Chase was back in the cellar for the third time today. The smell of mold and cobwebs was all too familiar to the boy. But this time, it was a little different.
The girl with dirty blonde hair sat silently next to the blue haired boy.
The cellar door was locked from the outside, leaving the two children alone in the dark and cold room.
"Is this where you've been?" The girl asked meekly.
"Yeah." Chase nodded.
After a few more seconds of silence, Chase noticed the girl shivering, holding herself as her teeth chattered loud enough to break the silence that engulfed the duo.
Chase thought to himself, nervous about the idea that popped into his head.
"Do… Um… Do you wanna warm up a little?" Chase asked.
The girl didn't know what he meant, which was immediately clear to Chase by her puzzled expression.
She let out a little chuckle, "I don't know what you mean."
"Um, I mean, we can huddle together. Then, like. Then we can warm each other up." Chase stumbled over his words.
They both went silent.
"Yeah, that would be nice." The girl muttered.
They both slid towards each other, huddled shoulder to shoulder.
After a few moments of awkwardness, the girl leaned onto Chase's shoulder, which prompted Chase to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
They fell asleep in that position, each of them slowly warming up next to each other. It was peaceful, it was sweet.
In the morning, Grand Mother opened the door to find them huddled together. She let out a tsk before shouting "Wake up!"
The two children jumped awake.
"You two, it's breakfast hour." Grand Mother turned, walking down the hall.
Chase stood up, holding his hand out to the girl, "I promise I won't get you in trouble today. Will you be my friend?"
"Yeah!" The girl grabbed his hand excitedly.
The both of them smiled as they ran down the hall, stumbling into the end of the lunch line.
They got through the lunch line, laughing and smiling as they played I spy.
Sitting down at their table, they continued their game.
"I spy with my little eye, a jerk with a scar on his face." The girl spoke.
"Well, that one's easy!" Chase cackled as the girl let out a quiet laugh.
They gobbled down their pork and beans, the same meal as yesterday.
Today, they were allowed to start recess with the rest of the orphanage. Just like yesterday, they ran right to the swings.
The sun beamed down on the two as they swung. Chase hadn't felt this happy in his entire life, and neither had this girl.
"Can you promise me something?" Chase asked as they synced up their swings.
"What is it?" The girl responded.
"Promise me that we'll be together forever!" Chase exclaimed, smiling all the while.
The girl chuckled, covering her mouth.
Chase furrowed his brow, "What's so funny?! I mean it!"
"Ok, I promise!" The girl held out her pinky.
Chase stared, confused at the gesture.
"What's wrong? It's a pinky promise! It means we can never break it!" The girl smiled.
"Awesome!" Chase held out his pinky. The girl interlocked their fingers as they chuckled.
"What's so funny over here?!" Scarface jogged over to from across the playground, two of his friends following his trail.
Chase rolled his eyes. His eye still hadn't fully healed from the fight yesterday, and he didn't feel like getting beat up again.
"Nothing, dude." Chase sighed.
"I'm not your dude, dude!" Scarface exclaimed. He grabbed the chain attached to Chase's swing, stopping it in an instant.
Unfortunately, Chase didn't stop with it. The blue haired boy shot off the swing seat, flailing through the air before hitting the grassy ground with a thud.
"Are you okay?" The girl jumped off of her swing, rushing over to Chase.
"What's wrong? Did your boyfriend hit his head too hard?" One of Scarface's friends cackled as he spoke, high fiving Scarface.
"I'm fine." Chase wiped the dirt out of his hair.
"I only came here to tell you one thing. If you keep messing with me, I'll kill you. Understand?!" Scarface grabbed Chase's blotchy blue hair and looked directly into his eyes.
"I-" Chase stumbled over his words, fear running through his veins as Scarface gritted his teeth.
"B-but you're the one that started it." The girl muttered. It was weak, but just loud enough for Scarface and his friends to hear it.
"What did you say?" Scarface turned to the girl, letting go of Chase's hair.
"You're the one that started it." The girl spoke with an even lower volume this time, flinching at every twitch of Scarface's body.
"You asked for this!" Scarface raised his fist, bringing it down with more fury than any child his age should have.
