Zero

1 : The Zero

P A R T 1

I get stared at a lot.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm particularly stunning or ugly - at least, I don't think so. I hope not.

The fact that I am a Zero is just a part of it. Another part is my hair - which is a bright, neon blue hue.

The oddest thing is, it's all natural. I didn't dye it; people in Zero can't afford even a quarter of a bottle of dye, and dyed hair in Zero isn't allowed anyway.

Most people here have dirty, dusty matted hair and it's because we have no water supply to wash it. We won't be able to pay for it if we had.

So, even if you have the most gorgeous blonde locks or jet black ringlets, in Zero, your hair will end up the same as everyone else's - silverish gray from dust particles.

Except for me, that is. The dust cannot quite seem to cover the glowing blue of my hair. This is why I get a hundred percent more attention than I'd like.

Which is to say, I'd like none.

It is now about seven in the morning. I get up from my sleeping spot quietly, so as to not disturb the other kids lying around me, dozing.

The abandoned warehouse is where pretty much all the Zero kids, including me, reside in. It has been nicknamed the orphanage even though there is no one taking care of us.

All the Zero kids have no parents because any women of another number unlucky enough to give birth to a Zero have died. And of course, all our fathers left. Nobody wants to take responsibility for a Zero.

School starts at eight. It is free of charge, so every kid with the numbers Zero to Nine is encouraged to attend.

Sometimes I do go, and other times I don't.

Today, I think I will, but first I hope to get some breakfast.

I make my way to the town square, which is the central of Zero, One, Two, Three and Four. Shops are beginning to open and my eyes wander to the food stalls. The stall owners are setting out food to sell.

As soon as I step into sight, people begin to take notice of me. A Four, all the way across the square from me, leans over to the man beside her, also a Four, and whispers, "Just look at that child - her hair, and her eyes, it's all very unnatural! Definitely a Zero."

I forgot to mention my eyes. They're large, but that is a small factor. The big one is that they're violet in colour and some people find them very... unnerving.

I guess I can understand why. No one else I know has violet eyes. It just makes it harder for me to be unnoticed.

Now, I duck behind a stall to escape their attention, then slowly creep to the nearest food stall. This one sells fruit. The owner is nowhere in sight.

I reach up, still crouching, and stealthily grab an apple.

As I am making my getaway, about to take a bite of the juicy apple, a hand clamps on my shoulder.

I jump and turn around. The Four I heard whispering just now is glaring at me. "You little thief," she snarls, looking at my collarbone. "A Zero. I thought so."

I glare at her resentfully.

"Put the apple back," she hisses, "or I'll tell the store owner you stole it."

I narrow my eyes at her. She mustn't do that. If she turns me in, everyone will be on the lookout for me and it is already hard enough staying unspotted whenever I steal food.

Well, I could also end up in jail.

So to avoid both these situations, I shove the apple into her hand and snap, "You return it. I have school."

And that is where I go off to, without any breakfast.