The Girl in Blue

"Come on, Tom!" She exclaimed, happily, running through the grass as though her life depended on it. Tom only rolled his eyes and said, "Aurora, you are having too much fun."

"There's nothing wrong with that!" She said, as she let him catch up to her. Tom rolled his eyes again, letting her have it. She was always the optimist, which was why he wondered why on earth he bothered to even be acquainted with such a girl.

Aurora plopped down on the ground and faced the orphanage. Tom silently did the same.

"Do you think we're ever going to leave this place?" She asked, glancing at him.

Tom only shrugged, but Aurora could never understand how much he wished to leave. He hated the orphanage, even if Aurora didn't mind it as much. Though he would refuse to admit it to himself and out loud, he would take her with him if he could. She was only person he could honestly tolerate, without making strange things happen to her.

In his time at the orphanage, Tom discovered weird things. He could talk to snakes, for one. He could also make things move with his mind, which was handy for when he couldn't handle the other children anymore. He could just make something hit them in the hit, without making it obvious it was his fault.

He kept his talents hidden from everyone, including Aurora.

"I hope we leave. I want to explore the world, Tom." She sighed, dreamily. For a little girl, Aurora was a dreamer and an explorer. Probably one of the reasons why Tom allowed her to be his friend. He didn't like much of the other children there. They all cried too much, and were whiny. Aurora didn't mind, but he did.

"Lets go inside," Aurora stood up, "before anyone yells at us for being out here for so long."

"You follow orders too easily," Tom mused, getting up too. He trailed slightly behind her as she charged down the hill and towards the wall building of the orphanage.

They opened the doors and silently crept inside, hoping nobody would see them. They dashed to Tom's room and closed the door, panting heavily.

Aurora smoothed out the blue dress she was wearing. Tom noticed how much she loved to wear blue, whatever it was her clothes or her jewelry. She always, he noticed, wore a blue necklace. One day, he questioned her about it and all she said was that it had belonged to her mother.

Tom questioned no more after that.

After moments of silence so the two could let their heartbeats go back to normal, and their breathing even again, Aurora said,

"A couple nights ago, a family visited my room."

Tom stopped.

"I overheard them saying that they wanted to adopt me." She continued, quietly. "They liked me."

"So, you're leaving." Tom turned away and faced his wall.

"I don't know." Aurora shrugged. "I might."

He was silent. Aurora hated it when he was silent.

"I want to take you with me, Tom!" She exclaimed, trying to get him to speak.

"It doesn't work that way, Aurora." Tom said, simply. "If they wanted me too, they would have visited my room."

"I can make them!" She sat down on the bed next to him. "I really want to take you with me."

Tom glanced at her and shrugged, "It doesn't matter."

"But...we promised we wouldn't leave each other." Tears welled up in her eyes.

The promise they made was when they first met. Tom was alone, and Aurora was new. She immediately sat beside him during lunch and struck up a conversation. After a long time, Tom was convinced that he had a new 'friend' even though Aurora could be annoying sometimes. Everyone dubbed them as the two friends, Aurora did too, so Tom went along with it.

After seeing some kids being taken away by families, Aurora snuck into Tom's room and they walked about it. She was devastated to see her 'friends' go away, so in order to make her feel better, she and Tom promised they would never leave each other.

"Things change, Aurora." Tom said, shrugging.

Before she could say anything, there was a knock at the door, Mrs. Cole, one of the ladies in charge of the orphanage, walked in.

"Ahh, there you are Aurora," She beamed. She glanced at Tom with an uneasy look. "Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins are back to see you."

Tom shifted uncomfortably and some color left his face. Aurora glanced back at him, slightly angered by what he had said moments ago and she stood up.

Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins, a young couple stood beside the door and grinned at her.

"Aurora," Mrs. Cole said, sweetly. "Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins are going to take you away so you can live with them. Isn't that lovely?"

"Do you want us to help you pack your stuff, sweetie?" Mrs. Jenkins asked. Aurora nodded her head, "Okay."

The three adults left the two children inside the room, and entered Aurora's room, across from Tom's, and started to rummage through her stuff so they could pack in a suitcase.

Aurora turned to face Tom and she said, "I guess I am leaving you then..."

Tom nodded his head slowly, avoiding eye contact with her. "This is goodbye then, Aurora."

They were left in the awkward silence, as Tom shifted away from her and faced the wall again. He didn't want to see her leave, because that was just another person. The one person he could tolerate, was leaving, though a sudden thought occurred to him.

He suddenly felt arms around him. He started and jumped a mile away, but Aurora was only giving him a hug.

"I'm never going to see you again..." She said, sadly.

"Did you know you were leaving, Aurora?" Tom asked. "Outside, you asked me what it would be like to leave. You knew, didn't you?"

Aurora was silent for a second before she said, "I wasn't sure."

Tom only nodded his head. He was not the promise-breaker, she was. And then he decided, that he didn't like her as much as he had, just five minutes ago.

"Come on, Aurora." Mr. Jenkins calls, holding her suitcase. Tom was amazed at how fast it took for them to pack her stuff. She turned around and glanced back at him.

"I'll miss you." She said.

But Tom didn't say anything back. He turned around again and faces the wall. Once the footsteps die away, Tom felt his blood boil and suddenly, his dresser caught on fire.

He had done that before, for some strange reason, so he wasn't at all fazed by it. When he calmed down, the flames went out and he finally accepted it. He breathed slowly, trying not to let his anger get to his head again, and he laid down on his bed.

The girl in the blue was gone, and he didn't know what to feel about that.