Lily first noticed him during recess. She was sitting alone on the playground, watching the other kids laugh and play, feeling like she didn't quite belong.
Her clothes were a little too worn, her hair a little too tangled, and she was quieter than the rest. But as she sat there, alone and quiet, a boy with messy brown hair and a wide smile walked right up to her.
"Hey! What're you doing all by yourself?" he asked, plopping down next to her in the grass, completely uninvited.
Lily looked at him, surprised. She wasn't used to anyone talking to her at school. "Just... sitting," she said quietly, feeling awkward.
"I'm Ben." He extended his hand, his fingers sticky with something that looked like peanut butter. She shook it anyway, and he grinned.
"Lily," she said softly.
"Well, Lily, sitting alone is no fun. Wanna come play kickball with us?" He nodded toward a group of kids setting up a game.
Lily hesitated, glancing at the kids who were laughing and shouting, looking so at ease with each other. "I'm not... I'm not very good at sports," she mumbled, feeling her cheeks heat up.
Ben shrugged. "Who cares? It's just for fun. And besides, you can't be worse than me. I fell on my face last time." He laughed, and she couldn't help but smile back, just a little.
Reluctantly, she followed him to the game, and for the first time in a long time, she laughed as she kicked the ball, stumbling but still running as fast as she could.
Ben was right; he wasn't great at it either, but he didn't seem to care. They spent the rest of recess running, playing, and laughing, and for those few minutes, Lily felt like a regular kid.
After that day, Ben and Lily became inseparable. They ate lunch together, played during recess, and even shared jokes in class when the teacher wasn't looking.
Ben was funny, always cracking jokes or coming up with wild stories about aliens and superheroes, making her laugh when she needed it most.
One day after school, Ben noticed her hesitating near the playground, waiting to head home.
"Why do you always look like you don't wanna go home?" he asked, squinting at her.
Lily felt her stomach tighten. She hadn't told anyone about how things were at home, about the yelling, the cold looks, the way she felt invisible around Dan and Alice.
She didn't want to be different. But Ben was looking at her with that serious, curious gaze of his, waiting.
"It's just... it's not that fun at home," she said finally, shrugging.
Ben nodded, like he understood more than she'd said. "Well, you can stay here with me for a bit if you want. My mom doesn't mind. She always brings me a snack. Wanna share?"
Lily nodded, feeling a warmth she hadn't felt in a long time.
They sat on the swings, munching on peanut butter crackers and chatting about everything from school to Ben's wild plans to become a famous explorer one day.
"I'm gonna find buried treasure, fight pirates, and maybe even find a dinosaur or two!" he announced, puffing his chest out proudly.
Lily giggled. "I don't think dinosaurs are around anymore, Ben."
He shrugged. "I'll find a way. You can come with me, you know. We'll be a team. I'll handle the dinosaurs, and you can handle the pirates."
"Me?" Lily laughed, unable to imagine herself fighting anything.
"Yeah! You're tougher than you look, Lily," he said with a grin.
That one sentence stuck with her for days. Tougher than she looked.
No one had ever called her tough before, but Ben said it like it was obvious, like he really believed it. And for the first time, Lily started to believe it, too.
Things at home, however, were getting worse.
Dan had grown more distant, his temper flaring over the smallest things.
Alice was often lost in her own world, barely acknowledging Lily's existence.
Lily would sometimes catch her staring blankly out the window, her face expressionless, as if she'd rather be anywhere else.
One evening, when Lily was about ten, she accidentally left her homework on the dining table. When Dan came in and saw the mess of papers, he snapped.
"Lily!" he barked, making her jump. She rushed into the room, eyes wide, heart pounding.
"Yes, sir?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"What is all this?" he demanded, gesturing to her papers like they were something offensive.
"It's... it's my homework," she stammered.
He scoffed. "You can't leave your things all over the place like this. You think we're here to clean up after you?"
Lily's cheeks burned, but she nodded, gathering her papers as quickly as she could.
She could feel his eyes on her, full of frustration, and she wanted nothing more than to disappear.
When she went to her room that night, she hugged her pillow tightly, fighting back tears.