This is something I wrote awhile ago that I recently found. Ending kinda sucks but it needed something.
Her breath caught in her throat, time slowing as his cruel, uncaring answer sunk in. Hands fell limp to her sides, no longer holding her collar high against the biting wind, letting its icy breeze sting her horrified face.
"W-what?" she whispered, her eyes glued to his back, watching his coat grow smaller as he left her stuttering like a fool. Crisp leaves fluttered past, fragile and shaking at the winds rough handling.
She hadn't meant her innocent question to crush his mood, she hadn't meant to watch Huey's rare smile slip and his warm eyes harden.
It had taken the entire summer, and much of autumn, to break down his walls, but ten-year-old Jasmine had been determined to do it. He was the only person from their neighborhood that was a potential friend.
She had expected the summer to be dull, with all the neighbor's kids on expensive summer vacations, until the Freeman's moved in.
Huey immediately captivated her, so stoic and strong, he radiated a sense of righteousness that everyone else lacked. Although he made her cry many, many times, she knew that he was desperate for someone to listen. It seemed that whenever the boy opened his mouth he only received skeptical stares and dismissal laughs. That was likely the only reason he showed her his apocalypse plans, his books on black revolutionaries, and his favorite place in the park; because she listened.
They were there now, the twisted oak tree shedding its orange foliage one leaf at a time, the autumn wind snatching them eagerly away.
After cracking a joke about her father, Jasmine was pleasantly surprised to hear a quiet laugh from Huey, who hardly even smiled. She glanced over and saw it, the corners of his mouth pulled up barely enough to see a flash of white teeth. It was charming and precious and Jasmine felt a warmth spread through her stomach at the sight.
Albeit, as is normally the case, Jasmine was attacked by a train of thoughts that lead to intense curiosity. "What about your parents Huey?"
The perfect smile dropped, his wine eyes darkening at the question. She had known she had done something wrong, and suspected the answer before it left his parted lips.
"They're dead."
It was quiet, soft even, that horrible truth that echoed in the air and chilled her core with its implications.
He turned, walking down the hill back towards his house, leaving the horrified mulatto to sort things out on her own.
"W-what?"
If Huey had heard her, he showed no signs of it, instead reaching the bottom of the hill and walking through the park towards home.
Jazmine fell to her knees. How had she not known, not even suspected that his parents were gone? It was there now, in the way Huey slumped, the way his eyes would change whenever she said something about her daddy. Oh god, how many times had she ran up to Huey and cheerily began talking about mommy and daddy? How could he stand it? He must've seen her as a pest all this time, living in her illusion of a perfect world.
Jazmine clasped her hands together, as though in prayer.
If this was the level of sadness she felt, she could only imagine the drowning feeling that must plague him.
Is this where he drew his strength from?
The rolling miles of hurt that he was forced to tread every day, hidden mines of sorrow randomly setting off at the slightest touch.
Jazmine dug her nails into her palm, the pain bringing her thoughts into focus. Huey's strong, there was no doubt, but he wasn't perfect. "If you need me," she whispered, the words feeling good against her ears. She relished the sensation, standing confidently under the tree, the wind blowing her hair back. "If you ever need me I'll be there!" She yelled, proclaiming the fact to the heavens.
"I'll be there for you Huey."