The Moon's Boy

Chapter Fourteen

"Hi Kadir!" called Clementine as she bounded up behind him, leaning onto his back He staggered a little under her weight before she pulled away, a beaming smile all over her face. Even near the end of the day she had so much energy. He waved at her meekly, still unaccustomed to her rather high-energy displays of affection. "My friends and I are hanging out at a cafe afterschool, you wanna tag along?"

He swallowed an automatic no. "I-I'm not sure. I don't want to get in the way of your flow or anything."

"You wouldn't be doing that at all, sunshine," said Clementine, drawing little circles on his shoulder. "I want you to spend some time with me and my friends, that's why I asked." Kadir dissolved into a plethora of thoughts, eyebrows furrowing faintly as he played with his fingers. "You don't have to if you don't want to," she added, seeing the worry eclipse his face. 

A moment of deliberation passed. "I think I'll join you," he murmured. 

Clementine rubbed his back gently. "Cool! If you come and find me when the bell rings, we can all head off together. I'll be where I usually am in the courtyard." Kadir nodded, his mind swimming. 

Before he knew it the day was over and the bell rang at 3:40 like always. Kadir broke out in a nervous sweat as he walked down the corridor towards the exit after he'd waited for all the traffic to die down. Clementine sat perched on one of the courtyard railings right where she said she would be. A boy he recognised to be London stood next to her leaning on a pair of forearm crutches and Dahlia sat crossed-legged on the floor between them, scrolling through something on her phone. Kadir watched them from the door and stood there silent until he caught Clementine's eye by mistake. Tsk. 

"Over here, sunshine!" Turn around, a voice urged. 

Slowly he approached them, clutching his bag to hide the tremor in his hands. "Are you still on board with the plan?" asked Clementine, noticing his apprehension. "You don't have to come along if you don't want to. There's no judgement if you'd rather just go home and rest." Kadir cast a glance at London's tall form behind her and Dahlia on the floor; London offered him a gentle smile. 

They don't actually want you there, don't impose. He shoved down a shaky breath. "I still want to come."

"Oh, I'm glad!" She hopped down, applauding him. "Let's go then." Clementine patted her best friend on the head, drawing her attention before helping her to her feet. Together the four of them made their way to the cafe the girl had taken Kadir to a week before. Dahlia and Clementine chatted away about something on one side, dissolving into bubbly laughter a few times while Kadir walked next to London in silence. He kept finding his attention drawn to the other boy's grey mobility aids as they clicked against the ground, try as he might to look somewhere else. He didn't have those the first time I met him. 

"Something wrong, dollface?" asked London, making sudden eye contact with him. Flushing, the boy shook his head. "What, have you never seen crutches before?" 

"I...I'm sorry."

Quietly he sighed. "What are you sorry for?"

"For staring."

"Ah, alright." London chuckled, a sound reminiscent of metal wind chimes on a breezy day. "Here I was thinking you were going to apologise for me having to use them."

"I wasn't but you...  you don't want me to do that? I thought that would be the polite thing to do," said Kadir as they stopped on a street corner, the crossing light a glaring red. 

"Technically it is the polite thing to do," London replied, staring ahead, "but I hear that a lot. It gets annoying rather quickly."

Kadir played with his ring, casting his gaze down. "Right."