sandra took a look inside and laughed. “It’s certainly solid.”

“I was thinking of being a baker.” Shaun suddenly said. “For a job, I mean.”

The other two looked at him in disbelief until he broke.

“No way.” Finn playfully shoved him. “You’d poison everyone.”

“Probably.” Shaun agreed.

Later, the cake was done and the boys took it out with baited breath. It seemed a miracle had happened though. The cake was brilliant.

“Did we actually do it?”

“I think so.”

They decorated it happily, icing and sprinkles going all over the counter. Neither minded the mess though, they just worked on it.

When it was finally done they called in Sandra and Barry.

“What?” Barry asked as he walked into the room. He looked down at the mess and grimaced but didn’t act on it.

“We baked a cake.” Shaun pointed to it excitedly.

“Oh it’s done!” Sandra grinned when she saw it. “It looks good. Is it edible this time?”

“We think so.” Finn laughed.

“This time?” Barry asked.

“There was a disaster the first time.” Sandra laughed.

“Eggs.” Shaun nodded cryptically.

“Eggs?” Barry asked.

“Eggs.” Finn copied Shaun.

The rest of the evening was lovely, they ate cake, played a board game, and ended it with a movie.

They both enjoyed board games. This time they were playing Monopoly, a game where Barry thrived. He was also the banker, but that was unrelated. Or so he said.

"Barry there is no way-" Sandra argued, one of the many arguments.

"I don't know what to tell you Sandy, it's just how much money I have!" He laughed gleefully. He had almost triple the amount of money that Sandra had, and Sandra was second highest. Finn had one pound, Shaun had one hundred and fifty, Sandra had three hundred, Barry had eight hundred and forty.

"Bull!" She laughed as well, though angrily.

"Finn, that's fifteen now for rent. Thanks." Shaun said evilly.

"I don't have fifteen and you know it!" Finn sobbed.

"Are you…" Shaun grinned maniacally. "Bankrupt?"

"No, Finn, mortgage." Barry pointed out.

"Okay." Finn handed over all his properties with desperation. "Take them."

"Here you are." Barry cackled as he handed over a whopping fifty pounds.

"Is that all? Really?" Finn looked on in disbelief.

"Sorry man." Shaun laughed as he snatched fifteen pounds from his friends hands.

"You have betrayed me."

"We knew it would happen someday."

"Cruel."

Like all things up high, there must be a fall. The fall soon came for Barry.

"And one hundred please, dad." Shaun asked with a grin. Barry had run out of properties to mortgage and had only twenty pounds left.

"No." He said simply.

"You have to." Shaun giggled.

"No." He shook his head dramatically. "I refuse. I'm committing tax fraud."

"You can't commit tax fraud, Barry. That's not in this game." Sandra rolled her eyes.

"I have added it. It's tax fraud time."

His tax fraud strategy did not work, he was soon caught out and bankrupt. There were three remaining.

"Finn, I'll pay you two hundred for all your blue." Sandra said with a gleam in her eyes. Barry was sobbing silently beside her, tears falling into the bank.

"No, do not!" Shaun begged. "If these years have meant anything to you, do not."

"Sorry Shaun. I seem to recall earlier you tried to bankrupt me." Finn smiled a twisted, devilish smile. "I think I will take that offer Sandra."

"No!" Shaun shrieked. "On my birthday too!"

"Soon, you will be bankrupt too." Barry said wisely. "Soon."

"I know." He grieved.

Soon, the prophecy was fulfilled. Shaun became bankrupt. It was done with many tears from Shaun and psychotic laughter from the others.

"And now… war." Sandra grinned at Finn. They had been an unofficial team against Shaun and Barry, now they had to split up.

"Come on Finn, it's only twenty pounds." Sandra later giggled.

"This is child cruelty." Finn handed over his final twenty. He was now virtually bankrupt.

"Perhaps." Sandra nodded. Then she looked around. Barry was still sobbing into his bank, Shaun was trying to plot ways to kill them all, Finn was looking at his empty hands in defeat. "Could it be? Have I won?"

"You know you won." Barry coughed through the tears.

"Sorry hon." She laughed.

"I want a divorce." He choked.

"Careful, with my luck, I'll get everything." She cackled evilly.

This set him off again into fresher waves of tears. Shaun had begun trying to throw everything around the room while Finn restrained him.

Eventually it was time to go home. To say Grace was confused when she saw the scene would be an understatement.

"Hello?" She was almost afraid to ask.

"Monopoly." Finn said, similarly to a soldier discussing his battles.

"Oh."

"Gracie! Hi! How are you?" Sandra came to the door, still cheery from her win.

"Did you win the game, then?" Grace asked.

"Oh, you know." She played with innocence.

"Don't listen to the witch!" Barry called from the living room. "She is a cheat and she knows it!"

"I am not!" She laughed innocently. "I played the game and happened to win." She shrugged.

Grace laughed. "And how did Finn get on? Taken out first I assume?"

"Nope. He came second."

"Oh right."

"Good to know you have faith in me mum!" Finn was appalled when he got to the door.

"Sorry Finn." She giggled. "You ready to go home now?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Mournfully so."

With that they set off back home. On the way Finn told his mum all about the day he had had, especially about the cake. When he ran out of things to say, they listened to the radio instead. It was talking about some law or right going on in government, not something that interested Finn at all. Grace seemed interested in it though so Finn stayed quiet.

"Dad's at Kevins." Grace answered the unasked question when they walked in through the door.

"Okay." Finn nodded. "I'm gonna go do some homework."

"Okay." Grace waved him off before returning to the kitchen to finish cooking dinner.

Later that night Finn stayed awake. He looked out his window at eleven o'clock and felt a draw to it. It wasn't a rare call, he was always attracted to the outside, especially at night. He decided to open the window.

His windowsill was big enough and strong enough to hold him, he had tried it many times before. It was his favourite place to be in the world.

The moon was Crescent, his favourite kind. The stars were visible as well, there were no clouds at all.

He dangled his feet, hitting them against the brick wall softly. He looked out at the world. It was always better from up here, he could see all the way to Mr Finney's house. He loved looking out into everyone else's back gardens, their climbing frames, bikes, and flowers. He liked looking into the windows and seeing who was still awake and who wasn't. It was peaceful.

After a while he clambored back inside and tiptoed to bed.