My parents didn't talk to me on the way home. They wouldn't even look at me, their insane son with the friend that didn't exist. They insisted he wasn't real, that I was hallucinating, that I was crazy.

I wasn't crazy. Of course I wasn't; Will was as real as I was, my parents just saw him as invisible. Everyone saw him as invisible, but he was there.

In silence, my parents and I walked through the front door. Hades refused to meet my eyes as I pushed past him to go up to my room.

"He hates you," the Voice whispered in my ear, "You're such a disappointment to him."

Tears threatened to spill as I stared at the ceiling above my bed, glow in the dark stars glinted at me, as if taunting me; for what, I didn't know. Will sat quietly next to me, his arms wrapped around my waist in an effort to comfort me. I snuggled into his chest, sobbing quietly into his shirt.

Usually, the Voices didn't bother me, but when they told the truth a knife stabbed my heart until it bled tears of sadness.

Will held me as I cried, the Voice continuously screaming insults at me. His orange t-shirt was soaked, but he didn't seem to notice as he rocked me back and forth, countering whatever the Voice threw at me. It said that I was weak and pitiful, Will assured me that I was strong and beautiful. It screamed that I was a burden to my parents, he whispered that they cared about me, they were just scared.

Scared of what? I wondered, and even though I hadn't said it aloud, Will told me that they were afraid of losing me because they didn't understand.

When my violent sobs had subsided to occasional sniffs, Will removed his arms from around my waist and held them up, light making his fingers glow. I smiled; his trick of manipulating light was one of my favourite things to see.

His hands drew in thin strands of sunlight, and I watched in awe as he started to mould them into the shape he wanted.

After creating five tiny stars, he handed them to me, a present to cheer me up.

My fingers traced over the shimmering edges, and Will beamed at me, happy that my tears had gone. Together we hung them up by the window, watching them shine brighter than the stars on my ceiling, twinkling and sparkling and less hostile.

I tackled him in a hug, and felt his chest vibrate as he laughed at me.
He was real. He was here. He was all I had. He was just invisible to everyone else; mine and mine only.

Maybe it was better that way.

     -kathynerd