Sonic's POV

First day of vacation, I slept until noon. I could've slept longer but Mom woke me up. "Sonic, if you don't come downstairs and apologize you are grounded little mister."

Apologize? Oh, boy, what have I been accused of now? Fake hall passes, cheating kids out of their allowance, making out with the principal's daughter? That last one actually happened to me last year. Blake had to have been either good with photo shop or had paid someone to do it for him. She's his sister too and she normally just goes along with what he says.

I sighed and got out of bed.

"Come on, come on get dressed and brush your teeth." I did what I was told and wondered what Blake planned this time. What has Satan gotten his son to do this time?

When I got down the stairs I heard giggling. Giggling? That's new. I walked into the kitchen to find that same girl from yesterday. She was sitting at the table. When she saw me, she moved her head and looked down not wanting to look at me. I don't blame her. I took a good look at her. She looked so… helpless.

"Well Sonic." Mom eyed me as she placed a plate of spaghetti in front of the girl and then another at the corner next to her. I knew what she was up to. All I had to do was last maybe an hour with this girl and my mom and then I'll probably never have to see her again in my house again.

I sighed. "I'm sorry for what I did and said yesterday." It came out more sincere than I planned it to be… but I guess when I looked at her, I … just didn't want her to hate me. Blake plays his part really well. I don't need to add to the list of people who want me to be broken and scarred.

"It's okay, but a simple, now's not a good time would have worked too ya know."

"I was… having a bad day."

"Oh."

Mom sat down.

"Umm, is there any way I can go on my own after lunch?"

"Why not have Amy as company; she did want to have a look around the neighborhood." Oh no. I had to think of something fast.

"Actually, how about we go into the woods?"

"Splendid idea Sonic. Maybe you could show Amy the pond." So that's her name.

"A pond?" Amy asked.

I looked at her. "Yeah, I actually fell in it when I found it." She giggled. I smiled without meaning to.

"Well, Sonic, are you going to stand there or are you going to eat?" My mom asked.

"Hm, oh, right."I ended up scratching the back of my head. I made my way to the table and sat next to Amy. She smiled at me. I didn't know how to respond. Or maybe I didn't want to because she may unknowingly commit social suicide. I was planning to not say anything and when Mom tried to get me talk I wouldn't say much.

"So, Amy I didn't quite catch your age."

"Um, I'm ten. I'll be eleven after school starts." She said before she stuffed her cheeks. I chuckled at her face with those puffed up cheeks. She's cute, I'll give her that. Oh… it just gives me more of a reason to make sure she isn't seen around me.

"Ah, Sonic's almost thirteen."

Amy turned to me and asked, "So are you going into eighth grade?"

"Yeah."

The rest of the time was about Amy's family. Her moms wanted her to grow up in a place that's closer to nature, so they moved here. I've never encountered someone with two moms before. I thought just having one was enough, but two? This might be an interesting summer. I didn't speak at all for the rest of the hour. My ma, I felt, was more interrogating Amy after she mentioned her family situation. Since Dad left, mom has been having her eye on anything out of the norm. We don't get cases like Amy's around here.

After lunch, my mom took me aside and told me, "Please make her feel welcome and don't let her go near the bridge." There was an old rickety bridge over a river that cuts through the forest and ends at the pond.

"Okay."

"Good boy. And come back before it gets dark."

"Uh-huh." She patted my head in a loving way. To make my mom happy I'll make sure Amy's happy by the end of the day.

I left with Amy beside me.

"Are there any other kids around?"

"Yeah, but none of them over the age of five."

"Any teens?"

"Sure, but I wouldn't go playing with them."

"Why not?"

Oh, boy. She's so innocent and I … admire that. She can live in this whole perfect world in her mind. You know, that time when it seemed that the world didn't have any worries. When you think that you'll always be safe and not seem to realize how dangerous the world can be. Something that I could never do. I always knew that the world was cruel and that life sucks. But Amy, seemed to get the ideal childhood with that belief that all people are good inside. I couldn't ruin that for her.

