19A/N
Alynna :: muax.
Grace & Navee thanx gurls. D
foamyfan15010 :: thank q! thank q! for everything!
SouledChampion & Jessica :: thank q for those kind words! keep reading!
and my appreciation goes out to all!
Chapter 2
It was eleven thirty in the morning and Alynna stood there with her lilac skateboard in one hand, dignifiedly staring with the least interest at the grey haired woman trying to stand up before her. She had fallen asleep last night with fresh tears in her eyes and woken up very early to escape the wrath of her father. She left the house silently in double tank tops, baggy khakis, black mascara, black eyeliner, amethyst contact lenses and her now typical purple hair. She went to a nearby park and hung around till 10 am and then skateboarded all four miles to Miss Cruz's office and still arrived early. Miss Cruz had then assigned her here, to the Chadwick's Senior House, a rather large old folks' home to begin her social work hours. Now, before she was given a specific task, she had been told to "aid the welfare" of the residents.
The first thing that crossed her mind was, what the f-?
And when she actually stood in front of this grey-haired woman, she knew she was in for a rough hundred and twenty hours. The woman had taken a full two minutes to simply rise from her chair and Alynna had no interest in asking her where she was headed to.
"Oh darling…would you mind helpi-"
"Yes, I would…mind, that is," Alynna cut her short.
The woman looked mildly ruffled but turned away immediately.
Damn it, Alynna! She's OLD. She needs your help.
I'm young. I don't need to help her.
Alynna, can you really stand here and watch her go through all the trouble?
Duh. Of course I can just stand here. What do I look like I'm doing?
No, you can't. You have to help her. You have something we call a conscience.
Oh, trust me, I can just stand here.
No way.
Try me.
Alynna continued looking at the woman with bored eyes as she slowly took a few steps. On her fifth step, she stumbled a little and Alynna stuck out her hands unconsciously. The moment the woman regained her balanced, Alynna tucked her hands back by her sides and pretended that she had not given a damn. She began to look away, afraid that she would unconsciously try to help the woman again…but try as she might, the image of the woman remained in the corner of her eyes. She had her ego on the line there, she cannot just help the lady right after she said she would not. The woman was already nearly three metres away from Alynna when there was a sudden soft yelp and a shadow breezed passed Alynna, causing her to screech.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Alynna shouted as she turned to look at the so-called shadow.
The woman had nearly fallen down but was being held on the arms by a guy of ebony black hair. Alynna stomped over to them.
"Hey you! You nearly knocked me down back there."
The guy ignored her. Alynna folded her arms in contempt.
"Excuse me. I'm talking to you!" she said, louder than before.
The woman looked at the guy and told him something. Just then, he quickly turned to Alynna and flashed a warm smile.
"Oh hello there. Can I help you with something?" he asked with an English accent, seemingly polite.
Alynna's jaws dropped. At first, she thought she was imagining it…but even from a meter away, Alynna could see his strikingly blue eyes. Not dark navy blue, not pale ice blue, but striking pure blue.
Then she shook her head and thought, he has the guts to- to…urgh.
"I said, you nearly ran over me back there!" Alynna shouted
He seemed unfazed by her tone of voice but looked at her intently. "I'm sorry. Abigail here slipped so I sorta ran over… I'm really sorry. Are you alright?" he asked, concern etched across his wrinkled up forehead.
Alynna's jaws couldn't have dropped any lower, not because he actually seemed to genuinely not have heard her ranting earlier but because he was actually now concerned about her…and she believed him!
Alynna shut her mouth and looked down at her feet for a moment.
"Uh…yeah, I'm fine," she said finally.
He smiled warmly again.
What's with all these social work people and smiling?
"I don't believe I've met you. Are you here to visit someone?" he asked kindly. "I'm Kyan by the way. I am a medical assistant here," he said, all this while still with his English accent. Alynna told herself that he was probably really English.
Not there's such thing as a fake English. But…oh, whatever.
It was then that Alynna began to scan him from bottom up. He was wearing a typical pair of sneakers, faded jeans with a tee and a sky blue robe over them all. His name tag hung at the breast pocket of the robe, reading :
Kyan Benedict Austin
Junior Medical Assistant
"Is there something wrong with my robe?" Kyan asked in a tone of amusement.
Alynna raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
Kyan flashed her another warm smile.
