Once Upon a Cliché

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 ~

Four Years Ago

The sun was going down. My feet skidded across sand, my hands tightened around the metal swing set chains, and my eyes looked at, but didn't see, the playground in front of me. The little kids were starting to go home after an afternoon filled with laughter and games, and the park seemed almost eerily empty as dusk began to fall.

Yet, at the same time, it felt peaceful. I let my eyes drift close as I swung to a stop, listening to the relative silence. A second later, it was broken by the sound of footsteps through the sand, and before I knew it, the chains rattled as someone sat on the swing next to mine. Automatically, my glance shifted right, and there he was. It was Hale. Only Hale.

I pressed my lips together, looking away. "Why are you here?" Then, without thinking, I rephrased the question: "Did my sister send you?"

"She might've," he said slowly, shifting in the all-too-small seat. "But I came here for you." When I said nothing, he kicked at the worn suitcase by our feet. "You know, normally when kids run away from home, they think to go somewhere else besides the park right next to their house."

I sighed. "I'm not running away anymore." I paused, before admitting ashamedly, "there were only two dollars in my piggy bank."

He snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. This only earned a glare from me, but he tried to calm himself before he went on. "So I guess that was a failed attempt, huh?"

I just stared at the ground miserably.

Hale stared at me carefully, watching me in a way that made me squirm uncomfortably. "So, Em," he started out, "why did you want to run away?"

"I wasn't really trying to run away," I grumbled, ignoring his dubious look. "A boy made fun of me in class today."

"Ah, the problems of a ten year old."

I kicked sand at him spitefully, earning an ounce of satisfaction when he whined and complained about how I'd gotten dirt in his eye. "Hmph," I huffed, "serves you right. Besides, he didn't say just anything." I blushed a little, embarrassed. "He said I was stupid and ugly, and no boy would ever want to kiss a girl like me.'

Hale raised an eyebrow. "Did he?"

"I'm serious!" I groaned exasperatedly, thinking to myself that Hailin must've been some kind of crazy to keep an idiot friend like him. "What if I end up old, wrinkly, and alone with a hundred fat cats? I don't want to be a lonely cat lady! I don't even like cats that much! And I'm allergic—"

"Em!" Hale exclaimed, stopping me. Even as he tried to put on a serious face, he couldn't help but laugh. "You're overreacting, you know that? So what if that boy doesn't want to kiss you? He's probably just jealous you have too many crayons or something."

I pouted, folding my arms across my chest again while I looked away indignantly.

After a few minutes of silence, Hale asked, "That's not the real reason why you're out here, is it?"

I froze, wondering how it was he could see through me so easily. That's always how it was. He and Hailin read me like an open book. Slowly, my arms went slack, and suddenly I wished I could go back to the silence. "I...I like it out here."

He didn't say anything, waiting for my explanation.

I folded my hands in my lap numbly, watching the sand blow away as a short burst of wind rustled the leaves of the trees surrounding us. Then the wind stopped, and it returned again. That quiet, this time laced with Hale's patient expectancy. "It's weird..." I said softly. "Out here is quieter than in my own house."