Chapter 4

After the whole Maria-Eric-incident, as I liked to call it, I thought I would at least be able to catch a break. But, as always, the Fates were working overtime in securing that my life never had a peaceful moment;

Dennis Bishop liked me. And not in an endearing way. His attempts at wooing me instead had me frankly running the other way. Unfortunately, running away from Dennis brought me right into the arms of another boy. I couldn't say I appreciated the change.

It started after a month or so after arriving in this world- Dennis' supposedly crush on me. At first, I didn't notice. I hadn't even thought of the possibility of someone taking a liking to me. Sure, I was in a new, admittedly much more adorable body and I was sure that given time, I would grow up to become a beautiful lady. But at the age of seven? I was dumbstruck.

With no way of knowing how to handle this kind of situation, I settled for trying to hide from his affection, but to no avail. Who knew an eight-year-old could be so persistent? Not I, anyhow, which definitely didn't help the situation.

I wasn't a blunt person, or even a very headstrong one, and turning a little boy down was one of my fortes. His attempts kept coming and I felt like they were turning increasingly more creepy as the days passed.

It had started with his.. gift.

It was Wednesday, which meant going to the local park for playtime. I particularly enjoyed these days, as it meant no Riddle present to cause trouble. He usually just opted to stay at the orphanage, and if he did accompany the group, he only did so to sit in a secluded area and read where no one bothered him.

But there was another reason my mood was so good that morning: It was Hanna's or whatever-her-name-was, birthday. I didn't know her personally but birthdays meant celebrations. Though they weren't very big at the orphanage, we always emphasized the day of someone's birth with cookies or something alike. I may be 19 years old, if counting the actual years of memories I had, but cookies were something I would always enjoy.

Because of all of this, I was in a good mood from the beginning and as the caregiver taking care of us for the day settled down and the children spread out to play, I went to sit down by a tree surrounded by various flowers.

The sun was shining unrestricted by clouds and I couldn't help the little smile that formed upon my lips. Coming to terms with my predicament was certainly a hard task, one that I was still working on overcoming. But being here, surrounded by the grass and warm gusts of wind, I found I didn't mind much at the moment.

It was admittedly better than my previous life. While not extremely horrible, it wasn't exactly a dream life either. I didn't have much to anchor me and make me miss my old world anyway, which in any other case probably would've been sad. As it was now, however, I was glad I didn't have anything in particular to miss overly much as that surely would've just added to the anguish of being placed in a whole other world.

A sudden clearing of throat swiftly brought me out of my musings and I looked up quizzical. It was Dennis - I think that was his name - the boy from two rooms away. He stood with a determined face and looked at me as though I was a challenge he had to overcome. I waited for him to say something and when he realized he had my attention, he spoke, "Emma. Do you want to play with us?"

I leaned a little to the right to look past Dennis, catching sight of some of the other kids. They were by the playground, playing some game that had them running around. The girls were giggling amongst themself, while the boys attempted to look… manly, I guess? Considering their age, it proved to be a very hard thing to do, as everything they did or said was mostly considered "cute" by the adults, and their attempts were looked down upon as only the quirks of young, adorable kids. In short, their behaviour had me amused.

I smiled a little as I turned back to him, shaking my head apologetically. "Sorry, I'm picking flowers for a collection." At least, that was my excuse. I didn't exactly fancy the thought of running around with kids not even half my age, playing some game made for the purpose of entertaining children, when I would rather be by myself.

It seemed my wishes were not be answered, however, as the boy remained where he stood. He still had that determined look on his face while the other kids continued their playing. I just sat there, regarding him with raised eyebrows.

"I'll help," he suddenly offered, with that cheerfulness only kids could posses. I smiled slightly and nodded, though inwardly I was sighing deeply - a sigh suggesting a life lived through trials and hardships, and definitely not befitting someone with only seven years of experience in living. It seemed my quiet afternoon was ruined.

"Sure!" I answered and he beamed, enthusiastically starting to pluck some flowers that caught his attention. While I didn't mind the company, I would much rather go without it, and inside, I was longing for when I could finally start attending school and meet older people, or just in general growing up and be able to talk to people capable of holding intelligent and meaningful conversations for a change.

