"Why are you crying?"
Bright red hair floods my vision. I open my eyes and sniff. I wipe my nose. A girl's head hangs upside down in front of me. I look up to see her legs hooked around the bars above her.
"My parents died," I say quietly.
The girl tilts her head. "You know they've got a school for little ones who lost their parents?" she says, the blood rushing to her face making her red as a tomato.
"I'm not old enough. You've got to be sixteen to get into Starlight," I sniff again.
"Well, that's a kick in the arse!" she swears as she swings herself up and grabs the bar with her hands. She hops down and sits in front of me.
I giggle. "Who taught you to speak like that? You're a lady!"
She snorts a laugh and picks pieces of mulch out of her curly, red hair. "I speak how I want. Great thing about livin' down here! Nobody cares," she smiles.
"Who are you?" I say, grinning.
The girl shoots her hand out to me, dirt packed underneath her fingernails. "Name's Yvaine, sailor. I'm pretty smart for my age, y'know. What'd you get settled with?"
I quirk an eyebrow. Yvaine rolls her eyes. "What's your name?" she elaborates.
"Alexander. Friends call me Xander," I say, grabbing her hand. She has got a firm grip for a small thing.
"Well, I hope we're friends because I like Xander a lot more than 'Alexander'," she says mockingly.
"Were you born here?" I ask.
"Yup! My Mam, wee sister and I were born and raised here in North Rock. You?" Yvaine says, playing with the dirt in front of her.
"I was born and raised in Raven's Peak," I say a little solemnly.
"Oh! The place that burned! Y'know we could smell the burnin' houses from all the way down–" She stops herself once she realizes she's speaking of my home. Her lips squeeze together. "Sorry," she says, dropping the dirt in her hand and fiddling with her fingers.
"Don't worry about it. It's history. Must be talked about one way or the other," I shrug and pick up my own pile of dirt.
Another girl begins to run up to us. "Yvaine! It's time for…" the girl trails off when she sees me. "Who's this?" she whispers to Yvaine.
"This is Xander! He's going to Starlight when he turns sixteen," Yvaine smiles at the girl and looks at me. "This is Satori. She's a friend. And any friend of mine is a friend of yours," Yvaine grins widely.
"Nice to meet you," I say to Satori.
She smiles. "He's polite," she says.
"Satori!" One of the teachers shouts from the entrance of the school.
"Shoot!" Satori exclaims as she scrambles to get up. "See you later, Xander!" she tips her fingers at me before running off.
Yvaine laughs and sighs. "She's from North Rock too. Now that I think of it, we don't get many kids that aren't. I guess you're special,"
I shrug. "I guess so,"
After a moment of silence, Yvaine picks up a new pile and begins lathering it in her hair.
I laugh. "What on earth are you doing?"
Yvaine narrows her eyes at me. "It's supposed to help your hair! Make it soft and whatnot!" she says defensively.
I laugh again. More like a cackle. I fold over and hold my stomach. "And who told you that?" I say through my laughs.
"The girls over by the pond!" Yvaine says, pointing her dirt-covered finger at the blonde girls by the pond. They look our way and laugh.
For someone who claims she's wise for her age, she sure is gullible. Instead of laughing at Yvaine with the girls, I take my handful of dirt and rub it on my buzzed head. I stand up and offer a hand to Yvaine.
She slaps her hand in mine and smiles. "Let's show them what we think of their dirty tricks!" I say, pulling Yvaine along.
We both have a handful of mud locked and loaded in our hands. When we get close enough we hide behind a bush.
"On three, we throw the mud at them," I whisper to Yvaine.
She nods excitedly.
I pull my arm back and raise my eyes over the bush. Yvaine mirrors my movements. I hold up my fingers and count to three.
"One…two…three!"
We quickly stand up and hurl the piles of mud right at the girls. They shriek and cry as the soil darkens their light hair. I rush Yvaine along and we run away together.
It isn't until we're back inside the school building that we can't hear the girls screaming anymore.
"That was amazing!" Yvaine says through laughs, wiping her hands on her uniform.
"Anytime, Yvaine," I say, panting.
"Good fun we had, Xander," Yvaine says, shaking my hand again.
"You know, Yvaine, when I go to Starlight, you can come with me!" I say excitedly, dropping her hand.
"You got yourself a deal, sailor."