The young girl just lay there, ontop of the hill, rubbing her temples as if she had a headache. She watched the clouds form shapes and, for the moment, was content.
But wait, two large shapes are now looking down on her. Blocking the beautiful white fluffy clouds, we can't have this now can we, this is just so disturbing on a beautiful day like today.
"Hello." the shorter one blurted, rather loudly.
"We was wondering if you could settle a bet for us?" the taller one asked, in a nasal voice.
The girl grumbled, then pushed herself up and sat crosslegged on the grass. "Ok." she sighed, hoping that after she answered their questions that they would be off.
"Which one of us would you rather kiss?" the short one asked, puckering up.
She studied the two boys carefully, taking in their apperances and expressions. The way that the little one was positive he would win, and the taller one just looked hopeful.
"Him." she said, as she pointed to the taller one. His face lit up with joy as he flashed her a silent 'Thank you.'
"What?!?!?!" the little one cried, enraged.
"That's it, I won Squig. Pay up!" Lenny told him.
"Absativtely not, lets go ask a SMART dame!! This one looks too dumb to know the better man even if she smells it with her own nostrils!!!" Squiggy yelled, waving his arms.
The girl jumped to her feet, enraged. This greasy thing disturbed you from a simple moment of solitude plus he insulted you? We can't stand for that, now can we? She thought to herself.
She towered over him, not as tall as his friend, but pretty close; she was gonna pound this worm. Even if she got arrested again, the cops would take one look at him and probably thank her.
"Don't EVER call me stupid, I may be a lot of things but I'm not ignorant!" she screamed in his face.
"I didn't call you stupid or ignormant, whatever that means. I called you dumb, stupid." he explained, rather stupidly.
"Squig, that ain't very nice. Can I have my buck now?" Lenny asked, now the only one not screaming his lungs out.
"No! I wanna fix this stupid gutsy broad!!!" he yelled in her face.
That was it, the last straw. The girl made a fist and jammed it into his stomach, hard. He toppled down the small hill and landed in the duck pond.
"I'm gonna fix his little red wagon..." she mumbled as she started down the hill.
She was about to reach into her pocket when the taller one, Lenny, gently grabbed her arm.
"Nah, don't do that. His wagon don't need fixin', our friends Laverne and Shirley already offered last week." he said, as she looked back at him.
The girl looked at him, his eyes were so soft and innocent. Nothing like the jerk she had just rolled down the hill.
"So, uh... what's your name?" Lenny asked her, releasing her arm and jamming his hand into his pocket.
She sighed, knowing that this would turn into a talk about her life story if she wasn't careful. But for the first time, with this guy, it didn't seem to matter. He would be understanding.
"People call me Al." she told him, sitting down in the grass indian style.
Lenny sat down across from her, the same way. Setting his elbow on his knee and resting his chin in his palm.
"Your name's Al? Isn't that a guy's name?" he asked, not meaning it as an insult. He was truely curious.
"My name isn't Al, people just call me that. No one really cares what my real name is. Al is short, easy to say." she explained, not becoming even slightly aggrivated as she expected to be.
She silently commended herself for having such patience, her illness usually aggrivated her and made her short tempered. But not this day, at least not talking to this guy. She explained the way a mother would explain a question to a young and curious child.
"I care, what's your real name?" Lenny questioned her, looking into her dark and lifeless eyes.
He watched them closely, her eyes seemed to brighten up when he had spoken his last statement. Her midnight blue orbs where that of a child's, but they had seen too much pain and sorrow to shine anymore.
Lenny wasn't sure how he could tell she was young. Her apperance could be catagorized as young, but her skin was very pale and she seemed so old and haggard. When he studied her face she appeared ill, though hiding it very well with her tough outer mask. The slight perk of excitement in her blue eyes gave him a warm feeling that couldn't be placed.
"My name's Allania, its not very usual..." she then trailed off, almost embarrased from pronouncing it for him.
Her head sank a little, disconnecting with his gaze and drifting to the duck pond. His friend had left, but he did not seem to notice.
"I think it's very pretty." he soothed, slowly reaching his hand for the side of her face.
