~June 3, 2006: Age 11

So I was getting' older and as I got older things started getting harder. Eventually I was faced with the reality that I was gonna have to start going to high school soon at the Royal Academy. All my life up to age 14 I learned shit at home. My parents loved to read and they had a bunch of educational textbook-things for learning and they made me read from those. Roxie, Matthew, and I would actually read them together to benefit knowledge for the each of us. In about two years I was gonna be shipped off to high school and there was nothing I could do about it. I decided one day after helping my Dad with his blacksmithing stuff, I wandered over to Roxie's house. It just so happens that she was trying to sweep the trails yet again. By the way, did I ever tell you about Roxie's OCD? Probably not. Well, yeah, it's true. She loves cleaning a lot and pretty much expects everything to be spotless and have absolutely no trace of bacteria on it. She's the biggest neat freak I've ever met. She freaks the fuck out if something has a little bit of dust on it. But yeah, anyway I walked up to her and hoped to God I wouldn't scare the crap out of her sweeping.

"Hey, Roxie. I got a question fer ya."

She wiped her forehead and placed the broom against the house. "Howdy there, Rusty. What's up?"

"Well I was just wondering if yer parents were gonna be sendin' ya off to the Royal Academy too? I don't know, I've been givin' it lots o' thought lately and I was kinda hopin' that you were gonna be goin' too. It'd be nice if there was someone there that I knew." I managed to say, kicking the dirt beneath my heel. I could tell kicking the dirt around was aggravating Roxie just by the look on her face. She lightly stepped on my foot to make me stop and sighed.

"Yeah, I'm going too. I mean, we really don't have a choice. But let's not worry about that now. Summer's on its way and we don't wanna be cluttering our minds up with our scholastic worries. We've still got a whole year until we're off."

"True." But I was still worried. I'm not really good around other people. Plus, I didn't like the thought that I was gonna have to stay in a dorm all week and then go home on the weekends. I didn't think this was gonna be fun at all.

~July 10, 2006

Well today just so happened to be Matthew Kai's 12th birthday. Yee-haw. Roxie and I expected him to be by his parents in the morning when we were all done milking the cows but when we got to the café, he wasn't there. "Mornin' Mr. Kai," I greeted, "Where's Matthew at?"

"I'm not too sure, Rusty. We woke up and we saw him walk off somewhere else. Would you two mind looking for him?" Mr. Kai asked while he tucked in his white dress shirt. Roxie and I nodded and headed off toward Ol' Gabby's place. We walked up to the base of the mountain and around the corner where the creek was. Sure enough, there he was. Sittin' in front of the creek. We thought we heard him talkin' to himself, but we weren't too sure. I took a couple steps closer to listen in and it turns out I was right. He was talkin' up a storm with himself. I couldn't hear everything he was sayin' but it certainly didn't sound good.I swear, Roxie and I thought we heard him say stuff about killing people and "why is Rusty so perfect?" kinds of stuff. It scared us, so we thought we'd put an end to that right there.

"Happy birthday, Matt." I said quietly as not to startle him. He jumped and turned around. "Oh, Rusty! How kind of you to see me on my special day of birth." He stood up and walked toward us. "And you too, Roxie! What a pleasant surprise! I'm very happy to see you both today." Roxie merely nodded. I could always tell she was a bit scared of Matthew. I mean, so was I, but I've never seen her that way around anybody. She gave me that "let's just go now" look and motioned for her to leave if she wanted. She took the initiative and left to go sweep more of the trails. Matthew glanced at her and raised his eyebrows at her as if he kinda wanted her to leave. As much as I hated being with him alone, I couldn't just leave him. It was his birthday for fucks sake.

"Soo, uh, did ya get anythin' for yer birthday yet?" I asked him, fidgeting uncomfortably. "You know, anythin' from yer parents?"

He laughed hard for a few seconds and then said, "Rusty, Rusty, Rusty. My parents never get me any presents. Maybe once or twice, but not always. They don't really care too much for me, you see." And somehow I wasn't surprised. If I were his father I'd wouldn't get him anything either! But in a way I still felt kinda bad for him, so I regretfully said I'd spend the day with him. We walked over to Ol' Gabby's place to visit him and my Father. We chatted there for a bit and then walked up to the bridge that leads to the side of the mountain that was good for mining. We just sat there against the mountain wall and talked for a good half hour.

"It was quiet nice of you to spend this day with me. Even my own family doesn't seem to care about me becoming a year older. It saddens me so. You're quite lucky to have such loving parents, Rusty. Not to mention mine love you as well. You seem so perfect in every way. I envy you." He stated. I started feeling uncomfortable, but curious as to why his parents hate him.

"Why do yer parents hate ya? That don't seem to be a very good situation to be in." I asked , turning to face him. He shook his head. "In all honesty, I don't know. They seem to take everything I say the wrong way when I speak to them."

"Well, would ya like me to speak with 'em? Maybe get some things straight so ya can have a better relationship with 'em?"

His eyes widened as if I just completely and utterly offended him. Did I say something wrong? "Oh no no no no, please, Rusty. You don't need to do that. It's my problem."

I stared back at him with me signature look of skeptic. "Nah, it's alright. I'd be more than happy to if-" Matthew slapped his hand onto my shoulder which scared the living shit out of me. He looked infuriated. "I said no, Rusty. It's my problem. Leave it alone." And with that he stood up and left. I remained seated against the hard mountain wall with my eyes wide open. I watched him walk across the bridge, turn down the stairs, and walk casually away back to the café. From then on I knew something was up and it was up to Roxie and I to find out what it was.