Princess of Broken Hearts

Zaria

CHAPTER 2

Who's who?" The Hatter replied following my eyeline to see.
I briefly broke eye-contact with the girl to look at Hatter, but when I looked back, I saw her turning and running into the forest, her bow falling off her head and getting caught in a scarlet singing flower. I pushed my chair away from the table, and without thinking, ran after her.

I didn't even know why I was running, or how long I had been doing so until I was up the hill and had caught up to her. I reached out to grab her arm and to pull her back, and I didn't know what went wrong because when I my fingers met her forearm, somehow we must have tripped over a root of the towering tree because we both toppled over and next thing I knew, I had blood dripping off my hands, but it wasn't my blood.
"Shit." I muttered rolling the girl over to face me.
She still had her bruise on her shin and a cut on her lip, the only new injury was a light red scratch on her hairline which i quickly cleaned with the seam of my t-shirt. I lent over her to check that she was breathing which thankfully she was. I listened to her breathing, in and out. It was consistent, reliable. It reminded me of falling and floating, the parts that wonderfully drop and the parts where it feels like the butterflies in your stomach are trying to fly up and out of your mouth, filling the air with your wonders and curiosities.

"Zaria?" A confused voice spoke behind me.
I looked behind me to see Hatter and the others, Hatter holding Alice's bow close to his chest, protecting it from the sight of its owner on the floor.
"Why'd run off like that Zar?" Mal said, furrowing her brows in concern.
"I-"
Thankfully, the girl started to awaken to our presence, sitting up and clutching her head. After a couple of beats, she seemed to realise that she wasn't alone, and that what must have looked like a confusing and eccentric group were all standing around her, some confused, some worried, some just plain angry that she interrupted tea time. Her eyes darted about, jumping to each character, Mal, The Hatter, and finally, me. When her eyes locked in mine, the strange girl who had chased her and who was now kneeling beside her with her blood on her top, she tilted her head at me and narrowed her eyes, as if she was trying to see through me and into my deepest thoughts. If she knew me i thought, she wouldn't want to know them. Or me.

She slowly stood, breathing slowly and pulling her dress down. Hatter slowly and cautiously offered her bow to her, his head slightly cocked as well, as if someone looking at an old friend and trying to remember how he knew them. She took the bow and clipped it back into her hair. It was getting dark at this point, and the moon was rising and catching a small scar on her cheek, almost making it look white. I liked it though, her little imperfections just made her more intriguing.

All of a sudden, she lowered her hand to my eye level, offering it to me.
"Thankyou" I spoke, my head shooting up for my eyes to look at her. I took her her offering her hand as a peace offering, and i took it. I stood up and when i did so, i saw that i was an inch or so taller than her, but we must have been around the same age. She smiled at me, showing me her perfect teeth and her wonderful, butterfly-causing smile, and i smiled back. It was then that i should have sent her away, or ran, but instead i asked her:
"You haven't got anyway to stay have you?"