True Identity

Chapter 1

2008 - Manhattan, New York

Nia sighs as her alarm goes off. She had already been awake for a while but hadn't wanted to get out from under her warm covers. She groans as she sits and shuts off the alarm. She gets up and leans against her dresser, gazing into the mirror. She hums a tune as she pats down the frizzy hair escaping from her braids and dresses. She packs her backpack with her school books and supplies, as well as her drumsticks, iPod, and headphones.

"Nia!" Her mother calls from the kitchen. "Breakfast!" Surer enough, the smell of eggs, toast, and coffee is starting to fill the house. Nia double checks her bag then heads out.

"Mornin' Umama (mother)," Nia says, kissing her mother on the cheek before setting her bag by the door and sitting at the table.

Karyn smiles. "You seem happy this morning."

"Yup, I'm going to try and apply for band today," Nia says as she starts to eat.

"You're actually going to do it?" Karyn says, smiling as she sits.

"Yeah... I am. I'm still nervous but..."

Karyn cuts her off. "You will be great my love. Just play as you do for me, and everything will go well."

Nia smiles and finishes her breakfast. "Thanks, Umama."

Karyn smiles. "Bast will bless you today."

Nia frowns. "Umama, you know I don't believe in Bast and all of them."

Karyn sighs. "I'm sorry."

Nia shakes her head a bit. "It's fine. I'll see you after school."

Karyn smiles a bit and nods. "Have a good day."

Nia blows her a kiss then grabs her bag and skateboard before heading out. She and her mother lived in a poor part of town, far from the school she went to. Her mother worked hard to provide for her daughter, and Nia appreciated it very much. Although old and leaky, her mother worked to keep their little house warm and clean, and to keep food on the table. They had little, but it was enough. Most of the money they had, went to her schooling. You see, Nia was smart, very smart. At 15, she was already a senior in high school. She could have been even further if it wasn't for a few other factors. Being a black teenage girl with ADHD and Tourette Syndrome didn't exactly make life easy for Nia. But she pushed through. She skateboarded ten minutes to the bus stop every morning. From there she took the school bus to Brooklyn Visions Academy. She had gotten in through a lottery. She thought herself fairly lucky, but since her mom didn't have the money for the room and board, she had to commute forty minutes to and from school each day. The bus was the worst part of the school day. Thirty minutes of pure torture. Just seeing it pull up made her tics worsen. Her wrist flicked and she started to make a "hm" noise over and over in the back of her throat. She made her way to the back of the bus to an empty row and pulled her iPod and headphones out of her bag, turning up the music and pretending to drum to the beat, eventually able to ignore the spit wads and taunts thrown her way. Arriving at school, she heads to her locker, sighing as she sees the word "spaz" scrawled across her locker door. She tries to wipe it off but whoever did it had used a permanent marker. Thanks to her wrist tics, getting the locker open was always hard. She usually got it within a few seconds... after the bell rang. Today though, she slid into her seat just as it rang.

Her teacher raises his eyebrow. "Leanne, please put away the headphones, and spit out your gum." Nia sighs and does so. Seeing a warm-up on the board, Nia pulls out her notebook and gets to work. Her seatmate on the other hand has his nose buried in his phone.

"Alright students, please get started on the warm-up if you haven't already," the teacher says, looking pointedly at Nia's seatmate, who scrambles to put his phone away and do so. Nia chuckles and shakes her head. She finishes shortly and notices her seatmate trying to copy her answers. She shuts her notebook and sets her pen on top, before picking it up again and starting to tap the beat to one of her favorite songs. After a glare from her teacher, she sets the pen down and sits on her hands, but her foot starts tapping instead.