Wool's Orphanage

Float!

Chara didn't even bother trying to get to her favourite seat first, Tom was walking towards it without even throwing her an intimidating look. It was like he knew she wouldn't try it. So she just followed him and took the seat next to his. Everyone who had to help prepare lunch was walking in and out of the kitchen and a few children were already seated.
Chara and Tom didn't talk during lunch, she tried to think of something to say but all that came to her mind were questions that she shouldn't ask while other children were there.
Something Chara didn't understand was Tom's behaviour. He was always so angry and annoyed by everything. But why was he in such a bad mood all the time when he had these amazing powers? Chara couldn't stop smiling, she was amazed and a little scared that she would wake up to discover it was a dream. This just didn't feel real. She was a little discouraged because she wasn't able to let the pocket watch float but she would try again after lunch.
Chara glanced over at Tom, he was a mystery to her, she had so many questions about this power and about him but she was too scared to ask any of them. Would he help her control it? He seemed so angry at her but then again he was always angry and aggressive. Maybe he hated her. Maybe he didn't want her to have this power too.
She decided to stop thinking about Tom and focus on positive things. Chara was excited to get back to her room and practice letting things float. Her thoughts were interrupted by Miss Lester.
"Remember that you all should be ready to go in an hour. We'll meet in the backyard where you're going to be separated into four groups. We will be back for dinner. Happy Halloween everyone!"
"Don't forget to bring your dishes to the kitchen." Mrs Cole added.
Chara had completely forgotten about Halloween. She didn't want to go, she wanted to practice!
Everyone was getting up but to Chara's surprise, Tom was still sitting next to her. He was normally the first person to leave the room. She noticed that he had barely touched his food. Sure it didn't really taste good but here in Wool's Orphanage everyone was happy when they had enough.
He suddenly looked at her, as if he knew what she was thinking, he had a smirk on his face but then it changed to a face of agony, he put his hands on his stomach and yelled over the loud chatter: "M-Mrs Cole? I don't feel so good"
She immediately came over, put her hand on his forehead and looked at his plate with a concerned look.
"Oh dear, you haven't eaten anything! I don't think you have a high temperature though, where does it hurt?"
"My stomach, I couldn't get myself to eat more." he looked at Mrs Cole as if the pain was about to kill him.
"Please go to your room, I will ask Martha to take a look at you and in the meantime I want you to rest and drink as much as possible. I'm afraid I can't let you walk through London today, I'm sorry. Chara please be a dear and bring Tom's plate to the kitchen for him"
She left the food hall in a hurry probably to search for Martha.
Chara couldn't believe this. He was obviously not sick! He just didn't want to go out! She didn't want to either. Chara was actually a little impressed by how easy it was for him to convince Mrs Cole that he was sick.

