Aaron and Blue

Chapter 3

Things have changed between them. Their spheres of isolation have somehow become connected by tiny, fragile threads. They pass a few words back and forth between their desks, careful not to break whatever was forming there. Blue and Aaron test out their friendship, still not entirely sure what that word entails. They get off the bus together sometimes, always at Blue's, that was the unspoken rule. They sit and listen to music or talk. Carefully.

"I have something to show you," Blue says suddenly.

"Ok."

She stands and leads him out of the room, down the hall, and out the back door. They walk through the maze of houses, Blue always slightly ahead. Aaron sees Blue shiver slightly in her tank top. The fall is almost here. Well, as here as it can be in Texas heat. She leads him to the edge of a patch of trees. Her trees. These woods are where she belongs. Blue darts between the trees, going deeper into the foliage. Aaron pauses at the edge of the woods, then presses on. Sunlight filters through the trees, and Blue almost expects to see fairies peering out from the bushes.

The woods begin to thin as they reach a creek. Blue stops short, leaning down to pry her shoes off. She balls up her socks and steps into the clear shallow water. Aaron follows, rolling up his black jeans. They wander up and down the sun speckled creek, dancing through the water. Blue spins, arms outstretched, hair streaming behind her. A flower from her hair comes loose and twists into the water. Aaron reaches down and carefully plucks it from the water. Finally, Blue sits, slumped, on the bank of the creek.

"So why did you transfer?" Blue asks, leaning back. Aaron kicks the water, stubbing his toe on a rock. He winces but tries to hide it.

"My parents got a divorce," he mumbles.

"Is that why you are so angry? You try to hide it, but it's not that hard to see when you know what you're looking for."

"I'm not angry," Aaron responds sharply. Blue raises her eyebrow.

"Yes." Aaron rubs his knuckles against his jaw and kicks the water again. "I can't help but think that maybe it's my fault."

"It's not your fault. My mom left when I was six," Blue says matter of factly . "I was mad for a while, but being mad won't make her come back." Aaron shrugs.

"I guess. You still get in a lot of fights though."

"I don't fight about that. Sometimes I just need to have some control of what people think of me." Blue shrugs. "Anyway, it's ok. I know what you're going through," Blue says and pushes her hair out of her face. Aarons eyes snap up to hers. He drops the flower in his hand and clenches his jaw.

"No you don't. You don't know what I'm going through." His voice shakes with anger. Blue starts to say something, but Aaron holds up his hand to silence her. "I'm not finished!" He is shouting now. "Your mom left when you were little. You barely knew her. I lived with my dad for sixteen years. I dealt with him for sixteen years! And no matter how much I might try to hate him now, I can't. He was awful and I can't even hate him." Aaron's voice is shaking so much he can barely get the words out. "How dare you tell me you understand what I'm going through? You know nothing about me!" A tear streams down his cheek, and he wipes it away impatiently with the back of his hand. "You know nothing about me. Freak." Aaron spits the last word venomously. Intending to hurt.

Blue hunches over like she's been hit in the stomach. Her hair streams down, over her face and the ends dip into the stream. Aaron storms away through the trees, leaving a trail of snapped twigs behind him, shoes swinging from his hand.

Blue sits still for what feels like an eternity. She let him in. She told him something that she had never told anyone at school before. She thought that maybe after all this time she could finally find a friend. But he had left her, stabbed and bleeding. He had ruined it. Tears carve their way down her face, leaving ravines and sticky salt. The armor that had served her for so long had failed.

Blue manages to pick herself up. His words are still ringing in her ears. "Freak. Freak." As she walks, Blue tears out flowers. She rips them from the ground in bunches. When she reaches the house she goes back up the stairs and into her room. Blue pulls her strands of hair out of their tangles. Standing in front of a mirror, she begins to weave the pieces together into a crown, a halo of blonde hair with flowers woven in. "You are strong," Blue tells herself, a few remnants of tears still on her face. "You do not need anyone. You survived this long yourself. You can do it again."

Blue lays down on the dusty floor and lets the music wash her away.