Chapter 4: Let's play a game
Never was anything great achieved without danger - Niccolo Machiavelli
"Of course he says it wasn't him." Frowned Mrs. Cole in the kitchen, running her hands through her hair desperately.
"It's always the same! Always!" She hissed.
"Auntie...not so loud. He may hear you." Said Joelle, still shocked, however. Tom could see it from his perspective, but Mrs. Cole waved her off. "Nah, locked his door."
Joelle frowned. "You locked him in even though you don't know it was him?"
"It was him - I just don't have proof! As always, Joelle. Tom is-"
"Marvolo!"
"Marvolo." Inhaled Mrs. Cole. "Is not what you think he is, dear. You might want to be careful with him. I see that he has, well, finally warmed up a little since you're here and-"
"See? Maybe that's exactly what he needed."
"It's not what he needs. Tom-"
"Marvolo!"
"Riddle!" Grumbled Mrs. Cole again "Doesn't need a friend, Joelle, dear. He never wanted a friend. Do you think the other kids never tried? And he certainly doesn't want you to try."
"Is that the truth? Or is it you not wanting me to?" Asked Joelle with a frown and looked away bitterly. Tom smirked. Good one, Joelle. Unfortunately, Mrs. Cole was right. He did not want Joelle to be his friend.
"Besides." Said Joelle. "I'm really not even trying to be his friend. I just treat him with respect and I think he has some very interesting things to say if only people listen closely enough. That's all I'm doing. But I'm doing the exact same thing with the others, too."
Tom frowned. The others, too? No. He did not like to hear that. He wasn't like everyone else. He was special, so much more than Stubbs, Bishop, Benson or whatever their names were. Joelle Cole will have to realize that very soon. Tom stretched up and walked back into his room, closing the door, locking it again.
A while later, a knock caused him to turn around - the door unlocked and Joelle walked in, putting a key away.
"Hey." She smiled, but he did not return it.
"Leave me alone." Tom said.
"Okay. If you want to be left alone, I'll go." She then said and turned back around but the door closed before she could walk out. Joelle frowned, glancing over to the window to see if it was the air maybe, but that was not the case. She shrugged a little and reached out to the door handle, but Tom then said "it wasn't me. The rabbit. I promise."
Joelle withdrew her hand from the door handle and looked at Tom. He sat on his bed, fiddling around with a stone in his hand.
"I did not come here to ask you that." Said Joelle and sat down on the edge of his bed. Tom looked at her curiously, especially when she decided to sit there and not the chair for once.
"Then why have you come here?" Asked Tom.
"I came here to tell you that I trust you. That's all." She smiled and got up again. "I'll go see Billy now. He's devastated."
She came here to tell him that? Just that?
Tom's eyes widened, his nostrils flared, he glared behind Joelle's back when she reached to the door, but it did not open. She frowned, wondering if she had locked it after walking inside - she couldn't remember but it did not matter, she took the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door, pushing down the handle - nothing.
"Something is wrong with the door..." She mumbled. Tom watched her, still glaring, inhaling deeply while she kept on rustling around. Tom couldn't take it. She would go see Billy now - after all he tried to punish Billy for receiving her attention? Tom's eyes flickered red again, he looked to the stone in his hand, then to the back of Joelle's head - and it all went so fast.
The rustling stopped, Joelle fell back and Tom caught her, pulling her onto his bed. He glanced at the bloody stone. Feeling a little panicky, he simply opened the window and threw it away into the snow where it vanished, then closed the window quickly and checked the back of Joelle's head. The wound wasn't so bad, luckily he hit the right spot and it barely bled, and with all her thick hair - nobody would notice. He exhaled deeply and sat down at his desk, watching the sleeping figure in his bed.
Silly girl.
"Joelle?" Came Mrs. Cole's voice from behind Tom's door an hour later.
"We are playing a game, Mrs. Cole." Said Tom, hearing the footsteps from the matron disappearing then.
"I don't like that game." Said Joelle softly suddenly, her voice sounded croaky. Tom frowned, looking down at her, then away again.
"That's because you haven't been introduced to the rules yet." He said.
