“Two solitudes protect and border and greet each other…” I put down my book and looked around me. Surprisingly, my friends had all left somewhere in between the time I picked up my book and the time I put it back down.
“Honestly, Theo, you can’t keep getting caught up in those books. Your friends were on and on about a girl they all liked, and they asked you about what you think about her five times! I know that I’m probably your closest friend here, but you’ve got to at least try! And not to mention, you’ll be tardy to class...AGAIN!” The librarian scolded me.
   “I know, I know, Sharon…” I flew up from my seat to the door and grabbed a tardy pass from her. “I’ll be back!” I reassured her with a smirk on my face. “this’ll be the last time I give you a tard--” was all I heard as I started charging to my class.

“Late again, like always?” Mr. Hendrick hissed.
“Well, y-yes, but I've got a pass this time…” I said as I showed him my pass. He took one look at the pass I was holding in my hand and told me to sit down. I slumped into a chair at the very end of the classroom and stared out the window for the rest of the period. I really couldn’t care less where Berlin was located on a map and what kind of map it was, I just wanted to be alone once again. Where I’d truly be happy. The bell rang and I was the first out of the classroom. I reached for the book in my bag and started to walk while reading. After being able to do this in my previous middle school, I was pretty experienced at this. It was one of my few talents I had.
I had only gotten to “... Love consists of this” when I bumped into what I thought was a wall until it squeaked out sorry and started rambling on about how they should not read and walk at the same time. I looked up, and saw a girl. Naturally, I would have reassured her that it was fine, and walk towards the library. This time, I reassured her it was okay, told her I was doing the same, and kept walking towards the Library. But we were walking the same way. I was just a bit behind her. Coincidentally, we walked toward the same table, and sat down without saying anything to each other. For a long while. And apparently, this too was noticeable to everyone.
“Heeeey Thhheeeooo” The librarian sat down next to me, at the same table the girl was.
“Hello.” I responded quickly.
“I’d like to introduce you to a new student, well, she isn’t very new, but you haven’t met her, I bet.” She said looking at me and then back to the girl. The girl had not been paying attention to anything going on around her and continued reading. I started reaching for my own book and didn’t make eye contact with anyone. Suddenly, the librarian yelled at both me and the girl. “Both of you! Stop reading, for just a second!” she screamed out of frustration and grabbed each of our books. She took them and held them tightly to her chest. “I will give these back to you after you two are done talking. thank you.” She said a little more calmly. And with that, she was gone.
After that, we both decided to have a staring contest with the table for about a minute.
“So… Theo, right?” she spoke first.
“Yeah… what's your name?” I asked, still looking at the table.
“They call me ‘Bones’.” she said as I looked up. I got a better view of her now and she smirked.
“Why do they call you Bones?” I asked, questioning where or how she could get that nickname. It looked like she was contemplating something and then an idea popped into her little head.
“Follow me,” she whispered, took my hand, and lead me behind a tall book shelf. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? I haven’t done this with anyone, but I guess I trust you…” She looked down while saying this. Then She did something that no one should do after meeting someone for the first time. She lifted her shirt a little below her chest, and showed me her skin. Her ribs jutted out awkwardly against her skin like they were trying to escape from her body. “You can touch ‘em, if you’d like. I don’t mind…” She said, focusing on my expressions. I didn’t know what to do at the time, but I did want to feel the visible and touchable bones. So very cautiously, I did.
“HEY, YOUWANNAWALKHOMEWITHMEORSOMETHING?” I spat out nervously. She looked up again and looked me in the eyes.
“What if we don’t live near each other?” She questioned. She had a point there.
“D-doesn’t matter. I’ll walk you home. S’not like I got a life to attend to or anything” I regretted saying immediately after. She didn’t seem to care, though. She smiled and agreed. We both got up from the floor now, and headed to Ms. Hamilton’s desk to retrieve our books. 
“Oh! I forgot my bag…” Bones said and went behind the bookshelf to get it.
“SOOO?” Ms. Hamilton asked me.
“I’m walking her home right now… And I just met her nearly twenty minutes ago?” I asked, very confused. I didn’t even know what was going on. Ms. Hamilton seemed happy with this, as she smiled.
“Atta boy, go get them” she said when she saw Bones coming back.
“So other than reading, what else do you do, Theo?” Bones asked me.
“Me? Well… I guess I’ve been attached to this one game. But that’s about it.” I answered and looked up to see what she’d think about it.
She laughed, and then asked “Okay, well what about something else? What do you do with friends?” she asked, her eyes still fixed on my face.
“Well, my friends plan to go to the movies or things with girls. I just don't go with them. I really don't talk to them outside of school, ya know?” I said shyly. She nodded and told me that she did the same. Suddenly,  she pulled my arm a different direction. We were now in the park and she wanted to go on top of a hill where a huge tree shaded most of the hill. After she got me to follow her, she led me up, and sat down. Then patted a place right next to her. We both sat there in silence for a while, hearing the faint sounds of children, and birds nearby. Then she turned to me.
