Aequalis

Chapter 3 - Strange(r)

Storm's POV

I'm lying on my bed, looking at the ceiling, humming the song my mother would always play on the violin for me, my favorite of hers, that I have yet to learn how to play myself. It's one of the rather difficult ones. But it's lovely.
My eyes sway away from above and turn to the clock on the wall. 12pm.
It's time for school now, and after that, there's practice like every day. I stand up and head to the bathroom to redo my tiny ponytail. I never understood why girls do high ponytails instead of low ones. Why would you choose being uncomfortable over this?
I take my stuff – and by stuff, I mean a cloth bag with some papers and pencils inside – and head out of my cell to the education section of The Lenimentum.
When I arrive, there are a bunch of whispers going on here and there. Confused, I take a closer listen.

"Who is he?"
"Have you ever seen him?"
"I heard he's new, but how...?"
"He's handsome though, don't you think?"

I'm well confused. There are no new people in The Lenimentum, none over ten anyway, only children are brought in sometimes, since they have to change building when they reach their tenth birthday, but they wouldn't refer to a kid as handsome, obviously.
I look around a bit more to finally spot the guy they're talking about. Not that I care, but still - at least one day could be a little different than the others.
"It's me they're talking about, Black Swan.", I hear a voice say behind me.
I turn around to face the guy that the whole section is apparently whispering about.
He brushes his messy black hair aside with one hand while leaning on the wall behind him, making his strong jawline visible while looking at me with his dark eyes. None of the Teleporters have completely black eyes, they would literally look like demons if they did. They're rather a dark grey. Telling them apart from Satius' with black hair is pretty difficult for that reason. He's wearing ripped jeans under his black tee. His clothes don't look like the ones we have here in The Lenimentum. He's not very tan but not too pale either. And I kind of understand what the talk is about after seeing him. He does look good. Still, what's his deal? He has some bruises on his face as if he had been beaten up.
Immediately, I move my eyes to his wrist where his number is supposed to be, but I can't find it, which confuses me even more.
Also, what did he just call me?
"What's your deal?", I ask. Not in a rude tone, I'm just curious. Besides, he's not approaching me in a kind way, either.
"What's yours? Swans aren't supposed to be black, you know?", he replies, his eyes trailing off to the ends of my hair.
I roll my eyes with a sigh. I've never heard that one before.
"Funny. But The Lenimentum isn't supposed to have newcomers either."
"Well, everything has a first time, doesn't it?" He goes off with a smirk, heading towards the door. The lesson starts in a few minutes, so after standing there for a while, baffled by the encounter I just had, I do the same.

My seat is in the second last row, so I sit down as I always do and put my stuff onto the table.
Mr. Stiner enters, greeting the class with a bright smile. Our teacher is pretty old, his hair is fully white, and he has some wrinkles in his face. His brown eyes are warm and welcoming. He's probably the only nice Satius I have ever met, but that's only because all the other ones are guards torturing us to do what they want just like puppets. I'd like to believe there are still other ones out there like Mr. Stiner, who wish things would be different.
I return his smile, though he probably doesn't even see me.

"Well, today we have a new face here. Never thought I'd say that, but it's nice to be able to do so. Mr. Dunn, would you introduce yourself, please?"

As I hear a sigh, I turn around in my seat to see that the newbie is sitting in my row, actually next to me, even. Wow, what an inconvenience. Honestly, I don't even know him, maybe he'll be nicer than literally everyone else that has spoken to me in this room.
"I'm Noah Kieran Dunn. 19 years old. Teleporter, as you can see.", he says, his expression being unimpressed and unshaken by the fact that everyone is staring at him. I do him a favor by looking away to the front so there's at least one set of eyes less that's poking glares into his skin.
"Now, I'm sure you are curious as to why he is new here, how such a thing is possible. But I am certain Mr. Dunn will tell you that himself if he feels comfortable enough after spending some time with him." Smart use of words, Mr. Stiner. As always.
Finally, the lesson starts, and I can focus on something that always succeeds to make me forget about who and where I am.