She noticed this, and moved away from his gentle touch before he could lay a finger on her. He saw immediate fear in her eyes, she was afraid to be touched and Lenny was determined to know why.
"So... uh, what's your name??" Allania asked, stuttering and searching for words. His gesture of kindness had made her uneasy, she did not like being touched.
"Well, people call me a lot of things... but my name is Lenny." he told her, sticking his hand out to her so she can shake it.
She met his gaze once again, and appeared very frightened of his gesture. Frightened like a child who was lost in a mall, searching for her parents or anyone willing to help. She peered at his hand as if it were a poisonous snake, as if anyone who touched it would perish immediately.
Then she realized he was reading her like a book, she slumped back into her rough attitude. Sticking her hand out to shake his.
He gently took her hand, Allania's skin was cold and clammy. They just sat there, frozen in that moment in time. Her hand shook nervously in his warm grasp, it appeared she couldn't stop this as Lenny felt the muscles in her hand tighten and relax a few times.
Kindness was a new and frightening experience for her, and Allania was very afraid of it.
He did not restrain her there, she just seemed to be in shell shock. Not moving, and hardly breathing. He tightened his grip a bit, trying to stop her hand from shaking. To no avail, as he then figured it was just nerves.
She then snapped back to reality. Quickly pulling her hand out of his safe, warm, grasp.
Lenny then watched her carefully as she seemed to turn off her emotions. When she looked back up at him her eyes were cold and lifeless, almost fading to black. Her face was expressionless, and seemed even paler than before.
"So..." Lenny mumbled, attempting to break the silence. "Where are you from?"
"No place special." she told him, being as bleak and non-descript as possible.
"Well, where would that be?" Lenny asked again, trying to pull her back out of her mental shell.
"No place at all, actually." she mumbled, her voice becoming automatic and that of a drone.
Lenny gave her a puzzled look, she sighed and began vigorously rubbing her temples. She then stopped, closed her eyes for a quick moment, and then continued to speak.
"I don't have a home." she told him, straight out, half expecting that he wanted nothing to do with a homeless girl and would just get up and walk away, but he didn't.
This didn't seem to bother him at all. It was not disgust that she saw in his eyes, but it was concern for her. Now Allania thought, she'd seen everything.
"Well, ha' come? Did you get kicked out of your apartment or sumthin'?" he asked, with a hint of worry in his tone. Worry for her, not for his own well being.
This young man was turning out to be very pleasent without his annoying little friend, Squiggy. Allania could just imagine how many times that weasel had taken advantage of this poor guy, who was obviously not wise to the ways of the world.
He needed a real friend, and Allania was prepared to be one for as long as her doomed fate would allow.
"I've never had an apartment, I doubt I ever will have one either." she told him, still in her bleak tone of voice.
She wasn't a cold person, just leary of certain things. She wanted to know people, to be cared about, but she wasn't sure how to go about doing it.
"Where do you sleep?" he asked her, becoming even more concerned.
"Here..." she said, as she touched her shaky fingertips to the ground. "There..." she told him, as she pointed to a small pavilion. "But I usually just cat nap there, I have a place I stay downtown."
Allania told him, she could tell that she was warming up to him. He made her feel better, she had begun to notice. She didn't feel as nauseated as she usually did, he lifted her spirits. This Lenny was so child like and innocent, she felt like a mother which was something she knew she would never be.
A single drop of rain fell from the sky and landed with a soft 'plop' on Allania's pronounced nose. More drops followed as she squinted her eyes and looked up into the now grey sky. Her beautiful white puffy clouds had turned drab, and the lovely clear peaceful blue sky was now cold and dark, threatening a storm.
"Whoa, looks like we're in for a really bad storm." Lenny said, standing up.
He reached his hand down to help Allania up, but she
ignored it and pushed herself up awkwardly. She
didn't need help, she thought. I can stand up on my
own.
"Would you like to come to my place... until the
storm passes?" Lenny asked her, shielding his eyes
from the rain.
She furrowed her brow, as if thinking. She then
gave him a look of acceptance as they started off in
the other direction, towards the large truck in the
distance.
End Part 1