Chase threw himself in between Scarface and the girl, taking a punch to the back of his head.
The boy fell limp, knocked unconscious.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?! Help!" The girl screamed frantically.
Scarface and his friends froze in shock. They looked at each other as they tried to come up with an excuse for the unconscious boy in front of them.
"What is the meaning of this?" Grand Mother ran over to the girl who was now kneeling over Chase, trying to shake him awake.
"Grand Mother, you know I'm a good kid! He kept calling me names! I couldn't take it anymore!" Scarface collapsed into a crying mess, ranting frantically.
"Don't worry, child. This boy is a bad influence on everyone around him. From the day he could talk he was seeking attention… I have to do something about him." Grand Mother picked Chase up in her arms, walking towards the door that led into the building.
"Wait! Let me go with you!" The girl exclaimed, holding her hand out toward Grand Mother.
"He's been a bad influence towards you as well!" Grand Mother turned her head to the girl before continuing her walk into the building.
The rest of the day was quiet for the girl. She swung on the swings, thinking about the day's events. Thankfully, Scarface had left her alone, scared of the consequences of messing with the duo again.
In the nurse's office, Chase sat on his hospital bed. The nurse had left the room just in time for Chase to wake up without her noticing.
He heard someone walking down the hallway, their footsteps thumping on the creaky floorboards with that familiar authoritarian rhythm.
"Grand Mother, he's still asleep." The nurse spoke from behind the closed door.
"I'd like to see myself." Grand Mother opened the door, walking up to the side of Chase's bed.
Chase had assumed a fake sleep, closing his eyes just in time.
"He could've gotten a concussion, Grand Mother. These kids are already suffering from malnutrition as is. He's lucky he's walking away with no long term injuries." The nurse explained.
"And we're unlucky to have to deal with him." Grand Mother sighed as she shook her head.
"What do you mean?" The nurse asked.
"Dear God, why have you given me a test of this caliber through this child?" Grand Mother closed her eyes and hung her head low before continuing, "I've arranged for the Grand Parent of another orphanage to take this child under her care. His misaligned ways have started to rub off on the other orphans in this establishment, and I cannot have that." Grand Mother walked out of the room just as swiftly as she had entered, the nurse exiting with her.
As soon as the door closed, Chase shot up in his bed.
"I'm going to another orphanage?" Chase muttered to himself. He swung his feet off of his bed, sneaking towards the door.
In the backyard, the girl with the dirty blonde hair sat motionless on a swing seat. She looked down at the muddy grass, holding onto one of the chains that attached the swing to the top of the swingset.
The sun was starting to set, bringing that familiar orange tint to the few kids left outside. Most of the orphans had gone inside to work on the list of chores that each of them had been assigned at the beginning of the week.
The girl, however, was too busy thinking.
A butterfly flew into the girl's field of vision. It had wide orange wings, the kind you would only see in cartoons. It flapped around the girl before landing on the hand that held the swing chain.
"Hello, butterfly…" The girl smiled. "Do you ever get sad…? What do you do when you get sad?" The girl awaited an answer, but the butterfly did not respond.
"I made my first friend yesterday. He's funny and he makes me feel happy. But Grand Mother takes him away a lot. What should I do?" She awaited an answer once again.
The girl heard footsteps running towards her. She flinched, assuming it was a Mother, or even worse, Grand Mother. The butterfly flew away, flapping its wings into the afternoon sun.
"Hey." Chase's voice came from behind the girl.
She turned around in excitement.
"Hi!" The girl smiled, jumping onto her feet.
Chase wasn't as excited. He carried a somber heaviness about him.
"What's wrong?" The girl asked.
"Grand Mother says I'll be moving to a different orphanage tomorrow. She doesn't want me here anymore." Chase hung his head low.
"What?!" The girl exclaimed. Her heart dropped at the thought of being alone again.
"That's why…" Chase hesitated, "I'm not going. I- I'm not leaving. I can't. So… so run away with me. Please." Chase held his hand out to the girl. His eyes grew worried as he awaited an answer.
The girl froze. The world suddenly felt bigger than a single orphanage. A little too big.