Page 9 of Outcast’s Return

The question, simple though it was, floored me. I paused. No one had asked me that question since they died. There had been so much confusion and chaos and activity in the days and weeks after their deaths, but no one had ever asked me if I was okay.

And I had only one answer.

“I’m fine.”

It was an automatic brush-off. No weakness. I couldn’t afford to show that.

But Jolie Auclair stared at me with those teal eyes that somehow saw right through me.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“Are you okay, Fabien?”

How did she know my name? Well, of course she knew my name. She knew who I was. I had just never expected to hear her say the word out loud.

“No,” I replied quietly. “I’m not really.”

My throat seemed to tighten. I could barely breathe.

Jolie’s eyes flickered between my parents on the screen and back to me.

“It must be hard,” she said. “Everything that happened...”

Tears welled, but I suppressed them. I was determined not to cry in front of a girl, and especially not in front of my best friend’s sister.

No weakness, remember.

“Sure. It is.”

“Are you an orphan, then?” Jolie asked.

“I hate that word.”

“Orphan?”

“I’ve heard it a lot since then. People say it and then look at me with pity. I don’t want pity.”

“What do you want?”

“Revenge,” I said to her bluntly. “I want to make things right. I want my father to be proud of me. I want to carry on his legacy. I don’t want to be an orphan.”

“You’re more than an orphan, Fabien.”

Even at my young age, I could tell this wasn’t just mere curiosity from Jolie. It was something different.

It was kindness.

No one had ever spoken to me like this, and that’s probably why the next few words came pouring out of me.

“You’re like an angel.”

I regretted them as fast as I said them. Jolie’s face turned. Her lips scrunched up.

“Ew, why?”

I liked how she reacted. I liked how it teased her. How it made her – this girl unafraid of snapping back at me – unbalanced.