Torn [Joker vs. Scarecrow]

03

By the time she made it home, the sun had already begun to set. Charlotte didn't mind the changing of seasons for that express purpose - dark coming earlier was always a comfort to her in the fall and winter.

She crept carefully into the house so as not to disturb her mother if the woman happened to have already drank herself into a stupor at that point. She was already in a poor mood without dealing with that.

Luckily, dependable ol' mom was exactly where she had hoped she would be, curled into a ball on the couch and snoring loudly.

"I had a great day at school today, mother," she said sarcastically, slugging off her backpack as she picked through the fridge for something to eat.

"All top marks from my teachers, ate lunch with the cool kids. It was just great," she continued, biting into an apple as she made her way up the stairs.

Sometimes, it was nice to pretend someone was listening.

She tossed her book bag on her bed and idled around her room for a moment before peering out the window that overlooked the edge of her yard and the spot where it met the Keeny property.

From the second floor, she could see more than half the cornfield as it stretched out of view. In the center, there stood a Scarecrow, tall and looming. Beneath that was where she routinely met Jonathan.

During the day, it was easy to hide in the dark rows of corn if his great grandmother happened to hobble out and check that he was still toiling away in the field, her presence announced long before she arrived by the sharp smack of the old screen door.

They had perfected their system over the past few years of knowing one another and the meetings were a regular thing, each of them having something worth escaping from inside their homes.

She allowed some time to pass since he would not be expecting her until after detention ended, then made her way out of the house, leaving behind her snoring mother.

She made her way through the tall rows of corn, something which she used to need a flashlight to do, and sat at the base of the scarecrow's perch to wait.

Shortly after all the lights shut off one by one in the Victorian home, she heard the sounds of someone approaching.

Jonathan, looking as worldweary and tired as always he did, wordlessly joined her on the ground.

"How was detention?" he asked, turning a piece of straw over between his fingertips.

"I ditched," she admitted quietly.

"Charlotte, it's the first day of school. How much trouble are you trying to get into?" he groaned.

He was never shy about criticizing her less than intelligent plans, though she tried to see it as coming from a place of good intentions.

"It wasn't my fault," she repeated the same words she always did under fire, shifting the blame her go-to in such situations.

Jonathan's eyes scrutinized her in the dark and she sighed, kicking at the dirt with the toe of her flats.

"Okay, so it was kinda my fault," she gave in. "But if Jack hadn't convinced me to do it, I would've had my Lit homework completely done, by now."

"Jack?" Jonathan prompted dryly.

"Y'know, that green haired kid from first period," she explained, shaking her head. "He asked me to skip with him and then took off like a total freak."

"I see. You must have gotten awfully friendly to be on a first name basis and skipping off together," Jonathan muttered.

Charlotte blushed in embarrassment, glad that the shading in her cheeks was invisible in the dark. She hadn't considered how her story would sound to Jonathan's ears.