Glass Hearts

III

Roy

I shoved Christine away inside. My secret place is really an abandoned, concrete building collapsing in on itself. I bring her to the only room with most its walls. There's three, barely any holes in them, and one I assumed used to hold glass and that's why nothing is there. I seat Christine down on a rug I brought it. I tend to sit across from the open "window" and look at the view. It's just a hill and then further down there's the town and some forestry.

I sit in front of Christine, on my knees. Her eyes appear to be foggy, she must be thinking of other things. Her nose seems to have stopped running. I carefully hold her cheeks and wipe away the tears. "Hey... What happened?" She gives no response. Just bone chilling silence. What happened to her? I take off my backpack and dig through, eventually pulling out a small travel package of tissues.

"You carry those around?" Her voice was quiet, skin pale. She tilted her head to the side slightly.

"My sister used to make me carry a package around."

"Used to?"

Her words hurt a little more than she would ever want them to. I doged the question. I gave her a few to clean up with. I shuffled over and sat beside her. She leaned on me, it surprised me and I tensed up. She must have not been realizing what she was doing.

We sat, for a long period of silence. Rain slowly descending from the sky. A few drops dripped inside. The silence between us shattered when Christine's stomach grumbled quite loudly. She panicked a little and wrapped her arms around her abdomen, probably as an attempt to silence the groans.

I zipped open my backpack and fished out one of my candy bars, handing it to her. She looked at it with a cute, confused look. "Have it." I said. She clearly was hungry. She took it and unwrapped it, taking a large bite. She chewed and chewed and chewed.

"It's delicious..."

I smiled only a little, "It's my favorite. Did you skip lunch on purpose?"

She shook her head no. It confused me further.

Christine

It felt great to finally have a substance in my stomach.  The candy bar tasted great too. I couldn't help but smile. However, tears still threatened to come. I felt unworthy. I felt that he shouldn't have interfered. That he should have let Joseph kill me. He wanted me dead. It started to feel like I wanted me dead.

I glanced at Roy. He looked so calm and collected. His messy night sky black hair, cool blue eyes, the small skar on his left arm, his faded jeans and blue stripped shirt. I assumed a deep blue was his favorite color, for how much was in his appearance.

I wiped the miniscule drops of tears on my face. "Thank you..." I barely squeaked out. He nodded. The silence felt comforting, and yet, awkward. Isn't it wrong to just be silent with someone? Why would I talk with someone I feared? Even if his warmth of body heat felt comforting.  My instincts were all over the place.

I swallowed when I finally said something, "How did you get that scar?"

He took a moment to answer, he was probably questioning if I was trustworthy, "A fight."

"Why do you fight? Doesn't it hurt?" My curiosity was getting the better of me.

"I fight to relieve anger. Maybe it's the wrong way but I don't see any other way. It doesn't really hurt. I mean, I don't tend to notice. I think the worse I've ever lived through was when some thug broke my leg. He cheated though. He tried having someone else drug me so he'd win. One of us was lucky, I guess." He shrugged.

I nearly gasped, "I... I don't like to see people fight... It seems pointless, and yet, sometimes it's the only way out sometimes."

"Odd to hear your opinion. You're usually the quiet one that agrees with everyone and lets people choose for you."

He was right, nothing about that was wrong. "Well... There's no one here to make choices for me... I mean, I'm probably just an obsticle to you. You saved me for no reason, then dragged me here. You should have left me. Everyone wants me dead anyway." I curled up and hurried my fast in my knees.

The words hung in the air, letting him soak it in, "I don't want you dead." He lifted my face so I would look him in the eyes, "I'm someone, aren't I?"

My eyes widened, "But... But... But you're only one person. One person can't make a difference."

"I'd beg to differ. Anyhow," it amazed me how he just brushed it off so easily, "why was Joseph there? Beating you up?"

"He despises me. He thinks that I'm using Matty as an object. I only try to help. She threatened to drink a bottle of clorox last month. It was me to be the one to stop her. Not him..."

"What a douche." He snickered.

"It's why I've told her a million times to dump him. She won't listen. He terrifies me."

Roy gave me a look I didn't understand, he reached over and wrapped his arm around me. He smiled, and I couldn't help but let  a small smile twist up my lips. I felt embarrassed and looked down. "Well, you can take refuge in me. I'll be your shield when you can't stand any longer." His words silenced me.

***

Roy later said that he had to leave to get some things in town. He claimed he would come back, and for me to not worry. I wasn't going to stop him. There was still a shred of fear in the back of my mind for Roy.  I wouldn't tell him any different, I couldn't.

Before he left, my phone went off in my pocket. I groaned and pulled it out. My grip tightened around the device when I saw who it was. Matty.  I wouldn't know what to do if I answered.

"Roy?" I asked, looking away from him.

"What is it?"

"Can you... Take my phone? If I kept it, I'd probably answer Matty and did myself a hole... Apologize and everything, say I was in the wrong."

"Sounds like a good idea." He held out his hand.

I ploped the phone down in his palm. I couldn't even think what to do if my brother decided to call while Roy had my phone.  I'm gonna be killed. I'm dead. Totally dead.

I laid myself out on the cold concrete once Roy left. I listened until the heavy footsteps had ceased to echo. I shoved my backpack to the side and opened it. I pulled out my math homework and struggled with it for a while. Word problems were never my forte.

After a while of sitting in silence, or messily writing numbers on a paper, I grew quite bored. I thought back to the mix of emotions that the conversation with Roy was. It felt odd, to have someone that terrified me save me. To care for me. It left me baffled. There must be something he isn't telling me. Maybe a friend set him up. I was determined to find out.

You can take refuge in me. I'll be your shield when you can't stand any longer. Why did he say that?

I pulled out my sketchbook as his words rang in my head. I scribbled over and over, just drawing a person. They looked... Happy. It came as a surprise because all my previous illustrations were full of anger or sadness. I found myself smiling and flipping through pages, drawing to my hearts content.

I didn't know what time it was when I was drooping. I was growing tired. I could tell. I was practically yawning ever minute. I was already laying on the floor, and it didn't take long before my eyes fell shut. It went dark.

I dreamt of my family, happily smiling.