Mr. Linden's Library

Story Part 6

     "What does melancholy mean?" questions Azalea.
     "You'll learn when you're older," I replied.
        Arthur continued with his story as if he was never rudely interrupted, "When Ebony had arrived home that day her parents weren't in sight. She quickly made her way upstairs to her room and plopped her bag down on the ground and pulled out her AP geometry. She quickly finished the ten story problems about polygons and quadrilaterals. Once she returned her geometry book to her bag she pulled out the book she had begun reading that day. It was titled 'The Bluest Eye' by Toni Morrison. She had only a few chapters left. She decided once she finished with the book she would make her way to the library on 221b Baker Street. She opened the book to page 394, and began reading. She was only there for 20 minutes before her father arrived home. When he entered her room her eyes went straight to her feet. He walked over to her with the smell of bourbon on his loose, stretched out shirt. Ebony quickly moved to the corner of her bed and folded herself into a ball. When she looked out her window she saw Tor. He was staring intently at her with fear. Her father noticed her gazing at the window and turned that way. When he saw the boy his face had quickly showed disgust. He stormed over to the window in a furry and slammed the curtains closed. Tor's face had turned pale white as all life drained from his body. He stood at the window in panic for a little over an hour. He saw nothing, but the sounds he heard were nothing less than horrific."
Arthur quickly forgot about the last part of the story when he continued on, "When Tor got up for school the next day he hurried over to his window and looked over. Ebony was sitting there with a tank top on. When he saw her badly bruised arms he felt as if all that had happened the night previous was his fault. He fixed his gaze on the small amount of freckles on her nose. She looked up from the book on her desk and smiled at him. He had never seen her smile before, but her smile was brilliant. Her face looked peaceful and her eyes danced in the light of the morning. He smiled back at her then quickly went over to his closet and changed. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. When he wandered over to his desk by the window he glanced up at Ebony's window, but she had already left. He grabbed his bag and stomped down the stairs, he quickly grabbed a granola bar and said 'goodbye' to his mom as he left for school. He ran outside and saw her walking down the street. He quickly hurried up to her. When Tor caught up with Ebony he looked over at her and smiled, 'Hello, Ebony,' he said bravely.' She looked back up at him and smiled, her eyes were sunken and tired. She had dark blue circles under her eyes, Tor didn't care. He loved her." Arthur's smile had stayed put on his face.