Chapter One : The Boy Who Was Left Behind
The first thing William remembered about being left behind was the sound of the tires.
Not the words his parents had spoken.
Not the look on his mother's face.
Not even the old convent disappearing behind the trees.
Just the tires.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Over the gravel road as the car carried his parents farther and farther away.
William stood at the entrance of the missionary school with a tiny suitcase beside him, staring after them.
He was too young to understand abandonment.
He only knew that his mother had kissed his forehead, his father had told him to be a good boy, and then they had driven away without him.
One of the nuns placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Come inside, William."
He didn't move.
"Your parents will come back," she added.
William looked at the road again.
"Tomorrow?"
The nun hesitated.
"Perhaps."
That was enough for him.
William picked up his suitcase.
"Okay."
He followed her inside.
The school sat in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by thick green forest and rolling hills. The nearest town was hours away. There were small classrooms, a chapel, dormitories, a kitchen, and a large courtyard where the children played.
It was quiet.
Far too quiet for William.
By lunchtime, he had already decided he hated it.
By evening, he had decided he was going to make it interesting.
The next morning, one of the nuns discovered that every pair of her shoes had been moved from outside her room and arranged neatly in a line leading toward the dining hall.
Nobody knew who had done it.
Except William.
He sat at the breakfast table with the most innocent expression imaginable.
Across from him sat a boy who hadn't laughed once.
William stared at him.
The boy stared back.
"You saw nothing," William whispered.
"I saw everything."
William's eyes widened.
The boy went back to eating.
William leaned closer.
"Are you going to tell?"
"No."
"Why?"
The boy shrugged.
William smiled.
"What's your name?"
"Jason."
"That's boring."
Jason looked up.
"What's yours?"
"William."
"That's boring too."
William burst out laughing.
It was the first time Jason smiled.
And somehow, that tiny smile became the beginning of everything.
---
The boys became inseparable.
Where William went, Jason followed.
Where Jason sat, William eventually appeared.
William was the noise.
Jason was the quiet.
William made friends everywhere. Jason preferred watching people from the corner of the room and somehow knowing exactly what they were thinking.
William climbed trees.
Jason told him he was going to fall.
William fell.
Jason helped him back up.
William stole biscuits from the kitchen.
Jason hid them.
William got caught.
Jason lied to the nuns.
William laughed so hard he nearly gave them away.
They grew up like that.
Together.
The years passed almost unnoticed.
William remained mischievous, but the laughter became easier. He stopped asking when his parents would return. Eventually, he stopped asking about them altogether.
The monthly allowance they sent became the closest thing to proof that they hadn't completely forgotten him.
Whenever the money arrived, William divided it.
Half for himself.
Half for Jason.
Jason always protested.
"You don't have to give me your money."
William would roll his eyes.
"It's not mine."
"Then whose is it?"
"Us."
Jason never knew what to say to that.
Because William said things like that without thinking.
To William, sharing with Jason was as natural as breathing.
Jason was family.
The only family William had chosen for himself.
Years later, when they were old enough to have bank accounts and responsibilities, William handed Jason his bank card.
Jason stared at it.
"What's this?"
"My card."
"I can see that."
"Then why are you asking?"
Jason looked at him suspiciously.
"You want me to keep this?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
William shrugged.
"Because you're better with money."
"William."
"What?"
"You trust me with all your money?"
William laughed.
"I trust you with my life."
Jason went quiet.
William didn't notice.
He was already lying across the bed, scrolling through his phone.
After a moment, Jason asked softly,
"Why?"
William looked up.
"Why what?"
"Why do you trust me so much?"
William frowned as though the question were ridiculous.
"Because you're Jason."
That didn't seem to satisfy him.
William sighed and sat up.
"You're my brother. You're my family. There's nobody else."
Jason looked away.
William continued.
"I don't care if people think I'm stupid for trusting you. You're the one person I'll ever have to worry about
Jason swallowed.
"And if I hurt you?"
William smiled.
"You won't."
"You don't know that."
"I do."
"How?"
William shrugged again.
"Because I know you."
Jason looked at him for a long moment.
There were so many things he wanted to say.
Things he had wanted to say for years.
But William was looking at him with such complete trust that Jason couldn't bring himself to say any of them.
So he simply put the card into his wallet.
"I'll take care of it."
William smiled.
"I know."
And that was the problem.
Jason would spend years trying to figure out how to tell William that he didn't want to be his brother.
He wanted to be the person William chose.
Not because William needed him.
Not because they had grown up together.
Not because they shared everything.
But because, after all these years, Jason loved him.
William just didn't know it yet.
This book is something I dreamed about it's my original story please read comment and tell me what you think 💬🤔
I'm all ears 🤗
