Third grade:
Sophie laughed as Keefe splashed water at her. They were at the beach for a field trip. Everyone in the grade was there. It was packed with kids. Thankfully, they found a mostly secluded spot still in the eye of the teachers.
"Wanna go build a sand castle?" Sophie asked.
"Yeah!" Keefe replied.
They waded out of the water and to a spot of damp sand. Sophie raced over to find a bucket and some shovels. She brought them back, and they got to work.
They were making an impressive castle with turrets and a moat when an unusually tall, bony girl came over. Her poofy hair was barely tamed in a braid. She kicked the sand castle. They both stood up.
"Hey!" Sophie pouted.
"Watcha gonna do about it?" The girl put her hand on her hips.
"What was that for?" Keefe grumbled.
"Because." She stalked closer and pointed at his chest. "What's that thing."
"What?" He looked down. He didn't see anything unusual.
"That ugly line down your chest."
Keefe realized she was talking about his scar. "Oh... Ugly?"
"Yeah, you look like you were split in two or something." She gave him the stink eye.
"Oh..." He crossed his arms over his chest, hugging himself. "I mean, I kinda was."
The girl snorted. "What, did you get ran over by a semi or something?"
"No." Keefe hugged himself tighter. "They had to cut me open to do surgery when I was younger. That's just my scar from it."
"Well, it's hideous."
Something flickered in his expression as his eyes turned shiny with unshed tears. He turned away and blinked hard.
Sophie had enough. She cut in between them.
"Leave him alone!" she told the girl.
The lamp post girl laughed. "Yeah. What if I don't?"
She was ready to smack her. And she might've if a blond girl with small braids in her hair hadn't cut in.
"Stina!" the girl shouted. "Remember what the teacher said? You'll get in trouble if you keep picking on people. I don't need to sit by myself at lunch again because you got in trouble." She dragged Stina away. The blonde girl shot her and Keefe an apologetic glance.
After mentally debating if she should just run over and smack the living tree, Sophie went over to where Keefe was standing. He was still slightly curling into himself, staring at the sand.
"Are you ok?" she murmured.
He only nodded, then stalked away to chairs with everyone's stuff without saying a word. He grabbed his shirt and threw it over his head. It clung to his still damp skin. He grabbed his towel and dried his hair. It stuck out in all directions.
Sophie grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her shoulders. She followed him to the umbrella. They sat down.
Keefe still wouldn't say anything. He pulled his knees to himself and wrapped his arms around his legs. He stared out at the lapping waves of the ocean.
When he absent-mindedly reached up to the scar, Sophie said, "I think your scar is neat."
She saw him smear away a tear. She hugged him. She could hear him sniffle a little bit.
It all of Sophie's willpower to not go over and clobber Stina right then and there.
YOU ARE READING
Broken Heart/Broken Mind
Random(Human AU) Sophie and Keefe met in the children's hospital when they were little. Because of how long they were confined to the four walls of the hospital, they became very close during their stay. As the years pass, they wind up being in the same c...
