"Hartlyn, put that down." I cry out.
I had just gotten out of the shower to find Hartlyn playing with some of my dishes. I was pretty attached to them.
She looks at me with innocent eyes and puts the plate down. I rap my towel around my waist and take the plate back. "We don't play with breakable things." I shame her. She frowns and looks down.
"I'm sorry. My mom didn't care when I played with her dishes though."
"Well I'm not your mother." I put the plate back in the cupboard. I walk out of the kitchen and into my room. I groan and flop onto the bed. What have I gotten myself into. I stand up and start to change. I needed to go shopping and I really couldn't leave Hartlyn alone in my apartment.
"Hartlyn, we're going shopping." I leave my room. Hartlyn's face lights up.
"I've never been shopping before!" she claps. I grimace. This was going to be an adventure all in its own. I grab my backpack and Hartlyn's hand and exit my apartment.
She looks around excitedly, starring at every single person with joy. I didn't even know starring with joy was a thing.
I decide on going to Pike Place Market, since it was Hartlyn's first shopping trip she might as well experience a good one.
An old couple smiles widely at Hartlyn, and then glare at me. This leaves me confused for a moment when I realize what they meant by that. I turn around.
"We're not date-" I stop to see the couple nowhere. My cheeks flush and I continue walking.
"What was that about?" Hartlyn looks at me. I scratch the back of my head and shrug.
A man with a blunt in his hand walks up to us. He grins at Hart. "You want to see the world differently Sweetums?" he seemed to be smoking pot or something. The smell irritated my noes. I pull Hartlyn away with her protesting, wanting to go with the druggy.
"He isn't a smart man Hart." I whisper, avoiding looks from passing people. Why were so many people looking at me weird. I look down at Hart and realize how young she looks. "Hartlyn, how old are you?"
"Eighteen next month. My mom told me that." That's why everyone was looking at me weird, I looked like I was in my early twenties, which I was. But Hart looked almost fifteen.
At least she wasn't fifteen. I'm still questioning why I even let her live with me. Something about felt right though. I haven't had much excitement in my life for ages.
We finally get to the market. It was full of people. I head to the produce stands.
I find my favorite stand, I felt they had the best tasting fruits. The owner greets me with a smile. I give Hart a basket and tell her to hold it. I look around feeling an looking at the fruits, I almost never find bruised fruits.
"Hart, what's your favorite fruit?" I ask, I had the fruit that I needed. Hartlyn looks at me in surprise.
"I don't know. Which ones are sweet?" she comes to my side and stares at the fruit.
"Strawberries are sweet, and so are raspberries." I point them out. Hartlyn studies them closely.
After a few minutes she picks up a tub of strawberries. "Good choice." I smile. Her eyes light up and she grins. We take the basket over to the lady who owned the stand; Ms. Jemma. She was super nice and I had been going to her fruit stand for a long time.
"Evening Jackson." she nods. I smile at her and put the basket on the counter. Hartlyn walks up and smiles at the lady.
"What's your name?" she asks and takes my hand, slipping hers in it. Ms. Jemma eyes widen.
"My name is Ms. Jemma dear. What's yours." Ms. Jemma looks at me, confusion in her eyes.
"My names is Hartlyn." Hart answers.
"What are you doing with Mr. Jackson?" she starts to check the items.
"He's letting me stay at his house." she smiles sweetly. I didn't know Hartlyn could be so friendly. But I guess I've only know her for a day. Ms. Jemma nods and continues to bag the fruit.
"That will be 10.75." she hands the bag to me. I pull out my wallet and pay. Ms. Jackson grips my hand and pulls me closer to her. "If you dare hurt that girl, I will hunt you down and kill you myself." she whispers and releases me. I laugh nervously, taking Harts hand. Leaving Ms. Jemma's fruit stand.
We walk around for a bit, looking at different food products and nicknacks. I glance behind my back every now and then. Ms. Jemma scared me pretty bad.
I pull Hart away from a glass store. She mutters something about her mother and continues to walk. She seems to be mentioning her mother a lot.
"Hartlyn, do you miss your mother?" I ask. Hartlyn shrugs.
"She's not nice. She drinks and hurts my brother." her answer leaves me speechless. "She's overprotective of me and I haven't been away from my home in forever. I have Epilepsy and I get seizures when I'm in crowds." she looks down at the ground. I pull us over to a bench.
"Hart, is that why you ran away?" I ask. Hartlyn nods and brings her legs up to her chest.
"I don't have any friends other than you, my brother and his friends. Which is only two other people." I pause. She said she got seizures when she was in crowds. Pike Place was full of people, she hasn't had one yet.
"Hartlyn, you haven't had a seizure as Pike is really crowded." Hart looks up at me, her eyes wide.
"You're right!" she stands up. "Wait, how is that possible?" she sits back down. I scratch my head.
"Maybe you were to happy to think of crowds." I suggest. Hartlyn seemed pretty happy. I could be wrong though.
"I haven't been this happy in ages! That's why I always panic, because I never felt happy enough!" she smiles. I grin. She was happy and I helped her with that. She surprises me with a hug. She grips tightly on my sweatshirt. Her body was warm and inviting. Her blue hair was the only thing I could see.
"Thank you so much Jackson." she whispers.
***
Yeah, so I suck.
Happy New Year though!
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