The Girl Who Couldn't Feel

“Oh! Both of you are home!” Mother smiled as Jaden and I came in. I could hear Candy singing songs in her room. It had been a few weeks since the anniversary of Mom and Dad’s passing. Since then, Jaden had really been hanging around me all the time.

“Yes, Mrs. Grace.” Jaden smiled. We walked toward our room to do our homework, but Mother called me.

“Marie, why don’t you help me with some work?” Mother smiled at me, though I could sense her annoyance at having to ask. I nodded, and began to move toward her, when I felt an arm around my shoulder. I looked to my right, and I was staring at Jaden.

“Actually, Mrs. Grace, I was hoping that Marie could tutor me in some of my classes, today.” He said with a smile. Mother just gave a slight nod, but I could tell that Jaden was annoying her. Jaden had been doing this a lot recently…

We walked into our room and I looked at Jaden. “What?” he asked, confused.

“What do you need help with?” I mumbled, and I looked up when I heard Jaden laugh.

“Nothing, I was just helping you out.” He managed to say between chuckles. We then began to do our homework. Jaden had forced me to sit on the desk, even though I had tried so hard to convince him to use it instead. As I was working, I saw the door slightly open, and I saw half of Candy’s face, her eye staring at me.

“Candy, you can come in.” I said, and I saw half of her lips pull up, in a smile. She jumped into the room, giggling.

“Marie!!! Can you play with Candy?” She giggled as she ran up to me.

“Not right now, little Bunny.” I said, holding her hands.

“Okay.” She mumbled, but then her face lit up again. “Oh! Candy knows a secret!”

“Then, will Bunny tell me?” I said to her, but she shook her head and giggled.

“What about me?” I heard Jaden say. “Candy, won’t you tell me the secret?” Candy looked at Jaden and hesitated before she shook her head.

“Candy promised that Candy wouldn’t tell the surprise… but Candy is supposed to say something.” She smiled at me once more.

“And what is that?” I said to her.

“Hmm…” she put her finger on her chin, and looked up thinking far too deeply for a six year old child. “Ah!” she said and skipped in a circle before stopping in front of me. “Candy was supposed to say ‘Ta-da’!”

“Thank you for helping me Candy.” I heard someone say at the door. I looked over and saw Parker. He looked at me and smiled softly. “Marie, how are you, my little-”

Before he could say anymore, I ran up to him and hugged him tightly. “Parker…” I put on a fake smile, and felt a pang in my heart. I knew that every time I put on this smile, I was getting farther and farther away from my true smile. I was losing bits of myself, but I had long forgotten what that smile looked like, so it wasn’t much to lose.

I heard Parker sigh. “I missed you...”

“Parker, Parker,” Candy giggled as she tugged on his shirt, “what about Candy?”

“Of course I missed you.” He smiled, rustling her hair, which made her giggle even more.

I let go of Parker and looked at him. “Why weren’t you here the day I needed you? You promised you would always be here. I was all alone. You left me all alone.” I said, hoping he felt guilty. I wanted him to feel hurt. But, as soon as I saw the sadness on the face, I immediately felt guilty.

“I’m sorry, but I heard you weren’t alone.” He glanced at Jaden.

“Yes…” I mumbled, remembering the events from that day.

“Do you have time to play?” Parker then asked with a smile, and I smiled back.

“For you, I have all the time in the world.”

“Jaden, why don’t you come along?” Parker asked Jaden, who smiled back.

“Sure.” He said, getting up from the sofa.

Parker and Jaden left the room to go talk to Mother and Father about us going for a walk, while I waited in my room with Candy.

“Marie, Marie, yesterday, Candy saw everyone at the gray place.” She smiled at me, as she lowered her voice.

“Who did you see?” I asked.

“Candy saw Aunt and Uncle and…” she paused, and I was confused. Who else could she have seen at the cemetery?

“Who else, Candy?” I asked slowly.

“Candy can’t tell you…” Candy giggled. “It’s a secret. Candy won’t tell you!”

“Please, Candy, Marie wants to know.”

Candy thought about it for a second, and put her hands on the sides of her mouth. I lowered my head and she began whispering in my ear. “Candy saw….Tammy!” she giggled and skipped out of the room. I let out a sigh. Oddly enough, I had expected to hear a different name…though I wasn’t sure what name I had expected. Of course she had seen Tammy. Tammy had gone to the cemetery, as well.

Parker and Jaden returned and we headed out. It was silent as we walked and I could feel the tension between Jaden and Parker. I walked between them quietly, and Parker had his arm around my shoulder. Suddenly, as we were walking, the interrogating began.

“So, Jaden, do you have any siblings?” Parker said.

“Yes, an older sister. Her name is Skye. How about you?”

“No. But, I consider Marie to be my little baby sister,” Parker smiled, but his eyes were serious, “If you know what I mean.” Jaden nodded, and so Parker asked another question. “So, why are you here?”

“My dad sent me here. We don’t get along. Why are you here?” Jaden smirked as he asked Parker his question.

“I visit Marie as often as I can between business trips. I actually started a business on my own when I was your age.” Parker smile widened. I could tell that he meant that as an insult to Jaden. “I don’t need to rely on my parents’ wealth, nor have I ever tried to use their status to my advantage.” Parker had done his research…

“I plan to do the same. What I become will be because of me, not because of my family.”

“I see. Do you play any sports?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty good at basketball.” Jaden smiled. It was getting annoying to watch them pretend that they were having a civilized conversation.

“We should play, then. I am pretty good at basketball myself.” Parker stated, and Jaden’s smile grew as well. They were no longer walking. Instead they were standing face to face, and I stood watching, with my arms crossed.