"Rules?" Asked Joelle and sat up, flinching, rubbing the back of her head. "You're cheating."
"I'm not cheating, Joelle." Tom said softly. "You think I'm evil, don't you?" He asked. Joelle sighed, shaking her head.
"I know you are not. And even though my head hurts and I want to slap you, I know you are not evil."
"You'd to best to believe I am." He suddenly stated, looking out of the window.
"I'm sorry, I don't wish to waste my time with things that are not true." She smiled and tried to get up, then winced a little and sat back down.
"Why are you doing that!" Tom suddenly yelled. "Why do you think you can come here and tell everyone that they're special when you say you don't want to waste your life with things that are not true!"
"Because everyone in here is special." Said Joelle simply.
"No." Said Tom. "You're wrong."
"Okay." She smiled. Tom frowned. Okay? It was okay to be wrong? He shook his head.
"You really are...strange." He murmured, glancing to his desk. She knew he had attacked her. He yelled at her. And still yet, she sat here, smiling - believing.
"Can you leave me out now, Marvolo?" She asked. Tom glanced at her.
"Are you going to see Billy?"
"Yes."
"Then you will stay here." Tom shrugged. Joelle's mouth twitched, Tom could see it from the corner of his eyes but when he looked, it was in a straight line again. Was she amused about this?
"So. What am I going to do here, then?" She asked.
Tom shrugged, resting his head on his elbow again as he stared at her. Joelle sat on the bed with her knees pulled up to her stomach, she seemed comfortable.
"This is boring, Marvolo." Said Joelle with a sigh. Tom huffed. "Not to me." He said.
"Is that one of your rules?" She asked, again he was sure he saw her lips twitching slightly - but when he looked closely, it was gone again.
"One of many." He said.
"Oh." Joelle frowned, her mouth forming an "o" as she stared at him with big eyes. "What are the others? I don't want to do anything wrong again, right?"
"Right." Tom nodded.
Right.
"You...will not go to Billy." Tom said. "And you will...not walk to school with Bryan or...be in any other sort of contact with him. Don't let Amy hug you. And you're kissing nobody's cheek anymore." He played around with the hem of his sleeve.
"Anything else?"
"You'll not cut apples for anyone but me."
At this, Joelle couldn't suppress the laughter, but she waved it off when Tom glared.
"Okay." She then said, clearing her throat.
Okay? She agreed? This was too easy, way too easy.
"And...you will tell me what's on your mind now." He said suspiciously.
"Hmm." Joelle frowned and her bottom lip moved forward as she shook her head innocently.
"Tell me!" Tom insisted.
"I was just wondering why I'd have to do all of that. What happens if I, let's say, cheat a little?"
"Then you better hope that I won't catch you cheating." Said Tom grimly, causing Joelle to suck in her lips in amusement, but she nodded. "Okay." She said again. "Can I go now?"
Tom stared at her for a while, then sighed and nodded. Joelle got up, wincing a little again when her head moved too much, she pressed her hand to the wound, but disappeared through the door.
Silly, silly girl.
The next day came. Tom understood why exactly Joelle was so compliant yesterday. She was gone. It was Saturday and that actually meant that she could've stayed here for the weekend, but she did not. Tom heard Amy Benson asking where Joelle was, but Mrs. Cole just said that she had to go home.
Weeks passed. It was a cold December morning when Joelle walked into the orphanage, carrying a bag that was almost twice her size - it looked like she wanted to move in with it. Tom watched her letting it drop to the ground, he narrowed his eyes when he saw her but something in her face caught his attention.
She had a black eye.
"Elli?" Asked Joelle, calling upstairs. Amy and some other kids heard Joelle's voice and instantly wanted to run up, but Tom held them back while Mrs. Cole walked downstairs.
"Oh, hey dear, good to see-" She frowned, seeing Joelle's face, then suddenly pulled her into her arms. Joelle said nothing, she just clung to her aunt and seemed to take in that little bit of silence and warmth.
"What's wrong with Joelle?" Asked Eric then, but Mrs. Cole waved him off and walked upstairs with the girl. The kids all frowned and exchanged looks, just Tom kept staring ahead after the two.
