Goldie

Chemical X

He sits among the playground, behind a piece of equipment. The sun blazes, warming his face, the air thick and humid. Some of the students talk nearby. He pulls out an ancient console from his pants, browsing the modified device for "Xenet", a digital place where Xeno-beings could chat.

Now, you may be wondering, "What the fuck is a Xeno-being?"

It's just a fancy word for anything not human. By "not human" I mean aliens, werewolves, super-humans, monsters, demons - you name it (there's gorgons, dragon-shifters, nymphs... "monsters" like those are more hidden, since they're considered, well, monsters - I'm not too sure if they even exist anymore). There's probably a manticore or other legendary, supposedly mythological beasts out there too, somewhere. Any being that is not human, essentially, would be classified as a Xeno-being (psst, I'M a Xeno-being! Neat, right? Just kidding. As a Xeno-being, I'm very oppressed, as you would guess). Though, "Xeno" is more of a slur than anything. I guess it's an identifier to some. It was coined to alienate us.

He presses the keys on the device as he texted with Harley, his friend. His text was black, while his friend's text appeared as a deep blue.

He presses enter. "Are you ready for the dance?"

After they send the message, he reads, "yes, i cant wait!! :o"

He smiles to himself.

He and his friend had met in a chatroom on Xenet, with the handy-dandy usage of the device he held. He used to hack the wi-fi, all of the kids did - (but when one of the students tried to call Protective Services, they notified the "school" and failed to find any evidence to support the kid's claim. They, the students, were all punished, and the Feds never investigated further nor returned. The "school" had covered it up good) the wi-fi is monitored now, so only very few kids in the "school" can get on it, those kids being the ones that are able to hack past the barrier without being detected. Which would be, like, one or two of the thirty-three students here.

The mostly Xeno populated public high school his friend goes to is miles away from his "school". During his free time at the residential "school" he attends, he uses the bulky device for the chatroom, keeping the device in his pants when he wasn't using it, or wedged tightly under his mattress.

The orderlies wouldn't mind reaching down there for more than his device, he thinks. At one point, he dislocated one of the orderlies shoulders when they tried to pull that shit on one of the students there, on the playground. He was thrown into solitary confinement for (what, a week?)... yeah, probably a week. He didn't mind what the cost was for pummeling the "authority", as long as no one else had to pay for it.

***

7:05 AM

His wristwatch beeped, the beep-beep... beep-beep... breaking into the enigma that was his thoughts.

Quickly, the boy's eyes scanned over Xenet, his orbs then intent on a fluffy, fat bird that sat just outside the window.

His goal was clear: he'd leave this school and most of all, help every other student there get the fuck out. He just, uh, didn't exactly know how he'd propose or execute such a plan.

He decided that he wouldn't tell what his super power was just yet.

Tired, he yawns, gawking at the world outside the window. The darkness of the night is no longer cast upon the Earth, the half-moon still visibly sitting in the sky. Holy shit-fuck! It's that early? Sunlight hits his face as the burning orb rose from beyond the horizon.

Beside the window sat his shitty bed and the backpack that accompanied it on the stone-cold, tiled floor. He wore the male student uniform, which he changed into moments after he'd awoke.