“Sure. How about at the park?”

“Jaden, Parker. Stop this.” I finally muttered, but Parker still spoke.

“What are you to Marie?” he asked, but he didn’t smile.

Jaden took a second, and I could tell the question had surprised him. “…I…I’m her friend.” He finally said confidently. Parker smiled, earnestly. But I felt he wasn’t smiling at what Jaden had said, but what he hadn’t said…if that made sense.

“I like you, Jaden.” Parker said, sticking his hand out.

Jaden shook it and smiled. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

Parker laughed. “By the way,” he suddenly said seriously, “I wasn’t kidding about the fact that I consider Marie to be my little baby sister. I promise that I won’t let anyone get away with hurting her.” Parker smiled at the end, but it looked very threatening.

“Parker, I want ice cream.” I said when I saw an ice cream truck. It was the best distraction I could think of.

“Sure.” Parker smiled.

“I’ll go get it.” Jaden said, stopping Parker. “What would you like?”

“A drumstick.” Parker and I said, smiling at each other. Drumsticks were our absolute favorite.

Jaden smiled as well. “Sure thing. I’ll be back.”

As soon as Jaden was far enough that he could no longer hear us, Parker spoke. “He’s a good guy.”

I ignored what he said and stared at Parker. “What was that?” I asked, my voice thick with frustration.

“What? I just wanted to get to know him. He’s the one who made it such a competition.” Parker smiled with his hands in the air.

“But, do you sense it too?” I asked him, quietly. I couldn’t explain why, but I truly felt something was wrong. Jaden was hiding something, and even the thought that he was upset me. But, I was sure it was true.

“Marie, you worry too much.” Parker chuckled, rustling my hair like he did with Candy. “We should probably head home now.” He said, looking at me for a response. I nodded, and Jaden returned with our drumsticks.

“Here you go.” He smiled. He had gotten a drumstick, too. We opened them and all of us smiled. Then, we walked home, as Jaden and Parker talked about sports, much more civilly then before. As we walked into the house, I saw Candy in Father’s office. She was reaching for a book in the bookshelf on her tippy toes, but she couldn't reach it. The bookshelf, however, had never been very stable.

“Candy, get away from there.” I said, but I sensed I was too late, as I ran toward her. I had startled her, and she had pulled on the bookshelf a bit, but that was enough to make the shelf begin to teeter. Without thinking I wrapped Candy in my arms, and shielded her from the books with my body. I shut my eyes as I heard the books fall, but instead of pain, I realized I felt something warm around me. I slowly opened my eyes. I turned my head, and found myself staring at Jaden, who was bent over Candy and I. He groaned a bit, and I realized that he had been shielding us from the falling books…but why hadn’t the bookshelf fallen?

I then realized that Parker was holding the bookshelf up. “You guys should probably get out from under there…” he said, a bit out of breath. The bookshelf was pretty heavy, which is why I was amazed that Parker was able to hold it up on his own. I heard Candy whimpering in my arms.

“I-I-I’m sorry, Marie…” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Shhh. Hush. It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” I said, hugging her tightly. I turned to Jaden, who was already standing. “Are you okay, Jaden?” If he was hurt, it would be my fault.

Jaden smiled. “I’m fine.” He held out his hand for me to take. I got up and then helped up Candy, who was wiping tears from her face. Then, Mother came into the room.

“Oh my lord,” she gasped, “what happened here?”

“Sorry…It was my fault…I startled Candy, and she accidentally pulled on the bookshelf.” I mumbled. Candy was still shaking a bit, and Mother quickly ran up and picked her up, rocking her in her arms. Then, she looked at me sternly.

“Parker, Jaden, are you two alright?” Mother asked, and they nodded in response.

“Marie, you should head to your room and consider the danger you have put everyone in.” Mother said to me, and I quietly left the room. I finished my homework and then I went to eat dinner with everyone. As I sat down, Candy looked at me and smiled, and I knew she was hoping I forgave her. Quickly, to make sure that Mother and Father didn’t see, I rustled her hair so that she wouldn’t worry. I had never been angry with her to begin with. When Mother brought the food, Parker was surprised.

“Wow. Vegetarian food… I guess the food I brought is pointless now…” he smiled, glancing at me and Jaden. I could tell he knew what Jaden had done. I hadn’t told Parker about this change, so he had still brought some vegetarian food, which was actually for me. Parker also had told my parents that he was vegetarian, though he actually wasn’t. We ate happily, and then Parker had to leave. As I hugged him, he pulled something out of his pocket.

“I will try to be back before Christmas, but just in case, I want you to take this now.” He said, handing me a small wrapped gift. “Go ahead. Open it.” He smiled. I slowly un-wrapped the gift, and inside, there was a box. I opened the box and saw a beautiful gold necklace with a small golden angel. It looked so familiar, though I couldn’t remember why… “I have had it for a while now. It belonged to a… friend. But, I feel it would be better if you kept it.”

“It looks…familiar.” I mumbled, still staring at it.

“I know.” He said, a bit sadly. I looked up at him and smiled.

“I love it.” I said, as I gave him a hug, and he hugged me back. Parker helped me put the necklace on, and then he said goodbye to everyone else. As he went out the door, he hugged me once more.

“Stay safe, my little angel.” Parker whispered in my ear. Then, he was gone once more.

As I lay in bed, my hand was still wrapped around the necklace. I felt some connection to it, though it was probably my imagination. The day today hadn’t been too bad. I actually felt that I had a lot of…fun. I knew I was going to get in trouble for the bookshelf incident, but I decided not to worry about it. I closed my eyes slowly, listening to the sound of Jaden snoring, and I went to sleep, with an angel resting on my chest…