The Exceptions

March 27th 2149

                                                                                     Alessia

"Ready for Nationals?" Daisy asked Alessia as they were getting on the bus to their dance competition. The night before she had explained to Daisy about how she knew Elijah.

"Of course! I'm just a little nervous to be performing with Charlie," She chirped.

Daisy's eyebrows drew together. "Why are you nervous to dance with him?"

Alessia sighed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Because we've never performed together on stage,"

"Yeah, but you've practiced numerous times,"

Alessia stepped onto the bus, smiling sarcastically. "That's true," As they got on they were immediately greeted by the sound of bickering boys.

"Yeah, yeah. Polo's are so much better than the Albanians!" Matt said to Charlie.

"Yeah, when the Polo's win something other than last years match, let me know," Charlie fought back. His face held his usual smirk until his eyes landed on Alessia. His expression slightly dropped for a moment, before he shook his head and turned the other way to sit on a seat. Alessia found that weird but shook it off. Why would she make him frown? Did he really hate her that much?

"Hey sis," Elijah greeted, snapping her from her thoughts.

She smiled happily. "Hi,"

He ran a hand through his hair with a smile. "Where you sitting?"

"With Daisy, if we can find a seat,"

"Oh, come to sit in the back with us," He took her hand, pulling her toward the back. Alessia and her group weren't exactly popular. Yes, they were some of the best dancers there, but that only made people hate them more. Pretty screwed up, right? It didn't bother Alessia since she was never really liked by many.

"I guess so," She said while sighing. Elijah let go once they got to the back, but someone had stood up in front of her quickly, causing her to almost fall on her ass. "I'm sorry!" She apologized as she a warm hand grabbed onto her waist, preventing her fall.

"Watch where you're going, pretty," Charlie said, his voice slightly irritated.

"I apologized, Charlie," She said quietly, looking down with a frown. He grumbled something she couldn't understand and walked past her.

She took the window seat, leaning her head against it. After a little while, everyone got settled in. The boys were still rowdy, of course, but Alessia was tired, so she decided to watch the road and get lost in her thoughts. Bad idea.

"No one will ever love you. You are nothing but a worthless piece of shit!" Harper, her last foster mother yelled at her.

"Please stop," Her ten-year-old self-whimpered.

"Waste of life. You should have been eaten by wolves instead of being found!" She continued. "If you think that you will ever be enough, or that you will ever be loved by any person or family in your life you're in for a surprise! No one will ever love you! You useless girl! You hear me? No one will ever love you!"

"Wake up," She heard a deep voice tell her as she arose abruptly, shaking and sweating. Her eyes met Elijah's, mimicking hers. "You okay?" he asked.

"I-I'm-" She started, looking around the empty bus. "Where is everyone?"

"We're here..."

"Oh. Okay, let's go," She said rushed, shooting up.

"Hey..." he grabbed her arm. "I felt that."