Farraway Mist ?A Wattpad featured story?

Chapter 2: Call Me George

Scout looked around carefully as she left her room and descended the beautiful staircase, trying to learn the layout of the huge house. She felt a little like Jane Eyre, or the nameless heroine in Rebecca, wandering the halls of Manderley, lost and alone. In spite of the fact that the main room containing the staircase was two full stories tall, it was full of light because of the wall windows. She wondered who cleaned them, since it seemed like George Wilder lived here all alone. Of course, when you were as rich as he was, you could probably afford to have people come out to clean your shit, maybe even on a daily basis.

She walked across the expanse of the marbled floor, taking a stab at guessing which doors led to the kitchen. She pushed open the wide, double doors and walked down a hallway toward the back of the house, going through yet another set of doors to finally wind up in a surprisingly modern, black and white kitchen, complete with granite countertops.

The master of the house was sitting in a cozy and bright nook, drinking tea, with two dogs curled up at his feet as he tapped away on his laptop. The dogs, a Border Collie and some kind of shepherd mix, rose and came to greet her, tails wagging.

Scout promptly sat, hands out, making sounds of happiness. "What are their names?" she asked as the dogs climbed all over her. She laughed as they licked her face eagerly.

George just watched in astonishment.

"The collie's called Bandit and the mix is named Jess," he said.

"Hello, Bandit and Jess," Scout said as the three of them rolled all over the floor. "Hello hello hello!

"I love dogs," she added unnecessarily, smiling at the dogs and George.

"I see that," George said, smiling back.

"I had a dog," she continued, finally sitting up, one arm around each dog, scratching behind their ears. "His name was Gerard Way. He lived with me until last year."

"Really?" George asked, tickled. "Like the lead singer of My Chemical Romance? For real?" He looked at Scout with renewed interest.

Scout nodded at George, smiling, and George noticed that Scout looked nothing like a boy when she smiled. Her mouth turned up at the ends, and her pale blue eyes sparkled with life. Bandit turned and licked Scout on the neck, which made Scout laugh, which sounded like bells ringing to George.

"Bandit! Stop, that tickles!" Scout laughed, pushing him away as she fell over on top of Jess.

George laughed at the three of them as he asked, "What happened to him? Gerard Way?"

"I had to send him to live with my parents," Scout said. Will had been allergic to dogs. Scout had apologized to Gerard Way over and over when her father had come to pick him up, and she'd cried as her dad had pulled away and she'd watched him drive away with Gerard Way's head hanging out the window.

"He got hit by a water delivery truck when they let him out to go to the bathroom one day," Scout said briefly.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry," George said, aghast.

Scout shrugged, hugging the two dogs close to her as she sat on the sunny kitchen floor. "I'm fine," she said briefly.

"Would you like some tea?" George asked, gesturing.

"Sure, but I can get it myself," Scout responded, rising smartly from the floor.

She found the tea bags and mugs and sat down across from him. He showed her how to click on the kettle and two minutes later she was sipping the best tea she'd ever had in her life as Jess rested her head on Scout's foot.