I looked at her eyes, searching for nothing and everything. I searched for a demon capable of a crime so gruesome. I searched for a monster incapable of hiding itself from the preying eyes of the jury. Instead, I found a broken, numb girl, lost and...
Errum fidgeted with the tassel of her bag, as she usually did when she was nervous. She got it from Alayna so it comforted her, giving her a sense of relief as she remembered her sister was always there by her side.
It wasn't always like this. Errum wasn't always this anxious, or nervous. No matter what people said, or thought, she wasn't some crazy girl running down the streets. Crazy people can't do maths like her. Crazy people can't remember things like her. Crazy people can't love like her.
She looks over to Adam at a distance, coming out of the cafeteria with his perfectly dark and curled hair styled neatly, his Minecraft themed backpack hanging from one side. His hoodie read "Cool motive, still murder." Errum furrowed her brows trying to remember the reference of that one...ahh yes. Brooklyn 99, wasn't it?
Adam stood before his locker, when he looked over his shoulder to see Errum standing awkwardly at the middle of the hallway. He looked at her up and down, and gave that sympathetic smile Errum was used to. Usually there were three types of reactions she got from people. Either they snickered or picked at her, jealous at her academic success, or they gave her that sympathetic smile thinking she was some sick girl who needed help (but they refused to be the one to provide it) and the last group of people usually thought she was a witch of some sort and avoided her all along. Most belonged to the latter part.
Adam, however, sometimes went as far as to say hi to her, which was as far as a few people got. Today, he took it a step further, and asked, "Hey! I'm sorry about your result. Don't worry though! I'm sure you'll do better next time. Mistakes happen." And he smiled his best smile.
What Errum did then made her question her own sanity. She turned around and RAN. She sprinted through the hallways, leaving Adam standing there, confused.
Sitting on the bathroom floor, crying couldn't fix any of it. But that was the only thing Errum was good at apart from Maths.
It wasn't her fault. She wasn't used to it. She wasn't ever talked to in a normal manner, she didn't know how it was to have friends, how it was to be loved. Adam's reaction freaked her out. Not only did someone talked to her in a nice way, it came from Adam. The only person she has ever wanted to have beside her.
She still remembered the day, 9 years ago, when it was summer break, when she still wore frocks, and nicely combed her hair straight, when the sun was on its way to set, the day when she peeked through her window to see the young Adam outside her home.
He sat on his knees, digging some soil and filling the jar he brought with him. Little Errum tried to understand what he was up to but as soon as she went near the window sill to get a better look, Adam looked up, startled to find her staring at him.
"Umm..hey. I'm sorry about the garden. Don't worry, I'll go, please don't tell anyone about this?" He looked at her with adorable puppy eyes.
Errum silently nodded.
He stood and wiped the dirt from his pants.
"Thanks for saving my ass," he smiled.
Errum gasped.
"Wha- what was that? Are you okay?"
"You're a little boy, and my Mom says if little boys swear, Pinocchios will haunt you," Errum widened her eyes, being genuinely scared of her own words.
Adam laughed out loud.
"Really? I'm literally 8 years old. You think I'll be scared of this? There's no reason to be, because my dad says I'm a big boy and then Pinocchio can't haunt me," he beamed.
"I guess so. 8 is big. I'm still 7, maybe when I turn 8, I can curse too?"
"Damn right you can!"
Errum noticed something crawling out of his pocket.
"What's that?"
"What? That caterpillar? Oh he's Mr. Canterbury. I found him in front of our lawn, and I wanted to keep him. Hence the mud."
"Why Canterbury?"
"Oh that's.. that's where I came from. Canterbury. You know we just moved in the neighborhood, and I miss my city, my friends and all..." A sadness shadowed his expressions, and Errum felt her heart fill with excruciating pain.
"Oh, I'm Adam Phill by the way, and you're..?"
"Errum. Errum Hasan," she fidgeted with the corner of her dress and looking down, asked, "I..I can be your friend?"
"Uh..yeah. Sure. That'll be great. I'll see you around then?" And he smiled again.
The smile that she fell for, the smile that captivated her forever.
***
"Dude, it was kind of your fault. Just stick to gaming and shit. Why talk to a witch? Literally the whole school knows you shouldn't let her shadow fall on you. Have you seen how she stares at people? As if she'll suck the soul out of you," Kevin, Adam's best friend, was the one with the valuable advice.
Adam sighed, and sadly shrugged. "I just feel..I don't know man, this urge to reach out to her. To help her. She's clearly troubled. Every single day she's bullied, treated like some weirdo.."
"That's because she is one big weirdo. She's like a fucking cave woman or something. Didn't you see what she did at the slightest human interaction? That girl's a freak, I'm telling you, stay away from her."
Kevin was right. Adam should stay away from her. She maybe was a witch. The Red Saint probably made her one.
A/N: There you go folks. Here's Adam Phill for you.
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