Dennis helped me gather some flowers, all the while humming a little to himself as he showed me the occasional pretty flower. I tried to be kind, smiling and nodding at him, but I was itching to be left alone and had to suppress a passive-aggressive behaviour, or simply lashing out.

"Look, Emma!" At his call, I turned towards him with a plastered smile, prepared to say something like "cool", or "beautiful", when my words got stuck in my throat. He wasn't holding a flower - he was showing me a bug kept firmly in place as he almost squashed it with his thumb and index finger.

Now, honestly, I was not a fan of insects. They creeped me out and after several bad experiences with them, both in this life and the one before, I really couldn't stand even looking at them.

I stammered some, staring at the bug. Finally, I said, "Ew, put it back."

Dennis continued smiling, taking a what I perceived to be a needlessly ominous step closer to me. He raised the hand with the squirming bug as if to give it to me. "It's for you."

As he took a step forward, I backed one. "Err… No thanks, Dennis."

He looked a little disappointed, before dropping the insect and then stomping on it. The insect finally out of sight, I could let out a relaxed breath.

I may be an adult, mental-wise, but I had never gotten over my fear for bugs, nor did I actively plan to confront it.

Anyhow, that should have been my first clue something was going on. Unfortunately, with the insect right in my face, I didn't notice the reasons behind the attempt, as I was more afraid of the bug I was facing. I hadn't realized until it was seemingly too late for me to calmly end his endeavours. And thus, here I was.

Dennis' crush only grew as the weeks passed, but as ignorant as I was, I didn't notice anything, though I should have. He would always come to seek me in his spare time, eager to talk about his day, bragging about various, frankly insignificant things. For example;

I was just done with my chores before dinner, having settled myself in the room I shared with another girl named Amanda who was out somewhere else for the moment, reading a book borrowed from the local library. In truth, I had already read it, but seeing as there was no other worthy material to browse, I was stuck rereading.

The door to my room was opened, rather loudly may I say, and Dennis took some steps in, looking at me smugly. I placed my book down, barely managing to refrain the sigh that would've otherwise escaped me.

"What Dennis?" I wasn't unkind and at my question, his expression became even smugger.

"Tom is getting grounded again," he started, looking at me as though it was news I should be happy about. I raised my eyebrows, not answering. He continued on his own, "I told Mrs. Cole, he stole my car, then hid it in his room. Tom couldn't say a thing!"

It had been a month since he had plucked flowers with me, and from that time, it seemed everything he did was something he felt the need to share with me. I was not of the same sentiment.

"Oh really?" I asked, clearly showing my disinterest in the topic as I kept glancing back at the book. He looked a little stumped at that but then decided to talk again, puffing up his chest.

"Me and Billy are going to take his book - you know, that weird one his always reading," he tried. I almost grimaced at that. Why were they deliberately provoking him? Though only around eight years old, it seemed they were already developing to become bullies, though I knew they didn't fully understand their own actions. "Do you want to come?"

I shook my head, trying to convey my lack of interest in stealing something from another kid. "No, I'm reading," I answered him, pointing at my book in my lap as if it wasn't obvious.

Dennis got quiet, looking at the book with crinkled eyebrows and a scrunched up nose. "You read too much. You're not like him, are you?" He looked suspiciously at me and I tried to smile.

"Of course not," I said and laughed, completely throwing Tom under the bus. Not that I cared for him, but I still felt it wrong to openly harass a child. I didn't want to be a part of that and nor did I want to get murdered in my sleep. But I didn't very well want to suffer the same fate as him either- being bullied by his peers. Right now, I was in a vulnerable body and there was nothing I could do against an assault. I tried to keep as neutral as possible - if only this kid would stop pestering me for once.

"Tom is weird," I said and Dennis immediately agreed, nodding, his suspicious gaze gone.

"He is," he said and straightened up. "Bye." Then he left.

I sighed and stood up to close the door after him, falling back down onto my bed like a rag-doll with a large outtake of air. I really needed to get rid of Dennis before he dragged me into something serious involving the strange boy Tom.