~Chapter 2: A change of scenery~
Angelo knew if he was caught he'd be in serious trouble. But he had to do it. He carefully pulled the curtain aside and opened the window, poking his head out ever so slowly. He could see the whole gardens of the orphanage. The playground, the field and even a small seating area where the priests and nuns would sit, calling the children round for prayer. He glanced over every child, looking through familiar faces he'd seen so many times before. Girls skipping, boys playing football and a mixture playing a game of rounders.
But he couldn't see the one person he was looking for. He saw all the fun and laughing going on below him, something he'd wished many times that he could be part of, and he couldn't see her anywhere amongst the rabble. He went to go back inside, giving up and thinking she was inside somewhere, when he happened to look down and spot the familiar figure he'd seen last night.
The girl named Yumiko, with Asian features and jet black hair sat upon a stone bench, below his window. A book lay open upon her lap and she quietly read to herself, her head low as if she was absorbed in the book.
Angelo tip-toed ever so slightly, ignoring what felt like a small drop of rain on his head, leaning out farther to see if he could see her face.
Yumiko' head suddenly shot up as she felt a few small drips on her head, and wandered if it had been raining (or someone had dropped water on her head).
Angelo had never moved so quickly before. He pulled himself back and down, landing with his back below the window and hoping he hadn't been seen. It wasn't allowed and he didn't want to get into trouble, but he was more worried he had been seen by her.
He didn't want to frighten her. He took a deep breath and carefully and slowly slid back up the wall, peeking just outside to see her. He observed the empty stone bench and sighed, hoping it was due to the rain that had suddenly come down with a vengeance and was currently chasing all the other children and teachers to run inside.
Angelo closed the window and leant his head against the frame, thinking about what he was feeling and how there must have been a reasonable solution to cure him of it.
It felt like his heart could burst out of his chest and his stomach had butterflies flapping about wildly inside of it. He walked carefully away from the window and sat down, hoping to read a book that would allow him to think of something else.
But no matter how long he looked at the words he couldn't get the image out of his head. The image of her sad face. He'd not one seen her smile since she'd arrived.
He sighed and closed the book, deciding once and for all he was definetely not going to stop observing the girl that intrigued him so. Not until he at least saw her smile once.
He reached out towards his neck and stroked the metal collar that lay around there, a reminder of how unstable his powers where. He swallowed the lump in his throat and remembered to stick to the shadows.
For the next few weeks, he watched Yumiko from the shadows. Hiding behind curtains, doors and even waiting until choir practice so he could sneak a peak at her from a window. He watched her read in the corners, stand at the back with her head low and never stayed in one place too long. If she was with anyone, it was only ever Anderson, clinging to his hand when she didn't want people to talk to her.
Angelo wanted to learn more and more, slowly releasing that for the first time in his life, he cared for someone.