Ashley lay on her bed, phone pressed to her ear, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars she'd secretly stuck to her ceiling years ago. They were her one small act of rebellion – technically, adhesives weren't allowed on any surfaces in the house. But tonight, they felt more magical than when she first turned off the lights to watch them.

"...and then he actually quoted Camus, Lu. Can you believe it? Everyone thinks he's just this troublemaker, but he has all these layers." She rolled onto her stomach, grinning into her pillow. "He reads philosophy for fun, and he draws amazing realism. His copy of The Stranger is practically a conversation with the author. He’s so creative!" she covered her mouth and glanced at her close door, realizing she was getting a little too hyped up.

"Fascinating," Luca's dry tone crackled through the speaker. "Did he also share his thoughts on Nietzsche while vandalizing school property?"

"Actually, he has some really interesting perspectives on—" She caught herself. "Wait, are you making fun of me?"

"Me? Make fun of your obvious crush on the school's resident bad boy artist? Never."

"It's not a crush!" Ashley sat up so fast she nearly knocked over her perfectly arranged row of stuffed animals. "He's just... different than I expected. Like today, when we were working on the project, he noticed I was stressed and started making up these ridiculous stories about the anime club posters to make me laugh. And he gave me his number so I can't, in his words, 'conveniently lose track of him in the hallways anymore.'"

"Oh, he's smooth. I'll give him that."

"Lu!"

"What? I'm just saying, he's got game. The whole 'misunderstood soft-hearted rebel' thing? Classic."

She flopped back onto her bed. "It's not a thing. He's genuine. You should have seen him talking about The Little Prince – his whole face lit up, and he got so passionate about what it means to really see people..."

"The Little Prince? Seriously?" Luca's voice sharpened slightly. "Let me guess, he thinks he's the fox."

"What's wrong with the fox?"

"Nothing. Just... be careful getting tamed, okay?"

Ashley sat up again, hearing something beneath his teasing. "Lu, what's really bothering you?"

The silence stretched long enough. Too long acutally.

"Guys like that," he finally said, voice soft but intense, "they're good at making you feel special. At making you think you're the only one who really sees them. But sometimes..."

"Sometimes what?"

"Sometimes that's just another mask."

"He's not wearing a mask." She twisted her bedspread between her fingers. "Not anymore. Today when we talked, it was real. He told me about his parents, about why he acts out. Did you know they've never been to a single school event? They just throw money at him and expect him to be grateful."

"And that justifies his behavior?"

"No, but it explains it. He's not trying to be bad, Lu. He's trying to be seen."

"And you see him." It wasn't quite a question.

"Yeah. I think I do."

Another long pause. "Just... promise me something?"

"What?"

"Don't let seeing him make you blind to everything else."

She took a deep breathing, nodding to herself. Luca was right. Always is. "I won't. Besides," she smiled, "I've got you to keep me grounded, right?"

"Always." Then, with forced cheerfulness: "Someone has to save you from your terrible taste in men."

"Says the boy who won't even look at guys because they don't write songs like Alec Benjamin."

"Low blow, Martinez. Low blow."

She grinned, then remembered her news. "Oh! Speaking of saving me – guess who got an A on their project?"

"Fuck."

"Yes! Which means..."

"Please don't say it."

"Halloween party here we come!"

The groan that came through the phone was possibly the most dramatic thing she'd ever heard. "I was really counting on Arek's delinquent tendencies to save me from this."

"Well, sorry to disappoint, but turns out this delinquent can write. Mrs. Brook actually cried during our presentation."

"Tears of despair, probably."

"Oh my god." She rolled her eyes. "Come on, be excited! We get to go costume shopping!"

"Why are you punishing me like this? What did I ever do to you?"

"Do you want the list chronologically or alphabetically?"

"I take it back. You and Arek deserve each other. You're both equally demons."

"Speaking of deserving each other..." She grinned wickedly. "What if we did matching costumes?"

"Absolutely not."

"But Lu! Think of the possibilities!"

"I am thinking of them. That's why I'm saying no."

"We could be salt and pepper!"

"I'm not going as a condiment."

"Batman and Robin?"

"Do I look like sidekick material to you?"

"Fine." She paused for effect. "Alec Benjamin and a sad boy guitar?"

The spluttering sound he made was worth it. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me. Unless... you have a better idea?"

He was quiet for a moment. "What if... what if we went completely over the top? Like, the most ridiculous couples costume we could find, but ironically?"

"That's..." She sat up straighter. "Actually brilliant. We could make it so obviously exaggerated that everyone knows we're joking."

"Exactly. Take all the pressure off."

"Like you ever feel pressure to be cool."

"I'll have you know I'm very cool."

"You organized your bookshelf by emotional impact rather than author."

"It's a valid system!"

"You have a shelf labeled 'books that hurt my feelings'!"

"They were very emotional!"

Ashley laughed as she pulled the phone from her face to search online for some costume ideas. They went back and forth for the next hour trying to find a good couples costume. Their earlier tension melted into increasingly absurd suggestions. Ashley had to muffle her laughter in her pillow several times to avoid alerting her parents.

"What about Romeo and Juliet?" Luca suggested. "But like, with the tackiest Halloween store costumes we can find."

"Yes! With those awful plastic ruffs and everything!"

"We could really commit to it. Quote Shakespeare badly all night."

"'But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?'" Ashley affected her worst British accent.

"If you ever do that accent again, I'm pretending I don't know you."

"What, thou dost not approve of mine theatrical talents?"

"I'm googling how to delete someone else's voice."

She broke into laughter causing him to do the same. Once again she found her face stuck in her silk pink pillows until slowly the two of them calmed down. Naturally they both fell into comfortable silence that was until she heard Luca’s voice come through the phone again.

"Hey, Ash?"

She pulled her head out of her pillows. "Yeah?"

"I know you think you see the real him. And maybe you do. But just... make sure he sees the real you too, okay? Not just the girl he thinks needs saving from her perfect life."

She felt something catch in her throat. "When did you get so wise?"

"Probably around the same time you started falling for philosophical bad boys."

"I'm not—"

"I know, I know. You're not falling for him. Just... falling into a deeper understanding of existentialist literature through profound hallway conversations."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't." His voice was warm. "You love me almost as much as you love quoting Camus with mysterious troubled boys."

"Almost," she agreed softly.

They finally said goodnight, but Ashley lay awake long after, thinking. About Luca, about Arek, about the party. She took a deep breath. There were a lot of things to think about but costumes must come first!