It took her only a few minutes to have a morning snack and to be prepared for school. What delayed her was the memory of her sister. She stood in front of the door to her sister’s room leaning against the frame. “I’ll always be here” says the memory. Reality says “yeah right” she walked into the room and took a deep breath in. Her perfume still lingered in the air, her clothes still in the same spot from yesterday morning, as well as the empty cup of coffee of which her sister drank each morning as she got ready to leave each day. The daily note of which she left for Anna to find each day was in the same place.

“Dear sleepyhead! Hope you're day is magical, as wonderful and as happy as you make my life everyday. Love you little sister.” Read the note.

 Anna didn’t need to read it to know what it said. She had memorized those words yesterday. Tears began to weld up in her eyes. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet. She stood at the doorway again, staring into her sister’s room for a moment longer and promised herself that she would be back later. She put dollars in her pocket and left through the front door to meet up with Arthur who was standing quietly waiting for her. They walked almost halfway to Anna's school before saying anything. It was Arthur who finally broke the ice.

"So Anna, how long have you lived here?" She looked up, forgetting she had company. "Oh, about six years!" Anna just looked at the ground now. "What about you?"

 Arthur took a deep breath in and looked at the sky. "Well, I've always lived here, thanks to my grandfather, but it wasn't until recently did I move here." Anna was intrigued.

"Really? Is that who you live with? And what happened to your parents?"

"Well, well, well. She actually talks" said Arthur. He smiled but then went back to looking at various directions. He didn't look at her when he spoke. He didn't want to expel his secrets only to have failed again. He paused for a while wondering if he should answer her. He looked up at Anna again, who glanced up at him from the ground. He finally decided to be honest without telling her every little detail, or anything important for that matter.

"My parents died along time ago when I was still an infant, and my grandfather took me in. He died when I was about seven and so I've been by myself for a majority of my life. With only family hired help and business people to watch over me. I moved here to start all over, to escape my past and to start a new future." His tone never changed, his eyes never moved from his steady glance ahead, and he made no implications of lying. She believed him, not only because he was honest but because she could relate.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, and I honestly don't mean to sound materialistic or anything, but you're family is, I mean was, rich?" He looked at her and smiled.

“They're rich. I'm not. I may have inherited money but I don’t go near it.” He smiled again and Anna saw the warmth coming from his hazel brown eyes. Amazing she thought. He didn't let money get the best of him! She smiled, she knew that she had money too, the house was fully paid for and she knew she had enough money too. The house was fully paid for, and she had enough money in the bank to help her for the next 30 years if she spent wisely, but she only needed a few dollars a week to survive and that was something she could get from her own money of which she worked for.

“So what about you?” he looked at her and broke into her stream of thoughts.

“What do you mean? Am I rich?” she responded after a moment to collect the words he said.

“No, well yes if you want to answer the question. But what I meant was…”  Anna had broken him off mid sentence. “… I'm not rich, I work to gain money.”

“Really that’s interesting. Where do you work?”

“I work at a bookstore in the main part of town.” She replied hesitantly, she knew he had something to say.

“That’s must have great benefits.” Said Arthur. “I must admit that’s not what I was going to ask though.” He took a deep breath in and then began to speak. Anna knew this is what he was hiding.

“What I meant to ask you was what about your family?” Anna was shocked by the question. She had anticipated the question but she didn't think he was really going to say it. She looked at the ground. Someone had finally asked her. The question of which she feared to answer. She didn't know how to answer the question; she wasn’t expecting it so early. Arthur watched her as she struggled for words. He understood this reaction well and he knew he put her in an uncomfortable spot.

“You don’t have to answer that question if you don’t want to answer it.” Said Arthur. He gently placed his hand on Anna’s back to comfort her, to calm her down, but as he did she flinched, and she stepped away from Arthur.

 He touched her there. No one had done that before. Did he know more about her then he appeared to show? No. it was impossible. She looked at him, his warm and now confused brown eyes. Did he do something wrong? He didn't know what was wrong.

 “I’m sorry Anna; I didn't mean anything by it. You misunderstood. I’m…” she wasn’t able to hear the rest. It was all erased by the last two words he said. Those two hateful words to her. ‘You misunderstood’ it echoed in her head like a canyon. Whether he meant what he just said or not, the point right now was that she needed to collect herself before she burst into tears. She wanted privacy. He said words without thinking and now she was hurt.

“I’m sorry Arthur. I’m going to go now. Goodbye.” She took a deep breath in and ran the last 12 blocks to school without looking back, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Arthur didn't know what happened. Anna’s green eyes, so sad, so scared, so hurt. And by what? A simple gesture of what he thought was comfort; he was only trying to cheer her up, to make her feel better from the question. He was horrified that he said something else that he wouldn’t even consider, that he brought up some terrible memory that Anna kept in the back of her mind, locked and sealed with a key. Horrified that he hurt her, he went back to her house and decided to wait until she got home.

Back at school, Anna sat in the bathroom stall. Facing the mirror on the door. Her face once more flushed with tears, her eyes of green swollen by the darkest black. Did he know? Maybe he didn't. But he said the words. Had the scar cleared, maybe it happened. Maybe she was free! After all miracles did occur all the time, right? She thought to herself. Slowly she turned around, back towards the mirror and slowly lifted her shirt.

