UnFateful

3 - May

"Austin, slow down!" She called as he turned the corner to Edison St. "We're not supposed to be out without a chaperone!" Finally, he slowed down, collapsing no a bus stop bench. As May neared, she could hear the staggered breaths of his crying. A few steps closer and she could see the tears escaping his fingers and falling to his soccer shorts.
May sat down beside him, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he said defensively, "go back before you get in trouble."

"Please, I'm already in trouble for leaving Nadia back there, she's going to be pissed" she joked. Austin stayed silent. May tried to put her arm around him, but he pushed it off.

"Just go already!" He demanded.

"No," May said, matching the attitude.

"Leave me alone!" May, stubborn as a mule, stayed beside him. She looked across the street to a lady walking by, her heels clicking on the pavement. The hum of a car engine passed, stirring a few leaves on the sidewalk. Kids could be hard playing at the park a block away. About five minutes passed before Austin's crying started to soften.

"Ready to go back yet?" May asked. Austin looked up to her, revealing his tear-ridden tomato-red face. He sighed, looking down again.

"Yeah, I guess." They walked back to the ward in silence.

* * * * *

"After we got back, he just went straight up to his room. I hope Jesse didn't pressure him too much." May said, finishing off telling Nadia what happened.

"I'm sure Jesse was too absorbed in his book to care, anyhow," Nadia assured.

"Yeah," May said, "how did it go with Jens and his crew?"

"Tom and Jens got into a fight and Mark tried to stop them."

May laughed, "Poor Mark."

"Yeah, I looked for you guys but ended up being called inside for dinner. Nuggets were hot for once.

"Wish I could have been there soon enough. They were tolerably cold for me."

There was a loud rapping at the door, followed by the unhappiest of voices, "Lights out." May flicked the switch and they both crawled into bed. 

"I'm not feeling too great," May admitted.

"It's probably the strawberries you insisted on eating, you know you're allergic." Nadia reasoned.

"Yeah, I guess. Goodnight."

"Night," Nadia responded. May couldn't get rid of the feeling. It probably was just the strawberries, but May couldn't help but think it was something else. Maybe the Juvies were going to charge in at midnight and take her away, leaving Nadia and Austin to fend for themselves. The heavy rain outside didn't help to lighten the mood.