the love that binds us

c h a p t e r 1

18 years ago (age 6).

The school bell rang, and a swarm of children gathered around the almost tattered playground. It was the coldest day of the winter season so far. The sun had gone into hiding, perhaps too tired of bestowing its greatness upon the humans; the sky was overcast with clouds, and a chilly breeze hummed its way through the sky.

"Eve!"

"Evelynn!"

The tiny six-year-old whipped her head around, her braided pigtails hitting her face as a result of the sudden turn.

"Judah!" Her small hand reached out in front of her, trying to catch fragments of him as though the wind would wash him away before her fingers got the chance to touch him.

Judah ran as fast as he could to reach Evelynn before someone else whisked her away.

"Hi," He said with a toothy grin. "Wanna have lunch together?"

She thought for a moment, contemplating his intentions but agreed after convincing herself that he was no harm. He did, after all, save her from Britney and her mean friends.

The two walked away to a bench located a bit further than the playground, hoping to get some peace and quiet. They hadn't been friends for long, considering they met for the first time just last week.

Judah had come to her aid when a bunch of mean girls were making fun of Evelynn's pigtails and tugging at them. She was near tears when they almost undid the braids; she liked her pigtails very much.

"Come on, let's sit here!" Judah's enthusiastic voice echoed around them.

The red metal bench burned through Evelynn's leggings and stung her thighs. It was exonerate that today was not her day.

The two spent the rest of recess quietly nibbling on their lunch and swinging their legs back and forth.

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"Goodbye, children! I'll see you all tomorrow!" The Lockwood elementary teacher shouted after the children, occasionally throwing kind smiles at those who turned back and waved at her.

"Evelynn! Do you want to walk back home together?" Judah asked Evelynn as the two walked down the stairs of the red brick building.

"Yeah, sure," Evelynn replied softly.

In a matter of seconds, snowflakes rained down on the bustling city of New York, landing softly on the cobblestone sidewalk.

"Judah, look! It's snowing!" Evelynn exclaimed with a Cheshire cat smile. Her eyes crinkled like soft paper.

"Woah, it's so pretty," Judah whispered, his green eyes wide in astonishment. He had never seen anything so spellbinding before. The sidewalk chalk was covered in snow along with all the streetlights and mailboxes.

Laughter and screams of joy were put in the air as the children ran on the sidewalk, eager to reach the park for snowball fights with the kids from the other neighborhoods. Amidst the chaos, someone had stolen Evelynn's gloves.

Her gasp halted Judah, and he looked at her, thinking someone had pushed her, but thankfully she was up and alright.

"What's wrong, Eve?" He asked her so gently, that Evelynn would've missed it had she not been paying attention.

"Eve?" She asked hesitantly. Were they close enough for him to be calling her Eve?

"Uh, yeah. We're friends, so I thought maybe we could give each other nicknames." Judah started nervously before it dawned upon him.

"Wait, we're friends, right? I mean, I know I didn't ask you that and I just assumed that we were friends, but I'd really like it if we were-"

"Of course we are, you silly goose!" Evelynn interrupted his nervous rambling. How could he think that they weren't friends? Sure, they met last week, and they might not be as close as friends usually are, but Evelynn considered him to be her friend.

"Someone stole my gloves," She whispered softly, her head down and her hair covering her face like a curtain. She was ashamed to admit that she had let someone take her gloves.

Judah glanced at her outfit, she looked exactly how she did this morning with a red scarf wrapped around her neck, red ear muffs to match, a beige coat, black boots, and red gloves; only now, her red woolen gloves were no longer there.

His edge of irritation had returned. Why must other kids be so cruel? Anger coiled in his stomach, wondering about the times when people had been harsh to Evelynn. What had she done for them to act this way? Nothing, she had done nothing, yet everyone made it their duty to be hostile towards her.

Judah took off the glove secured on his left hand and put it on Evelynn's left hand. He grabbed her right hand with his bare left one, his palm perpendicular to hers, and he wrapped his fingers around the back of her hand.

"There!" He said while swinging their interlocked hands back and forth. "Now, you won't feel cold anymore."

The panic and hint of sadness on her face was replaced by a wide grin. After countless tries she had finally made a friend all by herself.

Silence hung over them like a dark cloud, which could rain at any minute; only broken when a brownstone townhouse came into view. A small, bronze wind chime and a black metal light hung from the Portico, giving a soft orange hue on the doorstep.

Evelynn detached her, now warm, hand from Judah's, and ran up the stairs to knock on the door of her house.

Judah swayed on his feet with his hands in the pocket of his black coat, patiently waiting for Evelynn to go inside before we went about his day.

A tall woman wearing a floral dress underneath the pitch-black apron opened the door.

"Mama!" Evelynn exclaimed.

"Why, hello dear. How was school?" The woman asked, her hands reaching down to grab the backpack from her daughter's back, far too occupied to notice the boy standing on the pavement which led to their house.

Evelynn's mom ushered her inside, afraid if they stayed out too long, either one of them would catch a cold. She barely got any time to bid him farewell.

Judah let out a sigh of relief. He was worried that her mother would think he was going to be mean to her and tell her to cut off all ties with him.

He did a once over at the brownstone house and then walked further down the street.

Evelynn had taken off her snow-covered boots and leaned against the windowsill of the window in the living room. She watched Judah's figure ebb further and further away into the hazy street before he had completely disappeared.

"Evelynn, dear, did you make a new friend?" Her mother asked out of curiosity when she saw her daughter's gaze fixate on something or someone outside.

"Yeah, I did," Evelynn replied.

"That's lovely! How does it feel?"

"It's nice."

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I hope you liked this chapter!

~ rhea <3