Girl at the Station

A Broken Clock Hand

  The next day, Charlie found himself in the dinning hall looking for E. He couldn't find her anywhere. Charlie finally gave up and went to go sit with Ben, Chase, Noah, and Gabriel. He sighed as he sat down.

  "You alright, mate?" Ben asked. Charlie looked at him as if startled by the question.

  "Yes, I'm fine. I just can't find E," he told. Noah didn't reply, Chase and Ben looked at him as if he was crazy, and Gabriel nearly spit out his drink. Charlie was taken aback from their reactions. "What?" he asked. Gabriel swallowed and cleaned up his mess, whilst explaining his accident cause to Charlie.

  "You're calling her E now?" he asked rudely.

  "Yes... what's wrong with that?" he asked wearily. The four boys exchanged glances.

  "You barely know that thing and you gave her a nickname?" Charlie almost shouted at him when he referred to E as 'thing'.

  "I can't pronounce her real name. So, I made it easier for myself," he gritted through his teeth. "And she's not a 'thing', she's my friend," Charlie said louder than he should have. A few heads turned, but no one interrupted the conversation. Gabriel laughed while Charlie started at him confused. Gabriel stood up from the table.

  "She's not your friend Charlie. She just needs someone to stand up for her." Gabriel immediately regretted saying the words that flew out of his mouth, when he saw Charlie's face. Charlie stood up facing Gabriel.

  "She needs someone to stand up for her because none of you will. When you see her being beaten you leave her to fend for her own. No one deserves that. Especially, her. Now, will you just leave me alone and we can all go on to being friends," Charlie hissed. Gabriel and him heard a small cough from behind and turned to face it. They saw E covered in coal and dirt and smelt of fire and ash. Her thick red hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and her eyes were a dark blue this time. Without a word Charlie lead E to an abandoned table at the end of the room. Charlie sat down while E stood up. "What happened?" she said in a concerned tone. Charlie sighed.

  "Just a disagreement that's all," he said. E looked him in the eye.

  "That," she said pointing to Gabriel's table. "Was not just a disagreement," she mocked. Charlie was quiet. "It was about me, wasn't it?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Charlie looked up at her with his big teal eyes, giving her a small smile. "What? Why was it about me?" Charlie was about to respond when E beat him to it. "Charlie you can't keep standing up for me like that!" she whispered.

  "Why not?" he retaliated.

  "Because if you keep helping me you'll get hurt," she gritted. E got up and started walking away when Charlie took her shoulders and turned her around. "What?" she barked rudely.

  "What happened?" Tears were pooling in E's eyes. "What happened?" Charlie repeated. E took his hand and lead him out of the dining hall and outside a classroom. E leaned against the wall without saying anything. "E what happened?" E didn't reply. Charlie looked at her, but she turned her head. "E what's wrong?" she still did not say. "You can tell me," he tried. E wiped away a stray tear. She took in a shaky breath.

  "Last night," she started. "Griffin and I, were cleaning when we heard a knock at the door." Now, E had tears streaming down her face, washing off the coal dust as she explained. "It was a man. He took Griffin and started to beat him. I tried to save him, but I couldn't...I...I couldn't do anything and Griffin paid for it..The last part of my family is...dead because of me." E slid down the wall, hid her head in her arms, and cried. Charlie placed himself next to her. He took her hand and held it in his. She wearily looked up to see Charlie sitting beside her. He took her shaking hands and lead her 5ft' 3in frame up. Charlie wrapped his arms around her.

  "I'll be your family now," he whispered.