"What are you doing in here?!" A loud shrill voice woke them up.
The lights were turned on and footsteps approached the bed. B groaned and brought his arm up to cover his face.
"What is this?! I come down here to call you all down to breakfast and this is what I see?" It was Vienna. She grabbed K by the arm and dragged her out of the bed, pulling her to her feet. "Why exactly are you sleeping in his bed?!"
K rubbed her eyes and looked at Vienna, annoyed. "He was having a nightmare Vienna-"
"No I don't want to hear it!"
"But you asked me why.."
"K I have told you countless times not to be in here and especially near B," She glanced at the red-eyed boy.
"Nothing even happened V, A was here the whole time." K turned to look at him. "Tell her A."
He simply stared at her, then at Vienna.
"A?!"
"K that's enough I'm finished with your excuses let's go."
B was still laying down in bed, the blankets halfway on top of him. The bed was cold from K's sudden absence. He watched as Vienna practically dragged her out of the room, K managing to give him a pathetic wave goodbye as she disappeared from the doorway.
"Come eat!" Vienna called from down the hallway.
He sat up. Vienna was so annoying. B turned to look at A, who was still laying down in bed. The blonde boy looked over at B briefly before turning onto his side, his back facing him.
What the hell is his problem...
…
A and B got to the dining room at around the same time, standing at the end of the table looking for a seat. Everyone was already eating and B's breakfast sat waiting for him at his spot. B started to walk to his seat at the very end of the table next to Z, but K snapped her fingers at him.
"Sit here!" She said, pointing to the seat next to her.
B was confused. That was A's seat. He shrugged, took his food and sat next to K. B loved breakfast, it was probably the only meal of the day he enjoyed because he could eat his favorite food without criticism. Strawberry jam. His mood brightened at the sight of the red jar, and he picked it up and opened it. There was always a piece of toast on a plate set aside for him, but he never ate it.
B sat back in his chair, watching as K broke the french toast in front of her into a bunch of tiny pieces with her fingers.
"What's wrong?" B asked, putting a spoonful of jam into his mouth.
"Nothing just a little annoyed." She sighed, ripped another piece of bread in half. "Can you pass me that syrup?"
He handed the bottle to her and she drowned her food in the brown substance.
"A is always in a mood but I don't know what Vienna's deal is with me being near you." She mumbled.
K looked in Vienna's direction.
"Look, she's eyeing us from across the table." K shoved french toast into her mouth. "She acts like you're going to cut off my arms or eat my heart or something."
"Maybe I should eat your heart, if that's what she wants."
"You're disgusting."
Roger cleared his throat, causing everyone to look up. K glanced at Vienna, who was staring at her still, then at Roger.
"Okay children so today Murphy is going to be giving you your physicals before he leaves. You'll all have to meet him at my office." He said, wiping his mouth. "A, you will go first at nine, which is in seven minutes. He's waiting in there right now so finish eating. Then we'll have X and Y at nine fifteen, Z and K at nine forty-five, and B you'll be last at ten fifteen."
Everyone was quiet. Roger put more food in his mouth.
"Don't forget now, he can't be waiting around all morning for you guys Murphy has places to be."
…
"Alright you two, let's get this over with."
He was only giving them a quick physical examination, making sure they were growing correctly and that nothing was going wrong. They were in the office, Z and K both sitting in chairs. Murphy did Z first, and K just sat and stared out the window. The snow was so pretty.
"Alright K its your turn." Murphy called. "Stand up."
She stood slowly. He took out a measuring tape and placed it under her left foot.
"Hold that there please."
He pulled it up to the top of her head. "About one hundred and seventy-three centimeters..." He said, writing it down in his book. He put a scale down at her feet.
"Now stand on this."
She stood on it and stared down at the number.
"Fifty-nine kilograms. Good." He wrote it down.
After listening to her breathing, her heartbeat, and checking her ears and throat, Murphy made K sit back down. He was writing in his book and the two girls were both quiet. K glanced over at Z. She never talked to her, Z was always so quiet. Murphy cleared his throat.
"Now Z I understand you already have been, but K, have you started menstruating yet?"
Z looked at K and she was just staring at the floor, her face very red.
"K there's nothing to be embarrassed about, you're both girls and I'm a doctor."
"Yes... I have."
"Good," he wrote something in his book. "Okay everything looks good girls. Z you may leave, I need to speak with Vienna and K in private."
Z quickly stood and left the room, glancing at K before exiting. K shivered as Vienna, who was standing right outside the door, came in and stood by her side.
"Now V, I have some important things to tell you." He looked at Vienna and then at K. "The girl is very underdeveloped for her age, physically. As you can see she is 16 and still somewhat has the body of a child, this is due to her delayed start to puberty which isn't really common in girls."
K narrowed her eyes. Murphy was always talking about someone as if they weren't sitting right there in front of him.
"According to the last blood test I took, K has very low estrogen levels; she's probably going to be infertile and may never have children. You know, Vienna, we could put her on hormones-"
"No!" Vienna blurted out, making K jump. "No, that won't be needed."
"You don't want to consult with Roger and Wammy about this?"
