On The Run

Chapter Eleven - "Mind Versus Matter"

Fitch

I don’t think I could have torn my eyes away if I tried. And what scared me more was the fact that I really didn’t want to. Tear my eyes away.

Her brown hair was in a messy pile on top of her head, and some strands fell onto her face, covering her eyes. She seemed like she’d fallen asleep writing something, as she still had a pencil in her hand. She had bandages wrapped around her arms, just like Kayla did, as she lay curled up in the desk chair in the office.

I didn’t understand it; she seemed like just another girl, and yet, somehow she wasn’t. She had a depth to her that I’d never seen elsewhere, and she seemed to have the ability to block everything out – the emotions, the attachments, everything. One could say I was fascinated. But, I knew that wasn’t all it was.

Taking her in was about sixty per cent obligation and twenty per cent pity, but that other twenty per cent, I’d have to chuck it all up to selfishness. It seemed idiotic, at the time, the thought of letting her leave. But, helping her out in the alley was one hundred per cent obligation. It could have been anyone, and I’d still have gone in.

She stirred and I retreated slowly; it would have been really creepy if she woke to my eyes on her. Hell, I found it a little creepy myself. Before I could leave completely, she woke up, and instantly her eyes met mine.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you; I just wanted to get an early start on work,” I said quickly.

She sat up and pushed her hair off her face, as she came to terms with her surroundings. And then, her eyes fell back on me, “Sorry. I’ll just get—” she began, as she began to gather the papers together.

“No, that’s fine. I’m working on the cars today,” I interjected hurriedly.

“Oh,” she replied, and then asked, “Um . . . what time is it right now?”

I looked at the clock behind me, which read seventeen minutes after ten and told her. Her eyes instantly widened, and she said, “Really?”

“Yeah,” I gestured to the clock, “Did you have somewhere to be?”

She frowned slightly, “No . . . I’ve just . . . I never sleep that long.”

“Did you get to finish it all?” I asked, referring to the books. I didn’t know how she’d come to be doing paperwork for the auto shop, but I couldn’t imagine that she’d have done it if she didn’t want to. She didn’t seem like the most forthcoming person.

“No. Almost, though.”

“That’s okay. I’ll just finish it off later,” I replied.

“Are you going to look over it?”

I couldn’t help the small smile that made its way across my face, “No. I trust your math skills.”

She nodded, with a blank expression fixed on her face. She never seemed to smile, or maybe I just hadn’t seen it. It wasn’t something I could picture, though. I imagined it would make her even more beautiful, but personally, I didn’t see how that was even possible. I could barely take my eyes off her as it was.

“I am supposedly sort of a genius, but you should check it. To be sure,” she replied seriously.

Now, I was full on grinning. To someone else, it might have sounded outright conceited, especially coupled with her straight expression, but I couldn’t imagine that it was pride; she was merely stating a fact that she’d learned. It was almost like saying ‘I’m a guy’.

“What’d you do, take a test or something?”

“A mandatory school IQ test. It was the tenth grade though; lots of things have changed since then,” she murmured. The solemn air following the statement was palpable, and I was about to revert to a lighter topic, but she beat me to it.