Greeting Insanity

chapter six

  

Leaving her room, Reyna grasped the plastic nob, closing her door efficiently. The morning was ripe. Today she planned to visit the clothing center, get some acceptable outdoor attire, then go gardening with Henry. The duo had grown close, forming a brother-sister relationship. After spending the whole day getting to know one another, painting a spare room the HTA provided, Henry suggested that the next day they do one of his favorite activities; gardening. The small boy revealed with a large smile, that he not only enjoyed academics, but also the faint smell of flowers that wafted into his button nose while planting. Or the dirt splatters that decorated his tanned skin, offering the illusion of freckles on his flawless complexion. The kiss of the sun's glow, radiating off his naturally bronzed appearance. After he listed these reasons to Reyna, she took it upon herself to join him in one of his favorite activities. Looking in the provided supply closet full of clothes that would fit her, she began to dig for an outfit she could get dirty, possibly destroy, seeing as she had never gardened before. In not too long, Reyna felt satisfied with a pair of army green, loose fitting jeans, a snug black t-shirt, and an over-sized grey sweater that she was prepared to change into after their disastrous journey through the dirt. With a proud smile, she made her way toward Henry who was seen wearing khaki pants, a baggy, pale grey long sleeve shirt, as well as a hot pink visor. Reyna chuckled quietly, gaining the preoccupied boy's attention, his narrowing eyes homing on her.

"Something funny?" His accusing tone caused her to break into another fit of poorly restricted giggles. The sight of the small boy with the bright hat on his head, adding on the fact that his British accent added an astonishing amount of posh-ness to his petite stature. The snickers came so powerful that she wasn't fit to respond with words, choosing to instead shake her head hopelessly. Looking at her current predicament, Henry narrowed his eyes further, taking on a look of intense squinting. Slowly Reyna regained her self-control, looking to the younger boy with expectant eyes, him returning the gaze with a reproachful one. Henry chose to ignore the older girl's insufferable attitude toward his beloved attire, standing and leading the way out of the mental center. Following the boy, the two walked down many identical hallways, white walls, white floors, white ceiling, lit with circular bulbs planted in the scheme of white, adding a blinding factor to the detested color. Nearing a large metal door, Reyna looked to the four guards who stood directly to the right of the obnoxiously heavy door. Reyna gave a single nod to the one closest to a clear keypad. The guard, his face shielded with a white uniform, returned her nod, he turned a complete ninety degrees, punching in a long, complicated code, before retracing his turn, another nod. Reyna smiled kindly at the guard, a smile that couldn't be returned, his mouth covered with the horrifying color of white. With a loud grunt the door swung open, revealing a colorful hallway, an array of shades plastered on doors that led to various sections of the institute. Before stepping over the threshold, Reyna grasped Henry's quaint hand, pulling him gently through the doorway. Henry complied, a large smile on his face for what was to come. After making their way through multiple hallways, a twisting endeavor of confusion, only mastered with the element of memorization that inflicted itself upon Reyna, from years of captivation in the bland building. Once the door to the outside was visible, Henry physically perked, adorning himself with a skip in his step. The two left the bland building, taking solace in a nearby, fenced off space. Henry had asked permission for the quaint gardening area, his request immediately put into action. Reyna opened her mouth to ask, how in the world he was granted permission so fast, but quickly shut it. Look at the boy, he's adorable. How could you say no? Henry led her, silently, toward the garden, opened the picket fence door, then sat abruptly in the middle of the soil. Reyna raised an eyebrow in question, following his actions exactly. The blonde headed girl repeated Henry's movements throughout the day. He picked up a handheld shovel. Reyna would pick up a handheld shovel. He would dig, she would dig. He would pot, she would pot. The system continued, him, her, him, her, him, her, him, her. Only after the two had successfully planted eight lilies, two tulips, four roses, and picked what seemed to be a million weeds, each, did the two stop. Hands aching, forearms shaking, Henry steadily shuffled the older girl back into the building, where they both washed themselves thoroughly in the gender separate, public bathrooms. Henry, of course, was accustomed to the kind of pain, the soreness that came with a long day of labor. Reyna, however, had never experienced an internal pain of this sort. Sure, she had been physically hurt, but this kind of throbbing that she felt under the surface, was a new experience entirely. Henry had to assist the frazzled girl all the way from the showers, to her room. After she was gently placed on the cushioned surface, Henry smiled from the doorway. The young lad wasn't permitted to enter her bed chamber, but he felt large emotions swelling inside him. Sure, he had a family, a mother, father, two older brothers. Nevertheless, he never truly felt apart of the football playing, banker working, pie baking, family. He never wanted to kick around a black and white football with his older brothers, they never offered anyway. He never felt a passion for the money-making business like his father, the schemes his father told him of, left a guilty feeling in his stomach. Henry never loved wafting in the scents of a freshly made cheery pie, his mother's specialty. No, the tanned boy had his own interests, ones that his family found...odd. His brothers, Murry and Albert, constantly teased him about his fascination with all things academic. His father thought it shameful, the way he outed multiple honorable icons, that shaped the world he grew up in. His mother thought the way he marveled at the sight of growing flowers, the dirt between his fingers, the sun on his face, was grimy and disgusting. Until now, Henry had not known real love, sure his family cared, bought him textbooks, went to his debates, but they never truly grasped his passions. Meeting Reyna, Henry was undoubtedly nervous about how the older girl would react to such an intelligent young boy, hoping she didn't hit him like the others. However, Reyna was a ray of sunshine, the ones he loved to bask in for hours. Even though she obviously had limited gardening experience, she still joined him, commenting on the gorgeous colors the lilies were, or how even the weeds had a special place in the garden. No, the small six-year-old, didn't have any sort of romantic feelings, girls had cooties after all, but he did feel an ever-growing amount of brotherly affection. He knew she was one to keep around.