"Alynna Madison. Social worker," she said slowly. She found it rather surreal to have her name come before the term social worker. It was as though someone else had said those words.
His face brightened up. Alynna stared at him in disbelief. Did he look like he was actually happy to hear her name? She looked intently at his features. He looked like he was in his mid twenties. He was of average height with a rather okay looking physique. He had neatly combed black hair and strikingly pure blue eyes but otherwise, he looked… ordinary. So what was it about him that Alynna felt like she was warming up to?
"So you are Alynna! I-" Kyan began but was interrupted with a soft cough from Abigail, whom he was still holding.
Kyan looked down and smiled at her before turning back to Alynna.
"Give me a minute. I'll be back," he said before leading Abigail away.
Alynna stood there, staring at the back of Kyan, which was slowly fading away…and vanished after a closed door. She unconsciously stood there for another minute or so before shaking herself awake from her reverie. She walked back to where Abigail stood up and planted her butt on the then vacant seat just before a gruffly old man reached it. He stared contemptuously at her. She pretended not to see him. He coughed in a rather forced manner.
After a few uncomfortably silent seconds, she stoop up abruptly and said, "Fine." Then she stalked over to the nearest wall and leaned on it, with her lilac skateboard still in her hand. She watched as some old folks walked around and had forgotten how long it was since Kyan left when she suddenly felt like shifting her position. She raised her left hand, which was holding the skateboard and swung it behind her but she froze when she felt it hit something hard and someone yelled "OUCH!"
Omigosh- Omigosh- Omigosh- Omigosh!
I didn't just hit an old hag. Please tell me I didn't.
Tell me I didn't!
She turned around slowly and saw a mob of neat black hair, whose both hands were holding on to his precious and currently, bleeding, nose.
"Oh my gosh…" Alynna whispered.
Just as he looked up, his striking blue gaze bored through her soul and she felt her body lit up in flames. She quickly averted her gaze down to her feet before looking at his nose.
She clenched her teeth together and let out a pained, "Are you okay?"
Without removing his hands from his nose, he smiled, rather painfully and said "Yes, I don't think hitting my nose with a skateboard is life threatening. I'm sure I will live."
Alynna's face turned red. "I am so, so…sorry."
He laughed. Genuinely. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. I was just joking. Sorry, I'm not very good with humour when I have a bleeding nose."
Alynna stared at him with her wide dove shaped eyes. "You're laughing after I just hit you with my skateboard? I'm beginning to wonder if you are a medical assistant…or if you need medical assistance."
He laughed whole-heartedly. "I think I need to excuse myself to the bathroom for one second. Wait for me here…oh no, why don't you come with me? I don't think my nose can take another hit when I come back for you."
Alynna let out her first warm smile in a long time. He smiled back before turning away and walked towards the door. Alynna obediently trudged along.
"I hope it's not broken," she said after a while but he didn't look back. She became momentarily confused. They walked through another hallway and another door before he took a right turn and opened a door and stepped into the washroom. Alynna stood outside and quietly waited for him, her fingers once again played with her paua ring. She heard splashes of water and then there was a silence and then more splashes and another silence. She leaned back against the wall and looked at the edge of her skateboard guiltily. When he stepped out, she straightened herself immediately and looked at his nose, which was pale and …and…a tad crooked.
"Is it alright? Did I break it? Can you still breathe?" she asked all at once.
He looked slightly amused. "I'm alright. I don't think it's broken. The bleeding has stopped too."
"Oh…good," she gave out a sigh of relief.
He motioned her to follow him. They walked a bit and reached the staff room. He led her in and Alynna saw a few other workers smiling at Kyan. He walked over to one corner and gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. She complied in silence. He sat opposite her.
"Alynna, Miss Cr- oh wait, you don't mind me calling you Alynna, do you?" he asked.
Her mind temporarily flickered back to yesterday when she had snapped at Miss Cruz but this time, she just shrugged, still not looking into his eyes.
He smiled warmly again. "Alynna, Miss Cruz has informed me that you will serve a hundred and twenty hours of social service under her surveillance. For the time being, she has placed you under my watch. As in, I will be here to assign you to your duties and such and see if you're doing okay, which I am sure, you'll do fine."
Alynna nodded absent mindedly.
"For starters, just to get you acquainted to the residents here and vice versa, you will be joining me for lunch."
