Star-Crossed: MacKenzie's Story.

Chapter 2 - Nathaniel

Today is the day, I finally get to go outside the sector again. I get up out of bed and get ready, then I head into Aundrew's room to wake him up. "Aundrew, honey, it's time to wake up." He opens his eyes and the beautiful hazel orbs stare at me. Andrew is so adorable, he has dark brown hair, and light hazel eyes. His skin is slightly tanner than mine, but that's probably because he loves to be out in the sun. He reaches out his small arms and wraps them around my neck. I pick him up and start carrying him towards his closet to get some clothes.
"sogdon ildis ili?" He asks me, which means how are you in Sondiv, the Atrian language. I tell him I'm good, and ask how he is.
"tezur ildis! sogdon ildis ili?" To which he replies the same.
I pick out some clothes for him to wear, a simple tee shirt and jeans. Then he changes and we head to eat breakfast.
When we're done, I grab his backpack and mine. We head out the door, and I walk with him to his elementary school within the sector. We get there and he gives me a hug.
"Aldovos. Asa ijita idi." He says when he let's go, giving me a kiss on the cheek. It means "goodbye. I love you."
"Aldovos. Asa ijita idi." I say back to him as he walks into school. He turns around and waves, smiling at me while he walks into the elementary.
Once I drop him off I quickly run towards the front gates, hoping I'm not late for the bus. I get to it just on time and we head to school, a real high school with the humans.
When we get there, there are a ton of people outside the school. They are just standing around with signs, yelling and protesting the integration program. We are escorted off the bus and into the school, where everyone is staring at us. We walk farther into the school as they give us a tour. When we are done we go into the class they tell us to. Some people are already in the room. I walk over to an empty seat next to a young girl, and ask "may I sit here?"
"No!" She says "why would I want a gross tattie like you sitting next to me?"
So I go over to another open seat, this time next to a young man, he has dark skin, and black hair. And I ask him "can I sit here?" He looks up at me with his brown eyes and smiles
"Yeah, of course! I don't care." He tells me.
"Thanks" I tell him, as I sit down.
"Yeah, no problem." He says as he extends his hand. "I'm Nathaniel. What's your name?"
I reach to shake his hand. "I'm MacKenzie" I tell him.
We have our classes together, and when lunch comes around he says I can sit with him so I do.
"So" He says.
"What?" I ask.
"Why is your name MacKenzie? Like why did you change your name?"
"Oh" I say. I consider telling him a lie, but decide not to. I say
"well truthfully, on arrival day my parents and I escaped. We ran and hid. A really nice couple, and their son took us in. They taught us English and, so much more." I'm not exactly sure why I'm telling this boy my life's story, but for some reason I feel like I can trust him. So I continue "I started going to school, I had to cover up my markings and everything but I did get to go. One of the stipulations for us going outside the house though was that we change our names. They went through a long list of American names we could choose and I liked MacKenzie, so that became my name."
"Wow" He says, "So did you and your parents get caught? Is that why you're in the sector now?"
"Umm... yeah, sort of" I tell him. "We got caught, and my parents were killed." I look down at my hands "I was taken to the sector." I look back up to him and say "but it's okay, I was adopted by a really nice family in the sector."
"Wow, I'm sorry." He says.
"But what is your adoptive family like? If you don't mind me asking, of course."
"No, it's okay." I tell him. "My adoptive parents are great, they have always taken care of me. No matter what. There were plenty of times when it would have been easier on them to just throw me out, but they didn't. And I'm really greatful for that, they have made my life amazing. When they took me in they already had a daughter, she's about 2 years older than me. She's great, she has blond hair and blue eyes. And she has always taken my side, and helped me with everything. I really don't know what I would have done without them. And Aundrew, he is about 5 years old now. He's amazing, he's ummmm... we uh... we found him, abandoned when he was a baby. We are raising him, but there's not much to do, he's like the perfect child. I love him so much." I finished my rant and looked at his face.
"That's... wow" He tells me. "My family is me and my parents and my brothers and sister. No story behind it just us."
"Sounds... stable. " I say, as I let out a little laugh. He laughs too.
We finish our lunch and then our classes for the day. I say bye to my new friend and head to the bus. We get back to the sector and I run to Aundrew's school, he got out a little while ago so he is just sitting outside waiting for me. As soon as he sees me he hops up and runs towards me. I crouch down and hold out my arms, and he jumps right into them. "Hey, honey." I say giving him a big swing around, as I hug him.
"Hi" He laughs and smiles at me. I put him down and grab his hand.
"Ready to go home, honey?" I ask him.
"Di!" He says, which means yes. So we start walking home.
When we get there I call out to Shelby to let her know that we're home. She comes out from the kitchen with something for us to eat. We both eat, and then I help him with his homework.
When we're done I take him outside to play until dinner is ready. We eat, then go to clean up. After we are both done I take him into his room and tuck him in to bed. "ili ildis Aksemu nigayana yala und Ewaganu husoljivi widi." I whisper in his ear as he falls asleep.