We are the Enhanced

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Hullo! How's life?

I have just a little to say today. First off, you may have noticed my sporadic excuse for a writing schedule. Hehe. I write when ideas come to me, when I don't have homework, and when there isn't anything I have to do after school. But yeah, have I ever disappointed you, being more than three weeks between updates? Nope, didn't think so.

Second, so I have over seventy reads on this. You see, that's a lot of silent readers. I write you stories. The least you could do is tell me how to make this the best book you've ever read. I mean, besides Percy Jackson, The Lunar Chronicles, or Harry Potter. 'Cuz those are hard to beat. But it would be so freaking awesome if you would comment or vote. Tell me what you think.

That's all for now, folks.

"You know," Alex said, staring longingly at the candy bar in Talent's mouth. He'd finished his last one. "Going to school means free lunch."

Talent raised his brows. "Alex? School? What the heck are you?"

"Hungry."

Neither had eaten much. Their only food in the last few days was the candy they'd stolen from the store. Alex's cheeks burned, remembering what had happened there.

The plan had been to go to a nearby drug store and rob it of anything they might need while stuck in Brazil. They would do this in broad daylight, and make it obvious.

So they'd gathered stuff off the shelves and completely bypassed the checkout line. The hope was for them to get noticed and taken in, at which point the authorities would come to realize that they belonged in America.

Then, in American jail or something, their loving parents, finding out they were alive, would bail them out and they'd live happily ever after. The end.

Yeah... That hadn't worked. One cashier had been busy on her phone, the other with a customer. And that beeping-thingie-alarm was broken. So the boys walked out, loaded. There went that plan.

So the next best one was- shudder- school. That was a new low for Alex. But they showed up at a local junior high one Tuesday, salivating at the thought of food. It took about another week to convince all the teachers of their story, which was pretty close to the truth, and even more time to figure out basic Portuguese. They never did their homework. Usually, it ended up being kindling for their fires.

Quickly enough, they caught on to Portuguese. Never actually said the right words, but it was still another language. Huge accomplishment. Oh yeah.

But it was still relieving when he heard English.

"Ri," a voice said as he passed the bathroom. "Look. I'm gonna tell you something that you won't believe. And when you finally do believe it, you'll probably freak out."

Alex snorted, probably some girls who'd found out their crush liked them. But the English caught him off guard, so he kept listening, even when he was late for class.

"Charlotte, we're late. Can it wait till later?" Another girl, who Alex assumed was the one called Ri, spoke, exasperated.

"We're alone now, Ariya. I'm not sure I'll have the chance again. Look, c'mon. I know you're trying not to invade me," WHAT? Alex shook his head. He kept listening. "Just do it. You'll figure it all out. Answers, Ri."

"What've I gotten myself into?" Ariya mumbled. Then there was silence for a moment. Alex tried to steady his breathing, afraid the girls would hear him outside. That'd be awkward.

"HELP!" Ariya screamed, and ran out of the restroom before Alex could react. Dang she was pretty, dirty blond hair streaming behind her. Slim build, wild blue eyes. Alex couldn't help it, he smiled, smitten. Ariya didn't see him, thankfully.

"Hey wait!" The girl called Charlotte rushed out behind her, but Ariya was already around the corner. Alex silently edged his way into the boys room, waiting until both sets of footsteps faded away.

He didn't have either of the girls in his classes, either that or they were absent. The rest of the day went on without a hitch.

Back in their makeshift shelter against the wall of a building, Alex told Talent about what he'd heard earlier. Talent grunted, unimpressed, until Alex mentioned it was all in English.

"Really?! You're the only person I've used English with in days. I want to hear it." Homesickness washed over Talent's face.

"Reminds me," Talent continued, "Two kids went in to the nurse today. Didn't look real good. Skin..." He shivered, Alex wanted, sort of, to know what was so off about the kids' skin.

"How did my story remind you of yours?" Alex smirked.

"Yeah, I don't know. Good night Alex." Talent rolled over under the city and stars. Alex slept soundly all night long.

•••••

The next day was pretty boring. Alex counted off the seconds until science class ended. Eleven... Ten... Nine...

Class ended, and the students packed up to go home, but the loudspeaker came on.

Devido à propagação de uma doença perigosa em nossa escola, os alunos já não são autorizados a sair do edifício.

Basically, a quarantine. A disease had spread in the school. Alex remembered the kids Talent had talked about the day before. He looked at his own skin, worried he'd be like those kids, but it was fine. He still scratched at himself, nervous.