Sunflower Girl [1]

The Weirdo on Marple Street

My eyes widened. That was the first time I heard her talk.

There was a lot of sadness in her voice but it was a start.

"Okay...well, how about we just keep the door...,"I almost closed the door to just a few inches, so that no one could really watch her change. "...just like this. Is that better, sweetie?"

She nodded. "Yes."

I went back to the boys and told them about my progress.

"She said "no" and "yes". Even your brother says more.",Lucas snapped at me.

"Lucas when did you become so rude? We know nothing about her.",I argued. "What if she ran away because she lived in an abusive household? What if she really needs our help? You can't just judge people like that. That's not okay."

"Yeah well I'd rather judge people then be dead. What if she's from Pennhurst?",the boy replied.

I rolled my eyes.

"From where?",Mike asked annoyed.

"The nuthouse in Kerley County.",Lucas answered.

"You got a lot of family there?",Dustin asked with a grin.

I chuckled at his comment. That was actually really funny.

"Bite me.",the Sinclaire answered annoyed and looked at Mike. "Seriously though, think about it. That would explain her shaved hair and why she's so crazy."

"And why she went like...",Dustin copied the girl's movements.

"Okay we get it Dustin. She tried to take her clothes off in front of you. Don't be such a drama queen and make a big deal about it.",I snapped a bit annoyed.

"Just saying.",the Henderson shrugged.

Mike seemed to be clearly annoyed as well. "So you just wanted to leave her out in that storm?"

"Yes! We went to find Will, not another problem.",Lucas answered.

"Hey,",I hissed. "No one is a problem here, got it, dipshit? We're not gonna leave her out there alone. She clearly need us right now."

"I think we should tell your mom.",Dustin suddenly said.

I rolled my eyes. Traitor.

I stopped listening to the boy's conversation.
It was giving me a headache.
Lucas can be so ignorant and stubborn sometimes.

"All right, so here's the plan. She sleeps here tonight." "You're letting a girl-",Dustin tried to interrupt. "Just listen!",Mike snapped back. "In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do. She'll send her back to Pennhurst or wherever she comes from. We'll be totally in the clear. And tomorrow night, we go back out and this time, we find Will."

The two boys agreed and decided to go home.

I was kinda glad that they wanted to leave since Dustin's looks and Lucas' dislike towards her was so unnecessary.

I smiled at the girl who was sitting in a little blanket fort Mike and I build for her to sleep in.

We sat down in front of her.

"Hey, um, I never asked your name.",Mike said.

The little girl pulled up her sleeve, revealing a tattoo.
011.

"Is that real?",the raven haired boy asked with a little excitement in his voice, while he was leaning forward, trying to touch it.

Man, why did everyone wanted to touch her?

The little girl flinched back, clearly not okay with him touching her.

Consent Micheal, consent.

"Sorry, I've just...never seen a kid with a tattoo before.",he apologized.

"What's it mean? Eleven?",I asked her.

The girl pointed at herself.

"That's your name?",the boy next to me asked.
She, Eleven, nodded.

"Eleven. Okay. Um, well my name's Mike. Short for Michael and this is Emma. We call her Ems, my sister calls her Emmy and I mostly Sunny. Because she has this nickname, Sunflower. So...maybe we can call you "El". Short for Eleven."

She nodded and I gave her a smile.

I was so happy that she didn't seem so scared anymore.

"I think I'm gonna head home, Mike.",I announced. "Steve's probably still here, so I'm just gonna use Nancy's bike and bring it back to you tomorrow, okay?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah- yeah of course. I think I'm gonna go to sleep now as well."

I kneeled down in front of the girl. "Bye El, sleep well, sweetie."

"Night El.",Mike said and stood up to go to the stairs.

"Night, Em. Night Mike.",she answered.

I smiled at the nickname.

No one called me Em.
I liked it.

I went up the stairs and snug into the garage where I left Nancy's bike.

I quickly sat down and gave one last goodbye to Mike before I got into the pouring rain, passing Steve's car and heading home.