Broken Crayons Still Colour

Chapter 3

~Mark's POV~

First lesson today was Humanities. The problem is, I'm quite good at History but I am absolutely useless at Geography, which makes me only an average student at the subject.

I was second into class today, like always, because Emma is always first, and I was 20 minutes early to class. My Humanities teacher, Mrs Johnson, told me that Emma has to come into school 2 hours early every day. School starts at 8:30am for me so that means she comes in at 6:30am every day!

I did the same thing I do every day. I sat down, grabbed my books out of my bag and waited for my teacher and the rest of the class to arrive. Suddenly, I had the urge to talk to Emma again.

~Emma's POV~

"Hey." Mark said to me. I don't know why, but he never stops trying. He's been trying to get me to talk since he started at the school. I applaud him for that though; no-one else even tries. I don't even know the names of very many in my class, never mind anything about them. I had the courage, so I decided to say something.

"Hi..."
"Do you want to talk, or are you only saying something because I have been trying for almost 8 months?" He asked me.
"For the f...first time, I w...want to t...talk..."
"Oh. Cool! So, should we start from the beginning? Like, as if we have just met."
"Y...Yeah.... I g...guess..." I was terrified of messing up. I'm not sure why, I just was.

~Mark's POV~

"Okay. Hi, I'm Mark." I began.
"I'm E...Emma." I noticed again, that her face looks as if she was hiding something. It's sort of annoying, but I just want to see her comfortable with me, so I haven't asked he about it. Apart from that, she is just so perfect.
"So, do you have any siblings?" I ask.
"Y...Yeah... I h...have a b...brother. His n...name is Seán. He's my t...twin... I haven't s...seen him i...in about a year t...though."
"Oh... You know, you're safe talking to me. You don't have to worry like you are."

"Sorry... I'm trying n...not to stutter but I h...haven't spoken to a...anyone normally in a...almost 9 years..."
"It's okay. I understand..." I tell her. How could she not have spoken in almost 9 years?! She's only 15 like me... And what does she mean by normally? "I have a brother called Thomas, he's 2 years older than me. When's your birthday?" She looked down at her hands and looked as if she was going to cry.
"I...I don't know w...when my birthday i...is..." I knew this must have been a sensitive subject for her but I asked,
"Why don't you know? Have you ever celebrated your birthday?" I didn't understand how she didn't know her birthday. I thought everyone knew their birthday.
"We w...were put up for a...adoption as soon as we were born, so Seán and I were n...never told when our b...birthday was. We never really h...had anyone t...to celebrate it w...with. The adoption h...home owner didn't care so n...none of my foster p...parents could c...celebrate it e...either."

"Oh... So, what's your favourite hobby?" I ask, trying to change the subject.
"I don't r...really have a...any hobbies. I p...play the violin s...so I guess t...that is a h...hobby..."
"Cool. I play the trumpet in band which I enjoy, but I also play a lot of videogames." I smiled at how cute she was.

"You know, I have only just noticed you have a slight Irish accent. It's cute you know." I say smiling.
"Thanks... I'm not sure w...why Seán was given a...an Irish n...name and I wasn't, e...even though we are t...twins." Every time I said something, I just hoped I would get her to look more comfortable around me, but every time, I would be disappointed. It was frustrating because I just wanted to see that she was happy, at least a tiny bit.

~Emma's POV~

"Can w...we talk later? I d...don't want anyone knowing I a...am talking to someone. I w...would like to t...talk to you m...more. I feel okay t...talking to you." I asked Mark.
"Yeah, sure. I'll give you my phone number if you want." He looked slightly sad but I knew he understood. He wrote his number down on a piece of paper and handed it to me. "Text me when we get out of class."
"Thanks." I say. I don't know what it was about him, but every time I go to say something to him, I get butterflies in my stomach. Is that normal?