No Body No Crime

Out Of The Woods

"Up, up, up. Good!" I shout clapping my hands as Iz looks at me with a focused expression. Football is quickly becoming our thing, I'm not trying to force her into playing but I'm happy she's trying it out. I take a break grabbing my water bottle and watch Nate trying to walk. He stands easily but it's always the first step that causes him to fall, he's quick to try again and I know I've got a stubborn one on my hands. I walk over to him and rub his little head, he giggles looking over at me before going again. I sit in the boot of the car and Iz joins me.
"Can we go again?" I chuckle and shake my head, I take another sip from my water handing it to her.
"Stay hydrated and then we'll go again." She smiles happily swinging her feet before slowly sipping the water.
"You excited?" I ask looking at the sun. We're close to Hillside trying to go around London is slowing us down but we're close, I can feel it. She lowers the bottle and smiles shakily.
"Yeah, I uhm I can't wait." I squint my eyes at her as her face drops.
"Tell your face that then. What's up?" She shrugs childishly and I frown at her.
"What if they don't like me?" I don't understand and my face clearly shows that.
"Who?" She sighs annoyed.
"The other kids." My mouth forms an o and I nod once.
"You don't want to be different." She breathes out a sad yeah and starts fiddling with the edge of her top. She refuses to meet my eyes and I move closer to her.
"Being different is cool, I'm different everyone's different. Iz you can't be looking at the possibilities-" she sighs and looks at me, her eyes are red and I know this is affecting her more than I thought.
"It's not a possibility anymore, I am different. How can I make friends when everyone will see me as the girl who killed her parents?" She throws her hands up and her voice is croaky.
"I don't see you like that, Iz we had to do things to get home, that makes us different sure but we shouldn't feel ashamed." Her bottom lip quivers and my breathe catches in the back of my throat.
"But I am ashamed, I just want to be normal, people like normal." She sighs and I pull her into my side. Her face is in my chest and she's crying but I hold her.
"I like different Iz, I like you just the way you are, please don't change for anyone." She pulls away from me and I look down at her.
"I couldn't make friends before and I definitely can't now." She rubs her eyes sniffling trying to stop the tears.
"What do you mean?" I ask trying to pull her back. She escapes my grasp.
"The other kids made fun of me, called me a freak. I tried to fit in but it didn't work they just kept going." She sobs and my eyes lower.
"Oh Bella, come here." She sinks into my side and I hold her tight afraid she'll grow up to soon, but she already has.
"Kids made fun of me too, hit me, called me names for being different." She looks up at me, tears streaming down her face.
"What happened?" She whispers and I bite my lip.
"A group of boys were beating me up pretty badly and my uncle found me. Taught me how to defend myself amongst other things, they never bothered me again. I wish I handled things differently rather than with more violence. I should of told someone, asked for help and support but I was too scared. Bella, Hillside accepts everyone, you won't be seen as different because we all done things we didn't want to, okay?" She nods into my chest and I rub her back.
"Right, stand up." I say moving her off me, she wipes her eyes confused and I just kick the ball to her.
"We gotta get back to training, can't have you slacking before Mary starts training you." She shakes herself off and I start quickly, she easily saves a high ball and stands up fast. She kicks the ball back and I stop it. She looks down confused and I walk towards her. I grab her in my arms and hold her again.
"If you ever need to talk, please don't be afraid to come to me or to Lisa." I whisper and she squeezes me back.
"I will." She whispers back and I back away, wiping my eyes I clear my throat.
"Come on, back to work." Just as I said that I hear Mrs P call for me.
"Aurora!" She shouts and I rush towards her grabbing my crossbow. I come to a halt when I realise what it was.
"Oh my gosh!" I exclaim laughing. Nate is waddling around before he falls back down.
"Oh my clever, clever boy!" I congratulate, picking him up and catching him. He giggles and claps his hands, happy tears threaten my eyes and my lip wobbles. I set him down and he stands walking towards me. He keeps walking this time all the way over to Mrs P who has her turn cuddling him. I smile happily at their cute moment. I feel a tap on my leg and I look down to see Bella holding the ball.
"Come play?" I chuckle and pick her up. Placing her on my shoulders she laughs and I start walking around with her at this height.
"How's it look up there?" I laugh and she throws her arms out, the ball dropping down.
"So cool." She chuckles pretending to fly. She reaches for the leaves her finger tips circling them. I set her down on the ground and she rushes back to her box.
"I need you to fly that high when you jump Bella, think you could do that?" She nods lowering her stance and hopping around. I laugh shaking my head thinking about the future for once. My future, with Less, my Aussie family and the kids including Mrs P. I think of all my memories with them, the shopping mall, the city, the car, everything rushes through my head and my mind runs through it. I want all this in Hillside but what if things don't work out. What do I do then?
"Are you gonna kick it or keep staring off into the distance?" For that answer I kick it full power at her, surprisingly she blocks it but shakes her hands in pain. I stick my tongue at her and she gives me the middle finger.
"Bella!" I exclaim running for her, she turns on her heels and sprints.
"You started it bitch!" She shouts back cackling but I keep running. She notices that I'm catching up and so runs to the aid of Mrs P.
"Lisa, she's gonna kill me." Mrs P looks at her unimpressed as she hides behind her.
"What did you do?" She asks sceptical. Iz hesitates and I use this to my advantage.
"She said a bad word!" Mrs P raises an eyebrow at us and Izzy gasps.
"You snitch." She calls and I shrug at her, Mrs P gives me the go ahead and steps away. I grab Iz before she has the chance to escape and tickle her, her laughs echo through the woods but I don't care, these are my people, they deserve to have fun.