"What do you think happened?" Asked Billy then. Dennis shook his head at him.
"I have no idea." He mumbled.
"She looks so sad! Somebody hurt her!" Squeaked Amy, and instantly, all eyes fell to Tom.
"I was here all the time!" He thundered out at their accusing glances. That argument seemed to be at least enough for them to sigh and look away, however, they sat together and kept on gossiping and speculating. Tom did not want to waste time doing that, he instantly drew the conclusion that it had possibly something to do with that man he had seen in front of Joelle's school.
Carefully, he sneaked out of the dining room and upstairs, but all doors were closed. Tom tried to make out where they were. He first checked Bryan's room - because that's where Joelle stayed in during the nights, but as he leaned his ear against the door, there was not even a whisper. He glanced upstairs, figuring that Joelle and Mrs. Cole were in the office then, and indeed when Tom sneaked up he could hear voices from there but he instantly turned around and darted back down as the door opened and Mrs. Cole walked out. Tom stood in front of his room when she passed by.
"Mrs. Cole, is Joelle okay?" He asked. The matron stopped and looked at him, forcing a small smile.
"Yes, of course." She said and walked off.
Lies.
Tom glanced up to the direction of the office, then slowly sneaked up again. He peeked his head through the door, seeing Joelle sitting on a dark couch to the left of the wall, her back turned to him and she panted quickly. No. She sniffled. She cried.
Tom stepped closer and upon hearing this, Joelle turned around quickly but once she spotted Tom she looked back around again.
"Marvolo." She said softly, dabbing away her tears with a tissue. "I don't have time right now, sweetheart." She said. Tom could clearly hear that she tried to smile.
"I have time for you." He said. Joelle looked over her shoulder slightly, obviously surprised. Tom walked closer but Joelle stretched out her arm.
"Don't." She said. "I don't want you to see me like that." She murmured.
"I've seen you already." Said Tom. Joelle sighed, then rested back on the couch.
Tom could now clearly see the dark and bloody skin under her eye, her lips were swollen - split. But what shocked Tom most was her gaze. It was empty. Usually so full of life and bubbly happiness - they were tired and cloudy now.
"It was that man, right?" Asked Tom and sat down on the chair that he turned towards Joelle. The latter frowned.
"You will not say a thing." She said to him warningly. Tom glanced at her, then away again. Another secret?
"Who is he." He asked.
"Nobody worth speaking of." Said Joelle and that tone of finality was strange to hear from her mouth.
"You like him." Tom then said. "Otherwise you wouldn't protect him." He narrowed his eyes, looking to the ground, then back up to Joelle.
"You think I could like somebody who did this to me?" She asked him softly.
"I hurt you too but you still don't hate me." Said Tom. Joelle chuckled suddenly and Tom couldn't help but feel slightly lighter for giving her a reason to smile.
"I have seen his car in front of school a couple of times." Said Tom unexpectedly. Joelle frowned, sitting upright now.
"You've been there?" She asked. Tom still looked to the floor, back up to her, then to the floor again.
"You haven't come here for 23 days." Tom shrugged. "So I came to school." He looked at her as if that was the only logical conclusion that would work for anybody.
"Marvolo, you can't just leave the orphanage every morning to see if I'm going to school." She frowned.
"Why not?" He asked. "I wasn't late when I returned. I made sure of that. I did not want Martha to escort me to classes every morning like they used to do a while back - because I've been late all the time." He added.
"Listen to me now." Joelle said with a stern tone suddenly.
"I do not want you to do that anymore. It's dark outside. You are still a child! It's dangerous!"
Tom chuckled, he glanced up at her.
"This is not how it works, Joelle." He said softly. Joelle frowned at him, then shook her head.
"This is not a game, Marvolo. This is not about breaking rules or cheating." She sighed softly.
"You can have it the hard or the easy way. You can tell me who this man is - or I'm going to find out myself." Tom shrugged; he almost expected Joelle to suck in her lips again to hold back the amusement - but she was not amused at all.
"I told you he's nobody." Joelle said. "And that's all-"
"Is he your Ex?"
