Class was over.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKq1j6pzY8J
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.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xaZtJUsoz
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ipsziLr8u
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCWUa07DES
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOlJyXttpM
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIT0lAc9Vz
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMzcigYw1B
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQ1Eb69O90
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0n5Se4r8Bd
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPjebgoTtB
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.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qJeWDx8V1
Especially for her.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Yz7mrDEBA
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjiswNxCxWI
On top of that, she was mute.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgPTHZDqKW
That was pretty much rock bottom.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wpLT02ZzW
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.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsFQQBvu0S
Didn’t plan to help either.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXwCwKvMm9
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA38RbxYO7l
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVw145RH0RD
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmI7ytvlUz5
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzDKrjEx1EO
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.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVcFyIxByC
No one could tell what she was thinking.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxV3ROGCrg
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcV0xPjD0dz
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iIWDr8uw9
Actually, Jason liked reading.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwAIy9RHeT
He went to the slum library pretty often.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQkDmGWkSS
Even though there weren’t many books,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJBJP3WEeV
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7BMeTrbHk
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29877M2K0n
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyuWUDxQfjZ
then saw the girl again.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUMx0Nlhxf
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,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSR9U49fn6y
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1yohaRHOZ
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3igeRsPrPc
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdryjwwqxs
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrJzqD1U4C
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa70gGDqFc8
patched up with layers of tape.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAZnP5UVPA
She didn’t answer.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVzEGhXP7M
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.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2V35XdMRC
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTenTD0dMxe
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQA2HkVfrKN
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEe8T6QGTD
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzo2VFSBTw
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.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKkYtLhJyG
That was his first meal of the day—436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbVYPJmcw9
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYD5t1J9dB
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWWdQa8kYV
Turn around.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSecfl8Ha4
Go back to his world—436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmT3sIfW4HZ
trash piles, torn newspapers,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVyqJADwRG
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Q8tf5dhhq
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7h9V2CGbXH
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4pd9Nk2MS
carefully hidden in her pocket—436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZhBmX3ZzT
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAU5vCFwwh
maybe from the cold,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfncfmeciTp
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSV2WhvYdM
his tone suspicious,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5qVQcJgTM
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuY0Zr8ZlYs
but they weren’t hesitant either.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTb0d2woBM
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPe6ynzqar
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYbdnOKHrh
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACzb1aA1mW
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiNDFPYLvq
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6UQ3AUrw6
where there were mountains of scrap metal,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJ8m3iPhxe
piles of old newspapers,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0nbd44Ub6
expired magazines,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvflIMrZLjJ
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkS6cBCigam
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwesjrZfRO
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY82YQOuYNE
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5cGwqzcTU
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJ3dbq0sTG
And then—just for a second—436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4q4OMuQQE
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRzg4gOrcX0
Not bright.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLgAkrsHpY
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQTgELnnWd
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78ruFauINM
when the puppet turned into a boy.436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTqHWtUWar
When a lifeless stone began to shine,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi88tp3GAm7
sparkling with color,436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gaxUn2nli
marveling at the arrival of life.
436Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4374NBNbV
and then Add to home screen.