Class was over.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIs5kJnDXV
The teacher turned and left right away, as if she couldn’t stand being in the classroom for even one more second.
Jason—well, to be exact, little nine-year-old Jason Todd—watched the noisy classroom with a cool, steady gaze.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHEFX9DQ6M
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWer2Stdx5
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6EHD3pbOR
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZyZcO9DOxS
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJ8ZULcYgg
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIF8knBg2Qd
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfduln3rR3
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXrrHvj810
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtY2xrMqgRO
Bullying happened all the time around here.
The girl picked up the torn sheets, put them back together, and kept on reading.
Jason thought, It’s not a puzzle.
But then again, that kind of bullying was normal.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTnmPXMNhR
Especially for her.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91JVsFVcWp
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxH6KbzUyuE
On top of that, she was mute.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zVIVvPG1k
That was pretty much rock bottom.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnIAYhkO0u
Made having a drunk for a father seem… not so bad, Jason thought, a little bitterly.
He leaned against the doorway and glanced at her again.
She turned the patched-up pages so gently, like she was afraid of hurting something.
He didn’t say anything.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UwO1KnNLn
Didn’t plan to help either.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAV1hIpfHPv
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4GITVnj60
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdngSRHR83Q
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynvuqndSJv
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgi9hrweqYA
see if there was any news about Robin or Batman.
Jason was lost in thought when he saw the girl in front of him.
Nana was standing there quietly.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdC2Nt4brJ0
No one could tell what she was thinking.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TyXKRXsWM
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WPc2KjPn2
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJG31INhdG
Actually, Jason liked reading.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8SYYqfkn9
He went to the slum library pretty often.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqGw9aTaLm
Even though there weren’t many books,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIges3Z7K8
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3wqpASdJy
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbE6UIqJkcB
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmBxluj38jQ
then saw the girl again.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESgNqoQNGc
She was spacing out.
Why is she always spacing out? Looks kind of dumb, he thought.
He walked past her and kept going toward his next stop.
The farther he got from her,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeG7Hf5j8d
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCLskeiYoW
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuaAffBVOk
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzDcydVMvC
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudJNioMAWP
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylo2BZdf2I
patched up with layers of tape.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0HpG0zqhF
She didn’t answer.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNljK45NEQR
Just blinked, like she was thinking.
Jason waited for a bit, then clicked his tongue and took another bite of bread.
“I like Huckleberry Finn the most,” he mumbled through his chewing.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHYwEUDtcS
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoggIWnm2B
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPn29ogwK3V
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnDtQiexpK
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZrVh3Fkog
What am I even doing, he thought. It’s not like a mute girl can reply.
He looked down and licked the bread crumbs off his fingers.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjhKSFfY1Q
That was his first meal of the day—158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLk9UnT5T5Y
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDheE19rbG
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExeIxFvgVb
Turn around.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqKiZYPPDf
Go back to his world—158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1kko6zOmj
trash piles, torn newspapers,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZLgSqS3aa
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzdfsLqfzV
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gUzDbMYEB
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZujHRG66Xv
carefully hidden in her pocket—158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTnsHuEZ8m
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9P3vXotxn
maybe from the cold,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcsH5NfKBg
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEffIdoTVO
his tone suspicious,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6tBjkO3ac
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iu2liwfF1
but they weren’t hesitant either.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioS2p5pgt6
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUqsZ6fljh
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgQN0eGwq6
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXxFUs3rJR
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqM9Es6VHl
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3szbRsBV8
where there were mountains of scrap metal,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAcUyKhx3x
piles of old newspapers,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURUs2Jiek0
expired magazines,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsm7kE2rjbi
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMq2PrdvtB
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsJSbxdwq4
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqK9mA7itr1
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQ1eh0rmQ6
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xMtSfU8Si
And then—just for a second—158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIKZs0Taxp
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdK7ns4ZXUU
Not bright.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGy6SzxmoV
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPyLmPCG6X
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLv2xjhTIO
when the puppet turned into a boy.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8l7tqLKwqu
When a lifeless stone began to shine,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynNCYGsApj
sparkling with color,158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3hQ4gX0CI
marveling at the arrival of life.
158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dupe65aRN
and then Add to home screen.