Crackerbox Palace

Chapter Three: The Frog Prince & The Goose-Girl

 "They just try and convinse me to do things mostly." George said shrugging.

 "That sounds terrifying," I said, I myself now looking at my food.

 "Inly sometimes," George shrugged again and got back to eating his lunch. I found I was no longer hungry.

 After we finished lunch, george and I walked around for a bit. We ended up in the gardens and George seemed like nothing was wrong. He grabbed my hand suddenly and pulled me over to a big Magnolia tree.

 I grinned at him and let go of his hand before staring to climb the tree. I carefull climbed as high as I could before looking down at him with a grin. I giggled and he waved up at me. I tried to wave back, but I nearly fell out. He laughed and continued to watch me.

 "Are you coming up?" I caled down to him. 

 He shook his head, "No, I'm no good at tree climbing." he said. I shrugged and climbed back down. I slipped a little bit on the last branch, but George caught me and we both fell to the ground.

 "Sorry George," I said getting up off if him.

 He sat up and brushed the leaves and grass out of his hair, "That's alright Taylor." he said with a light giggle.

 We both leaned against the tree trunk and George looked over at me. I looked back at him and smiled. I picked up his hand and his fingers played with the ring on my middle finger. We both stared off into space for a few minutes until  the boy and the girl from supper the night before walked up.

 "Oh look," the girl said, "It's the new girl and the freak."

 "Hey!" I said snapping my attention to them, "He's not a freak!"

 "Aw look!" the boy said, "She has a crush on little Georgie!"

 "Go away Derek!" George said calmly. I looked over at him and saw his cheeks were red either from anger or embarrassment.

 "Aw, Derek look," the girl said with a cackle, "He likes her too!"

 "I'm warning you two!" George said through gritted teeth, "Go away!"

 "What're you gonna do about it if we don't?" Derek asked crossing his arms over his chest. George huffed and shot up off the ground.

 I followed behind him as he stomped up to Derek. I grabbed his arm.

 "George don't!" I said trying to pull him back, "You're just gonna get into trouble!"

 "You better listen to your girlfriend, Georgie." the girl said with a shrill laugh.

 George pulled his arm out of my grasp and Derek cocked an eyebrow at him. 

 "George, please!" I begged, grabbing his hand. He finally turned back around to face me and Derek and the girl laughed as they walked away.

 George was silent as he sat back down under the tree. I sat next to him and he took my hand again.

 "George?" I asked looking sideways at him. He looked back at me and swallowed hard. He strained a smile and gave my hand a squeeze. I sighed and put down on his shoulder, "Who're they?" I asked quietly. George rested his cheek against the top of my head as I pulled my knees to my chest.

 "They're Derek and Alicia Johnson." he said with a sigh, "Brother and sister; they're here because they witnessed their parent's murder."

 "Whoa," I muttered, Why do they pick on you?"

 George shrugged, "I'm easy to pick on I suppose." he muttered back. I looked up at him and he stroked the hair out of my face and sighed again. I gave him a small smile before he cleared his throat and stood up. I frowned as he pulled me up with him.

 "It's getting late, we should be getting back to our rooms." he said keeping his gaze on his feet. I nodded and took his hand in mine. His thumb stroked the back of my hand lightly as we started back toward the dormatories.

 When we got there, I opened my door and walked inside, pulling him along with me. I climbed half way up the latter to my bed and sat down. George looked at me blankly and I cocked an eyebrow at him. He yawned and we continued to look at each other.

 "Are you tired?"i asked him. He shook his head and we went back to looking at each other.

 "Do you have anymore chocolate?" he asked. I nodded and climbed the rest of the way up to my bed. He followed me and sat down at the end of my bed. 

 I picked up my baggy of chocolates, and handed it to him. He pulled out a few pieces of candy handed in eto me as he leaned against the railing of the top bunk. We ate our candy and watched each for a while.

 "Do you ever get scared when you're by yourself?" he asked as he played with the silver wrapping.

 "Sometimes I suppose." I said with a shrug. he took a deep breath suddenly and crawled up next to me, "Do you?"

 He nodded and I leaned back against his shoulder, "I'm always scared when I'm alone." he put his arm over my shoulder and I put mine over his waist.

 "I don't get scared, but I don't like being alone too much," I said cuddling his chest.

 George rested his chin on the top of my head and sighed.

 "How do you ignore the voices?" I asked him.

 "I don't," he said plainly.

 "Well maybe you should try," I said looking up at him.

 "Ok," he said looking back, "But what would I do?"

 "Think of something else," I suggested.

 "What should I think about?"

 "I dunno, What's your favorite color?" I asked biting my lip curiously

 George chuckled, "Purple; what's yours?" he asked.

 I giggled lightly, "Green and orange," I said, "Now back to you."

 He nodded, "Ok then, the next time I hear them I'll think about Purple." he said. I suddenly felt very sleepy and he noticed it, "I better get to my room."

 I sat up and let him down from my bed. He smiled at me before he left the room. I durled up under my covers and went to sleep,