Problems of the Gifted

Seeing clearly

(This one is quiet short. However, I think of it like a tiny line on a canvas: The details are small, but crucial.
Anyway, enjoy!)

(Jian Chen pov.)

[November, boys dormroom:]

The four of us are resting after our classes had ended.
I'm sitting on the small sofa at the corner while Aiden does his homework. He has to do extra since he kept skipping his assignments for the past week.
Ben is relaxing on the top bed while listening to a podcast through headphones.
Aiden continues to eat his chips when Samir comes in, walking over to his closet, searching for something.
He takes a look at Aiden's empty sheet:

"You're still not done?"

"Almost."

"No, he's not. He's been eating those chips all this time." Ben comments.

"It's called multitasking."

"Pretty sure it's called procrastination." I add.

"Could you not disturb my thinking process?"

"Oh, first time?" I smirk, not looking up from the book.

"Wha-! You- eh... agh! I'm so mad I can't even think of a reply!"

I chuckle, Ben and Samir laugh. Ben puts his earbud away as he turns to Aiden:

"Hey, give me some of that stuff."

Aiden backs up with his chair, extending the bag so that Ben can only so reach it.
Before he does however, Aiden immediately pulls his arm back.
Ben leans too much forward and falls out from the bed, quickly turning into a fox, mostly out of reflex, and lands not that softly.

"It's not funny." He growls slightly as he snaps at Aiden.

"Haha, it kind of is. But you know, it was for... your sake. Get it?"

He scoffs and turns back into himself again. Aiden laughs as Ben snatches the bag out of his hand, shoving some chips in his mouth.
Samir looks at them for a moment before walking towards the table, finally finding what he was searching for, his notebooks. While walking past, he stops short next to me and I look up.

"It's upside down."

"What?"

"Your book. You're holding it upside down." Samir explains.

I look to my book and realize that he isn't wrong. Quickly, I turn it the right way around.

How did I not notice?

"I didn't know you could read upside down."

"Well, it is one of his techniques. He's learned it over the years." Aiden chuckles.

"No he didn't-" Ben interjects, but his sentence gets cut off by Aiden who grabs him in a hold, rubbing his hair:

"Of course he did! Stop trying to confuse him!" Ben desperately tries to get away from Aiden's grip.

"Ughh! Don't listen to him- he's just-"

As they continue to battle with each other, Samir looks clearly confused.

So I explain:
"No, I do not actually read upside down. I was just... thinking."

"Aw, come on!" Aiden wails.

"Haha." Ben cheers to himself.

"Thinking about what?" Samir pauses and quickly adds:
"Oh, if it's something personal you don't have to-"

"Don't worry, it's not." I put the book aside "I guess I'm still in our today's history class."

He tilts his head and I continue:
"Mr. Chardis has said that many Gifted tried to make a change by demonstrating their innocence and so on, though it feels to me like they were doing it wrong.
After all it didn't do much change to the way ordinary people see us until this day.
Which is why I was wondering whether any of us can change their view with other means.
If all of us need to become AGI's agents and keep a low profile at all times, how are Gifted supposed to show them that we're not that different?"

I only then notice how all of them are looking at me, even Aiden's gone quiet.

"That's... a lot of thoughts, J." Aiden remarks after a long silence.

I kind of expected this.
It's not the first time that others don't know how to respond to what I have to say, and even though it's not that big of a problem, I'd still like to someone to understand. Or maybe I'm not understanding something. Because it's not them who constantly forget something vital, it's just me who sees things a tad too clearly.

"I wish I had an answer to that." Samir admits.

"Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out. Perhaps I got carried away."

"Nah, you're good." Aiden reassures.

"Exactly. I'm sure Aiden would like to get carried away in his studies." Ben jokes.

Aiden lifts his hands up in exasperation:
"It's like I don't have better things to do."

We then go back to being occupied by our own things until Samir suddenly starts laughing.
The three of us turn to him as he can't get a hold of himself:

"Your joke from before- when Ben turned into a fox? You said-haha- for his sake, but you meant for fox sake! Because he turned into a fox!"

Aiden grins:
"See? Maybe a bit late, but gets my jokes!"

Yeah, I guess I am the only one who sees things clearly.