Aaron and Blue

Chapter 5

  Blue slowly heals from her fight. The cut on her face closes and smooths over, leaving a small red line on her cheekbone. Her bruises turn first a deep purple, then fade to splotches of green and yellow. Taylor does not attempt to confront her again. He and his friends stay quiet about the incident, reluctant to let anyone know that he got beaten up by a tiny girl with flowers in her hair. Aaron looks at Blue in shock when he sees her after the fight and she returns his look of wonder with a poisonous glare.

Blue stands to get off the bus and wraps her scarf around her neck snugly. Aaron stands also, several rows behind her. She continues obstinately walking towards the doors and Aaron follows. When she jumps to the ground, she turns to face him.

"What do you want?" Blue shoves the words at him. He holds up his hands.

"I'm sorry," he says. "Please. I have something for you." Aaron slides his backpack off of his shoulders and onto to the ground. Blue crosses her arms and considers walking away but uncrosses them when she sees what is inside of his bag. Aaron lifts the structure out and offers it to her. Blue takes it gently, cradling the rickety fairy house in her small hands. The roof is crooked and messily painted green.

"I'm sorry about what happened at the creek," Aaron says quietly. "I shouldn't have freaked out at you like that. You weren't the person I was really mad at." Blue nods. The smoldering embers of her anger threaten to reignite, but she calms herself.

"It's fine. I shouldn't have said I understand. I don't." Blue carefully places the fairy house on the ground next to her.

She hesitates then says, "Look, it's pretty hard for me to trust people so it might be a while before things are back to normal." Blue cringes internally at her words. Saying what she is feeling has never been something that came easily to her. Blue keeps most of her emotions hidden deep down. Anger is the only one that can't be contained. It's too big.

"I can wait as long as you need me to," says Aaron. Blue rolls her eyes. Aaron smiles slightly and looks down.

"Yeah. I know," he says.

"Here. You can put it with the other ones," she says and turns to lead the way.

Aaron carefully places his fairy house among the others, a look of pride on his face. Blue looks at him and realizes that she can't afford to throw away this friendship. She has survived two years of high school and many years of middle school alone. She survived so long on her own but she doesn't want to be lonely forever.

It takes a while, but the fragile friendship turns into something stronger. They return to the creek and watch in wonder as tiny flakes of ice form. Aaron's usual long sleeved shirts are traded in for slightly thicker shirts and a black hoodie. Blue whispers snarky comments to him in class and feels a surge of pride when he cracks a smile. Somehow they survive midterms by cramming at the last minute. They spend hours on Blue's floor talking occasionally and quizzing each other over math formulas, physics, and US History. They reluctantly part ways for the winter.

Blue and Aaron spend the entire break separated. Blue's dad gets the day off for Christmas and he spends the morning finding a last minute tree that is small enough to fit into their kitchen. Blue strings it with fairy lights and candy canes. They get to spend the longest time together that they have in a while. He tells her the latest news from the shop and she tells glorified stories of what school is like, focusing on funny moments rather than the general harsh reality. Blue's dad begins to work before she gets up to catch the bus and ends hours after she gets home. Sometimes it feels like she has two parents that left, but her dad works for her. He works so she can have a place to live and a somewhat normal life and maybe some hope of college.

The new year comes, marked by the distant booming of fireworks. Blue sneaks out of her window wrapped in a blanket. She creeps among the houses, avoiding clusters of celebrating people. Blue reaches the woods guided by moonlight and finds the creek. Shivering in the frigid air, Blue folds her letter into a paper boat shape and sets it on the slowly moving surface of the water. Before it is swept away she pulls out a lighter and ignites the paper. Blue's words float up to the sky, carried by the smoke. Maybe they will find her mother, wherever she is now.

School begins again and Blue can scarcely control her jumping heart. She will see him again soon. Blue gets up on the day that school begins again, pulls a flannel shirt over her tank top, and smooths her tangled curls. She yanks on some battered boots and slings her backpack over her shoulder. Blue drags her feet through the neighborhood, out to the road. She sees him in the early morning light, surrounded by puffs of his breath. There is no mistaking the lanky figure clothed in black. Aaron turns when he hears Blue's footsteps, a wide smile on his face. Blue approaches, smiling back at him.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Aaron moves a little closer then carefully wraps his arms around her. Blue tenses for a second then relaxes into his warmth. Aaron rests his chin on her hair and allows himself to close his eyes. After a few seconds they pull away. Blue can't tell if it is the cold that is making Aaron flushed. The bus arrives and they ride to school, bracing themselves for the days ahead.