Different (Scomiche)

fourteen.

This chapter is a lot of dialogue. I really like it for some reason, though :).

"You talked to him?" I ask, glancing over to Avi. He just keeps his head down. Esther just looked at me, her eyes a little wider than normal. "Esther."

"I'm sorry! He was alone and I was so curious. I couldn't help myself!" She says, tears brewing in her eyes.

"What did I say, Es! No talking to him! Ever!" I yell.

"Leave her alone, Scott." Avi snaps, raising his voice more than normal. He gets very protective over his sister. "She didn't know better."

"How is she supposed to learn? We had a group meeting, all of us agreed that none of us were associated with Mitch anymore." I say, my focus now on Avi. He just laughs at my words.

"Don't be a hypocrite, Hoying." He says, a sly grin on his face. "We all know that there is no way you're just going to stop talking to him. Stop bull shitting yourself."

"I don't break promises. You know that, Avi." Avi nods.

"But we didn't promise. We agreed. There is a difference." As I'm opening my mouth to speak, the door to the shack opens. We all freeze, waiting to see the person walking in.

A wave of relief washes over us when it was just Kevin, followed by Kirstie. She makes eye contact with me and rolls her eyes. I scoff.

"Kevin, you didn't tell me that Hoying was here." Kirstie says, a teasing tone behind her voice.

"Why are you guys here?" Avi asks, pulling Esther into his arms. She smiles and cuddles into him. I've always wondered how Avi and Esther made it work. She was a Normal and he was a Different. If I could do that with my sisters, I'd be completely happy.

"Showing Kirstie around." Kevin says. "She also needs our advice." Kirstie nods behind Kevin. They both take a spot on the floor with us. Kirstie looks down. "She needs to know how to get Mitch back. He wants nothing to do with her."

"Just leave the kid alone." I say. I could see Kirstie glaring at me. I kept my eye contact away from her. I knew she was waiting for me to look. "If he doesn't want to talk to you then you deal with it." I say.

"Says you!" Kirstie snaps, her hand flying to her hip. "He has told to stay away from him so many times and you still wouldn't!"

"You want to know why? Because someone couldn't trust their best friend enough to live without some guardian who has to watch over him." I say. She looks to the ground. I was right and she knew damn well. "So don't tell me that I kept going back to him. You're the one who made a deal forcing me to." Kevin glares at me before wrapping an arm around her small frame. I hear her sniffle. And I felt bad. "Kirstie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry-"

"Stop." She says, wiping at her wet cheeks. "Just stop talking. Please. You act like I don't know what I did wrong. I know exactly what I did, Scott. Stop criticizing me." She says, a small break in her soft voice. I wasn't going to say anything else. I'd only be making myself look like a fool and the group would be more angry with me. I see Avi nudge Esther slightly and whisper something to her. He always did this when the subject needed to be changed. Esther talked a lot, so she wasn't hesitant to speak up.

"So, you know, I saw Salik earlier!" Esther yells. That gains all of our attention, we all turn our gazes to her.

"When?" Avi asks.

"Like, last week." She says, a cheeky smile on her face. Kevin's jaw drops, Avi's hand smacking his head.

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Avi asks. "Instead of waiting a week?"

"You never asked." Esther says and shrugs her shoulder. Avi sighs.

"Es, you have to tell us when you see him. What was he doing?" Esther looks up, thinking of the past events.

"I think he was talking to someone." She says. "A Different."

"Which one?" She shrugs again. "Come on, Es. You know like every Different." Avi says, silently pleading for more information.

"I'm sorry, Av. I've never seen him before." She says. "I'm really sorry." Avi hugs her a little tighter.

"It's alright. It's not your fault. He must be new, I guess." Avi reassures her.

"Esther." I say. She looks over to me. "What did he look like?" She shrugs. "Did he have brown hair?" She nods.

"What?!" Kirstie says, now taking full attention. "Tell us more!" Kevin pulls Kirstie back slightly. Esther backs up a little. She whispers something to Avi.

"Guys, stop." Avi says. Esther looks down.

"It wasn't Mitch." Esther says. "I know who Mitch is. I talk to him too."

"Even after we agreed for us all not too." I say, glancing at her. She flicks me off. I laugh at her.

"Why would you agree on that? He can't be alone. He won't function, Scott." Kirstie says. I shake my head, apparently Esther was talking to him anyway.

"Why don't you just give him what he wants?" I ask. She furrows her eyebrows at me. "He obviously doesn't want anyone to talk to him. Just leave him be."

"You're actually blind." Kirstie says, humorously. "He doesn't like being alone, especially with you. Yes, he doesn't want to see me right now, but he still wants people in his life. Trust me, I know him a whole lot better than you."

"Leave it."

"Get over yourself, Scott. He likes you. Deal with it." She says.

"He isn't gay." I lie. She just laughs hysterically at me.

"And pigs fly. Stop trying to convince yourself of it, hotshot." She says, a grin on her face. "And I think that you like him too."

"No." I say. "I don't. And he doesn't like me. He thinks I'm intriguing because I'm the first Different he has talked to."

"No you aren't." Kirstie says. "Drake is. Not sure if you've heard of him, but if I were you, I wouldn't bring it up with him."

"I'm not going to be around him to bring it up. That won't be an issue." I say, nervously hoping she wouldn't find out that I already had. She looks at me warily, but eventfully removes the gaze.

"I just want to know how to get Mitch back."