The Broken Orphan [Being Rewritten]

Thirty Two- Dinosaurs

Evangeline

I hold onto Nuggets leash tightly to make sure he doesn't pull it from my grasp. He trots in between Luke and I as we walk through the neighborhood. It's a really pretty place to live. Luke says there is a park further in the neighborhood that we could go to another day. My legs are growing tired quickly as we travel back to the house. The weather is nice though. The sun feels warm in my skin, the cool breeze blows through my hair and makes the trees sway. Birds sing in the distance and we spot the occasional squirrel.

"So, what kind of cake to you want?" Luke ask
"Wait, we're still making it?" I say surprised that we might still make it
"Yes, why wouldn't we?" He ask
"Because I upset you earlier when I didn't look both ways. I thought not making the cake would be my punishment, unless you have something else planned." I explain fearfully
"Evangeline, I told you I wasn't mad at you." He says
"I'm not punishing you. You just need to learn to look both ways before you cross the street." He says as we walk
"Okay." I say to not put up a fight. I knew better than to cross the street without looking. It was a stupid mistake that could have ended really badly.
"When you say punishment, what kind of punishment did you used to receive?" He ask. My heart drops at his question. I don't want to answer it.
"I don't want to say, you'll get angry and scary." I whimper to the ground.
"I promise I won't get angry. I just want to know." He say trying to convince me to tell him.
I look at him worriedly and back to the ground. After thinking it over, he did promise not to get mad at me.
"There were more than one." I say cautiously
"What were they?" He pushes
"S-Sometimes I didn't get dinner or Ms. Victoria would slap me. I had to clean sometimes too." I say shamefully to the ground
Anger flashes over his face but he takes a deep breath to calm himself. He closes his fist over and over again and runs his fingers through his hair. The calming gestures scare me even though they are meant to keep him calm. It's terrifying as to how easy it is to make him angry when I talk about the orphanage. He manages to keep himself calm and plasters a fake smile on his face. He seems to remember something and turns his head to me.

"Do you remember that day at the library when you were sleeping and you ran away when you woke up?" He ask me. I remember it clearly like it was yesterday.
"Yes, why?" I ask
"Why were you so tired?" He ask
"Because I didn't get to sleep that night." I explain
"Bad dreams?" He ask
"No, Ms. Victoria had made me clean the orphanage by myself. When I was finished it was already time for me to get ready for school." I explain to him and scratch Nugget's ear.
"She made you clean it all night?" He ask. I nod as I take in our surroundings.
"Why, you never do anything wrong." He says
I shrug "I don't know, she just didn't like me for some reason." I tell him "She never made the other kids do the chores though. It was only me." I say
"I wonder if she's doing them now, or if she's making another kid do them?" I ask him
"I don't know, Kitten." He says
"Can we talk about something else?" I ask
"Sure, have you decided what kind of cake we are going to make?" He ask

My spirits lift when he ask me this. I'm so happy that we get to make the cake still and celebrate. This will be the first time I've actually celebrated anything with someone other than myself.

"Umm," I hum as I skip beside him "Can we make a chocolate one?" I ask. He chuckles at me and nods
"You sure do like chocolate." He comments
"It's so good!" I exclaim happily. I spot a hopscotch game drawn on the cement and hand Luke the leash. I rush to the game and start hopping in the squares while Luke walks beside me.  "Ooh! And Strawberry icing?" I ask

(Disclaimer: I don't know if this is actually good or not, but you guys are welcome to try it and tell me how it taste.)

"Sure." He says smiling at me
My eyes widen with my next thought. I stop on the last square and turn to him, wide eyed and hands clasp together in a pleading gesture.
"Sprinkles." I say in a dominate manner just to test how much he is willing to let me design the cake.
"If you want sprinkles then we can get sprinkles." He says and boops my nose. I giggle and let out a squeal of excitement. I start walking beside him again and hurry to catch up. I start a game of don't step on the cracks and do little hops onto the next squares as we go. Luke just watches and laughs as we walk.