To Be...

Chapter 7

I didn't remember eating, but I knew I had once I sat up restless in the bed at dawn. The sunrise let a faint light into the room. I rolled over to realize the bed was empty beside me. Had Leon gotten up that early? I tottered towards the blinds, and gazed outside. What I saw sent a mixture of awe and fright through my veins. I was on the ground floor. Had I imagined the stairs? The conversation about the stairs? I only had a few seconds of pondering before my thoughts were interrupted.

"Guten Morgen."

The perfect German accent frightened all thoughts away. I turned violently, no longer held back by hunger, to see the owner of the greeting. It wasn't Leon, as I had expected, but the boy- if I could call him that- who had kept me from an unwanted head wound. He grinned in an oddly conspicuous smile. But I could have been imagining the conspicuous part. Everyone here seemed suspicious to me. His silence reminded me to respond.

"Same to you."

He laughed at my ignorance, and the captivation I'd felt only seconds before vanished. Frankly, beauty never had a hold on me. It's what's on the inside that matters, and if you don't have it on the inside then there is no use to the outside. That counted for me, too. I preoccupied myself with making myself a better person inside, probably failing to do so, and cared nothing about the outside.

Emily had always told me to worry about my appearance. My dad, Aaron, always released a hearty laugh when we argued about it. "Let the girl do what she wants, Emily. It's her body." She never argued back in front of me, probably to convince me that love was not a horrible thing. Later though, she would get upset and growl angrily at how he never took her side. "Don't you want Brianna to ever love someone? No one will love her like that?" He'd laugh. "You should try picking her up from school once in a while. Boys follow her like she's a god."

Emily. Aaron.

I pushed those thoughts from my mind, and preoccupied it with coming up with intelligent comebacks for whatever was coming next from this boys lips. Something similar to what he said last night. Would it be "Wow, a new sentence? I'm impressed!" He won't get the best of me this time.

"So," he began. "Your parents are dead. What a shame."

So much for intelligent comebacks, although I was sure my fist was intelligible enough. Sure, it was once again violent, but I'm sure if you were in my shoes, you would have done the same thing. I swung my clenched fist, my knuckles sharp against my thin skin. Oh, what I would have given to be wearing some jagged rings at that moment.

He didn't dodge the blow, but accepted it openly- with a smile. Tears protruded to my eyes and spilled over. Not from the memory, but from the immense amount of pain my hand was experiencing at the moment. He seemed pleased. I wiped my eyes with the back of my sore hand. I should have expected that, hadn't the same thing happened with Leon...

"You actually hit me! Leon was right, you are very unaware of your stature."

His smug smile didn't falter for even a fraction of a second. I could feel an oncoming battle, and he was preparing for it. I looked around the room for my weapon options:

A wooden desk with a rolling chair- too heavy.

Japanese swords- good option, but conveniently located behind the enemy.

A stack of large textbooks, battered from overuse.

A metal backscratcher, hidden under a messy pile of used clothing.

I reached for the backscratcher, but it disappeared beneath my fingers. I glanced up, but the boy was still firmly in place- although his grin had spread a bit. He had been grinning like a fox playing with its prey this whole time, and I didn't doubt it now. He had hooked me, and now was reeling me in.