Cruel & Blue (Eyeless Jack story)

Chapter 45

Daniel laughed and nodded, then walked away to go put his presents with the others that friends and family gave him. I looked over at my parents and both of them smiled at me. "Go ahead and play with your friends, Blue," my mother said. As soon as Daniel came back, I happily ran with him towards the nearby playground to play with the other kids. Some of them were from our school and others where some of his family members. We all ran around, laughed and screamed in excitement. I was tagged a few times but I always caught someone.

There was this little girl, younger than me, who started tearing up because she was tagged and couldn't catch anyone. I didn't want her to feel sad so I pretended to trip and I bumped her shoulder. "Oh no!," I exclaimed, "I'm it!" I gave her a quick wink and she gave me the most relieved smile before running away along with the others. Before I ran, I looked over at my parents, who sat and chatted with the other adults. They were both smiling at me, looking proud and I couldn't help but blush. I guess they saw what I did.

After a while, everyone was tuckered out and we took a break from playing. I sat on one of the swings on the playground while other kids kept playing or sat with their parents for a breather. I looked at everyone. The adults chatted and had waters or sodas to drink. My mother is most likely translating for my father, or he's just not talking at all. It seems like the other adults aren't teasing him about not speaking English, unlike other people that I've seen do that. Those people are mean.

The kids were playing or eating hot dogs. I saw a baby giggling in her mom's arms while a slightly older kid made funny faces. There was one kid that was sitting alone on a bench, black hair and brown eyes. He's from my school. I think his name was Craig. I was about to get up from the swing to sit with him when this little blonde girl hopped right next to him and handed him a hot dog. He took it shyly and gave a small smile. The both of them sat there, talking and eating casually. I haven't seen that girl before but they seem really close.

I spotted Daniel running around with a couple of the boys from class. He looked like he was having a lot of fun. I would join with them but I was too tired from tag. So, I just swung gently, looking at the sky and the grass and trees, catching sight of Archy honking at a couple walking on the stone path.

This is fun.

I giggled and replied, "Yeah. I like this place a lot, too. I'm glad I came to Daniel's birthday party. I'm glad to see he's happy."

I wonder what flavor of cake he has...

"Sam," I scolded playfully.

Well, you have to think about these things. The cake is everything, Ao. If it's not choice then the party isn't good.

"Whatever," I laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" A voice suddenly asked me. I whirled my head around to the side, startled by the stranger. But, it wasn't a stranger.

"Jack," I said happily.

The auburn haired boy smiled at me, faint dimples showing up on his pale cheeks, and his sharp teeth shining white. I quickly responded to him with, "N-Nothing, I was just remembering a joke I heard from one of my classmates."

"What was the joke?"

Uh oh. I tried to think of something quickly and ended up saying, "What's the difference between a guitar and a fish?"

"I don't know, what?"

I gave a pause of silence for dramatic effect and then said, "You can't tuna fish." I ended up actually laughing at the joke but Jack shook his head. "Wow," he murmured.