"Let's just say… their ideas of having fun are different from ours."

"Okay then, how far is the pond?" I pulled her into my chest. "Uh…" She looked at me surprised and I think she was scared.

"You really should be more careful."

"Huh?" I cocked my head towards the tree that she could've hit. She turned her head in the direction. "Oh, heh." It wasn't until she looked back at me that I noticed how close we really were. Her hands were on my chest and somehow an arm of mine was wrapped around her waist. I could feel her breathing on my face. It strangely felt… comfortable to hold her this way.

"Uh…" She pulled away from me as I tried to find something to say. I saw the rosy burn on her cheeks before she turned away from me.

"Thanks."

"… No problem."

"Uh," she was looking down and twirling her index fingers around each other, "Please," she looked at me, "Lead the way Sonic."

"Right." I took her hand knowing that maybe it would be safer if I did. "Do you mind?" She shook her head. Her cheeks were blazing from what I could tell and I could feel mine burning up too. I mentally slapped myself for the natural reaction. I led Amy into a passage that I have taken so many times before.

"Do you always come into the forest Sonic?" She asked a few moments into our journey.

"Yup. It's like a way to escape the real world for a little while."

"So it's like your own personal playground?"

"I never thought of it that way…" I looked at her with an intrigued look. She smiled softly.

"Whoa!" She tripped and I went down with her. But… somehow I positioned myself so that she landed on top of me and for me to take the… initial impact, I should say.

"Ow!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Sonic." She got off and sat next to me. "I can really be clumsy sometimes."

"It's okay, I've been through worst." I sat up and heard a pecking sound.

"What was that?"

"Sh… Listen." It came again. I looked around for our culprit. It came again. The sound was coming from… right over us?" I looked up. I smiled and tapped Amy's shoulder. She was looking to the side when I tapped her. She looked at me as I smiled and pointed up. I saw her smile as she spotted our company: a woodpecker.

"Amazing," Amy sighed. I stared at her as she admired the pecking bird doing its thing. Her pink quills framed her face well. I heard some rustling in a bush. A squirrel with puffed up cheeks ran from the bush and up a tree. Amy giggled. "You don't see that every day."

"City girl huh?"

"I guess, my moms and I used to live downtown."

Moms. It's so strange to me how a person can have two moms. One's enough for me thank you. Oh well. This world is modernizing I guess. I could only hope that Amy won't end up like me; an outcast, because her family is a happy, but not a normal one. To tell you the truth, now that the info has settled into my mind, I found it to be more interesting than strange. I wondered to myself for a moment, How do you know when you're looking for a guy or girl?

"Um Sonic?"

"Hm?" I shook my head a little and noticed that she was standing over me.

"How much further is the pond?"

"Oh, it's not much farther." I got up, took her hand again and went on.

"Do you always show your friends this place?" I stopped momentarily. "Sonic?" I didn't look at her as I once again faced the fact that I didn't have any friends to show this place to. It still hurt that so many years of torment could still leave a few reminders. "Sonic?" I looked at her ever so slowly. She seemed worried.

I felt my heart warm up. No one outside my family has ever looked worried for me. Maybe having her around for the summer won't be so bad after all.

"Did I say um…?"

"I'm fine. I just-no one's ever-It's…"

"…Hard for you to make friends?"

"Yeah… That's it. Wait how did-"

"Not so many kids take a liking to kids with an unusual family."

"You mean… you didn't-"

"I did have a few good friends, but… their moms and dads didn't ever let them come over for a play date or go to a movie or even go to the park if they weren't around to keep any eye on their kids."

Suddenly, I felt sorry for her. It was strange for me. Usually, I was never shown pity and yet having a concern for someone else was something I had never done before. It was a strange feeling. She gave me a strange feeling.