...
amara woke up - when she was supposed to, this time - to someone shaking her awake.
" 'ey, yous alright?" the figure asked, and amara was too tired to decipher the voice.
"wha-" she rubbed her eyes, yawning a little. her eyes refocused, seeing jack standing in front of her, his expression a cross between worried and confused. "what's wrong?"
"nothin', yous were just shakin' in your sleep," jack said simply, hoping it was nothing. "come on, the bell's a ringin'."
amara reluctantly obliged, taking his hand to jump up, but immediately groaning in pain. her leg hadn't gotten any better, and there were bruises on her stomach that made it difficult to sit up. "fuck," she whispered, biting her lip.
jack's eyes widened. "yous okay?"
amara didn't answer. she didn't know.
running a hand through his hair, he exhaled. "yous gonna stay here, at least until yous get better," he finally said, his tone serious.
"but-i's gotta sell-" amara began, but immediately getting shut up by jack.
"not when your leg is like that. i ain't letting yous get any more hurt. understood?"
she nodded a little. this was probably one of the reasons why jojo said jack was like a mother.
"good," jack smiled softly. "i's can get one of the boys to check up on yous."
amara scoffed. "i's can look afta myself."
he tilted his head. "i ain't riskin' anything," he laughed a little, giving her a light shove. "meanwhile, i don't want yous goin' out an sellin'. okay?"
"okay," amara grumbled mockingly, rolling her eyes.
jack nodded and turned away to the other boys in the room. " 'ey!" he shouted above all the commotion, not continuing until everyone was quiet and paying attention. "if yous haven't already met 'er, this is amara," he pointed to the girl on the bunk, who waved a little. "be nice to 'er and say hi when yous can," he paused, making sure everyone was listening.
a chorus of "hi amara" 's erupted in the room, and jack laughed.
"like i said, be nice to 'er, and DON'T try anything. looking at you, romeo," he pointed to a boy who was busy fixing his hair in a mirror. the room snickered at that, and romeo stuck out his tongue. jack stuck his tongue out back, rolling his eyes. "now what are yous all looking around for? yous got papers to sell, move it!" he shouted, the room immediately going back to what it was like before.
amara grinned softly, resting her head on the wall, closing her eyes. it was an unusual thing to like - noise - but it drowned out all her thoughts. it was good sometimes to just sit somewhere loud and just let herself just slip away with the tide. and other times it was nice to be sitting in the quiet, but now, it was relaxing to hear the world moving around her while she sat where she was.
" 'ey," a soft voice interrupted amara's constant stream of, well, it wasn't thoughts. "can i sit here?"
amara looked up, catching someone's eye contact. there was a short boy standing next to amara's bunk, a little smile on his face. he was leaning on a wooden crutch and his eyes seemed to twinkle in the light. "of course," amara smiled back, shuffling over so there was room for him to sit.
the boy grinned a little more, sitting down next to her. "i'm crutchie," he held out his hand for her to shake and amara took it gently, shaking it.
