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from Nickels a bit. “I didn’t mean
anything by it. Just wanted clarification on why she would have filed a police
report only two hours later than what he would have normally been home. Seemed
a bit unusual to me.”
                He
nodded and looked at me in confusion, “Why’re you wearing a jacket? It’s like
ninety degrees in here.”
                It
was hot, and I was definitely sweating. I couldn’t hide the wince when he
noticed. “Uh… I like wearing jackets. It fools my body into thinking it’s not
really as hot as it actually is.” I smiled weakly, hoping he didn’t question me
further. My excuse was weak, but so far no one here knew anything about me.
                I
wanted to keep it that way.

EIGHT
    Sam

 
 
                We
were playing baseball at the park when I felt Jason’s mood shift from simple
interest to pure worry. I frowned and ducked when a ball flew at me while I was
distracted. “Sa-am,” Jake whined.
                “Sorry!
Wasn’t paying attention!” I called running for the ball. There were five people
playing, so the rules were a bit different. One person pitched, two batted, and
two played in the outfield. It wasn’t a real baseball game, but it was fun.
Jason wasn’t close to losing control. I didn’t need to have his emotions always
interfering with my life.
                The
runner had gotten over-confident, so I was able to get the ball to the pitcher
before he reached home. The way our rules work is, if the pitcher gets the ball
before the runner reaches home, the runner can no longer get home. Instead, he
has to stop at the base closest to him. If the pitcher reaches the base first,
then the runner is out. Because the runner was pushing further than he should
have, the pitcher was able to reach the base first.
                “Pay
attention Sam!” Jake yelled. Easier said than done when Jason’s anxiety kept
bleeding through.
                “Sorry,”
I called again. “At least he didn’t score!”
                The
game ended about half an hour later when we stopped enjoying it, and started
arguing stupid plays. Jake’s dad showed up at the park shortly before we
finished and he stood outside the fence waiting. “You coming back to the house
Sam, or do your parents need you home?” he called.
                He
didn’t know. Most people didn’t. Jason never wanted us to seem out of place, so
we never mentioned that our parents were dead. Sadly, in a lot of ways we’re thankful that they are gone. It still
made me cringe any time someone asked. “No. I’m not needed at home right now.”
                Jason
didn’t need me home until he was home. He’d already given me the okay to be at
Jake’s for most of the day, and his house was within walking distance of our
house.
                “You
all right, Sam?” Mr. Thompson asked. He was looking at me with concern, so he’d
apparently noticed my reaction.
                Not
wanting to go against Jason’s wishes, I nodded. “Fine. Thanks.”
                He
looked doubtful, like he wanted to argue, but Jake was getting impatient.
“Let’s go! I’ve got a new game to show Sam!”
                “All
right. Get in kids,” he said, giving up on questioning me further.
                I
breathed a sigh of relief once he turned away. Not telling was one thing, lying
outright was another. I could avoid topics pretty well, but I’ve never been
good at telling a straight up lie.
                Jake
chatted about his video game until we got to his room and put it into the
player. In my opinion, video games are a massive waste of time, but it is more
fun to play them with someone else. We played for a few hours, Jason’s emotions
staying well into the background hum of my mind. “I should get going,” I said,
looking at the clock. “I