Hearts of Fire

Chapter 1

 Ameena’s POV  

Why don’t people understand me? I thought to myself as I walked down one of the crowded hallways of the high school.  Is it really that difficult for them to even *try* to figure out why I am the way that I am?

“Hey!  'Meena!” one of my so-called friends, Aura, hollered, running in between people to catch up with me before I walked into homeroom.

I sighed internally.  Just another person who– sadly– misinterprets my silence. “Hi, Aura,” I murmured quietly.

Aura was one of my ‘friends,’ who just wanted to find the ‘reason’ for my silent nature.  Personally, I had no idea.  Maybe I was just different.  Come to think of it, I had always felt different.  Maybe I wasn't human.  I shook my head– I was reading into this too much.  Nodding to my homeroom teacher in a ‘hello’ gesture, I took my seat in the back corner of the room.  She spoke a soft, “Hello, Ameena,” as I walked past her.

I saw Aura give me a sideways glance out of the corner of my eye.  She was probably trying to interpret my mood; as usual, she failed. “Are you angry at someone?”

I was silent for half a minute before I answered, “No.”

Quite the contrary; I was a little upset today.  Once again, my mother broke her promise to let me visit my dad for a week– even though I had not seen him in almost three years.  Yes, my parents were divorced.  My mother ‘despised’ my father for some unknown reason.  I remembered how she tried to lie to me by saying that my dad was ‘fooling around’ with another woman while he was still married to her.  But I knew my father would never do anything like that.

Maybe she ‘despised’ him because she was jealous.  She had known since before I was even born that I liked my father more– I remembered my dad telling me that I never stopped kicking my mother when I was in her tummy.  That was, until he set his hand on my mom’s stomach; then I would stop kicking.

I was brought out of my daze when Aura muttered, “Ugh,” under her breath.  Apparently she had given up on trying to get me to have a full conversation with her and was now taking a seat in the middle row of desks.

We were seniors in high school, so most of the teachers let us sit wherever we wanted.  I always sat in the back of the room– as if I was subconsciously separating myself from the other students.  The human students, a voice added in my mind.  What the heck?  Why did the voice say ‘human’ like it was a diseased fish?  And why was I hearing voices in the first place?

Someone tapping on the desk next to me pulled me out of my thoughts.  Another ‘friend’ of mine, Rose, was sitting on the desk next to mine looking impatient. 

“I found a new guy to hook you up with ‘Meena,” she began excitedly– Rose thought that if I got into a relationship with a guy it would break my silence; she was sadly mistaken, “He’s hot, he’s new, and he seems quiet; like you. And he’s a senior, and he’s–”

“I don’t want a relationship, Rosaline.” I cut her off–Rosaline was her full name, and she hated it.

“Your loss,” she frowned and took a seat near Aura.

I nearly laughed at Rose’s hundredth failed attempt to get me even slightly interested in having a relationship– nearly. 

The day seemed to go by even slower than usual after homeroom. I felt sort of anxious, as if my body knew something was going to happen, while I was completely clueless. By my fifth period class, I could barely sit still.  What was wrong with me?  I had never felt like this before….