Cintra, 5th of Suncrest, year 305 UC

"Sorry."

The words came so suddenly and unexpectedly that Bryan had a difficult time understanding what she said for a moment.

He looked confused and tilted his head slightly. Did she just apologize to him? Bryan wasn't sure, not in the least bit.

"Er, what?"

Bryan had to ask.

Millie, the girl who hardly ever spoke to him, was the source of the apology.

She fiddled nervously with the hem of her dress, her gaze locked on the wooden floorboards. Her voice, when it came again, was a whisper lost in the shuffle of feet and distant laughter.

"Sorry.”

She repeated, her cheeks a blossoming rose.

"Sorry," Millie said once more refusing to look at Bryan.

Bryan has never once heard anyone tell him sorry. Not once, in his entire life.

Was he dreaming?

Surely he had to be. He pinched himself on the thigh where Millie couldn't see just to be certain.

He was sitting at a desk by himself drawing on paper. What he had in mind was to draw himself with a lot of friends or family. It was still just one stick figure right now that depicted himself.

He grimaced a little as the pinch hurt. Nope, he wasn't dreaming. He was wide awake.

‘Is she ok?’

He asked himself, wondering if she hit her head or something.

Glancing to the left, he looked out the window to see the light was still bright. The world wasn’t falling apart.

"Oh, ok."

Bryan replied.

He was not sure what to say, it's been a few days since he talked to them and they haven't spoken to him either. Not after Ms. Kelly told them off.

Their group had pretended as if Bryan never existed, so why was she here? That's what Bryan was curious about.

Millie hesitated, her fingers still clutching her dress.

Bryan watched her, his curiosity piqued by her unexpected approach.

The silence stretched between them, filled only by the distant hum of other children playing.

Finally, Millie lifted her gaze, meeting his eyes with a hint of nervousness.

"I wanted to ask you something," she said, her voice stronger now, but still trembling.

Bryan raised an eyebrow, unsure of what to expect.

"Yeah? What is it?"

Millie took a deep breath as if gathering her courage.

"I was wondering... would you like to go to town with us this weekend? We're planning on going shopping, mostly looking at the items from the window or on the stalls. You know, talking about what we plan on doing once we leave here. The others are sorry too, so... they'd be happy if you join in as well."

Bryan blinked, taken aback.

The invitation was the last thing he expected, especially from Millie.

He hesitated, unsure of how to respond.

Was this the same girl that was beating on him a few days ago with the others?

No, that couldn't be the case. If it were, she'd never apologize to him.

As for inviting him out, he was eager but didn't show it. This was the first time anyone had invited him anywhere!

‘Stay calm.’

He told himself as his grip tightened on the pencil he was holding.

He'd have to beg them to play games with them before, but now one of them was in front of him. This time asking him to join them!

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He had to be dreaming, there's just no way any of this was real.

Pinching his thigh one more time, it still hurt. He wasn't dreaming, this was real.

A smile started to creep up on his face and he quickly tried to hold it back. It was too late as Millie noticed and started to give him a smile of her own.

"I don't know," Bryan finally muttered.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

Millie's expression faltered for a moment, but she quickly recovered.

"Please, Bryan. I think it would be good for all of us. We need a fresh start, you know?"

He looked at the solitary stick figure on the paper, imagining it surrounded by others.

Could this be real? Could they really want him around?

Bryan looked into Millie's eyes and felt that she changed somehow.

Did the punishment do it? Or... what?

He wanted to go, he really did. Truly, but he also wanted to listen to Ms. Kelly.

She's always been there for him, and he made her a promise.

This could be a chance for him to make friends, real friends, and not be an outsider anymore. He didn't want to be alone here in the orphanage, and he did not want to be looked at like some freak. All he wanted was to be normal, to have friends and talk with them like all the other children here.

"Okay."

He managed to squeeze the words out.

"I'll go. But only if everyone else really wants me there too."

Millie's face lit up.

"They do, Bryan. I promise."

Bryan gave a small nod, still feeling a bit of hope.

"Okay then. I'll go."

"Great! I'll let everyone know. We'll meet tomorrow morning, okay?"

Bryan nodded, feeling a strange mix of excitement and nervousness. As Millie turned to leave, he called out to her.

"Hey, Millie?"

She paused and looked back.

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

Millie's smile softened.

"You're welcome, Bryan. See you tomorrow."

