Walking Away

Curiouser and Curiouser

Raven

The little girl looked me up and down. Her brown hair was braided back away from her face. After a day at school, it wasn't messed up even a little. It made me feel self conscious.

Which is ridiculous - she's like ten. But I couldn't help wishing I had taken the time this morning to actually look nice for this occasion. And of course, being me and being nervous, I just had to start talking.

"Hi! I'm Raven. It's nice to meet you. I've heard about you - not a lot, so don't worry. And all good things, of course. By all accounts you're really great." I trailed off, shifting on my feet. Then I saw Johnathan, who was smirking from behind his sister.

I wanted to make a face at him, but I still felt like I was on trial. And this girl was judge, jury, and executioner. Then she smiled, and I felt like I had made bail.

"I'm Ali. It's a pleasure to meet you." She was so polite, and it was really cute. "And I know who you are already."

"You do?" I asked. Johnathan nodded in agreement.

"You're Jonah's friend." she said confidently.

"How do you figure?" I asked her, less surprised at the sentence than at the way she said it. I was never that sure of myself as a kid.

"Because you met me." She grinned. "Jonah only lets his friends talk to me. He's super overprotective."

"I am not." Johnathan interjected, taking her backpack from her. He started walking, Ali by his side.

"He is. But it's okay." Ali had the same eyes as her brother - a brown shade that seemed to have depth to it. "You're pretty."

"Thank you." That was nice of her. "But I'm not the prettiest girl here. You look like a princess."

Ali laughed, her eyes lighting up at the compliment. "You really think so?"

I nodded. "Definitely. I feel like I'm talking to royalty." And I did. Not because of Ali, exactly, though she was definitely pretty enough to be a princess. But because of how Johnathan treated her, carrying her bag and screening who she met. The way he talked about her sort of made me wish I'd had an older sibling to look out for me.

Ali skipped ahead a little, swinging her arms back and forth. I glanced over at Johnathan. "You were right."

He was smiling as he watched his sister twirl around. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. She's great." We slowed down as we reached a corner, Ali running back to grab Johnathan's hand. It confused me until I realized we were crossing the street.

Huh. Maybe he played a lot of Frogger as a kid.

I hummed as I followed them down the street, watching the two siblings interact. After a little while I noticed Johnathan was drumming his fingers as he walked. It was the first fidget-like thing I'd seen him do.

"So you are human." I commented. He blinked a couple times before giving me a confused look.

"I'm sorry?" 

"You were tapping." I gestured to his hand, though his finger were still now. "Sometimes you're so still and focused I wonder if you're human at all. It's unnatural."

Johnathan laughed. "It's perfectly natural to be focused."

I shook my head. "No, not like you do. You're too quiet, too calm. You're practically a robot. A punctual robot."

He held his hands out in a 'who, me?' gesture. "So now it's a crime to be on time? What kind of world do we live in?"

With Ali safely ahead of us, I did make a face. "A loud, hectic one."