"What!?" Alynna looked up suddenly, flustered by the random invitation.
His smile never seemed to disappear. Alynna wondered if it had been plastered there for an eternity.
"Lunch. We bring the residents out every weekend. Sometimes for lunches, sometimes for other activities. They wanted to go out for lunch today. Ten residents are under my care and usually…," he paused and looked over his shoulders before continuing, "…Sammy would come with me but you shall be our company today. How does that sound?"
Alynna shrugged again.
"I'll take that as a yes. Are you ready to go?"
"What? Now?"
"Of course. It's already ten past twelve. The residents usually take their lunches at twelve thirty…when you get older, you can't help but feel hungry a little sooner," he finished in a hushed whisper.
Alynna couldn't help but smile.
She followed Kyan to the parking area and was slightly shocked to see about eight mini busses parked there and a whole sea of old folks entering them. She even spotted Abigail and the gruffly old man entering the same red mini bus. Surprise, surprise, Kyan led her over to the same bus. He introduced them to her and she looked away when he introduced the gruffly old man as Daniel.
She sat down on one of the seats alone, hoping that nobody would want to bother her. Her hope was dashed when an African American man she remembered as Morgan sat beside her and initiated a "Hi." Alynna considered ignoring the man for one second but the sight of Kyan watching her prompted a change of mind.
"Hey, Morgan," she said, trying her best to sound friendly.
"Why do you wear such gothic make-up?" he asked straightforwardly.
"Excuse me?" she asked, slightly abashed.
Morgan raised an eyebrow. "I have a hunch that you are quite pretty. So I was wondering why you would want to hide that pretty face behind all that black crap"
"Well, I happen to like all that black crap."
"You even wear contact lenses."
"How would you know?"
Morgan chuckled. "Oh my dear, girl. I am old but not stupid. I don't think anyone has natural amethyst coloured eyes."
Alynna looked away for one second. "There might be."
"Maybe. So what colour are your eyes?"
"Amethyst."
"Uh-huh."
"Oh fine. It's some dull insignificant colour."
"There's no such thing as a dull colour."
"There is for me."
Morgan contemplated if he should press on but he decided to let it drop. "You haven't told me why you are hiding behind all that crap you are wearing. Make-up, contact lenses, purple and pink hair." He smiled.
"I am not hiding behind anything."
Morgan chuckled again. "If you say so."
Alynna stared at him and noticed that Kyan was still looking over at them. From such a distance, Alynna doubted that he could hear them so she hissed to Morgan, "Why don't you mind your own business?"
"Because yours is far more interesting," he replied and continued, "I am old and alone. My wife passed away eight years ago of breast cancer and my son is right now too busy for me. I don't work. I live a routine life inside a house with all the other residents. I don't think it takes a genius to tell that my own business would be a rather boring one, my dear."
Alynna's features softened a little.
"So now will you tell me why you are hiding?" Morgan persisted.
Alynna let out a sigh. "You don't give up, do you?"
Morgan smiled. "Not easily, no."
"I am not hiding…"
"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"
"I am NOT trying to convince anyone. I am not hiding, Morgan. My life is perfectly fine."
"Oh…and because your life is perfectly fine you somehow end up here doing hours for social work?"
Alynna gaped. "How did you know I'm here doing hours? Kyan didn't mention that just now. He simply said I was here to help out."
"I've seen teenagers like you come and go, my dear. When I see one who walks in to do hours instead of being voluntary, I know."
"Teenagers like me? What do you me-" she was cut off when the bus stopped suddenly and the passengers began to stand up. Alynna looked out the window. They had arrived at a cosy looking diner called Pazzarella. When she looked back, Morgan had already left. She followed the rest of them out into the open air and into the diner as they settled down onto two tables. Kyan had sat with a few of them on one table and he motioned for her to sit at the other. She looked at the two empty seats. She could either seat beside Daniel or Morgan. She didn't even have to think. She drew out the chair beside Morgan and planted herself down.
She remained silent for a while. The waiter came and took their orders but she just fidgeted around with her fingers. Once the waiter left and everyone else seemed to be talking, she turned back to Morgan.
"What do you mean by teenagers like me?"
Morgan chuckled. Alynna rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it. Tell me!" Alynna urged him by tugging on his shirt.
"Teenagers like you… Frustrated, pent-up emotions, angry, sad, confused all at once."
Alynna stared at him.