"Quit it!" She suddenly yelled; causing Tom to jump in his seat. He looked at her with widened eyes - Joelle never yelled at somebody, never yelled at him before. Tom glanced down towards the staircase because he saw Mrs. Cole starting to walk back up. He looked at Joelle once more but she did not return it, and so Tom merely got up and walked out of the room wordlessly.
He would find out, sooner or later.
Nobody saw Joelle during the rest of the day, but Tom could hear her voice. She was sleeping in Bryan's room - as always. Tom narrowed his eyes a slight bit. He was not stupid. He saw Bryan around Joelle all the time at school during break, Tom had not told the whole truth. Whenever his classes were over, he quickly hurried over and tried to see what was going on in the schoolyard. He caught Joelle on a swing most of the times and Bryan was next to her, they've been talking about things that Tom could not hear from the distance.
But he could hear them now.
"So, it wasn't that much of a bad party, was it?" Asked Joelle and Bryan shook his head, or so Tom imagined.
"No, but I still would've wanted you to come." He purred, then sighed.
"Ah, come on, Joelle. Don't turn your face away all the time. It's not your fault, you just tried to protect somebody and got punched for it. That's not a shame."
Bryan was so stupid. Did Joelle tell him that she got into a fight, maybe even wanting to protect a made up cousin from evil bullies? Ridiculous.
"You're still beautiful" stated Bryan.
Tom glared.
"Stop it." Said Joelle lowly, sighing. "Bryan, stop it." She demanded again.
"Shhhh." Whispered Bryan. "Just let me make you feel good, Joelle. After all of that, you truly deserve it."
Tom heard some strange sounds, sounds he never heard before - not in reality. He withdrew his head from the door. Kissing.
Anger rose in him, his body went rigid, fists clenched. But before he could do anything else, the door shot open and Joelle came stomping out of the room, Bryan stumbling after her while pulling up his pants.
"Joelle!" He called out but Joelle walked downstairs. Bryan sighed, turned around, then backed away when he saw Tom standing close in the dark corridor - he stood there for a couple of seconds, as if warily trying to get around a monster and cautiously moving past it before it could attack - then he slipped into his room and locked the door that Tom glared at, but his attention went elsewhere when he remembered Joelle.
He walked downstairs, finding her in the kitchen with a cup of tea in her hands, yawning exhaustedly, but frowned when she saw Tom.
"Marvolo..." She said, shaking her head. "Why do you always hear what's going on in this orphanage?" She asked.
"Because Mrs. Cole wears ear plugs." Said Tom with a small smile, sitting down.
"You should tell her what he tried. They will finally kick him out." Said Tom, but Joelle shook her head.
"He just tried to cheer me up a little. Sometimes...men don't think further than that."
"So you're saying that this will remain without consequences for him?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not going to let an orphan be thrown out of an orphanage for something like this. He did not want to hurt me." Said Joelle firmly and Tom knew she was done discussing about this matter.
"You could sleep in my room, you've been sleeping in my bed before." He said with a twitch of his mouth and Joelle smiled for the first time again, even chuckling. She reached out and ruffled through Tom's hair.
"You're cute." She said. "But I'll just take the couch up in Elli- Mrs. Cole's office."
"That couch is way too small." Said Tom, shaking his head. "No-"
"Marvolo. Quit it." Said Joelle in her usual stern voice when Tom wanted to continue arguing. He frowned at her, shaking his head again.
"I'm making the rules here." He grumbled.
Joelle couldn't stop giggling for the next few minutes, causing Tom to chime in chuckling at some point, but he quickly caught himself again. It felt good to just sit with somebody he barely knew but still thought he had known for some time. Tom did not care about friendships or anything for that matter, why, he was his own completion. Still yet, he thought it was refreshing to find somebody who did nothing to change his mind on that, and while others would view it as a pity, he knew it could not be.
"It's late." Joelle then said and put the cup away. Tom nodded and got up, rubbing his eyes a little when he walked up with Joelle. He watched how she knocked on Bryan's door, he opened it, trying to explain himself but Joelle merely grabbed her pillow and blanket, then walked out and wished Tom a good night, disappearing upstairs.
When Joelle woke up the next morning, she was not alone in the office. Tom rested in the chair, still asleep.
