My Kind Heart

Chapter 1

Ren

The kitchen is unbearably hot today. We're cooking soup. Soup days are always the hottest. But when you love cooking as much as I do, the heat becomes a bit more bearable.

"Can I deliver today? I'm sweating bullets," I call to no one in particular.

Molly bumps my shoulder from where she's stirring soup beside me. "You should give those bullets to the hot new guard."

"Eww. Keep your comments to yourself."

She says, "It's not dirty. I was meaning because he's a guard and guards—"

"I'm pretty sure it's going to stay dirty no matter what excuse you use," I mutter.

The head chef, Riley, walks in and answers my earlier question with, "Ren, you deliver today. Leo wants it delivered to his office. Lila, stir the soup."

She's definitely not as strict as she could be but she likes to get things done.

I hand the wooden spoon to Lila and wipe my hands on my apron. My bun is starting to fall loose, light brown strands falling in my face, so I fix it quickly before walking over to the cart that's already filled with bowls of chicken soup.

At least, I think it's chicken. I hope it's chicken.

All the guards know me and let me pass by with nothing more than a head nod. I nod back, a bright smile on my face.

I get to Leo's door and the guards open it.

Leo is sitting at his desk, surrounded by papers. The work built up while he was gone. Folik didn't know what to do with it all so he left it and worked on more pressing issues.

My eyes leave Leo to find... a tall man. Very tall. Or maybe I'm just very short. I am pretty short. This man makes me feel like an ant on a gravel road, so small I'm barely even noticed. Soon I'll be squashed by this tall man's foot.

His eyes are kind, brown like... mud? Chocolate? Dirt? None of those work. His hair is also brown, swirls of... mud. I'll workshop it.

He holds out his hand. "I'm Elias. A name so you can stop calling me 'tall man.'"

Elias. The mind reader from Section Nine. The thought of someone reading my mind unnerves me.

I shake his hand. My hand has disappeared, lost in his. Maybe I'm over exaggerating. Molly says I do that a lot.

Because I've suddenly forgotten how to talk in full sentences in this giant's presence, I blurt, "Soup?" 

Leo stands from his desk, breaking the awkwardness. "Thank you, Ren."

They each take a bowl and I wheel the cart out of the room, leaving the extremely tall man with eyes the colour of maple wood, warm and polished.

That one wasn't too bad.

~_~_~_~_~_

Dear person I never met but wish I did.
I miss you. Part of me feels hollow without you. Like I'm missing a part of myself that I never had to begin with. This is probably stupid. But I'm not showing anyone so it's fine.
Love, person you never met.

I tuck the letter in my box with the others. If anyone knew I wrote these I would be so embarrassed so I slide the box under my bed. I share a room with Molly and she's not back yet so she won't find out.

The flowers on my nightstand are drooping so I pull on my shoes and open the bedroom door. The halls are quiet at this time of night but the guards stay alert nonetheless.

I reach the doors to the gardens and push them open. The night sky greets me, stars twinkling and winking at me as if they know a secret I've yet to discover.

Rows and rows of flower pots fill the garden. Some are filled with flowers while others have fresh vegetables and fruit. The entire garden itself is surrounded by apple and orange trees. We also have a few blueberry and raspberry bushes.

It seems I am not alone though. Elias is walking the paths, hands clasped behind his back, sniffing a flower every once in a while.

I skip over to him. "Whatcha doing?"

He barely looks at me. "Trying to be alone."

Wow, okay, that was unnecessarily harsh.

"Why would you want to be alone? Being alone is so sad," I say, admiring the same tree as him, and trying to be nice no matter how he treats me.

He starts walking in the other direction. "Loneliness is sad. Being alone is peaceful."

I follow him. "You look pretty lonely."

He raises his eyebrows. "Gee, thanks," he deadpans.

"Don't worry, I'll stay with you so you don't have to be lonely," I say, smiling as I pick a flower.

"I'm not lonely."

"Sometimes I get lonely," I say.

He stops walking and I bump into his back. "Are you lonely right now?"

"Nope. Because you're here."

He starts walking again."What compels you to be so... cheery?"

What wouldn't? Maybe I'm just extra cheery because of the flowers. I love flowers. Something about them is just so magical.

"I'm not wasting my one life being moody and depressed." I spin around to prove my point.

"You think I'm spending mine being moody and depressed?" He asks, picking a purple flower and twirling it between his fingers.

"I'm just a stranger. What good is my opinion?"

I lie down on the grass and stare up at the winking night sky. I don't know any constellations but I don't need to. Maybe the stars don't want everyone knowing their story.

Elias stands beside me. "I don't know many constellations either."

"Stop doing that."

He crosses his arms. "Doing what?"

I cross my arms too. "That thing where you read my thoughts."

He looks away. "Sorry."

Did I upset him? He sounds upset. He has no right to be upset. Some people have secrets they don't want others to know. Me, for instance.

He only has to dig a little deeper in my mind and he'll find my secrets.

Elias clears his throat. "I'm gonna go."

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," I say, way too enthusiastically.

The grass is soft under my body and I'm tempted to stay here all night, watching the stars blink, blink, blink in the sky.

I eventually get up, brush off the grass, and pick some flowers. Pink, bright yellow, lavender purple, and red. The colour blend is a bit different but I want a variety this time.

I walk back to my room, smelling the flowers in my hands. My steps stop when I see the door closed. Molly only closes the door when... her flavour of the week.

My back presses against the wall a few steps away from my room. I slide down and sit against the wall. It's all right. They usually leave before morning. I'll wait.