Tom was already at the door to his room when she caught up to him.
"You're not sick, are you?!" She said when he opened the door.
"What makes you think that?" He questioned innocently.
"Too bad I can't go out  today, I hope you have fun though." He added smirking.
"I don't want to go either!"
"That's not my problem." And with that, he closed the door. She wanted to go in but wasn't really sure what he would do. He was very scary sometimes. Tom probably didn't think about entering her room once, earlier today. Uncertain if this was the right decision she touched the doorknob and entered slowly.
Chara realised that she had never been in his room before, to no surprise it looked nearly identical to hers just without a mirror. Tom was sitting on his bed with a book in his hand, ignoring her. She had actually expected him to yell at her or worse. With a little more confidence she closed the door behind her and just as she did so she felt something heavy hit her head.
"What the-"
Then another thing hit her shoulder, she tried to shield herself from whatever attacked her with her hands. Looking up she saw 5 rocks floating above her head and they then immediately came crashing down on her.
"I don't remember inviting you in."
Tom was standing now, with an intimidating look on his face.
"I-I'm sorry" she was a little angry because he had entered her room too without an invitation.
"Do you think we're friends now? Do you actually believe that I would show you how it works? That I would care or like that you might have the same powers as me?" He had taken a few steps forward while taking and Chara pressed herself against the door getting more scared of him with every step.
"N-No! I- I was just-" he was right in front of her now.
"Stop stuttering. It's annoying."
"I was hoping you could help me come up with an excuse so I can stay here too." Chara was trying to sound confident but she was obviously shaking.
"Why would I do that? Have I ever given you a reason to believe I would enjoy helping you?" He stared at her for a few more seconds before turning around walking towards his bed.
Chara was just happy that he didn't attack her with more rocks so she opened the door to leave.
"You know I actually thought you were more intelligent than other children, turns out you're just as dull" Tom said, not looking up from the book that he had just started reading again.
"I-" Chara started.
"Out of everyone here you have the best excuse to stay. You better talk to Miss Lester, she is way easier to persuade. Now, leave." He still didn't look at her.
"I won't be bothering you again! I promise!" with that, she left the room as quickly and quietly as she could.
Chara felt stupid. Why hadn't she thought of this? It was so obvious what she had to do! She ran down the stairs and saw Miss Lester walking into Mrs Cole's room. Chara was trying to think of what exactly she would say to her and rubbed her eyes intensely so they would look red as if she had cried. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Miss Lester come out of the room and Chara trotted towards her with her head down.
"Miss Lester?" she said, still looking at the floor.
"What is it Chara? Are you okay?" Miss Lester went on both knees, so she could be face to face with Chara.
"I- I can't go." she tried her best to look very sad and managed to make herself tear up.
"Oh dear, why not? You were so excited a few days ago."
"I can't stop crying. I keep asking myself why my parents abandoned me. Who are they? Was I not good enough? Do they hate me? I-" Miss Lester interrupted her with a hug. Chara was surprised and didn't really know how to react. She just stood there.
"Oh, Chara!" Miss Lester let her go to look at her face and wiped a few tears away.
"Let's go to your room and talk a little. Would you like that?" She gave Chara a reassuring smile. Actually, Chara had hoped this wouldn't take long but she couldn't just say no.
"I guess." Chara muttered.
Miss Lester had held Chara's hand all the way to her room which made her really uncomfortable but she continued to pretend that she was sad. They were sitting on Chara's bed and had been talking about her parents for about half an hour. Miss Lester kept saying things like how she should look forward to the future not back to her past and she shouldn't care about things she didn't know. Chara had no idea what to say next, she didn't actually care about her parents.
"So you don't think going out with everyone else would make you feel better?" Miss Lester spoke up and gave her a small smile.
"No." Chara answered hoping this conversation would be over soon.
"But it might be a distraction and I promise you we'll have so much fun you'll forget all about the bad feelings this day brings for you." Chara could tell that Miss Lester really cared about her.
"I would prefer not be around other children today. They- they can be so mean." Chara sobbed trying her best to make it look real.
"What? Who is mean to you?" Miss Lester seemed surprised.
"Uum- I don't-"
"Please, I won't tell them that you said anything" Miss Lester took Chara's left hand in both of her hands and added,
"If you don't tell me I can't make it better."
Chara didn't know where this was going, she just kept on telling lie after lie. The most believable person to bully her was-
"Betty." Chara said, avoiding eye contact.
"That's what I suspected. Thanks for trusting me with this, Chara." She said while squeezing Chara's hand.
"But I don't feel comfortable leaving you her all by yourself, crying in your room. I'm telling you, this will be a lot of fun!" Miss Lester gave her a big beautiful smile.
"N-no! Please, I will be distracting myself with my new book! I can't go! I won't go! Please don't make me!" Chara broke into tears again and freed her left hand from Miss Lester to be extra dramatic.
"Oh dear, I'm not making you do anything! I'm sorry, Chara. But please promise me that you'll tell me whenever you're feeling down or you have a problem. I'm always here for you. I want you to know that. You can always talk to me." She got up from the bed and added,
"I have to leave with the others soon, maybe you'll change your mind but it's okay if you don't." And with that, she left Chara's room.
Finally. She was alone. Chara wiped her tears away and got up to pick up the books that laid on the floor.
She should feel bad about all that lying. Miss Lester was so nice and understanding, she had only been here for a month but Chara already liked her more than all the other adults. But she didn't feel guilty for lying to her. Chara got what she wanted and it felt good to get away with lying.