It's a new day now, and so far it's one of the best. I didn't even see my foster father this morning. On my way to school, Rat's nowhere to be seen. At school, I'm bubbling with excitement. For once, I'm on the edge of my seat when the final bell rings. I must've been out of the building and sprinting down the parking lot in record time. I got a lot of weird stares but that didn't matter to me. I grinned as I ran as fast as I could. The park wasn't that far. If you walk all the way down main street, you'll get to a curvy road. Down that road it'll take about five to ten minutes on foot to get to the actual park. That road leads to a slightly elevated parking lot where you can see the entire park itself, which is probably the best thing about this town. Our town was pretty hill-y. I felt my feet hitting the grass and smelt the smell of the infamous river that flows through the park. Then my shoes tapped on the asphalt of a new parking lot and I grinned as I saw a familiar figure. Rat wasn't facing me, he was sitting on a bench all alone, peacefully staring at the river.

"Hey! Rat!" I yelled as I bounded over to him. I saw him nervously turn to look at me and raise a finger to his lips.

"Shhhh! What's with the yelling?!"

I stopped a few feet behind the bench and covered my mouth with my hand. I mumbled a 'sorry' out in between my fingers and I felt my ears turn pink. I didn't realize how loud I must've yelled that... He chuckled to himself at my embarrassment. "You're like a girl, you get embarrassed so easily."

At that, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Well at least I don't dress like one." I snobbishly retaliated.

"I have my reasons."

I was about to interrogate him further before he spoke again, changing the subject.

"What do you wanna do?"

"Um… We could just walk around and talk." After all this could be my only chance of answering all the questions I have. Every time I talk to him I get more and more questions but no answers.

"Lame…" He sighed dramatically. "But whatever." Rat breathed out as he stood from the bench. He stretched and folded his arms behind his head. I followed him on the sidewalk; He was leading most of the time that we were walking. We were on a dirt path, but there were a lot of those around here. They tended to circle various boulders and ancient statues, since this park is usually a place for tourists. A few led to a rocky area closer to the river that dipped down into a sandy beach. There was also a beautiful waterfall at the edge of park. Sometimes in the winter I'd see kids ice skating on the lake-ish area before the actual waterfall began. There is a bridge that stretches perpendicular to the waterfall. On that bridge there were train tracks. The train tracks continued in the more forest-like section of the park, but the encircled almost the entire town, like a long C shape. The tracks were also elevated about 20 feet or so by ground. They weren't on a ledge, it's more like a steep hill. They reminded me of old movies, where robbers jumped off the trains with a bag full of stuff that wasn't theirs. That hill would hurt to roll down though, considering all the litter and trees as obstacles.

The park was a decently large landmark. The town itself (not including the park) was probably a little over twice the land the park had. Our town's population can't be more than 5,000 people at the most. Some houses are abandoned so it makes the town look bigger, but it's a good estimate. Our town is basically positioned in the ground. There are cliffs that surround us on all sides except the beach which was obviously, the water didn't flow through town, it only flowed in a curvy line throughout the park. The only store in the park was an old cake shop. It's sign was so rusty though, people can't even tell if it's open or not. Plus, it was on a really steep hill on the other side of the river. Most people wouldn't bother, but I think it'd be a fun place to explore in. We also have a 3-story tall tower and to be honest, it's probably the most well cared for building if you don't mind the graffiti and a broken window or two. It has spiraling stairs and the view from the top is amazing. The dirt path we were currently on led us around the entire park itself. It was like a main road. We were by the beachy part of the river now. Obviously there weren't seashells here but there were other interesting finds. I remember when I first moved here, about a year ago I ventured off by the beach and found a gold locket washed ashore. It was empty, but I thought it was beautiful. I kept that locket on me at all times, until one day my foster father got really upset with me and ripped it off my neck. When I asked where it was, he said he threw it in the river. Ever since then I've wondered if maybe someone else found it and made it their treasure like I did?

"-et for once."

Rat's voice surprised me.
"Huh?"

He laughed and repeated himself, "I said, you're quiet for once."

"Oh, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"... Just about a necklace I found by the beach once."

He was silent for a minute. "... What'd it look like?"

"Um, well it was gold… And it had a heart-shaped locket attached to the chain."

He stopped on the path and dug in his pockets, looking for something frantically until he pulled his hand out, balled into a fist. He held out his fist in front of me. "Open your hand."

I made a net with my palms under his. He dropped the exact same gold locket I was talking about into my waiting palms. I held the chain up with one hand and inspected the heart with my other. The only difference between this and the original form was that it was a bit rusty.

"This... is the locket…"

He looked away. "Yeah? You can keep it then, since it's yours. It wouldn't sell for much anyway." Then he continued walking just like before, as if this entire event never happened.

I smiled so wide my face hurt and darted behind him. Without thinking, I hugged him from behind. My arms crisscrossed over his chest, and I laid my head sideways on the back of his neck. "Thank you, Rat!"

I felt him tense the minute I touched him. He didn't move, and I heard his breath catch in his throat. I released him then, and I noticed him trying not to react too much to it. He was obviously not used to being touched so suddenly like that.

"... You are like a girl." He said softly. But I heard it. I scowled in his direction and he laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Y-Your face!" He said between giggles. "You're just not very threatening, Shion."

We started walking again. I shrugged and blankly looked up at the clouds in the sky. "I know... And I don't wanna be." I glanced over at Rat and continued to keep my pace. "But I'll probably change someday… And when I do, who knows?"

Rat looked like he was pondering that as he stared at the ground. "...I don't think you should ever change, Shion. I like you best the way you are now, this is the only side of you I want to see. There's not that many people like you in the world."

"What do you mean…?"

Rat smirked. "You'll figure it out on your own someday. People are cruel, Shion."

I was confused, but I didn't know how to respond. "You should go home soon. The sun's about to set."

I looked up at the horizon. "You're right…" My chest started to ache. I didn't want to go home; I wanted to stay with Rat. " But we should hang out again sometime, Rat!"

He smiled, but it was a sad smile. "Yeah… Not tomorrow though."

"What's happening tomorrow?" I asked obliviously.

"... I work." His face was serious now. I immediately understood what he meant. Tomorrow he wasn't Rat, he was Eve. So I said goodbye after pushing him into promising me that we'd see each other again soon. But I remember, clear as day, his warning; "Don't look for me tomorrow." The last thing I saw were his icy silver eyes, staring at me intently, making sure the message was clear. His eyes were almost hypnotizing. I nodded quickly and ran home. I felt his eyes watching me as I padded across the parking lot.

It was dark by the time I stepped onto my foster father's property. Instead of taking the door, I saved myself from getting harrassed by my foster father and climbed up the holes in the siding to my window. I pushed the creaky wooden frame of the windowsill open and pulled myself in.

Before I went to bed, I counted my recent scars.

"71… 72…" until I was fast asleep.