1. THE MEETING

Tranquility. One scene that has always been a part of me for as long as I can remember. School days were the worst because I was required to be among people, normal people. Why did I get to be different from others, is it a good thing or a bad thing, why is it just me?  These were the kind of questions that were always running through my mind and I didn’t have answers to them. At least I had accepted my fate and I now live through it.

Mya Montez didn’t mind being with me as others seemed to. She had been my friend since kindergarten and we’ve been very close since then. She knew that I mostly kept to myself and she knew that most people termed me a freak. But she didn’t know the exact things that led to me being like that. She knew that I don’t have a mother and that I lived with my father who’s a scientist. She had accepted me for what I am.

Although some people looked at me and saw a kid from a rich family, they didn’t dare to come near me and socialise with me. They knew that I was one of the top students in my class but they never came to me for help in anything. I knew all this because I read minds. It’s hard at times to keep from laughing at some of the things they think about. And at times it is hard to keep from violence as some would be thinking daggers at me, because of jealousy.

Look at her, she’s all crept up in that corner thinking she’s better than us. I wish she could just wilt and die so that we get to be top of the class too, thought Isabel as we were in our Tourism class. This was our first lesson on Monday in our Grade 10 year. I loved this subject as it has a little bit of calculations so it meant a little bit of rest before the Math lesson. I didn’t mind Isabel much because I knew that it was all wrapped up in jealousy. And she outdid me with one thing, fashion. She loved dressing all up and looking good all the time. I was just all about jeans and hoodies, always keeping my head covered. I loved my long brunette hair but I always kept it in an untidy ponytail and tucked under the hoodie.

“Angelina Watson”, called Mr McCoy while marking the attendance report. I raised my hand to show that I was present. I always kept my head down because my hazel brown eyes didn’t always stay that way. They changed when my emotions got triggered in whatever way. This time around I was trying to get them from bright red back to brown. Isabel did succeed in making me angry in such a way that I was about to set fire to the whole class. I hated this part of me.

“Lina, you didn’t answer my question”, whispered Mya.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear what you said”, I answered.

“Well, I asked why you didn’t respond to my last text last night”

“Oh, I dozed off with the phone still in my hand. I was tired after the project I was workin’ on with my dad”

“What project?” she asked.

“Ummm, you know, one of my dad’s new inventions” I staggered.

“Oh, right. I just heard that there’s a new student that will be coming to our class this week.”

“Great.”

I did not care much about the addition to the student body in our school, Faraday Learning Institute. Soon enough those new students would also term me a freak after hearing the introductions from the other students from school. I didn’t think the upcoming student would be any different.

Mya started to say something but it got stuck in her throat because of what I think she saw.

“Wow! Lina, he’s here!” she exclaimed.

“Who?” I asked absentmindedly.

“The new student. It’s a boy.”

“Oh.”

“You should be more excited because he’s going to seat at the desk next to yours. It’s the only one vaccant.”

That got me groaning in the inside. I knew he was going to notice me since we shared the same class but I didn’t think it was going to be today. So much for hiding myself at the back of the class.

“Oh my gosh, he’s so cute. If only I could be his friend”, said Mya.

Mya kept on going and going about how this boy looked like but I wasn’t really listening. Mya had braces on her teeth and she had freckles on her face. But she kept them half-hidden with the make-up she put on her face. She always kept her silver blonde hair in a bun and her hair kind of complimented her eyes as they were silver grey. But her eyes weren’t that much noticeable to normal humans due to the fact that she wore glasses and nobody bothered to interact with her, except me.

So I kept my eyes on my books as I heard the teacher give the new student his book and showing him where to sit. I also heard his footsteps when he was walking towards the back of the class where the empty desk was. Since Mr McCoy wasn’t teaching on that day, he was still prompting us to finish off the project that he gave us the previous week, I decided to put on some earphones under the hoodie that were camouflage. I do this every time I want to stop the ringing of the voices in my head.  This time I did it to avoid talking to the new boy in our class. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to say to him. So the best way to avoid it was to put on the earphones and listen to some really loud music.

But before I even got to press the play button, he had turned his whole torso in my direction. I could feel a strong kind of magnetic force pulling me to his direction but I resisted. My hand lingered on the mp3 player I was holding in my pocket and my finger was reluctantly caressing the play button but not pressing it. I felt no will to press so I waited for him to say something although I was still looking down.

“Hi”, he said and his voice sounded like it had this gravitational pull towards me. Was it just me or was it like that to everyone? It didn’t help that he went on to saying, “My name is Ashton Turner.” I felt weak at the knees by just hearing his voice and I resisted looking at his face. It seemed like he was waiting for me to say something but I didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, Mya came to the rescue.

“Hi, I’m Mya Montez and this is my friend Lina Watson. She doesn’t talk much, so don’t take it the wrong way she didn’t respond”, she said with a smile in her voice.

“Nice to meet you both”, he also said with a smile in his voice.

“Likewise”, answered Mya.

With all the introductions over and done with, I felt forced to lift my head and see this guy’s face. And so I did.