Chapter 2 - Reuniting

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As if swimming to the surface of a pool, I realize that the hand reaching to grab me belongs to someone else—someone who's standing above me, shaking my shoulder in attempts to wake me up. My mind jumps to action, knowing this person is either the keeper of the cemetery grounds, or an authority in the foster care system. Neither of whom I want to get caught by today.

I leap to my feet and into a sprint. The momentum carries me forward until the sleeping bag, still tangled around my legs, sends me falling back to my face.

"There is no reason to fear." The guy calls as I squirm from the bag's hold. "I will not cause you any harm."

With my legs free, I hold the sleeping bag under one arm and comb the bangs from my eyes with the other as I scan over the intruder. He still stands by the tree, his gaze trained on me and his posture mirroring my own. Like someone poised to run incase an alarm goes off.

Which means he's probably not trying to nab me, then.

"Who the heck are you?" I say finally.

A smile flickers over his face, and he holds out a hand despite the yards I've placed between us. "I am Cináed. My deepest apologies for startling you, but I thought you were experiencing a night terror."

Ignoring the hand, I glance him over again. If the accent doesn't peg him as a foreigner, his looks sure do. A head of golden curls sit above a pair of wild, green eyes. And his full lips twitch from the effort it takes not to smile. As if he wants to appear stoic and cautious, but can't.

His exuberant happiness both startles and unnerves me. Besides, what kind of person uses the term "night terror" anyway?

My blank stare finally inspires him to drop his outstretched hand. But doesn't stop him from asking for my name.

While my mind means to tell him to bug off, my tongue responds with a will of its own. "Roisín."

His eyebrows disappear into the blond waves cascading over his forehead. "It's not every day I meet someone from my homeland. Your parents are Irish?"

Biting my chatty tongue, I grunt about not having time for this and march over to gather my gear. He moves aside as I stuff the sleeping bag and food wrappers inside the pack.

"Perhaps later this evening we could grab a drink and discuss our common ancestry?" His voice is hopeful, and my lips open unbidden for the second time to tell him what he wants to hear: Yes, I'd love nothing more than to catch up later.

But I learned my lesson the first time, and I slam my jaw shut while I let what's left of my reason catch up to my unhinged mouth. I mean, he's an attractive foreigner and all, but I know better than to get so easily distracted. I blame sleep deprivation, and also some leftover adrenaline jitters. Yeah, that's what my problem is.

I zip up the pack and swing it over my shoulder. He hands me my canteen as if he's been holding it the entire time.

"Unless, that is, you have previous engagements." His green eyes are resting on me, watching my inner struggle play out across my face.

The fact that he thinks he has a chance—in large part because I haven't trusted my mouth to respond yet—infuriates me more than anything. I snatch the canteen from him and place it into a side pocket on my backpack.

"Look, Cináed, was it? I don't have time to chat it up with you today, or ever." I say, pleased that my cold, pragmatic tone finally decided to show up. "And if you follow me or tell anyone you saw me here, you'll regret ever leaving your homeland." I draw out the last word with a thick accent and extra mockery on top.

Pink light shimmers through the trees around us. Morning means the time to finalize my plan has arrived. And the time to ditch Mr. Lucky Charms has too.

"I did not mean to—" He begins, placing his hands between us as if to demonstrate he won't come any closer.

"Let's not make this into a rerun, K?" I say over my shoulder as I jog down the path and out of the cemetery. I feel his bright eyes on the back of my head until I turn the corner and increase my pace.

Instead of heading toward Darren's place, I run west to catch a bus in front of the college. It will drop me off right where I need to be.

Thoughts of my weird dream, and the strange guy who woke me up, are shoved away as I mentally go through the plan again. Every escape I've ever made led to today. Even the air around me holds its breath to see this play out. To see if I can actually succeed at something for once in my life.

The variable that makes this escape exponentially more important than all the rest appears through the bus window as I get off at the stop. He stands on the lawn of the middle school, surrounded by other awkward teenagers milling around before classes starts. I descend the bus steps and watch him wave to a woman in a white Fiat. Her bleached smile and blonde up-do tells me she's Julianne Roberts, Darren's foster mom. I glower at her and almost wish she would notice.

Wave while you can, Julie dear.

As her car pulls away, I start across the lawn. Darren has his back to me as he nears the school. I sniff at the moisture in my eyes and marvel at how tall he's grown. Three years mean that both of us have changed, but he will always be my baby brother.

My hand brushes his arm when I catch up to his quick stride. He stops and looks back, eyes widening.

"Roisín!" His arms wrap around my neck as I pull him close. "Roisín! You're here!" The words are repeated several times, first as statements, and then as questions.

I let him be the first to release the embrace. If it was my choice, I could hold him for hours. "Yes, I'm here." I say, running a hand over his hair.

"But, how are you here?" He asks, flattening the locks I left standing on his head.

I sigh and pull a face. After weeks of planning, I've managed to forget the explaining part.

The first period bell chimes around the lawn, and any remaining students are hurrying inside the doors. Darren surprises me by taking my hand and leading me across the street to a park. We walk in silence until he sits on a bench and pats the spot next to him.

"I think you have some explaining to do, Raisin."

I raise my eyebrows, but obediently sit. "You know I hate it when you call me that. My name is weird enough without you giving me an even weirder nickname."

He tucks his hands into his hoody and stares at me. "Something's wrong, isn't it? That's why you came all this way to see me."

My back sinks into the bench. "Why do you have to be so perceptive, huh?" I glance at his unfailingly serious expression. "You could just be a normal brother who doesn't even care when his sister shows up out of nowhere."

"Did you run away again?"

The turn in the conversation feels like a series of blows to the stomach. No one else has this kind of influence on me. But Darren has a way of knowing just how to unravel my deceptions. Lying to him was never an option.

I turn to face him. "Actually, I came to see you because I have a proposal to make. But you have to hear me out before you say anything."

He squints at my pinky finger I hold between us, but after a moment he interlocks his own pinky with mine and nods. "Alright."

    Despite the pressure for time, I want him to understand. And I hope that once he does, he'll come with me and leave this crummy middle school and pretend family behind. As I explain the details, his gaze wanders to his feet. I rattle on anyway, knowing he's still listening to every word.

    "When Lucas told me he'd found me a job and a place to stay, I knew we had a chance." I take a lock of his hair in my fingers. "I know I've messed up a lot. But Darren, I promise you that we can still be a family. Just you and me."

    "What if I don't like it in Canada?" He says, still staring at his shoes.

    I let my hands fall back to my lap and inhale through my nose. "If you go with me and decide you don't like it, then you can come back here."

    "With Howard and Julianne?"

    My teeth clench, but I nod.

    He looks up at me and a rare smile spreads over his face. "Okay. I'll come with you."


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Name Pronunciations:

Roisín: Ro-SHEEN

Cináed: KIN-ay

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So now that we've met Darren, what do you think of her little brother? And what about Roisín's strange happenings in the cemetery?

Comment your predictions and thoughts! And don't forget to click the little star to show you liked it :) that little star means everything to me! (but seriously)

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