Forgiveness (Under revision)

Chapter Three

"Sure," I answered him carefully. And he gave me a smile before walking off. I stared off into the distance after he left, and the next customer had to shake me to bring me back to presence.

Later that day when my rotation was over I walked to the entrance in the woods. The boy was there. Everest. He was in the woods. Behind the gate. I stared at him. Should I tell someone this person was breaking Syra law?

"Hello there," he said to me playfully. I eyed him slowly, before answering.

"Hi."

"Come on, it's fun over here," he told me. I stared at him then at the sign.

The big bold words: Warning! Do not Enter! Then back at him. I wasn't just about to break the law for a boy I don't even know! He must have noticed my weary look because he came over to me and said

"Don't worry I won't hurt you," I stared at him.

"Why... why are you talking to me?" I asked. His face immediately turns red and he looked away. I stood there waiting for an answer, and after twenty long seconds I realized I wasn't going to get one. I carefully stepped toward the entrance of the forest. He looked back at me, smiled, and then followed me into the woods.

"What are we... going to do here?" I asked him.

"Oh. Well, I just wanted to see if you would like to be my... friend," he said, the blush returning to his face.

Friend.

The word was so foreign. I didn't think I'd had a friend in my life. And now... this random boy was asking me to be his... friend? I was most definitely not used to being asked to be a friend. Especially bye boys. Especially popular good looking boys. I only knew he was popular because I had seen him walk by the streets with tons of pretty girls swooning over him. I didn't want to be another one of them. But then again... I needed the company...

"You... don't have to if you don't want to," he said quickly, probably seeing the doubt in my face.

"I'll be your friend. I've never really had one though, so I don't really know what friends do," I told him.

"Oh? Really? What do you do your whole life? Don't you at least go to school?" he asked me.

"It's kind of a long story," I said uneasily, not sure if I should tell this boy everything.

"We have lots of time. Well I do. I don't really know about you..." he said, leading me over to a nearby rock.

"Ok... well, my parents died in the military about two years ago, and I was left alone with my brother. But then he married a woman named Jessica and moved to Aurum. He got me a job at the antique shop and I worked there ever since," I said, in one deep breath. He looked taken aback by what I just said, as if he couldn't believe it.

"Wow. Your life... is rough," he finally said. I laughed emotionlessly. Rough. Another word to describe my horrible life.

"Well don't worry. I can help. I'm here with my sister, and I could stay here an extra year or so for you to take the test. Then I can help you have a better life," he said. His words were so unexpected. He wanted to help me? He wanted to... live with me?

"Uhm... okay," I said, still a little confused. He smiled at me, then took my hand and led me farther in the woods to explore.

Hope.

Hope. The word repeated in my mind, until I was awaken by blinding light.

I rubbed my eyes groggily, and got up. Like always, Everest was up.

"Big day! You're taking your test!" he called to me.

Shoot. Not the test! I completely forgot that I had to do the test today. This could mean... it was the last day I saw Everest. Curse or no curse. There was a good chance that I would never see him again. I looked up at him, and saw that he was smiling. I tried to force the same expression on my face, but it was difficult.