His shirt was rough, his chest strong, the arms around her encircled like a protective cage.
Even after all this time he still made her feel the same way.
"Do you really remember?" she asked head still buried in his cotton shirt. He smelled of freshly mowed lawns and minty cool soap, so much like the summer they'd first met.
Nostalgia sent goosebumps down her arm as she looked up at him, afraid he wouldn't feel the same.
His eyes looked troubled as they found her own.
"I remember." he said, still holding her close. "But I don't understand."
"What what don't don't you understand?" she asked, fear lacing her voice as the stutter made a comeback.
"Any of it." he said with a laugh. He tucked a strand of hair behind Vicky's ear and looked conflicted for a moment before speaking again.
"Why me? Why bother?" he said suddenly releasing her. "It doesn't make any sense."
It felt cold when he released her and Vicky had to hug herself to keep warm.
"Come inside." she said softly turning to walk back into the house. "I'll explain everything."
Shock graced his face fleetingly before he nodded and followed her inside.
***
If there was anything ten-year-old Vicky knew it was that homeschooling sucked. Big time.
She hated her tutors, they were bossy and mean and really really uncool.
Especially her computer science tutor. He insisted she study the basics of the computer system, when she'd already smashed open and put together one when she was six.
Her Dad was always busy and her Mom was always busy and she had no siblings. Life was dull, life was boring, life was slow---and her tutor had just gone for a washroom break.
Vicky hurriedly put on a pair of fairy pink sandals and sneaked out of the front door.
When the tutor returned, he searched and searched the entire house but could not find her.
***
Levi sat at one end of the blue faux leather sofa while Vicky sat pressed to the opposite end. A blush covered her face and neck as she stopped speaking.
"You ran away from home at ten?" he asked a teasing smile on his lips. "A little rebel, who would have thought."
"Yeah, it was stupid of me," said Vicky staring at her hands on her lap. "But I was angry. No one ever had any time for me, I had no friends and there was always this need for everyone to protect me. All the time."
Levi didn't say anything at that, but kept looking at her intently as she continued her rant.
"I was lonely. I had never played with other kids my age before. I wasn't allowed anywhere outside the house grounds. The grounds are huge, I admit, but I'd take a crowded little community playground over a desolate garden any day."
"Did you hate your parents?" asked Levi sliding a little closer on the sofa.
"No I love them." she said truthfully. "But I needed something more, a human touch other than just them. They had their jobs and careers, though they were always there, they were never truly there."
Levi nodded.
"I understand. Do you want to share what happened after you left home?" he said.
She took a deep breath. "Yes."
***
It was very very hot as she hurried into the nearest children's park. Vicky's sunny yellow frock stuck to her as she sweated profusely. She looked around using her small hands to shade her eyes, trying to spot something interesting enough to pursue.
She spotted what looked like an ice cream truck and a large cluster of kids. Excitedly, she started jogging towards it.
As she neared, she realized that it wasn't ice cream, but candy floss, and a bunch of kids, about her age were messily eating the sugary snack. The saccharine stuck to their faces as their skin turned sticky. It looked like so much fun! All the kids were grinning and playing with the cotton candy. Did they know that you shouldn't bite into candy floss, but break it off with your fingers before putting it into your mouth? If they knew and still did it they were so silly.
One boy was playing with a football under the shade. He didn't seem interested in the candy floss or the company. He had a messy mop of hair that fell over his face.
"Mom would have cut it right off." she thought. He stopped dribbling to stare at her.
His eyes were dark and he was frowning at her. He looked at the hoard of kids crowding the cotton candy and then looked at her and rolled his eyes before returning to his football.
It was as though none of this was good enough for him.
"He doesn't know how lucky he is." thought Vicky as she stood in line for a stick of cotton candy. "I'd love to be able to come here everyday."
Then suddenly it was her turn and the shopkeeper was handing her a stick of pink fluffy delights and she took it happily, about to bite in, when---
"That will be fifteen cents kid." he said with a smile.
Her face fell as she returned the candy. She didn't have any money.
Embarrassment coloured her cheeks as the other kids immediately started discussing her situation.
"What's wrong with her?" they whispered among themselves. "Can't her mom pay for that?"
"My dad can buy us this whole stock of cotton candy if he wants." declared a snooty boy as he turned his nose up at Vicky.
"She looks hideous don't you think?" said a girl mockingly. "I mean those shoes look terrible with that frock. Wonder where she got them?"
"The penny store?" said another annoying kid. "Since she doesn't even have fifteen cents?"
Vicky was shaking with emotions she didn't recognize. She had been so happy to have found kids her age, she was looking forwards to making new friends, looking forward to being normal for once...all of her plans had fallen apart at once.
"Stupid of me to have run away without taking my piggy bank." she thought wistfully as she turned and ran off to hide in the playground. She didn't stop running till she reached the frog shaped seesaws and the network of hanging bars. She crouched by the empty seesaw and played with the grass at her feet, the frog-head shading her from the sun.
She tried to fight back tears, but for the first time in over seven years, she cried alone. The drops fell like rain onto the ground as she hugged her knees to her chest.
She was tired and hungry and her parents had been right.
The world was cruel and she just wasn't ready.
Then suddenly, her blurry vision encountered something pink and cloud like. Wiping her face she looked up to see the messy haired boy, holding a football in one hand and giving her a stick of candy floss with the other.
"Take it." he insisted, pushing the stick into her hands.
"Thank you." she said shaking her head. "But I don't have any money."
"I don't want money." he said with a shrug as he resumed playing with his football. "I don't like sugary stuff anyway."
Vicky tore off a bit of candy floss and took a small bite.
It was delicious, like happiness soft and lofty, melting in her mouth.
"Why are they so mean?" she asked between bites.
"They're not." he said balancing the ball on his head. "They are stupid."
"What?" asked Vicky.
"You've obviously run away from home unprepared." he said with a smirk. "I know you're rich. I've seen that dress at a Gucci store."
"What?"
"My mom does a lot of window shopping. I tag along sometimes." he explained non nonchalantly.
"I'm home-schooled." she said suddenly, not knowing why that mattered and why she wanted to tell him everything. She didn't even know his name.
"Why are you hmeschooled?" he asked.
"Something happened when I was younger and my parents are protective." she said waiting to be judged.
"Tell them you're ready to stop being home-schooled." he said. He hadn't judged her.
"But I'm not." she said. Would he judge her now?
"Sure you are. You stepped out today didn't you? I'm sure they never want you to run away again." he said. He would never judge her.
"I'm scared." she said, her soul laid bare.
"Don't be. Just know that people aren't mean, they're just stupid." he said dropping the football to look straight at her.
"Because they speak without thinking?" she guessed.
"Because they don't see the obvious." he iterated.
Vicky smiled for the first time in weeks, a gentle sparkle returning to her eyes.
"You believe in me." she said curiously.
"Anyone who doesn't is a fool." he said firmly.
And in an instant her heart was his, and she wondered and wondered if he would ever realize just how she had fallen in love.
To Be Continued...