Chapter Text
Rey had always been a sick child, her immune system weaker than the rest, it caused her to stay in her bed most days. But today was different. The day was beautiful and she actually felt energized. It took her a few minutes of staring outside at the kids that were playing in the field before she noticed a small boy playing by himself off to the side of everything and got the courage go get dressed herself. She ran downstairs with the blue ball she played with when she had the strength.
"Woah slow down there," Her grandfather stopped her as she careened down the stairs.
"Where are you headed off to?"
"I want to play," Rey said simply. "I saw a boy that looked lonely. I thought maybe I should play with him." Her grandfather nodded and turned to let her the rest of the way down the stairs, a small smile on his face.
"Good," he said, "Come back as soon as your tired though, I don't want you getting hurt."
"Yeah, yeah Grandpa." The eight year old dismissed him jokingly. "I will,"
She ventured out for the first time in a while, bouncing her blue ball on the paved path towards the field. Kids were playing with footballs and a few weird looking teenagers sat off to the side a few yards away, but Rey sat down next to the silent boy with the curly hair. He eyed her for a minute as she stared at him expectantly. He didn't say anything.
"My name's Rey," the small girl said. The boy was silent, and for a minute Rey wasn't sure if he knew how to talk.
“Ben,” was all he said. She nodded. Then saw the cars he was playing with and set her ball down.
“Can I play?”
Silence.
“ PLEASE?”
“Yes, just don't shout like that.” she nodded and picked up a car, starting to make engine sounds and race him. “No. Engines don't sound like that.” He said.
“ Vroom? ”
“Better,” the both of them were mostly contained to themselves, but that was okay. They played past most of the other children's attention span. Still outside. “So… Rey… where do you live?” The kid asked. She pointed to the house at the end of the cul de saq. He seemed confused. “Really? I live right down there, three houses down. I've never seen you. Are you new?”
"I'm not new around here. I just... don't go out a lot. Last year I was really sick and could barely walk most days. And I've always been weak physically so I can't play sports like the other kids."
"Oh--" Ben said. That explained a lot. It explained why she only weighed 80 pounds soaking wet and why she seemed so shy, even to him. "Well that's fine with me. I don't like sports that much anyway.”
“What do you like?”
“Cars… reading… exploring…” he said sheepishly.
“What about you?”
“I like drawing!” She exclaimed with a sudden vigor. It was beginning to get a little darker but neither of the kids noticed until a woman called out,
“Ben!”
He sighed. “That's my mom,”
“Oh…”
“Since we live right next to each other you can walk with me,” She helped gather his cars, feeling the time passing ware down on her body. She didn't make a mention of it to the boy she had just met… Ben. “ --So, do you just like drawing?”
Rey was silent for a minute, caught her breath, and then answered, “Actually I like a lot of things. I love reading and playing pretend and fairytales and I've always wanted to walk through the woods and--” She felt dizzy for a second and went silent, focusing on her breathing, “sorry… I talk too much… got to slow down,”
“It's okay,” They were almost at his house. She felt as if she were ruining her chances at making a friend. “Take your time, here.” Ben took his cars from her and then said, “So you've never been in the woods have you?” Rey shook her head no. He almost looked as if he pitied her.
“Ben?” The woman called. “Who's this?”
“No one, mom.” His tone was quite rude, but Rey didn't question it. “Listen I have to go. She probably ordered pizza or something,”
The girl nodded, “Sorry if I was a bother,”
“What?! No! Thank you… for playing with me.” The kid said. He knew this would plant a ginormous smile on her face. Which it did, it was radiant, and Ben nearly smiled in return. “Bye, Rey.”
“Bye, Ben.”
"See you around,"