Curiosity Killed the Cat

Golden-Haired Girl

Jason's POV

She's odd, something I've never seen before. I mean sure, I've seen dozens of girls before. But never like her. She's beautiful, but in a way that's hard for me to get used to. I've never seen blonde hair before. I've heard of it, but people around here only have black or brown hair. Her eyes are startlingly big, framed perfectly with golden hair and rimmed with dark, long eyelashes. They're wide with innocence too, but they also have some sort of fire in them at the same time.

I'm not the only one who thinks this either. Of course I'm not. I hear people murmur and point at Kat. Guys snicker and I notice them attempting to flirt with her, in which they fail, since she's completely oblivious to their motives. She just smiles charmingly, greeting everyone in a friendly and polite manner.

I don't like it. I know I barely even know who this girl is, but no one is that perfect. I'm going to find that part of her that isn't do perfect. The only challenge is making her reveal her flaw. At first, I think it's going to take time. But after a few days, her stiff personality begins to grow lively and actually interesting.

"I'll show you around the forest after breakfast," I say to her, my voice muffled by a mouthful of eggs.

"Okay!" She replies, then her eyes land on a piece of bacon on her plate, but she seems perplexed by it.

I raise an eyebrow. "Never seen bacon before?"

"No... actually, I've never tasted meat before. It was against the rules," she answers, her wide eyes still fixated on the strip of meat.

"Well we're going to have to fix that. Go for it!"

Kat carefully cuts it into pieces with her fork, which makes me stifle in a laugh. After chewing, her face twists into a grimace. She nearly chokes after swallowing.

I guess eating meat for the first time in your life might be something you'd have to develop a taste for.

Fifteen minutes later, we're walking out of the entrance of camp and into the forest covered mountains. Her face is mesmerized in awe. It's like all the things I've grown up with since the day I was born are completely new to her. In reality, Kat is a child. A naive child that I somehow became responsible for.

"So, let's go to step one. These are called trees," I explain in a dull tone.

She laughs, lightly punching my arm in a playful manner. "I know what a tree is. I'm not dumb."

"You sure?"

"I think so," she replies, a shadow of confusion passing over her face with a mix of hurt. It makes me laugh.

Sarcasm. One thing that Kat may take a while to understand. I lead her deeper into the forest. She stays quiet most of the time, asking questions on occasionally.

"This is great. You know, today would've been the day where I'd have to get married. But instead, I'm out exploring things my family and friends could never dream of," she chirps.

I wrinkle my nose. "Married? You're what, fifteen? Sixteen? Why would you want to get married!?"

"I didn't want to. Sixteen is when you grow up. That's when you are assigned a job and husband."

"That's awful."

She nods, but I don't hear about what goes inside those walls very much for a while. She came here to get away from that and make a fresh start. The problem is, how far will authorities go to get her back?