Empathy

2- Aiden Hence

Chapter 2

I woke up bright and early. My arms were pressed against something warm and furry. I cracked open my eyes and saw Sam curled up against me and watching me with his brilliant gray eyes. I wished I had eyes like his- mine were a mucky hazel. Yawning, I pushed myself into a sitting position, seeing that I had two minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I turned it off and looked at Sam. He cocked his head towards the window and I get the message right away.

"You want to go outside?" I clarified and he nodded. I got up and made my way downstairs so I could let Sam out through the back door. Sam walked outside and I asked, "Will you come back?"

He gave me a wolfish grin and nodded. I smiled and watched him run into the forest. I finally made a friend and he happened to be the wolf I met in the forest. I giggled at the thought of how my mother would react if she found out I was even weirder than she thought. She would probably stop calling me completely. It wasn't like that would be much of a change anyways.

I got dressed quickly, dreading going to school. My outfit consisted of jeans, a black sweater and sneakers. My brown hair was done in a tight braid and my face was clear of makeup. I looked the same way every day, hoping it would keep away unwanted attention. I'd given up trying to impress my class mates the day they found out about my weirdness. I still remembered that day perfectly...

I was six years old, sitting in my kindergarten classroom; it was my first day of school. I was nervous, but Mommy had assured me everything would be just fine, she said I would make lots of friends. Mrs. Sanders smiled at us, but I could feel a deep sadness coming from her. "Alright class, we're going to play a little game. I want everyone to go around the circle, saying how they feel. Would anyone like to volunteer to go first?"

I raised my hand high in the air, eager to impress my classmates with my ability to sense what each one of them felt. Mommy had said that being myself would make people like me. Ms. Sanders smiled appreciatively, "Okay Samara, you can go first."

"I feel everything," I told her, smiling proudly. I wanted them to think I was cool- like Superman. He had a lot of friends.

She blinked at me, looking politely curious. "What do you mean?"

"I feel everything," I repeated. I then went on to explaining exactly what I meant. "I know Rose is happy and Alexander is tired." I continued doing that until I finished with, "Jamie feels sick and you feel sad- really sad." Then I waited for the applause, but it never came.

Ms. Sanders stared at me, along with the rest of the class. Most of the students seemed confused, but Ms. Sanders- she was terrified. I looked over at her, "Why are you scared?"

She screamed and stood up, calling the class to her side, all of them running to the other side of the room. She stared at me when I tried to join them. "Stay over there." I did, feeling hurt and confused. That was the first day I was separated from everyone. It only got worse as I went through middle school and then high school. Now the students thought for themselves and realized how different I was. And to them different wasn't good.

The memory brought tears to my eyes that I wiped away angrily. I was only six years old when I was singled out as a freak- by my teacher no less. Realizing that I was going to be late if I didn't leave now, I hurried outside, hoping my eyes weren't as bloodshot as they felt. Here goes another day of suffering through school...

Once I was in my first class, I set my head on my desk and tried to ignore everybody. Their feelings were vibrant and refused to be shut out; it was already giving me a headache. When I risked looking up, my eyes met someone else's. It was a boy in the first row. He was staring at me, but he didn't look scared like most people did when they looked at me. I didn't remember his name- I didn't know anyone's name. I was too busy trying to ignore their feelings to care what their names were.