Chapter Three: Little Angel:

Atticus took to the newfound kindness Kelly gave him. Every day his mother left, he would sneak out of his house and go to Kelly’s. She always had something delicious waiting for him. The woman enjoyed his company, but still had questions.

“Does your mom know where you are?” Kelly asked him one morning as he ate breakfast in her dining room. Atticus froze over his pancakes.

“She doesn’t care,” he muttered.

“I’m sorry?” Kelly asked. The boy began chewing hard on his food. He lowered his head closer to his plate.

“You know,” the blonde-haired woman said. “If you want to talk, I’m here for you.” Atticus didn’t look up. Kelly sat down across from him at the table.

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Atticus and Kelly started getting closer over the long summer. She still had questions for the young boy. Every time she would ask, Atticus tried to avoid it. Kelly wished she could do more for him.

“Do you have any friends your age?” she asked one day. Atticus didn’t look up from his plate.

“No,” he said.

“Why not?” she asked.

“No kids in this neighborhood.”

“What about at your school?”

“I’m used to being alone. What about you?”

Kelly gave him a confused look. “Me?”

“Aren’t you lonely?”

“No.”

Atticus tilted his head. “Why not?”

The woman smiled and patted his hand. “Because I have you.”

The boy blinked with a blank stare. “Me?”

“That’s right.”

“But what about your husband?”

Kelly kind of laughed nervously. “He’s barely here.”

“Why?”

“He works all the time.”

“Oh.”

The woman tried to perk up. “You know what? Let’s both try to make new friends.”

Atticus’ eyes widened. “No!”

She raised her eyebrow. “Hm? Why not?”

The boy drew his knees to his chest and looked down. “Because then we’ll leave each other. I don’t want to lose you. You’re really nice and pretty.”

She gave him a small smile. “We’ll still be friends. We’ll just have more friends.”

“You promise?”

“Yes.”

Atticus finally smiled. “Okay.”

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In the coming weeks, Kelly stated to make friends around the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Atticus didn’t know where to start. His kind older friend suggested trying children his own age.

“But there aren’t any kids in this neighborhood,” Atticus said.

“There is a park nearby,” Kelly said. “Are you allowed to go there alone?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

“Why don’t you try it?” she asked. “I can take you there if you want.”

“Alright,” Atticus said, uneasy.

After lunch, Kelly to the boy to the park. Atticus’ jaw dropped. For the first eleven years of his life, he had never been up the road past his neighborhood. The most far away he had been was Kelly’s house at the end of the block. Atticus pinched himself in the cheek.

“What is this place?” he asked. Kelly looked around at the playground equipment.

“Looks really small to me,” she said.

“No good?” Atticus asked. Kelly waved her hand back and forth.

“No, no,” she said. “This is fine. Good ahead and play for a little bit.” She had to nudge him along to move. Atticus shoved his hands into his pockets as walked over to the swings.

Kelly watched the child as he wandered around the park. Atticus began to adjust to his new surroundings and played with some of the equipment. But it felt just as lonely as his times at school. Only, there wasn’t much of anyone else around. Maybe, this was a bad idea after all.

But then, he noticed a small pair of eyes on him.

Atticus paused and turned his head. A little girl about his age stood inches away from him. Her short black hair came down to her shoulders. The wind gently played with her little white sundress. Atticus stared her up and down, silent.

“Oh, hello,” he said. The little girl looked down and shuffled her feet.

“Uh… can I play on the swings with you?” she asked. Atticus stared blankly at first before slowly nodding.

“Sure,” he said.

“Thank you,” the little girl said. Atticus blushed as she climbed into the swing next to him.