'By what misfortune have I brought her upon myself?'

'There certainly should have been a guide in the internet for these sorts of situations right?'

Devin had tried rejecting her, ignoring her and then shooing her away but nothing worked. She was adamant.  At times like these Devin usually starts to ignore the girl and it would be all over.

'But this girl… she was doing the unthinkable!'

Devin sighed as he pulled himself away from her. But instead of heading towards his school he headed towards his home instead.

School was never compulsory for him anyway. He had no parents to scold him to go to school. He only attended school regularly so that he didn't feel lonely.

"Follow me," he whispered. Elena didn't fail to catch on his words either and followed behind him. Well even if Devin didn't tell her to come behind, she would have gone after him anyway like a magnet.

'Okay, there is just one thing left to do. I have to figure out what her problem is.'

Since Devin had tried everything under the book and none of it worked, then he had to solve the problem like an adult.

They walked to a nearby local park as Devin eased himself on a park bench. Elena stood beside him quietly without any words as he looked down to the park floor.

Devin beckoned to her to sit as he tapped the park bench beside him. Elena got confused having question marks on her face but soon realized what he wanted.

Elena lowered and sat beside him.

The park was quiet. It was too late for the early morning joggers to be coming for a jog and it was too early for the children to be coming to play. Not to mention today wasn't a weekend and they would be probably at their schools.

'If rejection can't faze her, I just have to persuade her that what she is doing is wrong,' Devin thought. She doesn't seem like a crafty salesperson. She seemed to be a foolish youngster at best.

Devin's  guess was that she had probably run away from her home planning to live in a different way… there was nothing else he could think of other than this. There had been lots of instances of girls running away from their parents as they didn't want to live a restricted life.

'But she has not seen the world from an adult's perspective and is probably making a wrong decision. She doesn't know how lonely this world can be even if it is teeming with humans.'

With no parents to speak of, that was how Devin saw the world. In fact, he loved fighting with his seniors and other kids for the very same reason.

At least having fights with them gave him an opportunity to converse even if they were abusive.

Devin took a deep breath.

"Elena, you must have parents somewhere right? Do you remember their contacts?"

"Hmm… No, my mom had died when she had given birth to me and when I was young my dad had gone missing..." her voice trailed off as a single drop of tear came down her cheek.

Her shoulders moped and she didn't say a word after that.

It looked as if Devin had touched a bad subject.

'Oh No...'

Devin stared at Elena as his mind went blank. The look in her eyes wasn't it similar to his own?

[Flashback]

*Tring* *Tring*

The school bell rang. The faces of the students were in contrast to the weather outside. Their faces had the brightest blossoming smile but the weather outside was cloudy with heavy rain and darkness.

"Oh it's raining. Time to jump in puddles!"

The primary schoolers stormed off to the school gates. They had no umbrellas or raincoats but they didn't care anyway. Some one or the other was going to pick them up.

But there was one child who had no smile.

"What happened Devin? Not going back home?" The teacher asked to the young Devin.

Devin looked away a bit embarrassed to reveal his secrets.

"It's raining outside, I can't," Devin claimed.

The teacher raised her brows.

"Oh I am sure there must be someone who has come to pick you up. Because of the bad weather we had informed all parents to…"

She was giving Devin a reason to leave the school premises but alas, her own voice trailed off.

'How could I forget this,' the teacher gasped, 'Of course Devin has no parents.'

Devin didn't respond to her trailing voice rather continue with his own soliloquy...

"If only I had an umbrella I could have easily gone back home," he complained.

He might look like a kid but he was much more mature for his age. But seeing the child having so much on his shoulder the teacher couldn't help but look at him with eyes of pity. Her eyes and face puffed up thinking of what this child might go through every day.

She slipped her hand inside her purse and picked out her umbrella.

"Here, take this…" she smiled as she passed on the umbrella to Devin.

"Can I?"

"Yes, return it to me tomorrow, okay?" She said as she rubbed Devin's back.

Devin nodded. Without waiting for anyone anymore he opened the umbrella and stormed out of the school. Nothing could stop him now!

The teacher watched as Devin went away with his clumsy steps. The umbrella was a bit too big for his age. She couldn't help but let out a chuckle as his school shoes splashed on those mud puddles without his knowledge.

***

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