I remember crying. The circus was supposed to be a happy place, but not that day. "Mana, why does Red hate me?" I would ask.
"Red doesn't hate you, Marie," Mana would tell me. Red was always so mean to me. I was only two years older than him, but he was the only person that was still a kid. So far, the only person I trusted was Mana. I desperately wanted to be Red's friend, but he kept shutting me out.
"But he never talks to me and ignores me all the time!" I sobbed.
"Don't worry. Red had a hard past. He doesn't mean those things."
"Why does he have to take them out on me? What did I do?" I asked and then started crying harder. Mana patted my shoulder.
"I'll talk to him in the morning. For now, get some sleep, alright?" he promised. I nodded and walked to my tent. My eyes filled with tears, I put my head down on my pillow and drifted to sleep.
I was awoken by a shake on the shoulder. Red was standing over me, looking a little guilty. I sat up. "Red? What are you doing in my tent?" I asked.
He kept his eyes on the floor. "I just came to apologize. I shouldn't ignore you," he said grudgingly.
I smiled. "Thanks, Red."
He looked up at me. "Can I show you something?" he asked. I nodded. He took off one of his gloves to reveal a red hand with what looked like a cross embedded in it.
"Wow!" I exclaimed, amazed. "Who else knows about it?"
He put his glove back on. "Just you and Mana," he stated. "I can't trust the others."
"And you can trust me?"
He looked down at the floor again. "I guess."
I hugged him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I shouted. He blushed.
"Well, I better get back to Mana before he finds out I'm gone," he said and left me in my tent. I rested my head on my pillow, eyes filled with tears, once more.
Only this time, they were tears of joy.
From then on, we were friends. Then he and Mana, my only two friends, disappeared, leaving me at the mercy of the greedy circus acts. Of course, when I turned thirteen, I stole a cart and ran away. I became a traveling street performer and stayed that way for three years, all on my own. That was when everything changed.