"Are you my hallucination?" Sheldon blurted, but at the girl's incredulous look, wide eyes blinking slowly, he bit his tongue and shook his head, "Uh, I mean, uh, nothing! Forget what I said!"
The two of them stared at each other for a while, nothing but the sound of the rain, until she broke out into silent laughter. Her eyes sparkled while she covered her mouth with her free hand, the other holding her rainbow umbrella.
"W-what?" his grip on his own umbrella handle tightened, his eyes becoming hooded.
The girl shook her head slowly and gave him a warm smile. The butterflies glowed brightly, twinkling like stars as if they were giggling at his statement.
"I... did you... uh... help me the last time?" Sheldon had a hard time making eye contact with her, after all, he's never been able to talk well with anyone.
She nodded and twirled around, the umbrella spinning with her.
"Hey I-" Sheldon took one step forward, his foot making contact with the road, but the girl jumped and waved her arms around, shaking her head. "W-what, you don't want me to cross the road?" he frowned and took a step back.
The redhead rubbed the back of her head and gave him a sorry smile.
"Why... and why won't you talk? Are you mute, I'm sorry if me asking offends you." he said just loud enough for her to hear over the rain." he fidgeted from where he stood, mud gathering on his rain boots, and his hands were getting sweaty.
She shrugged and nuzzled a butterfly that went to rest upon her shoulder.
"Um... what..." he frowned. So was she mute or was she just trying to avoid talking with him? If it was the latter, what was he doing wrong? Was he acting too awkward? Gosh, maybe he was. "W-what 's your name?" he had to stop stuttering, that was so lame...
She jumped up excitedly and started making lots of hand gestures. First, she clapped her hands together.
"Uh... Clapping?" she shook her head, "Praying?" another no, "...hands?" she shook her head rapidly. "Any other hints other than the hand clapping?"
She separated her hands, getting a bit clumsy since she was no longer holding her umbrella, and just balancing it around her shoulders. She closed her eyes and made an 'om...' with her mouth, although no sound came out.
"Meditation?" she shook her head, "Uh... tranquility?" she shook her head, "Gah! What is it!?" this was getting frustrating.
She sighed and shrugged, adjusting the umbrella in her hands, but when she saw the clouds were beginning to clear, she gasped and looked around, her eyes stopping on his form.
"What..." Sheldon watched her, she smiled apologetically and suddenly waved him goodbye, "Wait, where are you going?!" with that, she ran into the forest, the glowing butterflies following after her. Sheldon stared at the trees, waiting for them to magically open up and take him to wonderland, but no, the sky cleared and the sun was already out. With the clouds went the ginger haired girl.
Sheldon adjusted the glasses on his nose, it was starting to get a few dewdrops on it, so he wiped it with his sleeve. It just made it worse, now he had to take it off and actually give it a proper clean up. Guh...
Placing the glasses back on his face, he looked for the last slash he put on the tree and then followed the trail back to his new home.
The whole walk, he was wondering who that girl was, and in the heck, she was able to have glowing butterflies hovering around her like that. She was either a hallucination made from his stress and anxiety or a weird girl that was able to have radioactive butterflies float around her like it was nothing. Either way, both were still completely wrong, and definitely not possible.
Now it didn't really matter, he would probably never see her again.
"SHELDON!" that was definitely Auntie Josie.
Sheldon winced at her shout and slowly walked outside of his new room. "Yes?" he asked meekly, preparing himself for the onslaught of a rant.
Josie stomped towards him and grabbed his arms, her eyes looking him up and down, making sure that he wasn't hurt. "Why are you always wandering around!? I was looking for this morning just in case you wanted breakfast, and you weren't in your room! It's almost noon now, look! You are just like your mother always getting lost with that adventurous attitude of hers!" she sighed and let go, smiling, she gestured to the kitchen, "Well, at least this time you knew the way back. Come on, I know you're hungry."
"I'm sorry Auntie Josie... for worrying you." Sheldon apologized, feeling guilty for letting her feel this way.
The two of them headed towards the kitchen, "It's alright Sheldon, you can't help your feelings to go out into the wild, huh?" they both sat down at the dining table where Sheldon was given a plate of bacon and eggs, "Your mother always loved going through the forests. She knew that place like the back of her hand."
Sheldon nodded. He couldn't just speak right now, it was rude to talk with your mouth full.
"How was your mother doing?" Josie asked with a blank face, her hands fumbling around with the table cloth
"She's doing greater now," Sheldon replied easily as if the topic was nothing at all compared to the food that was right in front of him.
"Your father?"
"He's... somewhere, that's for sure."
"I see..."
It was silent between the two of them. The only sounds were the birds tweeting in the morning and the occasional clatter that his silverware would make against the plate.
"Sheldon, honey, are you alright?" Josie asked, her eyebrows furrowed with worry and concern.
"Yes," Sheldon replied but he wasn't looking into her eyes.
"How do you feel about your parent's separation?"
Sheldon paused in his eating, looking up from his food to look at the window. Anywhere but looking into her eyes. He was still uncomfortable with eye contact.
