Everything Has Changed: The Lost Years

Chapter 1: Arrival

The highway stretched out endlessly into the horizon, and Quasimodo rested his head against the glass, watching the trees fly past them as they drove. The radio played lightly in the background, and silence had stretched between the driver and the passenger for hours now, uncomfortable and tense.

"D-did you t-tell them about me?" he asked finally, not taking his eyes off the trees, hearing Johanna shift beside him.

"Of course."

"I-I mean, about... everything?"

"Yes."

He nodded, fiddling with his hoodie strings, wondering how much he would have to brace himself for the inevitable look of disgust in his new family's eyes when he arrived. They would try to hide it, of course. Johanna had told him they were nice people, experienced with kids from difficult and broken homes, kind and eager to give him a life away from the abuse. He wondered if they had ever met someone as broken as him, on the outside as well as the inside.

"I showed them a picture," she said finally, glancing at him briefly. "If that's what you're worried about. But you shouldn't be. They won't judge you."

It was impossible to know if that was true. Everyone judged him on first sight. 

It had taken a while to get used to the idea of a new family. To get used to the fact that his father wouldn't be in the picture anymore. To move so far away, to start new somewhere else. He'd moved often, but never alone. Never without the threat of someone finding out about the violence he experienced on a daily basis. At least he wouldn't have to worry about that anymore.

And it had been hard to leave Mich. The only person besides Johanna to care about him, really and truly, and now he had to leave her. He could still feel the ghost of her arms around him, hugging him tightly before he had had to leave. He would have stayed in that moment forever if he could, but instead he had left her behind. He had cried for the first half hour as they drove away, and Johanna had patted his shoulder and told him to let it all out, that she understood and that she wished things could be different.

She didn't understand. How could she? She'd never had to experience a sudden bright ray of sunshine in the greyest of eternal storms, a light touch when all the rest had been heavy. How could she know how he felt about leaving Mich after all she had done for him?

Still, he was grateful for the comfort, and for Johanna herself. She had tried her best over the years, standing up for him when she could, leaving gifts, checking in. And she was driving him seven hours north, so that counted for something.

But soon she would be gone too. Quasi had no idea what to expect of his life now. Not a single familiar thing to cling to, besides the music that he had shared with Mich over the last year. And that was terrifying.

* * * * * *

The heat was stifling, but he was reluctant to remove his hoodie. It felt like a protection, hood pulled up as they entered busier roads, hiding from prying eyes in the cars next to them. The only thing he could control. 

"We're nearly there," Johanna told him, and he sunk in his seat, fighting the urge to ask her if they could just go back home. They couldn't, of course. His home was in front of him, not behind. 

And it was a nice one, he had to admit as they eventually pulled up in front of a house. A modest queenslander, but nicer than any of the places he'd lived in by far. Waiting on the veranda was a couple, all smiles and excited waves, and Johanna turned to him as she turned off the car, letting him take a moment to breathe. "Take your time. Are you going to be okay?"