I Solemnly Swear ☆ CAPTAIN SWAN

Chapter 5 ☆ The first book

                   

Emma's POV

Lily didn't come back for dinner that night.

I spent pretty much the entire afternoon under the stands with my Walkman, glad to be in the shade; when the supervisors passed everyone a snack and some water, I seriously started considering skipping dinner as well. People were still staring, Will was still scowling at me, but by dinner time my stomach was growling so loudly that I decided to head inside after all. The fear of lying in bed with a noisy stomach all night outweighed the fear of being stared at in the dining hall.

But I clung onto hope that at least Lily would be there, since we were sort-of-friends now. So it felt like a smack in the face when she didn't turn up.

I didn't see her the next day, either. Usually I tried to save the batteries of my Walkman because I didn't like asking for new ones, but I put in my earbuds almost as soon as I left the dining hall that morning. The start of yet another hot and dreadful day of summer break.

I went back to the stands, thinking she would go there if she was looking for me. But she didn't come.

Will found me, and he and his group of friends kicked sand under the stands when I wasn't looking. It got everywhere. My eyes pricked for ten minutes after they were gone, until tears silently rolled over my cheeks.

I skipped lunch.

The next day, I slipped an extra sandwich inside the pocket of my shorts during breakfast, so I would have something to eat when everyone else was getting lunch.

I skipped dinner.

I started practicing with pins on a door that wasn't used by anyone, and that wasn't visible from the spot where the supervisors were sitting during the day. I thought about how Lily did it, that time when I thought I had friend for the first time ever, but I wasn't as good as she was. So I went back the next day, to practice again. I saw the new kid. He was still on his own, but that wasn't uncommon at the foster home— and for some odd reason he didn't seem to care.

We exchanged glances every time we passed each other, but we never spoke a word. He was still carrying his backpack around with him, and on the second day of practicing with the lock, when I watched him going up the stands, my suspicion was confirmed; it was full of books. The books he'd studied so carefully at the library.

I wondered why he didn't go there anymore. I also wondered why I still hadn't seen Lily, and it had already been four days. My thoughts continually jumped from the new kid —whose name still nobody seemed to know— to his books, and back to Lily.  

On the fifth day, I was hungry, but I skipped the movie they were showing in the dining hall after dinner. Everyone was gathered in there, sitting in front of the screen in their pajamas, but I was still hidden under the stands. This time, I'd taken a sweater with me— which I was immensely grateful for.

There was a cool breeze coming through the gaps in the stands when I rose from my crouched position. I groaned; I'd been listening to Green Day and Paramore the entire day, which got boring after the fifth time I rewound their CDs, and there wasn't much under the stands to keep me busy. I fell asleep for an hour right after everyone went inside to get dinner, so now my muscles were sore from the hard ground.

I peered through the stands; everyone's attention was on the movie.

Great. I swung my bag over my shoulders and carefully snuck up to the side of the stands. There, I checked again, making sure the coast was still clear. When it was, I ran to the side of the building to hide in the shadows.

I guess it was pretty hurtful that no one missed me in the dining hall, but right now it was a blessing that I didn't have any friends. I could walk up to the door and force the lock open, and I didn't have to worry that my roommates were going to find it strange that I was already in bed when they came back from watching the movie.

"Yesss," I hissed when the door successfully popped open. I slipped inside, cringing when my stomach grumbled, but there was no one in the hallway.

I ran as fast and as silently as I could. When I reached the hallway that crossed the one I was sprinting through, I stayed still and listened.

No one.

Or at least, that's what I thought. I didn't hear the footsteps until I was already halfway up the stairs to the first floor.

"Hey, wait."

I froze instantly because I didn't recognize his voice, but then I turned around, my heart beating in my chest. And then my jaw dropped.

"What are you doing here?"

The new kid was standing four steps below me, his eyes glistening in the darkness. He went up two steps and the moonlight that came through the window at the top of the stairs illuminated his face.      

"Here," he said, completely ignoring my question. He dug something out of the pocket of his leather jacket, but I shook my head when he handed it to me.

It was a stack of toast and an apple.

"I get how you're feeling, but you shouldn't skip lunch," the boy simply said. "Or dinner."

And before I could ask any more questions, he pressed the food in my hands and went back downstairs.

I was stunned, but I looked down at the food he just gave me. My mouth was starting to water, and I hadn't had a decent dinner in so long that I took a few big bites before my mind cleared up again.

He'd known, this whole time. I hadn't been the only one who was watching him; he'd been watching me, too.

I was too consumed by the food in my hands to wonder why.

I opened the door to the bedroom and threw my stuff onto the bottom bunk on my left, closest to the door. I devoured the bread, and after I'd finished the apple, I checked the time on the clock on the wall.

Twenty minutes until the movie ended and the entire school would be heading upstairs. 

I quickly went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, and then I changed into my pajamas. With ten minutes to spare, I dove under covers of my bed, my backpack at my feet. The growling had stopped, and I kept seeing the boy's face in front of me.

He was, other than Lily, the only person who didn't seem to be frightened by me. But that didn't explain why he gave me that food.

I sighed, and then I leaned back. Only I wasn't expecting to hit my head on something hard when I lay back on my pillow.

I propped myself up on my elbows. Then I saw it; there was something under my pillow. I pulled it out from under it. A book.

It was completely worn out, and the edges were beaten up to the point where I wondered if someone dragged it over the floor with him. I looked around me, as if I was being watched, and repositioned myself until I could read the title.

Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone.

I didn't know this book, but I recognized the title after three days of observing its owner.

This was unmistakably one of the new kid's books. 

On the fifth day, I'd gained his trust.

On the fifth day, he gave me the first book.

☆ Side note: I decided to go with the British version of the book, since it's more logical that the boy would have that version. Anyway, you'll find out why later on 😆 ☆