If Rudy didn't Die

Chapter 10

Rudy's POV
Today was the first day of school.
We weren't looking forward to it.
Sadly, of all the places that could've survived the bombing, our old school was still standing.
It was going to be hard; the place brings back so many memories. Fußball with Tommy Müller and the others, the time Liesel beat up someone for bullying her about her inability to read.
I doubt I'll ever kick a ball or get in a fight again. I don't even want to.
Tears poured down my face.
It had barely been a week since the bombing. And on the walk to school, we would have to go past my home. Our home. Our old home.
The bürgemeister was friendly enough, and it was nice at his house, but I knew it would never be as good as Himmel street. Nothing ever could be.
I heard knocking on my door.
Saukerl! It's probably Liesel! You can't cry in front of her!
Liesel's POV
The bell rang.
Time to get up for my first day of school in just under a week.
One week.
Time passed slowly. The bombing felt so far away, but so close at the same time. It broke my heart thinking about it, so I got changed quickly and started reading my knew book - Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Another English book, but I enjoyed their writing style. As long as I only read it in the bürgemeister's house, I would be okay.
The bürgemeister's house.
I still called it that. It wasn't really my home, and never would be. Home is where your family is, where you feel comfortable. Rudy was my only family, and even then, he wasn't literally related to me. And this was the least comfortable I've ever been. Today, I had to spend the day at yet another uncomfortable place; school. The place where my friends would haunt the alleyways, where I would never escape.
Keep yourself together, Liesel. You have to. They can't view you as weak.
Before I could even start reading the book that had dropped onto the floor, I heard loud tears coming from Rudy's room.
Rudy.
It was going to be even worse for him, I knew it, for even though I had only been there for five years, he had been going there for nearly his whole life (our infant, junior and secondary schools were all together in four separate blocks). He had a lot of friends who he would miss whereas I only had a few.
I knocked.
"Rudy, are you okay?"
Silence.
"Rudy, I know you're in there. I can hear you. Just open the door for me,"
The door unlocked.
As I crept inside, I saw Rudy sitting at the end of his bed, tears running down his face. It wasn't a sight I had ever wanted to see again. When we were visiting Himmel street just after he found me by the river, I vowed to myself to never let him break down again. It was sad how only a week later I had broken my promise.
My arms automatically wrapped around him as he cried harder onto my shoulder.
"Tommy. My brothers. They will all be there, haunting the hall ways. How are we going to stand it there?" he cried.
"Shh we will make it, don't worry. You have me, and some of our other class mates too," I muttered, trying to keep myself together. "Now come on, pull yourself together and we'll head off for breakfast. I promise it'll turn out alright, okay?"
"Okay"
We both smiled. That was a quote from one of our favourite books (A/N once again, let's pretend tfios was written back then) .
When breakfast was done, we slowly walked out of the house.
"I bet you a kiss I can beat you there," he smirked.
"And what if I win?" I questioned.
"It is very rare that'll happen,"
"Excuse me? I could beat you easily.......wait Rudy where are you going?"
"Getting a head start!"
Honestly. That Saukerl.
I'd like to say it didn't take much effort to catch him up, but that was a lie, and as I've said before - lying is pointless.
Nope, Rudy beat me all right. In fact, I was so 'slow' that Rudy ended up running back and carrying me there.
"Rudy! Put me down you Saukerl!!"
"Nein! Not until you improve on your running!"
I rolled my eyes again.
God he can be a pain in the neck sometimes.
Quite literally, as my neck was feeling quite sore that day. The silliness stopped when Rudy put me down outside the school. Everything about it was the same. Apart from the people there. As we went in, everyone was giving us sad looks. The memories were strong. Even the teacher who gave me my first watschen (beating) had sympathy in her eyes. We were the survivors of Himmel street. The people who had lost everything. Everything but each other.
"Liesel!" Evelyn Johnson came running up to me. She was my best friend who was a girl. I was happy to see her again, even if I didn't show it. "I thought you were dead! And Rudy, too!" she carried on.
"We're doing alright, I guess, thanks for asking," I responded.
"I'll leave you two to get used to the school again for a bit, " she winked at me, but before walking away she whispered in my ear "Jesus, Mary and Joseph are you two together or something!? I ship you two so much!!!!!"
To which I whispered that I'd tell her all eventually. Evelyn was really chatty, and a generally good person.
The next person to greet us was Franz Deutscher.
"Steiner. I hope all is good with you after the bombing,"
"As good as it gets when your whole family is dead, Deutscher" Rudy growled.
"Honestly I was only trying to be kind!"
Franz stared at me. "Your.....brown.....eyes......." he mumbled loud enough for only me and possibly Rudy to hear. Rudy's face seemed to flicker with anger for a second or two.
"Yes, they are brown, dumb kompf," I replied before Rudy - who now was grinning like an idiot - could do anything he'd regret. Franz blushed and walked away awkwardly. Evelyn walked by and gave me a look which confirmed one of my worst nightmares.
Franz Deutscher likes you, Liesel.
After that little incident, we headed into class.
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Okay, this chapter has been posted on 8th October.......also known as the day the Himmel Street bombing took place.....