Ruin - By N.M. Martinez Page 0,46
her hand away once he had it, his fingers brushing on hers. "I never see you eat."
He seemed dumbfounded. She smiled at him and even heard a nervous chuckle come from the back of her throat. Mary shoved her hands into her pockets to stop the shaking.
"Thanks." His eyes were so clear in the bright sunlight. It was like the way the morning sun shone on the dew hanging from the plants and the playground.
Jimmy held the apple in both hands, looking at it to find his first bite. She stood next to him. Some of the caretakers watched them from afar. A pair of very blue eyes caught hers, but she glanced away at the first snap from the apple. Jimmy was actually eating it. Not in large bites, but small bites that were almost polite.
"You make them nervous, you know." She said it quietly and didn't add that he made her nervous as well.
The corners of his mouth turned up. "I know."
She could only hope he wasn't a mind reader. The subtle hint of a smile from him nearly tugged her heart out through her mouth. It was a strange sensation for her that wasn't entirely unpleasant though she knew it was stupid. But it was not something she could ignore.
At the void created by her silence, he turned and grinned at her, his eyes narrowing even as they sparkled in the bits of sunlight that made its way through the tree. Could he read her mind? The panic edged up into her throat at the thought. The truth was probably worse; he could just read it in her face.
"Why do you come here?" The words blurted out without her meaning them to, but her brain and her body seemed to be on different planes, fighting completely different wars. It was too late to take them back. She cringed while trying to not cringe, but she couldn't look away from him.
He turned towards her, one arm still on the trunk of the tree. "Just keeping an eye on my brother."
He bore the heavy weight of responsibility to raise and protect his brother when other kids his age were out enjoying their rank and power. Mary nodded. "I watch out for him. He's fine."
He stood taller than her even leaning. They stood close, side by side against the tree. Her heart beat too hard. She was unsteady on her feet. If he hadn't been able to tell just from her face, he'd be able to tell from the way she shook as she stood next to him.
A look in Jimmy's eye caught her attention again. The smile disappeared, and the clarity to his eyes increased. "You do realize why they're scared of me?"
Mary couldn't outright lie. She shook her head. No one had explained to her why they were so scared of him. Their fear alone felt as if it should have been enough of a deterrent to stop her from looking at him the way she was looking at him.
"Then are you normally this stupid?"
She swallowed before speaking in a shaky voice. "Not normally, no."
There was a silence filled by more than one of her heartbeats, and then it broke with a quick burst of surprised laughter from him. He turned his smile on her and it completely changed his face. He not only looked their age, but he was so handsome that she knew exactly why she was being stupid.
"I'll explain it to you some time." He pushed off from the tree and stood up to his full height. He was tall, but lanky. Muscular, but wiry. "Thanks for the apple."
He turned to walk away from her, and she got the first full view she'd had of his tattoo since he'd started bringing Brandon to the center. It was large, more detailed than the tattoos of the others their age. It covered a large part of his back, the designs around the tattoo just the beginning. He was high in rank for someone so young. Normally, at their age, they only had the start, a skull or a little bit of design around the skull. It was why they were the ones always looking for the way to appear stronger and crueler than the others.
But Jimmy had already proven himself enough to be marked permanently. That had to be why he scared the others.
Intermission Three
She should have known better.
It was late at night and she was still groggy from re-reading one of her books by candle light