From Mystery to Romance

A Xander Chapter: The Name

I huffed, "What happened to North's twin?"

Emily sighed, "I don't know. I'll I know is that she's a girl. I don't even know her name."

"Well, what's North's real last name?" I asked. I suddenly became interested in North.

"Farmer," Emily answered.

"North Farmer. Why did her parents, you know-" I began.

"Give her away?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," I said.

She sighed, "I don't know that either. But they must have been planning it for a while. The first time I met North was when she was five hours old. Mom and dad got her from the hospital right away."

"Five hours. So, that means you didn't even meet her birth parents?" I asked.

"Nope. But North has pictures of them," She told me.

 "Oh." I looked at the ground.

Emily sighed, "Sometimes, I feel like I know North more than anyone else. My parents try to get her to interact with us, or talk to people, but I know she's not that person. She can only do stuff alone or she won't enjoy what she's doing. That's one thing my family doesn't see about her. They never know when North is upset or happy. Or if she wants to be alone. And when they know she wants to be alone, they don't leave her alone. They try to force her to be with us. They try to get her to trust us. But doing just that she loses her trust in us."

I looked into Emily's eyes. She knew more about North than anyone else. But no one listens to her. So she can't tell them what she thinks. That's the problem. No one gives Emily a chance. Not even me.  

So Emily looked at the ground, "I'll-I'll see you around."

"Okay, bye," I said.

"Bye," She waved goodbye and headed to her car.

I thought for a while.

I realized that I kind of wanted Emily to stay with me.

Maybe I wanted to ask her more questions about North.

Or maybe...I just wanted her with me.

Was she becoming my friend or something?

I shook my head.

There was no way I would want to want Emily to stay with me. There was no way we could be friends. 

We just hated each other too much.

I brushed it off and went to my car.

But by the time I went to my car, I started to miss wanting Emily.

______________

It was a Wednesday afternoon. I went to the playground. Again. I try to spend as much time as I can at the playground. It made me feel like my mom was still here with me. Like she was never gone. I didn't have any friends to hang out with anyway.

I parked myself there and found a girl on the swings.

It was North.

And there were three boys in front of her. 

They were making fun of her.

"Hey, North! Who gave you that name? The mom who gave you up? Or the dad that gave you up?" One boy yelled.

"You know, they did the right thing to give you away! If they didn't, they would have hated themselves!" The second boy yelled.

I got mad. Like, REAL MAD! They were making fun of North. They don't even know what that poor girl is going through. Sure, they knew she's adopted, but they didn't know that feeling growing up without your real mom.

I've felt that before. I grew up without a mom. Without my real mom. Dad hung out with some girls at work, not even date them, and they would try to act like a mom to me.

But I knew darn well, that they weren't my mother.

"Come on, guys! Let's get away from the 'Unwanted one'!" The third kid laughed.

They ran away and I started to calm down, knowing they weren't anywhere near North.

I decided to go talk to her. I wanted to know more about her.

"Hey, North," I said as I walked up to her.

 North turned her head to look at me, "What are you doing here?"

"I come here a lot. This is the last place my mom took me before she died." I sat down on the swing next to her.

"I'm sorry," She said.

"It's fine," I replied.

We sat there in silence. It reminded me of Emily and me here.

God, why can't I stop thinking about her?

I sighed. I needed to ask North. I couldn't wait any longer, "Can I ask you some questions about your name?"

North looked at me, "Why?"

I shrugged, "Just because."

She nodded.

"First off, do you like your name? And why?" I began.

"I like my name. And I like it because it's the only thing, my birth parents gave me." North explained.

I nodded, "What do you think your name means?"

North turned her head and looked away from me, "I don't know. But I think it's got something to do with the direction itself."

I made a weird face, "What do you mean?"

She huffed, "If your walking straight your basically walking North. But if you turn right, you're basically walking west. But if you keep walking, aren't you walking north again?"

I nodded my head, "I guess that makes sense. But what does that have to do with the meaning of your name?"

North shrugged, "I don't know that either. But there's one thing I think it can be."

"What's that?" I asked.

North took a deep breath, "No matter where I turn, where I go, or where I'll live, I will always be North. Both that being my name, and the direction. That means, my mom, sister, and dad, will always be with me. They're always around me."

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe it. Her words were so deep. And she didn't even need a minute to think about them.

I wondered why at first.

But then I knew the reason.

North wanted to tell someone about all these things before. But she's just been looking for the right person to talk to.

I thought it could be me. But she's a girl a barely know.

Then I thought about Emily. She knew so much about her. She understood North.

The only person that can talk to North while understanding her, was Emily.