"I'm fine with it. This way, mother can start a new life with her new family. I have a sister now, did you know?" he chewed the bacon and eggs in his mouth. He really wanted to ask for some rice, but his Auntie was American... he wasn't sure if they had it.
"I see..."
His parents were no longer together, one of the reasons why he ended up in Mississippi with his uncle and aunt. His mother was an American and his father was a Chinese. He grew up in China most of his life mostly home schooled due to a certain reason.
You see, Sheldon wasn't what you would call a... 'normal child'.
Since he was young, he had a panic or anxiety disorder. At times, whenever his emotions are going haywire, he would have a panic attack. It wouldn't do good if he went to a normal school with such a condition, so he was forced to stay indoors.
His parents were a happy couple, they would've had no problems if he hadn't come into their lives.
"Why can't you just be normal!?"
"You can't rely on us for help forever!"
"Why won't you do anything to improve?"
Sheldon bit his lip, pausing mid eating. They didn't want him. He was a broken child. He could still remember the day he realized that his family wasn't going to stay together for long.
when he was ten years old, his mother said that she would take him out to the park one day, and Sheldon was looking forward to it. He was just playing around nearby the swings, but when he turned to look at the bench where he thought his mother was, she wasn't there.
His heart dropped, and Sheldon has never been more scared in his life.
If it were not for the little friends he had made while playing, he was sure he would've gotten into another panic attack. He waited, and waited. The sun was already starting to fade away, and his friends were already leaving. There was nothing but the park lights to illuminate the playground, and he was the only one left.
His mother always told him, "Sheldon, if you get lost, stay put." but it's been too long. He needed to find his mother. She might be hurt and looking for him.
Sheldon ran away from the playground and out of the park. He was headed for the road, but before he was able to come into view, he saw his mother coming out of a stranger's car. At that moment, he paused and backed away, not knowing what to do. He ran back into the park, panting as he was out of breath, and sat down on the bench his mother previously occupied.
"Sheldon, honey, sorry I was late. Mommy had some things to do." she smiled and took his hand, Sheldon takes it reluctantly.
"M-mommy... who was that man?" Sheldon asked quietly, his voice a little raspy.
"...What man? I think you were just seeing things. Come on, let's head home, your father should already be there." with that, she dragged him away, brushing off any of his attempts to find out who the stranger was.
"What took you both so long?" his father asked as he nonchalantly typed on his keyboard, barely even sparing them a glance.
"Oh nothing, little Sheldon here wanted to eat something on the way home, and we ended up staying a long time in a cafe. Isn't that right, dear?" his mother was giving him her usual smile, but the grip she had on his shoulder suddenly became painful.
"Y-yes... the cake was yummy," Sheldon said the last part in a whisper.
From that day on, Sheldon wasn't expecting his family to stay together for long. Even though he was still ten years old at the time, he knew a lot more than the usual kid.
It was a few years after that he heard his mother and father shouting in the living room, there were sounds of his mother's favorite vase breaking. It was his father's wedding present to her.
Turns out, he was going to have a sister, although from a different father.
"You lying skank, you've been seeing someone else behind my back!?" it was his father.
"It's not my fault! You're never around! You never show me any affection anymore, and you don't even pay attention to Sheldon!"
"Why would I pay attention to a brat who can't even take care of himself!? That child is crazy, he won't survive long in this world, and I would die before I waste any money in order to give him medication."
"He is your son! Are you honestly saying that you want his condition to get WORSE!? He needs help, and who else is able to give him that other than you!?"
"Why not ask your boyfriend? I'm sure he had plenty of money to stuff you full of jewelry-"
"He is better than you would ever be!" SLAP.
Sheldon flinched from behind the door, his eyes wide. Slowly, he backed away. He could already feel it, his heart was beating as fast as a mile per minute, and his breaths were becoming fast and uneven. Mom was getting hurt. Dad was hurting mommy.
A small wine came from his mouth as he shut his eyes. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears, the sound of his heart beating in his chest. No matter how hard he tried to breathe in, it seemed like he wasn't getting enough air. He felt like he was suffocating.
"Mo-" heave, "Mom-!" he fell onto the ground, shaking as if he was having a seizure.
"Sheldon?" it wasn't long after that his room's door burst open, his mother rushing inside to help him, "Sheldon! Sweetie, breathe! Slowly, come on... shhh!"
"Just leave him alone, if he can't handle this himself he won't be able to handle anything!" his father yelled.
"He needs HELP!" his mother was sobbing as she held her fifteen-year-old son close to her chest. "He needs help... it's alright, Sheldon... breathe, come on, follow mommy."
A divorce was inevitable.
His father wanted nothing to do with him, and so he went along with his mother. He couldn't stay there, he just couldn't. He didn't belong, and he was getting in the way of his mother finally having a family that she deserves, a family that would make her happy. A perfect family with the perfect child.
For Sheldon, there was no such thing as peace.
ns 15.158.61.46da2