"Excuse me? I am a woman and completely capable of making this decision." Vienna said, her hand on K's shoulder. "It's not like this is life threatening or anything."
"You're right, I'm sorry." He said. "K you're all finished. I'll be seeing you again soon.."
"Yes of course."
…
B stood at the front door, eyeing the car that was pulling out of the driveway, that pale haired boy in the driver's seat.
"Where are you going...?" He murmured.
…
"Is that a bad thing, what Murphy said?" K asked quietly.
Vienna combed through the younger girl's hair slowly, being careful not to cause her any pain.
"No," She said, holding a handful of her hair, combing through the curls. "He said the same thing to me when I was younger, and I'm fine as you can see."
She watched Vienna in the mirror. Her dark hair stopped at her shoulders and she had creamy, flawless skin. She was very pretty, and it kind of annoyed K. That's probably why she was such a snob, people must tell her she's beautiful everyday. She felt like such a square next to Vienna. K looked down at her chest and frowned. Underdeveloped. Murphy's words echoed in her mind. She suddenly felt a tug on her hair and looked at the mirror, Vienna was staring at her.
"Don't worry about that."
Vienna spun K around in her chair, so she was facing her. She placed her hands on her shoulders.
"All of this doesn't matter." Vienna said, waving her hands around K's face and body. "It's about what's in here," She poked her freshly manicured nails on the girl's forehead. "Thats what's important."
K was a little surprised. That was probably the most useful piece of information she's ever gotten. The words sounded weird coming from her mouth; one would never expect that from Vienna. V was so shallow, yet was telling K to disregard her own looks and focus on the mind. OK.
K simply gave a small laugh in response.
Vienna ran her fingers through K's soft hair, getting annoyed when her hand got caught in the curls. She put the brush down on the dresser beside them.
"Do you know where A is?" K asked, playing with her lip.
"Oh Roger just took him on a little ride in the car." Vienna said, tucking K's hair behind her ears. "He's giving him driving lessons."
"Why didn't he take B with him?" K asked.
"Roger doesn't want B to learn how to drive."
"Why not?"
"Why do you think?" Vienna scoffed. "He doesn't want B to ever leave this house."
"...I don't understand."
Vienna smoothed K's hair down, it was starting to friz already.
"Haven't you figured it out by now?" She asked.
"Figured out what?!" K asked, getting annoyed.
"Oh K..." Vienna sighed, giving the girl a small smile. "B is mentally ill, hes mad."
"No he's not." K laughed.
"He is."
"Did Murphy say this?"
"He said the boy is mentally ill, yes."
"Murphy is a liar."
"K!"
"It's true!" K claimed, jumping up. "It's either that or you're a liar. B can't possibly be crazy, I know him he's just not..."
"You're acting very immature, K."
"You're acting immature! You exaggerate everything everyone says!" K back talked, standing up.
"Excuse me?"
She walked out of the room, ignoring Vienna's calls, and down the stairs to see B standing at the door.
"B."
He spun around to look at her. "Oh hey."
"Let's go for a walk."
...
It was awfully bright out. Most of the snow had melted but it still covered the ground in a thick layer. They walked around to the back of the house.
"So how did you sleep last night?" K asked, nudging him with her arm.
"Great." B said, lighting a cigarette. "I haven't slept that well in forever."
"No nightmares?"
"None at all." He smiled at her.
"...I think you should tell Murphy about your nightmares." K suggested, linking arms with him. "Maybe it'll help you. Like, you wont go to bed worrying about having nightmares."
"...I can't." He murmured.
B was too scared to tell any adult anything. He thought they would use it as evidence to further the claim that something was wrong with him. B felt like a normal guy, everyone was always just out to get him.
They kept walking until they came to the small pond near the back of the property. The water was covered in a sheet of ice and dead brown plants surrounded it. They sat down in the snow on the bank, K throwing rocks at the ice while B smoked. It was quiet.
"They don't understand us B, sometimes you can't force people to understand." L's voice echoed through B's mind.
"...Tell me I'm not crazy, K." B said. "I need someone to tell me I'm not crazy."
She thought about what Vienna had told her earlier. "You're not crazy."
"Are you sure?" He asked quietly. "Don't lie to me."
"Of course I'm sure!" K said with a smile, pushing him down into the snow. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know." He said, putting his cigarette back in his mouth.
B closed his eyes as K lay down on her back beside him. She breathed in heavily.
"This is nice." She said, staring up at the gray sky.
"Yeah."
K spread her arms and legs out. "Make snow angels with me." She said moving her legs together and apart. B shook his head.
"I'd rather not."
"You're no fun."
"Mhm..." He sighed, smoke trailing out of his nose.
She pulled his arm, resting her face on his shoulder.
"Don't get too close, I'm smoking." He murmured as she stared at him. She inched closer to his face. "Back up K."
"No." She said with a laugh, pressing her nose to his cheek.
"Get off of me." He said fighting back a smile, trying to push her off of him.
She shook her head and held onto his arm. B took a handful of snow and smothered it into K's hair.
"B!"
"Will you get off now?"
"Okay okay." She rolled off of him, but not before shoving a handful of snow into his face.
…
happy holidays everyone!