“Okay, what do you think of us? The universe… the world. Tell me all your beliefs and disbeliefs. Your theories. I want to hear all of them.” she said. I was a little shocked that someone would ask me that, but I didn't hold back. I told her everything. The way I don't believe in a God, because science had more explanations. How sometimes I hear some voices, but no one really is there and so I think I'm just asleep and being tested by the government and all this really is is a huge dream. And the voices is the people around me talking about me. I'm just sorta conscious in the “real world”. How it amazes me that we're just a tiny spec that really were a mistake in this whole thing. She listened and nodded her head at some of the things I said. She smiled when I stopped to breathe.
“Why do you ask?” I said later, smiling at her.
“Because I feel as if you can understand people better when you know how they view the world…” She said, now looking at the trees surrounding us.
Then a voice interrupt us. “THEO GET HOME. NOW.” It was familiar. I turned, and saw my mother. We only lived a street away from the park. Bones just stood up quickly. Her eyes weren’t as friendly, and she looked scared now.
“I have to go now…” she said, I could hear the confusion in her voice. I looked at my mother, and then back at her.
“Yeah, okay.” I said. Then I told her I would see her again and she gave me a half smile.

“Why were you hanging out with her?!” my mom asked curiously.
“I-I… she's my friend” I gulped.  My mother slammed the door behind me.
“you can't hang out with her. Ever.” she stated.
“why…?” I asked. She just gave me a look and said because she said so. And that was it. The following day, Bones wasn't at the library. Nor was she at the library the next day. And the next. I wrote her countless notes. I told her how my day was and what I had a dream of. I didn't tell her much, for I had only just met her. All these notes I kept in a notebook. She didn't come back until a week later. She was reading and walking again, and I ran to catch up to her. “Bones! Bones…” I yelled, trying to catch up to her. She was avoiding the library this time, and apparently couldn't hear me. “Bones!” I yelled again and grabbed her tiny arm. I turned her around, and she looked up. The sight of me made her burst into tears, and I couldn't do anything but just stare at her. I didn't understand what I had done. She sat down on the ground, and cried in her hands. “H-hey… you wouldn't know why I can't hang out with you near my mom, would you…?” I asked shyly. Hearing this, she cried a little harder.
“My father… he was so horrible…” She answered in between her sobs. I took her hand in mine, and walked her to a bench. There, she told me everything. Bones knew she was a product of rape, but didn't know what he had done to my mother. Apparently, they were a couple in highschool and he was abusive. He raped her, but didn't impregnate her. It took a while until my mother reached out. I didn’t exactly know what to do. I just stared at her, blankly. Then I grabbed her tiny wrist in my hand, and yanked her up. She asked me what I was doing, and I didn’t answer. Not until I got home. I opened the front door, and made her go in before me.
“Hi mom, I’d like you to meet someone.” I said and my mom looked up from her chair. She looked at me and then at Bones. Then back to me with a mixture of fear and anger. Before she could yell at me or anything, I blurted out “This is Bones. She’s my friend and she’s a product of rape. Her mom fled with Bones just like you did.” Bones looked at me with horror in her face. I held her hand, and squeezed it. Then she started crying softly. Then I looked at my mother. Her face softened and I tried a smile. She got up from her chair and went to hug Bones.
“I’m very sorry.” Her voice was shaking. Then both started crying and hugged each other tightly. The next couple of days, I started hanging out with Bones more and more. And when i wasn’t, I’d constantly talk about her.
“And did you know that she’s read the ‘Harry Potter’ series, like, eight times before Sharon?!”
“You’ve told me. A couple of times now.” The librarian sighed. “Why don’t you guys go discuss other things while getting ice cream or something? I’m honestly tired of hearing about Harry Potter. Has she read anything else?” and that gave me an idea. It took me three attempts at getting her to agree to get ice cream. She didn’t like the idea at first because she said it was like a “Date”. And then I asked her “So what if it was?” She looked at me and smirked. I think she noticed I had started being sassy like her. Then I had to ask her to go on a date with me two times. And on this date, she wouldn’t tell me her real name. I could tell her everything and she’d just listen and listen. But she never told me her real name and said she only responds to “Bones” now.  It took me five more dates to get her to say she was mine. And seven to get her to hold my hand.
“No, I won’t hold your hand. You have cooties” she would tease.
Sometimes, our dates would just consist  of a picnic on the hill and playing “Don’t get me started”. It was a game where we would have to go on an angry rant about a subject player chose. I had to go on a wild rant about UV rays and she went on a rant about pools. If it wasn’t rants, then it was deciding how people lived their lives depending on what they looked like. It just continued.