Surely Blue

~9~

I hear the grass crunch behind me. I turn around to see an angry Ms. Brady.
"Ms. Carter where have you been?" She asked turning a slight red shade.
"Out here," I answer looking down, hoping she won't notice my red cheek.
"Dirty little liar." She snarled, grabbing my forearm tightly. She forced me up. "Where have you been?" She repeats with her teeth gritted.
"Out here," I repeat in an annoyed tone. It wasn't a complete lie.
"Then why did somebody say they saw you jump the fence?" Ms. Brady asks, firing back. I shrugged my shoulders, and kept my expression blank. That has become a talent of mine.
Mrs. Brady's grip tightened as she dragged me inside. Everyone was finishing up breakfast, when she dragged me to the entrance of the hall.
"Go to your room and stay in the brat." She snarled in my ear forcefully pushing me.
I quickly recover with a stumble and go into my room. I look in the mirror and see a black and blue bruise starting to form on my cheekbone. I then look down at my forearm and see a bright red hand mark courtesy from Mrs. Brady.
I'm a mess. I pull my hair back into a loose ponytail. I'm done. That feeling of jumping over the fence was inexplainable. It was liberating, seeming as I've been locked up all my life. I don't have any clue as to what the world holds.
     I hear the door click open. Brayden's reflection soon appears mirror.
     "You alright?" He asks. I nod my head keeping it low, so questions won't arise. I didn't have the energy to explain myself.
     I turn my head slightly, making so wouldn't see the forming bruise. We sat in a silence. There was nothing to see.
     "I know your not happy with me, but are you that mad? You look at me." Brayden said, noticing my odd behavior. "Jack?" He then asks forcefully.
     Brayden bends down to look at my face. He puts his fingers under my chin, lifting my head up. I watch as confusion and anger grow in his eyes.
     "Did Ms. Brady do this to you?" He asks in a broad voice.
     "I fell," I say quietly. "Like you care." I then add.
     "You're lying and, yeah, I do care Jack."  He fired back.
     "No I'm not. How would you know?" I say with venom dripping off of every word.
     "Because, I do. Your a good liar, but like you said, I know you better than anyone." Brayden smirked, using his own words against me. 
     I don't say anything. He used his own words against me. I look back in the mirror soaking in the image of myself.
     "I don't want to be here." I say shattering the moments of silence. "I climbed over the fence and I didn't want to come back." I finally say.
     "Where would you go?" Brayden asks quietly.
     "I don't know. But I do know that I don't want to be here. I know that there is so much in this world, and we're confined here. As orphans, we have no legal guardian. That gives us freedom to do and be whatever we want." I elaborate to him. I look over to see him smiling.
      "You know Jack, for a quiet person, you have a lot to say," he smiled.
     "Quiet people have the most to say," I say turning around and sitting on my bed.
     "So...are we ok? Like friend terms?" Brayden then asks leaning against the wall.
      "I guess," I state looking down.
      "You guess? Just say yes or no," Brayden said in all seriousness.
     "Yes, Brayden." I say looking up at him with a small smile. "But I won't forget what you said," I then add with my smile fading.
     "Everyone come down to the dining room!" We then hear Ms. Brady call.
     Everyone crowds in the dining room and see a policeman leave through the front door.
     "One of you, who...hasn't...been identified, has saved a little girl from kidnapping. Her mother reported it to the police and the little girl said it was one of you, but she doesn't recall a name. The family has rewarded us with $150 dollars, but since we don't know who the person is, the money will go in our...savings fund," Ms. Brady reported. "Dismissed."
     We all go back to what we were doing when Brayden grabbed my arm.
     "It was you, wasn't it?" He asked. I take his hand and pull him into the room and close the door.
     "Don't tell anyone." I say lowly.
     "Why?  That's a well earned $150 right there." He said.
     "Yeah, I know," I huff.
     "It's what you did that's worth more. Not the money. That simple piece of paper brainwashed people," he said with a light tone. "And I'm guessing that's where you got that battle scar," he smiled.
     I smile in return as he chuckles. How does somebody like Brayden, like me. I'm rude, I don't talk, and I lack human emotion. He should've know to let me be the moment he started to talk to me.
     "So I have a question." Brayden then says with his smile slightly fading. I wait silently, implying the answer yes. "How did you end up here? In the orphanage?" He proceeds.
     The question threw me off. I try to forget that part of my life, but it somehow sticks in way like no other. I feel the lightness get sucked out of me.
     "I don't know. I was to young to remember." I lie, as I torture myself by replaying the traumatic events.
     "I know your lying. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Brayden said ever so softly, noticing my state of being.
     "Why are you here?" I then ask bluntly. I turn and look at him.
     "My parents got addicted to drugs and alcohol when my older sister died. I had nowhere else to go so they put me here and my little brother in an orphanage for younger kids." He explained. "He's 3," he then said as his eyes became glossy.
     "You don't have to-"I start to say.
     "No, I want to. I trust you. It's just, I haven't seen him since...and I just want to know that he's ok." Brayden said quietly, blinking away the tears.
     He turned away and rubbed both of his eyes. I watched as he collected himself. He got up and walked over to his bed and later down. I've never seen him fall apart like he just did. We both sat in yet another silence as night fell.