Sticks And Stones

one.

The first time I met Tom Riddle was at Wools Orphanage when I was eight years old.

My parents left me on the doorstep with nothing but a raggedy stuffed cat; they told me to be good and wait for them on those grim, graying stairs in front of the grimmer, gray-er building and disappeared into the night. I never saw them again.

Mrs. Cole found me shivering outside the square building when she stepped out to smoke her morning cigarette. I held on to my hope that the sunrise would make the building look less forewarning and grim, but the beams of sun peeking behind sorrowful clouds only revealed the dead flowers in a dried-out garden and sun-damaged shutters swinging eerily in the breeze. Mrs. Cole, the owner of the orphanage, hadnt spared me a glance during her smoking session all morning, until finally she looked up at the sky with a sign, tossed her cigarette on the ground and crushed it with her heel, and said to me, So when did they leave ya?

Im sorry? I whispered confused, warnings of strangers ringing in my eight-year-old brain.

Youre parents, ocourse. You were left here, were you not? Mrs. Cole inquired, looking me up and down with a slight wrinkle of the nose. She reached into her pocket and fished out another cigarette. This isnt a place a child wants to hang about, hm?

They told me to wait here, I said, tears dancing at the edge of my eyes. Wheres my mum and dad?

Mrs. Coles eyes softened, if only slightly. She flicked an old lighter and lit her cigarette, avoiding eye contact with me, who was desperately trying to make eye contact with her. After a long drag of the cigarette, she turned and sighed, Sweetheart, mummy and daddy arent coming back for ya. Come on, let's get ya inside. I gotta lotta paperwork to do.

And just like that, I was an orphan. I learned many things at Wools Orphanage, but there were three rules I deemed most important.

Number one: trust no one.

The abandonment of my parents was the first of many acts of betrayed trust. It took me some time to recognize that kindness was often mistaken for foolishness, and you will be taken advantage of because of it. Through stolen food, extra chores, and scraped knees I learned that the moment you let your guard down was the moment you got hurt.

Number two: dont be noticed.

As long as no one notices you, no one can hurt you. I drifted along the halls of Wools Orphanage like a ghost. I never wanted to be seen, terrified that Billy Stubbs would chase me down the hall with a dead mouse he had found (again), or that Eric Whalley would fake a smile and shove me down the stairs, just as he did in my first week.

The orphanage, whilst dreary and old, was in fairly good condition. I was warm and dry (save for the occasional leak on a stormy day) and I was grateful for the shelter rather than on the streets, but the orphanage children teased me terribly until I was hiding from them all the time. Sometimes I found myself wishing that no one could see me at all. In a most peculiar manner, the children would walk past me in the hall during these moments and not even spare me a glance, shuffling by without a snide comment or shove into the wall. Even Mrs. Cole sometimes would walk by me as if I didnt exist. I didnt mind this at all, rather I preferred it. You cant hurt what doesnt exist.

Number three: stay away from Tom Riddle.

The first morning that Mrs. Cole brought me into the orphanage, she had called all the children down for breakfast and introduced me as the newest orphan, Evelyn Smith. A toothy boy with ratted hair snorted and said, So what happened to you? Perhaps it was the way I immediately burst into tears and fled the room that made me an easy target to the other children since their last target, Ernest Findley, had run away. Merciless teasing quickly consumed the other childrens time. Even though I was constantly the victim of cruel pranks and harsh words, I nearly always escaped the shoving, chasing, and tripping unscratched. It was almost as if something extra was pushing me just out of reach, or cushioning my falls. I thought I just got lucky.