The Outsider

Saturday

The time had come. Saturday. I got up, pulling my sore body from bed. I went into the bathroom.

My blonde hair greasy and matted, it looked disgusting. My face had huge bags under my eyes, the blue didn't seem to pop anymore underneath all the dirt. I took a shower, scrubbing all the dirt from my body. The smell of vanilla filled the air when I was finished.

"Dress loosely." Was what Ben had told me yesterday night? So I wore loose and comfy pants and a tank top. When I walked to my door and opened it I was hit by the smell of bacon. My stomach growled at me. I hadn't eaten since lunchtime yesterday.

"Kat, your stomach is quite loud, woke me up from my room." He said while he peeked out of his doorway. I smiled and laughed at him. "Come on." He said motioning me to join him. I walked beside him. He was dressed in a dark green shirt, it matched his eyes. When I grabbed his hand, it reminded me of the other day. I stop and asked him.

"Jess, what happened the other day, when I grabbed your hand?"

"Oh, that was just a reaction, of my element. I was shocked that you touched me." Jess laughed and pushed me a little and raced down the stairs. "I'll beat you there."

"Hey cheater, you got a head start!" I quickly picked up my pace as we raced to the kitchen. Laughing Ben informed me that I had lost. We all seemed lost at breakfast, talking about everything. But mostly about me. It was weird Ben wanted to get to know me. I was happy to share my dislikes and likes. My favourite activities. It was hard trying to eat while talking so much. But I managed it.

When we finished Jess grabbed my plate and Ben told me to follow. He led me down the hallway while explaining what would happen. "The first step is to draw some blood, and to take some fingerprints. We will take a break for a bit after that. Then we will begin element testing. Which is painful Katherine. You will have to come up with a safe word."

"What do you do?" I became worried; I didn't like the sound of that. I was already sore.

"We injected you with the element. It will make your body react differently depending if it is your element or not. Remember normally you are young when this happens, so you will forgot the pain. Once we see the reaction we give you a reactor. It is a pill, it will stop the pain. But these pills only work for the test. If Jesse was to shock you, you would have to wait it out." He motioned toward a chair. Beside it was a table with needles, ink and papers. "Sit down." He smiled at me.

I sat down as he tied a band around my arm. Needles, I hate needles but I had to know. You know when teachers tell you "Oh, it is just like a pinch." Yah right never believe that. It is not a pinch, never have I felt a pinch feel that painful.

"Okay breathe normally Kat." Jesse came down and saw his father taking the blood. Jess grabbed a chair from the corner and dragged it over. He grabbed my open hand and held it. He squeezed my hand reassuring me.

I don't know how much Ben had taken from me, but i felt lightheaded. I sat there resting my head. Ben brought me some juice. I drank it quickly. Ben then took my left hand and dipped it in the ink. He pressed and fingers on the paper one by one. Carefully rolling them on the paper.

I sat there once he was done. I closed my eyes a bit, I was curious about his world.

"Jess while I am here waiting for the next tests tell me more. Tell me about where you grew up, what you remember." Ben had left the room. It was only Jess and I. He looked at me with the green eyes. I thought he wouldn't tell me. But he began talking.

"It was beautiful, when I was born there. My family own a small cottage in the country. My mother had a herb garden right outside the window. She was a great cook and use the earth element. The house always smelled of her cooking. It was small but perfect. My dad worked as a janitor for the castle. No one knew of his power. Everyone believed he just never grew into a power. It was okay for a while, then people got suspicious. Nickolas came to our house. He knocked on the door, my mother opened it. She didn't understand, there had never been someone with his power. I came home from school, I was only five. I walked inside, I couldn't smell anything. I knew she was gone; I sat in my parents bed crying. My father came home. He came to the bedroom; I had never seen him so angry."