~Chapter 2: Heart to heart~
Anderson walked happily and contently along the hallway to the hall for his lunch, having had a peaceful morning. He'd escorted Maxwell to the library as he said and had spent a good hour there with the boy, picking out the books that he knew would capture Maxwell' attention and keep the boy entertained (or as he said, mildly occupied) for the remainder of the day.
He heard a small commotion down the corridor and slowly poked his head into the girls dormitories. As expected, from all the cursing and profound German expressions he'd heard, Heinkel was sitting on her bed, her knees tucked under her chin and looking as if she'd been in a fight.
Anderson calmly knocked and she looked at him from the corner of her eyes and looked away again, he signal it was ok for him to actually come in and talk to her.
"Whit's wrong Heinkel?" Anderson asked as he approached the bed to the side of her and sat down, observing the dirty clothes she was still wearing (she'd refused anything else)/
"I hate girls." Heinkel pouted and sucked in her cheeks, looking as though she was fighting tears.
"Oh? Why would you hate your own gender?" Anderson calmly leaned forward and made the girl look at him a little bit, being ever so careful as not to come across as another 'caring adult'. She didn't need that. She just needed a friend.
"Because there silly und squeamish und don't play or have fun!" Heinkel glared at him and he could clearly see the tell tale signs that she'd already been crying. In her puffy eyes.
"Oh? And what about the boys? You could always play games with them?" He smiled warmly at her and made sure to remain calm.
"I try! Every time I do, they either make an excuse und leave or just tell me that they don't vant to play with a girl! I don't vant to be a girl any more, I vant to be a boy!" Heinkel grabbed a pillow behind her and lobbed it across the room in front of her.
"Heinkel...," Alex started and moved forward to kneel on the floor in front of her as he held her hands, "you shouldn't wish to be anything you not lass. You're one of a kind and I hope you stay the same. I have an idea."
Anderson stood and gently pulled the girl to her feet, walking with her out of the room. He went straight down to the field, bypassing the lunch hall altogether and got straight to work.
He took the football that wasn't being used and begin to kick it about, passing it back and forth to Heinkel. She joined in slowly at first but soon picked up the pace, showing Anderson her skills and just how good she was, running rings around him even.
Soon enough, a small crowd of boys (Heinkel' age) had gathered, Anderson quickly kicking them the ball and everyone began to join in. Feigning a bad back and his old age, Anderson excused himself, quickly walking away and leaving Heinkel laughing and cheering with her new friends.