Book One – Chapter Five

Huh. How long has that been there?

Simon stared intently at the small, silver scar on his cheek. It was only about two inches long. Maybe even an inch and a half. Through the mirror, he looked different, but he chalked it up to the smudges on the glass. He pressed his finger against the shallow groove the scar created and tried to think back to a time when something cut him enough to cause scarring. Honestly, that could have been any number of events.

It troubled him very slightly when he found scars on his body from wounds he never remembered receiving. Two on his back. One on his right shin. Three on his chest. One on his stomach. One on his left thigh. One on his face. This new one made two on his face, eight total. He often wondered if Kaylee noticed. He was sure she did.

He was mostly sure of this because of how he noticed the new scars on her body. Finding those scars troubled him more. She had one across the knuckles on her right hand. One on her left calf. Two on her hip. One on her stomach. Three small puncture scars on her neck. And one on the back of her head, covered up by her dark hair. She wanted that one hidden from the rest of the crew, so Simon did some world-class stitching without shaving that part of her head. He was happy to oblige to her wishes.

Nine total.

He dabbed his bleeding lip with a wet towel. It kept bleeding, so he put a small bandage on it. He rubbed the scar one more time. He must have cut himself shaving one morning and just forgot about it.

Kaylee had been avoiding him ever since they left Three Hills. She was upset, but something like that didn’t take serious deducing skills. Everyone felt it when Kaylee wasn’t smiling anymore. But Simon felt it the most. He didn’t know it at the time, but he did. He felt it so much that trying to make her smile was more of a selfish act of his own than a service to Kaylee. But sometimes he just couldn’t do it anymore. She’d still physically smile, showing h