Scars (An Amourshipping Story)

'A Growing Seed'

After Serena walked out of class during first period, at lunch I decided to go look in the library for her to see if she's okay.  

As expected, Serena sits on her beanbag, buried deep in a copy of 'Dance Dance Dance.'

"Sup, Serena. How's it going?" I say to her.

I fight back the urge to ask why she left class early. Best to leave it for the time being. Sometimes the best way to get an answer from someone is to never ask the question.

"Hello, A-Ash...I'm fine." She looks up from her book.

Something seems off, and after a couple of seconds, I realize what it is. Serena's smiling.

She looks as if she's pleased to see me. It's a nice change from the usual, instinctively frightened reaction, and something I hope I can see more of as we get to know each other better.

"Good to hear. How's that book? I've heard it's a trip." 

"I-it's good...I think. I've only just started it, so I d-don't really know" She replies.

"Fair enough. Let me know how it goes; may I borrow it once ya done?" I ask her.

"S-sure." She smiles.

I slouch into a beanbag and crack open my book.

The familiar style of the author leaps out at me from the very first line. As the sentences turn into paragraphs, I start to relax a little.

But no matter how I try, I can't seem to get myself into the atmosphere of the book.

This is partly due to the lack of time, but the more distracting factor is Serena.

Every ten or so seconds she peers over the top of her book, but when our eyes meet she quickly ducks behind the covers.

I guess she did want to talk about something after all.

"What's up? You look like a prairie dog on lookout" I smile at her.

"N-....it's nothing.." She answers.

"I've told you before, 'nothing' means 'something' when you say it like that." 

She squirms a little in her beanbag, hoping that by changing her position she'll find the words she's looking for.

"I...I was in an accident..." She softly says.

"Accident? Just now? Are you all right?" I worriedly say.

She shakes her head.

"N-no. When I was y-younger..." She says.

Realization crashes into me like a semi.

"When I...when I was..."

"It's all right, Serena, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to..." I reassure her that everything is okay.

Again she shakes her head.

"N-no. I want....I have to tell you.." 

"W-When I was young...I was in a fi-fire....." She plays with her thumbs.

"M-my house b-burned down, and I nearly...I nearly didn't make it.....if i-it wasn't for that boy who s-saved me..." 

"A-after that....I was alone..."

Her eyes glisten in the dim light of the library, and I reach out to grasp her hand.

"It's okay, Serena...you don't have to keep going." I smile weakly at her.

"B-But I have too..." She counters.

"Why? What brought this on?" I ask her.

"Last n-night...Dawn t-told me about your heart....a-and I didn't t...think it was fair." She looks very nervous.