The minute they got home, Lassie tumbled out of Derek’s arms and bounded away, barking her excitement.
“Well, she couldn’t have been more pleased to get away from me,” he grumbled. Adette just laughed and ran after her.
Adette found her sniffing around with a great deal of interest in the living room. She gave a little snort and jumped up on the couch.
“Oh no, no, not on there, Lassie!” Adette cried, giggling and plucking the disappointed dog from her seat. “How about… here,” she decided, plunking her down on a worn old seat in the corner Derek had hardly noticed before.
“Keep an eye on her, would you?” she said to Derek before disappearing around the corner. He glanced after her looking very bewildered before seating himself on the floor with a huff. He stared at Lassie and she stared right back; they seemed to both be attempting to stare the other down.
Adette returned clutching a blanket made from a rainbow of different coloured patches sewn together. It looked quite old; the edges were frayed and it carried that musty, warm smell that signified many years of use.
“What’s that for?” Derek demanded, looking even more confused.
“Lassie, of course! She needs a blanket!”
She put the blanket over Lassie’s shoulders. She buried her nose in it inquisitively, and then upon recognizing Adette’s scent, snuggling down and closing her eyes.
“That’s quite an old blanket,” Derek observed.
“It was mine when I was a kid. It started off being a normal blanket but one of the ways I liked to occupy my time was locating and sewing on another patch. As you can see, it was quite a hobby.”
He stared at the blanket before saying, “Weren’t you busy building robot shit?”
“No,” she smiled, “I didn’t get into robots until I was about ten. My family were very disapproving, but once I discovered them they couldn’t keep me away.”
He gawked at her in disbelief. “And you’re eighteen now?”
“Yeah?” she replied, looking puzzled as to why he looked so shocked.
“So over nine years, you’ve gotten this good at making robots?”
“Yeah?”
He shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
Adette tilted her head to the ceiling, then asked, “Derek, where did you go to school?”
“Why?”
“Just curiosity, I guess.”
“I went to Sunfield Primary, and then Riverstone High.”
Adette didn’t answer, and it was only when he turned his head to look at her that he realized she was staring at him.
“What?” he muttered defensively.
“Derek, that’s where I went to school.”
“Really?” He looked surprised now too. “That’s amazing. I wonder if I knew you.”
Adette bit her lip, her eyes glittering with a suddenly realized knowledge. “I knew you.”
“You did?”
She smiled meekly. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “You’re joking. Right? You’re just messing with me.”
“No,” she said, taking a deep breath, “Allow me to explain.”
And so, she began her story.
It was like any other day in her second year at Riverstone High when she had walked into school, bag slung over one shoulder and head low, praying nobody would notice her. She had tugged her sleeves over her hands as she silently made her way to class. She melded in with everyone else, becoming a shadow, the girl that nobody noticed. No one could have guessed that that night, she was planning to die.
Her attempts to go unnoticed didn’t always succeed.
“Where ya going, Screwhead?” a boy said rudely, sticking out his foot and tripping her. She fell to the ground, grazing her knees. She didn’t move or look up; she simply seemed to freeze.
“What weirdo contraption you got on you today?” another sneered. They snatched away her bag and dumped its contents on the concrete. Mostly, it was just books that tipped out; except for a little silver robot about the size of a tennis ball.
“Oh look, she has got a robot on her!” one of them snickered. He lifted his foot to stomp on it, but she quickly moved to snatch it away. This only encouraged them.
“Look, the little freak doesn’t want to give up her toy. How cute.” His sentence was punctuated with a kick in the ribs. She slumped, winded and gasping for air.
“Hey, why don’t you fuck off?” came an unfamiliar voice. The boys all turned their heads and then ran off, yelling, “Oh shit, it’s a senior!”
Adette lifted her head to look at her saviour and was met with kind brown eyes and a gentle smile.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, offering is hand. She nodded, trying to hide the fact she was trembling, and accepted his hand. He helped her to pick up her books. His hand faltered as he reached for the robot.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she mumbled so quietly he almost missed it.
For some reason, that seemed to get his attention. He turned his head to give her a hard look.
“Hey, listen. Nothing is ever ‘nothing’, okay? Not even something that seems insignificant, like this. Everything you ever do will always matter because everything has a reason. Understand that?”
She just nodded shyly, staring at the ground.
“Now, if those boys ever come and hassle you again, you know who to call, right?” he said with a crooked grin. Once again, she nodded, although on the inside she was thinking about the very small likelihood she would ever turn to a stranger for help. Who ever does? She thanked him quietly and told him he was very kind.
“There is a lot more to true goodness of heart than external acts of kindness. Many fail to realize this,” he said, and then walked away.
That night, she never went through with her plan to kill herself; or the next night, or the next month, or the next year. His words never left her, not once. She could never forget the boy who had saved her.
