Just A Little Bit Jaded

5. Invisible

Scarlett took a deep breath, staring at her skin.

It was flawless, the way it covered the mechanics beneath her wrists, beneath her legs. Somehow, she was perfectly disguised. It was so strange to think that she looked so similar to her classmates, and yet . . . If they ever knew her true nature, would they be content sharing a room with her?

Somehow, Letty doubted it. If they knew what she really was, they'd never let her have a moment of peace. Either fear or curiosity would spike in them, and she would be alienated.

She would no longer feel invisible, but she doubted it was worth it.

The bell rang, and Letty stood, stepping out of the classroom in which she'd paid no attention to the lesson, pushing past the stream of bodies that crowded the halls.

"Not today, Luna," Jade whispered quietly, but the girl sneaking up behind her heard it perfectly.

"Letty?" She called, reaching for the black-haired girl carefully.

Jade pulled away, shoving her things in her locker and taking off like she didn't know the girl who'd called her name.

~~~

Jade sat carefully balanced in the tree, focused on her breathing far more than anything else. She knew it was bad to be isolated when her thoughts were running wild, but she couldn't help herself.

She felt trapped, alone, stuck. She had no reason to and yet she had every reason to.

She was a freak. An abomination. She didn't belong in either world that she was supposedly a part of.

And her anxiety was crashing through like a tsunami ruining a sand castle.

It was getting hard to breathe.

Jade tried to focus back on breathing, on keeping herself level and steady, but it was getting harder and harder. When she was younger, she had better control. When she was younger she was able to keep herself under control and even teach her brother a thing or two when they sparred.

Now, as hard as she tried, she couldn't seem to get a handle on her emotions the way she was used to. Over the last few years, her control had plummeted harder than a boulder dropped off a cliff.

Primus slag it, why was everything so damn hard? Why was she so alone?

"It's all their fault," Jade muttered, blaming her parents. "They should've known it was too hard. Why'd they put us through this? Why'd they have to . . . Have to put us in the world like this? Sure, Ash adapted just fine, but I'm just . . . I'm stuck. I try to pretend, but it just doesn't work . . ." Jade shuddered, holding her head in her hands. "I don't belong anywhere, no matter how hard I try . . . I'll never be like Prime like this . . ."

~~~

"She's still struggling," Angel informed Jewel as she got ready for the next day of shooting.

"Is she all right?" Jasmine asked, turning her head from the mirror to look at her friend. "How bad is it?" She stopped all preparations, concern for her child overwhelming her.

"She's all right for now," Angel answered gently. "It's getting worse though. Human hormones aren't something she's used to, and they're meddling with her Cybertronian wiring."

"How did you get through it?" Jasmine asked, putting down her things. "How do we help her?"

Angel shrugged. "Everyone's different. I had a solid purpose in my life, even at that age. I always knew that I wanted to make the world better, whether through conventional means or not. Jade . . . Well, like most girls her age, she's getting a lot of messages about the world, and it's hard to block any of them out. She has to be this, she has to be that . . . And at the same time, she's trying to figure out what she wants, not what the world is pushing on her. It's not an easy thing to do. I'll tell you right now, teen girls have some of the most volatile energy I've ever encountered. Life is a constant identity crisis for most of them. The best way to help Letty is to let her find herself. If possible, help point her in the right direction, but it's hard to help her if she doesn't know what she wants, either."