The Mechanics of The Heart (Unedited)

8

"What are you doing here?" The little girl frowned, her already pouting lips yanking down in despair at the tips. Looking down at the wood chips surrounding her feet, her classmates screech like birds around her.

Tiny hands clench into fist and the boy who sneered down at her starts to jitter in his spot, his lip was still aching and it had taken his mother all afternoon to get the bleeding to stop. Nonetheless, despite his fear of earning another wound physically but nothing would cut deeper than the humiliation of looking like a coward.

Amara sighed, her nails digging into the beds of her palms felt like the shots she'd get at the doctors before they'd offer her a overly sweet lollipop. She knew she had to do this, her parents argument had sounded like thunder and lighting were fighting for dominance in her living room.

Amara was used to being the center of her parents arguments, in their eyes, she could do nothing right. She didn't have the right interest, right personality or even the right hobbies. Half the time she wondered if her parents thought they had the right kid at all- that maybe there was a mix up at the hospital.

But this time her sister, Ariya had slipped into her room when the storm brewing in the house subsided. When her mothers studio door slammed shut and the thudding steps of their father stomping into his workshop echoed into the dark of their childhood home, Ariya made steady course to her little sisters rom.

'You have to apologize Amara.' Ariya was three years senior of her sister, but Amara was tall, almost taller than their mom now and she was only nine.

Amara was boiling under her red comforter, having sat up to squint properly at her sister in the shred of light from the street light outside. 'No, Tyler's a jerk. I don't care who his parents are.' Ariya was never very patient, especially not with her stubborn as a mule younger sister who always seemed to shed the wrong light on their family.

'-Ow' Amara winced, her sisters nails digging into the skin of her upper arm as Ariya yanked her sister towards the edge of her bed. In this position Amara can see her sisters face more properly, her eyes flashing with something that forced her still- in this lighting Ariya looked so much like their mother.

'Mom and dad will lose their funding, we will lose everything. You will apologize, do whatever you have to, to make this right Amara. Because if we lose our home- it'll be your fault.' Ariya had left her sister in the dark of her room with those words, stinging nail marks and silent tears that soaked that fabric of her sheets that night.

Swallowing against the feeling of emotions buzzing in her chest like a hornets nest, Amara looks up her almond eyes looking over the scabbed over split in his lip before her eyes trail up past his doll like blue eyes and peered at his forehead.

"I'm sorry I hit you, Tyler. I didn't mean to and I wont do it again." Tyler's eyes widened the slightest fraction before a devilish smirk slide across his face, turning to glance at his friends who had been looking on with slight curiosity.

"If you're really sorry, you'll be my slave for the rest of the day." His eyes twinkled with something Amara had never seen before, it was dark, like a cloud of black smoke was lurking in his irises.

"What." It wasn't a question and there was no question to the edge of her voice, it cut like a blade and Tyler swallowed almost backing out his scheme entirely but one of his friends snicker behind him and its like tossing gasoline onto a open fire.

"Yeah, I think that's fair. Besides your parents are always asking mine for money- wasnt there a time you people worked-" His words fall into a incoherent gurgle as a fist swings into the side of his jaw. The split on his lip rips open and the woodchips below his feet are catching the droplet and he grimaces at the taste of bitter metallic pooling in his mouth.

Amara's chest is hot, burning as hot as boiling grease. Her hands still clenched into fist at her sides, feet planted firmly in the ground as she glares at Tyler. There about the same height, eyeline. Amara was the least bit intimidated, she had fought boys her age bigger than him.

"Y-you hit me!" Tyler was falling into hysterics, his face turning bright red as snot bubbled as he heaved and Amara falters, her arm stings with reminder and dread falls over her like a heavy curtain.

What have I done?

"Tyler I-" She barely gets the frantic apology out for a second time before Tyler lunges at her, throwing his entire body on her and they fall into the woodchips, they scatter around them like someone tossed confetti, the ones caked in blood stick to the back of Amara's legs. Her arms reach up in a poor attempt to protect her self from the unexpected tackle Tyler is straddling her torso clawing at her face and arms and somehow it hurts worse than being punched. This stings.

Amara's voice cracks with a scream but she knows it futile, they were purposefully on the further side of the playground. Almost under the slide where the teachers couldn't see.

"Get off her." Amara gasp, scrambling to her feet as Tyler is ripped from her, his friends look alarmed now and there is a throbbing on her arms and face. Her tears are silent as her chest heaves, looking at the red lines clawing up her forearms. "You're such a loser for hitting a girl." She looks up not recognizing the voice.

The boy is tall, but with height that indicates obvious seniority. Her looked about Ariya's age, the older classes were sometimes sent out for recess with the younger class men but it was rare If they ever played together.

Tyler face was twisted into something ugly now, red and bloody but the cloud of black smoke seemed to be pouring out of his ears as his usually blue eyes darkened with evil.
"you're both just dumb ni-" Tyler's words are caught in a scream as the older boy lunges at him. Amara cant see his face but the fear on Tyler's friends faces are evidence enough that whatever they were seeing was terrifying.

"Hey, need help?" The next time Amara saw the boy he was sitting inside the nurses station waiting room, a cotton ball stuck up his nose and as he held a wad of toilet paper to his eyebrow, Amara was attempting to ease some of the discomfort in her stinging arms and face but her attempts were futile and the nurse was taking her time to assess the damage done to Tyler.

"Shouldn't you keep the toilet paper on your face?" The boy shrugs, tossing the paper in the bin before moving to the nursing station with familiarity and comfort that let Amara know he had done this before.

"Nah, I've had worse." He repopulates before her with a stack of peroxide wipes. "These will kill the germs and it wont sting." He offered the information with a smile despite Amara's apprehension.
With slight hesitation Amara placed her arm in his awaiting hand, the boys smile melted into a frown at the sight of the lines running up and down her arms. He daps gently, a whole lot more gentle than when her sister had to clean her up after a fight when her mother refused to.

"Thank you for helping me." Amara offers ducking her eyes.

"Don't sweat it, that kids a jerk." Amara huffed in agreement before sitting a little straighter.

"I'm Amara." The boy in front of her treating her wounds with tenderness smiles.

"Nice to meet you Amara, I'm-"

"Julius! How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of the nurses station!" Despite the stern voice of the nurse, Julius chuckled, not a pause in his movements as he turned Amaras arm to clean the scratch wrapping around her arm. Tossing a wink that perplexed Amara more than anything before calling over his shoulder.
"Sorry, mom."