On her back, bore the mark. The terrible memory of the fire, the fire that took the lives of her parents, and left her scarred with the burn on her back. The burn that almost covered her whole back, the one that stretched from her shoulder blades down her spine to the tailbone which lied a bit lower then her pants, that continued to stretch along the skin of her small, that seemed to move to her sides little by little even more each day. The burn itself healed but the scar still remained, a few shades darker then her natural skin tone. The one that forced her to always cover her back, the one that caused her to loose many friends and become an outcast. The one that caused her to move several times to start over after someone found out. It was still the same, nothing changed, no miracles happening today.

She covered her back once more and sat down, tears still streaming down her face. How could she face him now? How would she explain? She left so quickly that she didn't even give him a chance to understand. And even if she got close again, would he be there for her or would he walk away, apologize for misunderstanding, and leave never to associate with her ever again. Would he do like others have done and just leave her in the shadow? No. she wouldn’t allow it, not this time. She had had enough of moving and restarting her life, enough of changes. She would just for get about it. Forget Arthur had done anything, in fact she would pretend that Arthur didn't even exist. As if the past 24 hours were nothing but a figment of her imagination.

“Yes” Anna said to herself. “Forget all the troubles and let them wash away!” she walked out of the stalls to wash her face and as she did the first bell of classes for the day rang. Anna quietly got her things and walked out to her science class.

“Anna, what are you doing here?” asked Mr. Ollie, Anna’s science teacher, in surprise. “I thought you knew you were excused from classes today, my deepest condolences on your loss,” said Mr. Ollie, “How are you feeling?”

“I feel like jumping for joy” Anna said in a sarcastic tone. “I didn't want to stay at home, so the only other place I could go to was to school, I did know I was excused, I just didn't want special attention.” Mr. Ollie understood Anna. “Well if you need anything, anything at all, please, don’t hesitate to ask!” Mr. Ollie said with deep concern. Anna nodded her head once and walked to her seat in the back of the room, away fro the rest of her classmates, who couldn’t help but stare at them as she went to sit down, she let her hazel hair fall to her face, hoping it would shield her from the eyes of others.

Throughout the day the same questions were asked to her over and over again, and as classes moved slowly throughout the day, she could hear her peers talk about her. She went on without a word.

Around midday, Arthur grew tired of waiting on the front porch of her house, instead he decided he would go to her school and pick Anna up, he had left about a few hours ago to go get his ride and a coat from his home, but made it back to her house with plenty of time to spare. There was maybe thirty minutes left before she got out, so Arthur got up and started to drive to her school. Hopefully he would get there in a few minutes earlier and stand outside to catch his breath.

Anna stared at the clock hesitantly. Only 20 more minutes until she would escape today’s interrogations. She asked if it was ok to go get some water and some air. With no objection, her teacher agreed. Walking out of the room though only made her want to go to the bathroom, so running she hurried into the restroom and into the stall.

After a few moments, as Anna was about to walk out she heard two familiar voices.

“Can you believe that girl, she lost a sister and acts as if it doesn’t bother her by coming to school, but then she sits there doing absolutely nothing.” This was the voice of Anna’s classmate, Kristen. Her voice stood out like a rusty nail.

“I know, ‘can I get some air’ the girl makes me sick” said the second voice. It was hard to match this girl with a face, Anna knew it but just couldn’t place it with who! She did know that this other girl was also in her class, and both of them were talking about her.

“I was told she was deformed; no wonder no guy goes near her, I bet she covers herself to hide her ugliness.” Said the second. Who had informed them, how did they know?

“And to think I used to feel sorry for her. How pathetic!” Kristen said softer a she walked out of the bathroom with her potty pal.

Anna got out of the stall and splashed her face, looking at the mirror in front. She was not ugly, at least not as ugly as the two girls with evil hearts. How could they judge her so quickly, how could they be so quick to assume?

Anna dried her face and left the bathroom, getting a drink of water before she stepped into the room. She walked into the room and pocked her things, sitting quietly in her seat while counting down the seconds that remained before she left.

“17, 16, 15, 14…” she counted without a peep.

“…8, 7, 6…” she continued.

“..3, 2, 1. Brinng.” The day was done. She got up and left the school while Kristen and Betty (the second girl now known) walked behind her mockingly.

Outside the mockery got louder, not only because the two girls began making obvious comments about Anna, but also because a crowd had formed outside in the parking lot near the gate. For someone had brought a motorcycle to school. Though it was raining, from where Arthur stood he could hear Betty and Kristen making jokes at Anna. But as he began walking toward they're direction they're attention shifted from making jokes about Anna to becoming flirtatious to Arthur. Anna unaware that the person was Arthur continued to walk home without even giving one glance up at who this person might be.

“Hey who’s that guy walking this way, he’s really cute” said Kristen to Betty. She began to fix her hair.

Anna was only a few meters away from him now. As Arthur leaned against a car with one leg up and an umbrella in the other. Suddenly she stopped at the foot of the person who was leaning at the car. It was Arthur.

“Hello Anna, look I'm really sorry about this morning.” He took her bag to hold, and for once she was happy that Arthur was here to ease the negative attention away from her. Although now everyone at school was staring at her and Arthur. She allowed Arthur to help her out this one time.

Behind she could hear Betty and Kristen make smart remarks about her. But Arthur, who could hear every word, lifted his hand escorted Anna to the bike where he would take her home.

On the bike Anna thanked Arthur for picking her up. Then as they left past the gate she stuck her tongue out at the two girls and left.

“Hold on tight to me Anna; I’m going to go fast so that we could get out of this rain.” Said Arthur, and as Anna blushed she did as she was told.