She turned and walked away heading back to her group, leaving Bryan to sit with his thoughts.

As she approached, Dave noticed her expression and immediately understood. He patted her on the back, offering a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about it, Millie. You did the right thing."

Dave said, trying to ease her discomfort.

Millie bit her lip, looking around at the group. Zeke, John, and Brittney were all there.

"I just... I feel bad about this."

She confessed.

"Look, it's not your fault. Bryan is the one who's different. He should know better than to believe everything. Once we're out of here, we can make sure he gets into enough trouble that Ms. Kelly won’t want to look after him anymore."

Dave told her.

‘But… it’s been good these last few days.’

She thought to herself.

Zeke and the others nodded in agreement.

The thought of causing more harm to Bryan, especially after seeing the genuine happiness in his eyes, made her stomach churn.

Millie couldn't shake the image of Bryan's face. She had seen the spark of joy in his eyes when he agreed to join them, and it made her heart ache.

Was this really what she wanted? To hurt someone who had done nothing wrong?

She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

"I don’t think I can do this."

She said it.

She said what was on her mind.

Her voice trembled a bit, but she spoke up.

All that was left was to hope he agreed with her.

"I saw how happy he was when I invited him. Maybe we should just... give him a chance?"

Dave looked at her with disappointment in his eyes.

She felt her mouth go dry, fearing that something would happen.

Maybe she should have just kept quiet.

"Millie, don’t get soft now. We've got a plan, and we need to stick to it. Bryan's different, and that makes him a problem. We need to make sure he doesn't get too comfortable here."

Dave assured her.

Her stomach twisted further as she listened to him speak.

This wasn’t right.

She was tired of it, and if they got caught once more…

No.

No more.

She glanced at Zeke, John, and Brittney, hoping one of them would stand by her.

They all looked uneasy, but none of them spoke up. She felt a surge of frustration.

"Why do we always have to hurt him? Why can't we just leave him alone?"

Dave's eyes narrowed.

"Because he doesn't belong, Millie. And if you can't see that, then maybe you're the one who's different."

He said as if it was the most obvious answer.

"But what if we're wrong?"

She asked.

"Maybe being different isn't so bad," she said quietly.

"Maybe we should all try being a little kinder."

Dave shrugged as if she was becoming an annoyance to him.

"We're not wrong. It's for the best. He needs to learn his place."

Millie looked at her feet.

She wanted to belong, to be part of the group.

The other children were much older than her, or too young.

Dave and the others were the ones she liked to hang out with, especially when they played all sorts of games. Glancing out the corner of her eye, she noticed some other kids sitting in front of Ms. Bertha as she read them a story. One that she told many times and Millie found boring now.

The memory of Bryan's smile, tentative and hopeful, haunted her. She couldn’t shake the image of him, how his eyes had lit up. It made her chest tighten with guilt.

"I still feel terrible."

She muttered, more to herself than to the group.

"We're doing him a favor."

Dave insisted.

"He needs to understand that he can't just... fit in."

Millie bit her lip, feeling torn.

Was that truly the case?

She didn’t want to stop hanging out with them, but the idea of being like Bryan scared her.

Standing next to Dave, Zeke crossed his arms and nodded.

"Yeah, we need to show him his place, Millie."

Brittney bit her lip, her eyes darting between Millie and Dave.

"Maybe Dave’s right. Maybe we shouldn't give Bryan a chance."

Millie felt betrayed, Brittney was similar to her and now she was agreeing with Dave.

She knew that Brittney didn't want to mess with Bryan anymore, she said it wasn't fun. So, why agree?

After a slight pause, Brittney continued as she mustered up the courage to finish speaking.

"But, we don't have to bother him either. We don't have to hurt him anymore. Let's just leave him alone."

John who was normally silent took the chance to speak.

His voice caught them by surprise.

"Maybe Brittney’s right. We don’t have to be friends with Bryan, but we don’t have to hurt him either. We can still be a group without that."

Dave sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Okay, fine. But remember, Millie already invited Bryan to join us this weekend. So what do we do now? Do we just leave him be like you want?"

"We can include him without being mean. Maybe he'll see that we’re not so bad and things will get better."

Millie said.

Brittney nodded.

"I agree. We should give him a chance. It doesn’t mean we have to be best friends, but we can try to be nicer."

Zeke crossed his arms tighter, his face conflicted.

He didn’t like the idea, but he wanted to support Millie.

"I guess we can give it a shot."