Madeline stepped out of the limo slowly, staring at the huge metal gates. This should be interesting. She thought, and pulled her hood up, walking into the institute.
As she unpacked her bags, Madeline noticed a blonde boy walk into her room. "What do we have here? A new kid, huh?" He sneered.
"You know, it's considered rude to walk into someone's room uninvited and without knocking." She looked at him. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Mello," the boy said, biting off a piece of chocolate. "You?"
She was about to say "Maddy" out of habit, but remembered the name she had been given by Roger.
"Maple." The name felt weird on her tongue, but she said it as if she had known it all her life.
Mello nodded slowly, as if examining her. He was about to say something, but another boy wearing orange goggles and a striped t-shirt came in. "Mello! I was wondering you went." He said, and stared at Maple. "Oh, your the new girl. I'm Matt!" He said cheerfully.
"Nice to meet you, Matt. Your much more polite than your friend Mello, here."
"Gee, thanks!" Matt said, and dragged Mello out of the room, waving as he did so, ignoring Mello's struggle.
She rolled her eyes, and went back to folding her clothes.
Maple opened up her window and climbed outside onto the roof. She sat down on and watched the sun set. She brushed her black hair out of her eyes and started to cry. She missed her dad. Maple wondered if he knew where she was.
It was already her second day at Wammy's House. Maple had been introduced to most of the other kids, and a majority of them turned out to be less than friendly, but she was able to find a group of friends. This group consisted of Missy, a red headed soccer freak, Kelly, book addict, Connie, animal obsessive, Danger, who had earned her nickname for always being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Mello, and of course Matt.
Mello and Maple simply hated each other. She and Matt got along alright, which was why Mello had to be dragged along everywhere Matt went. They were best friends.
One night, Maple sat out on the roof again. She knew she wasn't allowed to. It made it even better. She liked the cool breeze on her face, looking down at the homeless people and stray dogs on the street, illuminating in the streetlights. She felt at peace, alone, and awake in the cold air. She felt...Safe. And that was a feeling no person should take for granted.
She froze as Maple heard another window squeak open, and turned her head to find Mello staring right back at her. "What do you want?" She asked quietly.
"What are you doing up here?"
"Nothing much." She said.
He sat down next to her. "Did you take my chocolate?"
"What? No!"
He raised one eyebrow. "Then who was it?"
"Well, if you happen to look around this godforsaken orphanage, you will see tons of other little brats who hate you as much as they hate me." Maple said, a bit too sarcastically.
He glared at her, and looked up at the stars. "Do you think Near did it?"
"Near would be the least likely, actually. He doesn't hate you, Mello."
"True."
"It was most likely Danger."
"How would you know?"
"She's got a grudge against you, and she's the only one brave enough to actually sneak into your room and steal your precious chocolate."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Mello sulked.
Maple rolled her eyes. "I thought you hated me. Why are we having a perfectly civil conversation right now?"
"Maybe I don't hate you, after all."
"Oh? That's new."
"Mhm." Mello looked down, pretending to check the time on his watch. It was past 2:00 Am.
"Hate. To feel intense or passionate dislike for someone or something." Maple recalled from memory of reading the dictionary.
"Uh huh." Mello closed his eyes.
Maple sighed, and looked out at the streets of Winchester. "Good night, Mello." She said, and climbed back into her room, watching Mello do the same.
The next day, Maple and Mello didn't speak at all. This wasn't unusual, because of course everyone else knew that the two hated each other, and this was more than likely, despite Mello's words.
Maple sat down beneath a tree while trying to read her new book, (a Stephen King novel) which was easier said than done when you have a soccer ball hitting you every 2 minutes.
Missy had bet Mello that she could beat him in a game of soccer, and of course Mello agreed. If he had a chance to be number one, he would take it. Especially if it was as easy as beating a skinny little girl in a soccer match. It wasn't hard to guess that Missy would win, though.
Eventually Maple gave up and went back inside. She threw herself down on the bed and listened to her radio, full blast. She melted into the abyss of blankets as she looked up at the ceiling, trying to make out designs that weren't there in the pattern.
That night Maple couldn't sleep. It was too cold to go out on the roof, but there wasn't anything to do in her small room. So, she opened her door and walked down the corridors, back and forth. She wasn't sure why she was doing this, and why it was more entertaining that reading or something else relaxing in her room. Maybe Maple's slightly morbid mind was hoping she would see a ghost. That might make things a bit more interesting in the institute. Or maybe it was the dark, and how she wasn't allowed to go out here after hours, too.
After about walking up and down the hall about 15 times, Maple heard another pair of footsteps. The first thing she thought was that it might be a teacher, and she immediately took refuge behind a plant. Maple carefully and slowly peeked out and saw a figure. It was much to short to be a teacher. The figure came closer, and she found that it was Mello. Only Mello. She stepped out from behind the plant and walked over to him. "You aren't supposed to be out here, you know." She said.
"You are such a hypocrite." He put on hand on her shoulder, and kissed her.
About a million things went through Maple's mind then. Her knee jerk reaction was to slap Mello, twist his arm behind his back, and kick him in the shin. She ran away, leaving him kneeling on the ground.
Did she feel sorry for reacting so violently? A little bit, yes. Partially because she honestly didn't want that kiss to end. Did she feel Mello deserved it? Yes. He did.
