The World Beyond Me.

“Dale,” she spoke softly, looking up at his tall stature.

He looked down on his younger sister, blue eyes deadened by the military routine they had grown accustomed to. He seemed disgusted that she was talking to him, his eyes meandering down his rugby-beaten nose towards the young girl stood beside him, walking briskly to catch up with his long legs.

“What?” he questioned; his voice unusually smooth.

He’d stopped and was now glowering down on Adelaide like some kind of bug on the pathway that had been trodden on one too many times. His blonde, curly hair was gelled perfectly from his face and trimmed to the upmost precision.

“What’s happened to you, y’know, since Mum died?”

Dale frowned at her bluntness. He considered this question for a long moment, his full pink lips twitching from left to right thoughtfully as he pondered. Deciding, eventually, to find her question unladylike and ignorant, he turned sharply on his heels and carried on towards school.

But Adelaide was strong willed. She reached out and grabbed his wrist with a wrathful hand, her fingernails creating smiling dents across his tanned flesh. Dale stared straight ahead, breathing heavily. With each passing moment she dug her claws deeper and deeper. She wanted to cut him, hurt him, make him scream in agony – anything to make him turn around and acknowledge her question.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he turned his head slowly so his chin leaned on his broad shoulder. Eyes cast down to the pavement, he seethed through gritted teeth.

“Let go. We’re going to be late for school.”

Adelaide dropped his wrist and watched as it abandoned her grip to flop against his side. He didn’t even hiss at the contact of his bruised and broken skin hit the side of his coarse black trousers.

Adelaide was so close to tears she had to hold as still as physically possible for a moment or two. When the dull throbbing in her chest had subsided slightly, she opened her orbs to find that Dale was gone, just about to turn the corner. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Are you okay, sweet?”

Shocked, Adelaide jumped and turned her head to look towards a man standing on the road beside the pavement. His hair was a deep brunette – soft like ravens wings swishing in the gentle breeze, and he was so much taller than her, dishevelled and unkempt and plain gorgeous. His baby green eyes were piercing, but beautiful. There was something sinisterly delicious about this boy that drew her in; even the tattoos and almost girlish long hair.

“Uh, yeah, fine, thanks.” Adelaide almost smiled.

“You’re one of them posh chicks, are yah?” he grinned widely.

Adelaide frowned. “What do you mean?”

The boy only laughed at her mockingly, but a glint in his eyes told her that he didn’t mean harm by the comment. His grey beanie hat was pushing his hair into his face.

“I like you. What’s your name, sugar?”

Adelaide’s heart fumbled with joy. She twisted her body to face him properly, the tartan skirt swishing loudly and her polished black shoes squeaking awkwardly. Fly-aways tickled her face that warmed at the cheeks, bringing out the colours of her cute little freckles that danced across her nose – eyes sparkling.

“Um...”

“Adelaide, we’re late, come on!” Dale yelled from the end of the road.

She took a glance towards the mystery boy with big blue eyes filled with wonder. She’d never met a boy outside of her social confines. Her jaw hung open for a moment before she pursued her brother quickly down the road, leaving something behind her. Her mother’s bracelet.

“You stupid little girl!” Father spat mercilessly.

Adelaide looked down at her feet, hands folded on her lap, hair covering her sobbing face still sore from the slap that persisted to echo around the room. She couldn’t say a thing – fearing another beating.

His overbearing figure leaned over her, casting an ugly shadow across her whole body as she stared down at the cream carpet. Never had he laid a hand on her before – but now that Annie was in the picture, he was an unpredictable animal. He always wanted to push a little further in order to please that woman, as though she was stood behind him – twisting his arm.

Adelaide’s wrist burned without that charm bracelet on her flesh. Her heart ached mercilessly. She couldn’t bring herself to look at her father, couldn’t find the courage to insist that it was a complete and utter accident.

“Get out of my house. You can return when you’ve found the bracelet.”

Her father grabbed a hold of her hand and tugged her from the chair, throwing her out into the bitterly cool September evening that gnawed at her exposed flesh. She hadn’t even been given the chance to change from her stupid private school uniform so she was pretty exposed to the elements in her smart-black pencil skirt, thick black tights, perfectly polished dolly shoes and thin white blouse with a coat hanging over the top. She even had her purple leather bag hanging on her shoulder.

Groaning, Adelaide pushed a hand through her long hair that she’d tugged loose earlier. She decided to retrace her steps to school and back to see if she could find it. Her long, dawdling steps took her along the edge of the pavement she’d walked that morning.

With arms wrapped tight around her body, she stumbled her way along that familiar path – finding nothing out of the ordinary cracked paving stones littered with decaying leaves and the odd piece of rubbish or plastic bottle.

“Hey, Adelaide!”

The voice was familiar, but she couldn’t place it. Adelaide looked up, staring straight ahead at first with a frown until she heard footsteps approaching from behind. Turning around slowly, she found that the lad from this morning was running towards her with that same wide grin on his face.

He was holding something in his hand. It glinted in the pale lighting of that evening’s fading sun.

“You dropped this.” He approached her with an outstretched arm, hand clenched.

Adelaide frowned. She made a cup with her hands and looked down expectantly. She could feel the heat falling from his fingers as his fingertips barely brushed the top of her palms. Then his hands opened and coolness filled her fingers.

The bracelet landed in her grasp with little noise.

Big blue eyes stared straight up at the tall boy, wide with shock and admiration. Her pink lips were opened in a shocked expression as she alternated her gaze between the smiling face and the sentimentally priceless item.

“Um, Thank you.”