"You are hiding, Alynna."
Alynna sat back. How could a stranger read her in the span of a mere few minutes?
"I am not hiding…" she whispered, as though trying to reassure herself that she really was not.
"So, what is it, my dear?" Morgan asked her softly.
Alynna fixed her eyes on her fingers and fidgeted with her ring.
"Boyfriend?" Morgan asked.
"No…"
"Hmm… friends?"
Alynna did not answer.
"Family then?"
Pain flashed across her eyes. Memories of the previous evening flooded her mind. Tears sprang to her eyes.
"Mother? Father?"
"They're divorced."
"Ahhhh… now I know…"
Alynna looked defiantly at him. "You don't know anything."
"So tell me."
"Why should I?"
"Because I care."
Alynna smirked as she wiped the few drops of tears away. "No, you don't. Nobody me."
"That can't be true."
"You wouldn't know. You don't know anything about me."
"So tell me."
"WHY SHOULD I?"
"Because I care, Alynna," Morgan repeated patiently.
There was a momentary silence between them before Morgan began again, "Alynna, I know what it feels like-"
"No you do not! You… you… you don't know what it feels like to be me. Don't you dare-"
"Alynna, I'm just trying to help."
"HELP?! Excuse me? Maybe you should try helping yourself first. Just because your life is all pathetic and lonely doesn't give you the right to butt into mine." Her outburst caught the attention of a few people.
Morgan's eyes looked a little hurt but he said, "Alynna, calm down."
"Don't tell what to do. You're nobody."
Morgan reached out to hold her arm. His gesture reminded her of her father, of how he held her tightly and pinned her to the wall. She yanked her arm away violently and shouted at him, "Don't touch me!"
Quite a number of people began to stare at them, awaiting for the drama to unfold.
"Alynna, I-" Morgan started as he reached out to her again.
"I said, DON'T TOUCH ME! Stay away from me," she hissed before standing up abruptly and storming out of the diner. Anger and misery burned in Alynna's eyes as images of her broken family floated before her vision. She clenched her fists together as she broke into a run, letting her legs carry her to wherever that nobody could reach her, where nobody could hurt her. She didn't even feel it but someone tugged her from behind and turned her around while grasping her by the shoulders.
"LET GO OFF ME!" she shrieked.
She looked up into a pair of comforting blue eyes.
"Let go off me," she said again, softer.
He dropped his hands. "Lyn, are you alright? What happened? Did Morgan hurt you? Did somebody hurt you?"
She looked down at her feet again, a sign of retreat…or wanting to escape the reality of his question. Her lips remained sealed but tears were already rolling down her cheeks.
"Lyn, you can tell me," Kyan said softly. "Did Morgan hurt you?"
She shook her head.
"What is it then?"
She wanted to scream. She wanted to run away. But more than anything else, she wanted to tell him. There was something about Kyan that made her want to trust him. She needed somebody to confide in but didn't know who or how to. She hadn't trusted anyone in a long time now…and opening up would make her feel vulnerable.
"It's nothing," she finally said.
Kyan raised his right hand and wiped the tears off her cheeks with the pad of his thumb before quickly removing his hand away.
"Lyn…if there is anything I can do…" his voice trailed off.
She shook her head in resignation and let her shoulders drop.
"I'm sorry. I must look like some ugly retard right now," Alynna said.
"No, you don't." He smiled. "You just look a little… lost."
"You don't understand, Kyan. It's like…I'm alive, but I can't do anything. I feel like I'm handicapped or something," she said as she shook her head and then she added again, "You don't understand."
Kyan's face contorted a little before he hooked Alynna's chin up with his forefinger. The blue gaze meeting the amethyst gaze was nearly electrical.
"Of course I understand, Lyn. How can I not?"
"Because people like you are perfect, Kyan. You have what you want. You are what you want to be. I…," Alynna let out a little laugh and went on bitterly, "…I'm just a broken piece of unwanted crap."
"Don't say that. You're not crap and I'm not perfect."
"Yeah right."
"Lyn..."
Alynna didn't say anything. She could feel that Kyan had something to say. She narrowed her eyes a little and gave him the look to go on.
"I understand what it feels like."
"To be a piece of crap?"
He shook his head. "To be handicapped."
"What are you saying, Kyan?"
"Lyn, I'm deaf."
"What?"
"I'm deaf."