The next day, Maple climbed the huge pine tree in the institutes yard. It was cold, but the rain couldn't count as much more than a misty drizzle. It was even more peaceful up here, because no one could see her and she was allowed up here in broad daylight. "Hey." Mello said, climbing up.
Maple turned her head automatically, forgetting about last night. "What do you want?"
"To apologize. I really shouldn't have done that last night."
"You don't have to. I should be the sorry one. I shouldn't have reacted that way."
"No, you were right."
She narrowed her eyes. This was going to be a battle not easily won with him. "What if," she said slowly, "I wanted you to kiss me again?"
"Wait. What?" Mello said, shocked.
"I said, 'What if I wanted you to kiss me again?"
"Really? You don't want to kill me?"
"Well, for a little bit I did. Then I changed my mind..."
"Why?"
"Well, because it's obvious you like me, and no one has ever felt that way about me before. All the boys I have known thought it was funny when I they hurt me both emotionally and physically, and it's nice to have someone think the opposite way."
Mello smiled and kissed her again. It tasted like chocolate.
They're relationship lasted this way for awhile, and eventually Matt gave up on impressing Maple, seeing how things were. Then on November fifth, Roger received a message.
It had been just after lunch, when Mello and Near had been called into Roger's office. Maple could feel the tension in the orphanage that day. She had the feeling that something big, drastic, and most likely tragic had happened. She lay down on her bed, wondering what Mello had done this time and how severe his punishment would be. The only thing that didn't make sense was Near. He was always quiet, never said a word, never hurt anyone. The kid barely moved. He was always wither building a complex city out of blocks or something like that.
Mello came into her room shortly after. She could tell he had been crying. "Maple," he said. "L's dead."
She took a moment to register this information. L. Dead. The one who this orphanage was built around. All the children in the orphanage, successors for the greatest detective in the world.
"I'm leaving, Maple."
"Why? Why can't you stay here?"
"I can't stay here. It's either work with that bastard Near or go live on my own. Matt's coming with me, too."
"Well then I suppose I'm coming?"
"Exactly as I hoped."
The weather was cold, but the crisp November night kept them all awake.
They were somewhere in England, they knew that much. Somewhere in a field, next to train tracks. "You don't mean-"
"Yes, Maple. We are going to hop a train." Matt said, annoyed, pulling his goggles over his eyes.
"Mello?... You're serious about this, aren't you?"
The blonde boy took a bite from his chocolate bar and nodded solemnly.
"Here it comes!" Matt seemed a little bit too happy.
The train whizzed passed them as each one ran, hoping to get on alive. Mello and Matt had no trouble at all, but Maple was not that strong when it came to running. She could see the train moving faster and faster away from her, as her best friends screamed at her. "COME ON YOU LOUSY BITCH!" Screamed Matt, only to get punched in the face by Mello.
Her legs ached. Her body was telling her she needed to stop. But Maple knew she couldn't stop. Then she would be lost, alone, somewhere in England. That image was painful. She knew she wasn't that pathetic. Maple kept on running. Faster, and faster. She reached out and grabbed Mello's hand, feeling her foot hitting something hard, sharp, and painful as she did so. Maple fell to the metal floor of the box car hard. "You alright?" Mello asked.
"You know, beside the fact that I think my foot's broken, yeah. I'm perfectly fine." She said, a bit too sarcastically.
Maple winced as she took off her beaten Converse off and looked at her foot. It felt numb, sore, and bended slightly out of shape. Her toes were turning slightly purplish. "Oh, see? Never mind. I'm perfectly fine." She crawled over into a corner and grabbed the first aid kit Mello had said would be too much to carry. Maple found a bandage, and carefully wrapped her injured foot. "Well, this will be a fun trip!"
The three teenagers sat and watched the sun set from the speeding box car. "You know what? I doubt we're going to survive much longer." Maple mused.
"Cheer up." Matt replied, exhausted.
She sighed, and curled up next to Mello, who was already half a sleep. Despite everything, it seemed somehow peaceful in the dirty box car. Their lives had been changed drastically before, that's why they all ended up at Wammy's House, and they knew that something that would change things forever would happen soon, if it hadn't happened already.
Maple woke up after Mello but before Matt. She searched through their bags for something to eat, but didn't find much more than chocolate. "Christ, Mello. Did you even think of what Matt and I would eat?" She hissed, settling on a granola bar though she hated them.
"Nope." He said, peeling the wrapper off his chocolate bar.
She sighed, and hugged him. "When can we get off this thing?" She asked.
"I don't know, really. We can't stay on here for much longer, I know that. But I really don't think you should be jumping off of trains in the condition you're in now." Mello pointed at her foot.
Maple looked down. It was true. There was no she could get off anytime soon without severely injuring or killing herself. "Well, that's going to be a problem."
"No it's not!" Said Matt, scaring the shit out of Maple who had no idea the red head was awake.
"What's your great idea, Matt?" Mello asked, annoyed.
"This train is going to stop eventually," Matt continued, pulling his goggles on. "So one of us should distracts the engineer, while the other carries Maple to a safe spot."
"Wow, Matt... That's not such a bad idea." Mello said, upset that he didn't come up with it first. "But how will you distract the engineer so he won't notice me carrying her dead body?"
"I have my ways, my friend." Matt grinned.
