Different (Scomiche)

thirteen.

I was alone, and frankly, I preferred it right now. No more Scott. That was final. He was changing me without even meaning to. I didn't want to continue it. Kirstie was avoiding me, not that I was trying to talk to her anyway. She felt awful and I knew she did, but I couldn't bring myself to forgive her. Not for what she did. She didn't trust me. She didn't trust me to control myself. I couldn't bear to think of it, my own best friend.

I didn't want to believe it when I first heard it, them two, Scott and Kirstie, talking in the one place I felt safe. Drakes Den was my place to relax and think about things, but now I couldn't go there because apparently secret plans were being schemed. I shake my head.

I walk into the classroom, moving from my regular seat to one a few more over. Kirstie frowned when she saw it, but I tried to ignore her. The lesson starts, something about the 'do's and dont's of being an adult'. I wasn't really paying attention. It was the most boring thing to listen. They were teaching us how to become an adult in the eyes of a Normal, which has no interest for me.

"What do you think, Mitchell?" All eyes are on me when the professor calls me out. I sigh, trying to think of something to come up. I just wasn't paying attention at all.

"I'm excited." I lie, trying to keep myself from cringing.

"For?"

"Becoming a Norm-Adult! I meant adult." He furrows his eyebrows at me.

"Mhm. That's a warning, Mr. Grassi. No more slip-ups or you'll be taking a trip to Salik." He threatens. There was that name again. It seemed to appear everywhere, he had some importance. I look over at Kirstie who had her eyes on me. She quickly looks away when our eyes make contact.

The time seemed to go by quickly. I was thinking of other things again, so the two hour session before lunch seemed like fifteen minutes.

I walk into the lunchroom. I wouldn't dare sit with Kirstie. I find an empty lunch table and sit there instead. I see Kirstie sigh and sit alone at our table. I felt like crying, but kept it together.

I didn't feel like eating, only occasionally picked up a piece of old and dry chicken and push it into my mouth.

"Hi." I hear someone say. They sit next to me with a bright smile on their face. "I'm Esther!" She says joyfully.

"Hi..." I say back, an awkward tone somewhere behind my voice.

"What's your name?" She asks, eating her food without any problems. She looks back over to me.

"Mitchell." I tell her. She smiles at me, then points at Kirstie.

"Isn't that your friend?" She asks. I nod slowly. "You're always with her, why not now?" She was very curious. Do I tell her that we got into an argument?

"Decided to switch things up, I guess." I say, regretting the choice of words but going with it.

"So you guys are arguing." She says, seeing right through my lies. "Normals never argue. Huh." I feel myself tense up, scooting away slightly and hopes she doesn't notice. "Your secret is safe with me, bud!" Bud? That was a nickname and nicknames aren't allowed. Maybe she is like me, although I highly doubt it at the tiny flaw. "My brother is a Different." She says, her emotion still somehow happy and content, even while talking about someone who had been taken from her.

"I'm so sorry." I say, taking a sip from my water.

"Oh! No, I still see him. Like everyday." I was confused and she could see it. "We know a silver that helps us. It's amazing!" How could she tell a random stranger all of this? She was bound to be taken and marked. She got lucky that she decided to tell me.

"Don't you think you should keep that to yourself? I mean, I won't tell anyone, but you should be careful." I explain to her.

"I've never told anyone that stuff before. Only you!" I was beyond confused. "My brothers friend said he knows you and talks to you a lot." Her brother was a Different. The only
Different I talk to was....shit. "You do know Scott, right?" I nod.

"A little too much if you ask me". She tilts her head to the side in confusion. "We don't talk anymore, sorry."

"Why not?" She asks. I could see the innocence in her face. How she really hadn't been informed of all this.

"Long story. Who is your brother? Like, what's his name?" She smiles when I ask about her.

"His name is Avi. He's got a beard, that's what people usually remember him from." I laugh slightly. "You know him?"

"No, but I've seen him around before." She nods. "Why is he a Different?" I didn't know whether the question was pushing it or not, but I asked anyway.

"He fought someone. They both were marked." She says and looks down. I felt bad for asking and couldn't comfort her in the open. "The douche had it coming. He was making fun of my brother and calling him names! It was so unfair, but Avi did throw the first punch."

"Im sorry." I say. "I shouldn't have asked that question."

"No, it's totally okay. I promise. It happened awhile ago. When he was fifteen." She says, smile appearing again.

"How old is he now?" I ask curiously.

"He is 20." She says. "An adult, I guess. Once you become a Different, nothing really changes
when you become an adult."