PetrA

Chapter eight: Joachim

Joachim wandered around in the house doing as he'd been told to do by that Cody kid. He was also happy not to be close to Daniel. The kid seemed to hate him for some reason. The looks he'd been receiving weren't exactly out of love. Even Ellie didn't seem to like him much; he still couldn't get the fake smile she'd given him back at the other house out of his head. However, what he remembered the most were how she looked at Kim. Like a puppy in love. Although, he knew Kim were no better, and neither were he. No matter how much he hated to admit it, it just wasn't possible to not notice her. Everybody knew that. Heck, she could probably even pick whatever boy she liked in their year and twist him around her little finger. He even saw how Cody, Lesley and Daniel looked at her. He couldn't just quite grasp why she would be so quiet and shy. She hardly ever spoke to anyone in their German class except for Gemma and one other girl he couldn't remember her name, and that Mary girl. Otherwise, she kept to herself and sat quietly at the front never saying anything unless she had to. Quite a rarity actually, their teacher Anne had several times asked her to read a text, Ellie would just shake her head slightly and their teacher would ask the next person to read.

Joachim walked past the kitchen and stopped looking in at Ellie. She was reaching up into one of the high cabinets, talking quietly to Kim. He'd heard her laugh before and seen her smile like nothing in the world could bother her, but he'd also seen her walk past him in the hallways or when she would be going home after school. She would look so lost and sad that he had a hard time believing that it was the same girl he saw with her friends. He'd even seen her at the playground sitting on a swing swinging slightly, with her nose buried in a book or she would simply stare up at the sky with her headphones covering her ears. "Stop staring at Ellie." A voice said behind him. Joachim jumped and turned around. Henrik stood there with folded arms and a bag slung over his shoulder. "You know she's off limits. Besides, I don't think she likes you very much."

Joachim rolled his eyes and looked back at Ellie who hadn't even seemed to notice them standing just outside the door. "Yeah I got that. I just don't get what her deal is. One minute at school she'd be smiling broadly laughing, and then the next she looks lost and sad." Henrik stared at his friend confused, "Why are you bringing this up now." He steered Joachim away and out of the house towards the barn. "I don't know it, just came to mind." He said. They started searching the barn. "I'll give it to you. It does seem weird. But has it ever struck you that she might put up a façade? We know next to nothing about her, except that she came to our town in High School and we'd never seen her before. There's a reason behind everything." Joachim scoffed. He didn't believe that there could be something wrong with her.