But You Can Call Me Gotham (#JustWriteIt #FreshStart) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 5: Excuses and Metaphors

It's amazing how easily our minds can wander.

Gotham contemplated even going to the park. She didn't know if Simon was going to be there or not, and she knew that if he wasn't there, she would break down.

She contemplated for quite a while. If she stayed home, she might miss him and her chance to apologize. If she went, at least she'd know.

So she decided she'd go, and if he didn't show up, she would never visit that park ever again.

So she left her house, without taking any nuts and berries, and made her way to the park. On her way, she thought of many reasons why Simon hadn't been at the park.

Maybe his mother had stopped him from going. Maybe his dad took him somewhere. Fishing, maybe. She had heard that's what some dads like to do with their sons. Maybe he had family over that day. Yes, that would work. Maybe he had to visit family. Go to see his grandmother. Maybe it was his aunt and uncle's 15th anniversary and he couldn't miss it. Maybe it was his cousin's birthday.

Maybe it was his birthday. Or maybe he had just gotten sick.

So many excuses flew around in Gotham's head that she started to get dizzy. She had to stop walking for a bit, to regain her balance.

Once righted again, she started walking slower.

What if he wasn't there? What then?

Then I'll surely break down and cry in front of them and they'll have something to use against me, and I won't ever go to that park ever again, that's what.

She could see other people, them still going into the park. The fence was in view now, and she was nervous.

What will I tell him? she wondered. How will I appologize?

She stopped at the gates. Her stomach was churning.

What if they have finally taken him?

Gotham felt like she would be sick. If Simon was one of them, then he would hate her, like all of them do.

Suddenly, she didn't want to see if he was there. She just wanted to run home and never, ever, go to the park again.

But something in her forced her legs to move her into the park and towards her tree. She faintly heard someone scold their child, and when she looked towards the sound, a woman was dragging her child away from her.

She rounded the corner and ran to her tree, but Simon was nowhere to be seen, and niether was his father.

"No...," she whispered. "He should be here."

She was shocked.

But then she heard a voice behind her. "Gotham?"

Gotham turned around to see Simon walking towards her tree. She ran up to him and hugged him tight.

"I thought you hated me, and I...I cried all night."

"I don't hate you. It was my fault, just a mistake," Simon reassured her.

"I thought I lost you...," she whispered into his chest.

****

It's amazing how once you get comfortable with someone, you could tell them anything.

"What do you mean you thought you lost me?" Simon asked.

"I..." Gotham didn't know. She had to think for a bit. With all this thinking, though, she lost her grip on Simon.

He didn't let go though, and once Gotham knew her answer she said it slowly.

"I thought that you wouldn't want to come back. That you had given up on me."

"I'd never give up on you, Gotham. We're friends, and friends stick together until the very end."

Gotham grinned.

But Simon's smile faltered. "You...you cried all night?"

"I..." Did Gotham really want to tell Simon that she was always holding in her sadness? Did she want him to know that she was actually really sensitive and that something small could set her off?

"I'm like a bomb...," Gotham whispered. "Even I don't know when I'll lose it."

Gotham hadn't noticed before how many metaphors there were for her.

Suddenly she remembered Simon's metaphor. "Do you still think I'm like a burnt muffin?"

Simon laughed. "I've scraped some of the burnt stuff off."

Gotham felt kind of bad about that. She knew so many things about Simon but he didn't know that much about her. Maybe it was for the best, though Gotham couldn't help the sinking feeling in her chest.

A day passed. Gotham came to the park and Simon was waiting for her just like before. But Gotham didn't climb her tree. Instead she sat at the base and told Simon to sit next to her.

Now, Gotham had a secret. One she never told anyone. She believed that if anyone knew, she would be better off dead. They'd search for her and she wouldn't be able to get away.

The two sat in silence for a while. Gotham thought. She thought and thought and as she was thinking, four words flew out of her mouth before she could think about them.

"I can do things."

"Like what?" asked Simon, interested now. This would get some of that burnt stuff off, and he wanted to get every single bit of burnt stuff off.

She stalled. How could she have done this? How could she have lost focus? "I've said too much." She looked at her hands and held her breath.

"No, you can trust me." Simon didn't want her to back out now. He understood that it would be hard to share all of her little secrets with him when she had been friendless all her life.

"Did you ever hear that curiosity killed the cat?" Gotham didn't want to tell him , but she wanted so bad to get it out. So, to solve the problem, she said "Come away from them. They can't hear it. Come with me, to my house, and I'll tell you there where they can't use it against me. Please, Simon, would you please do it for me?"

"I'd do anything for you, Gotham. Anything."