Different in an Unconventional Way

Astre

As long as she had been alive, Katie had always known that she was different. Different from her family, and different from the rest of the planet.

And not different in the quirky, conventional way (although, that she was as well). No, Katie Holt was different in quite an unconventional way.

Katie Holt wasn't Katie Holt at all, you see. No, she was perhaps the last of a nearly extinct alien race. An alien race known as the Alteans.

Her name wasn't even really Katie, it was Kolle, and she was the only surviving child of the Head Altean Royal Scientist. She had come to earth in a pod and the Holts had been a godsend. They had taken her in, no questions asked.

They didn't seem to mind that she had elf ears, or that she had white hair and green markings under her eyes. The Holts hadn't minded that she would sometimes lapse into a language that none of them would understand or that she would sometimes grieve for her lost family.

She had, in time, learned to use her Altean shifting to make herself appear human, donning brown hair instead of white and green eyes instead of their natural red. She also learned to hide her eye markings and ears, and she traded the name 'Kolle' for 'Katie'. She spent hours hidden in her room, practicing writing in english instead of in altean. It hurt her to dispose of her identity, but her family - both past and present - wanted her to remain safe.

Eventually, she began to see the Holts as a new family. Colleen Holt insisted that Katie call her 'mom' and Samuel Holt 'dad'. Matt was eager to be christened an older brother even though Katie was technically older than him by a decade or two ("You're like eight if we compare it to your average lifespan instead of ours." Matt had remarked. "I'm almost fourteen. Therefore, I am the older brother.")

Even with her alien characteristics hidden, Katie was still very different from human children. For one, she had an advanced knowledge of technology due to her upbringing as the royal scientist's daughter. Another was her inhuman strength and speed, which she had to learn to tamp down, along with her Altean healing magic (Matt had flipped out when he discovered her reviving the family plant. It was one of the more hilarious aspects of living with humans).

When she went to school, she found out quite quickly that Earth's learning was nothing like Altea's. It was much less... violent.

Earthling children were also different from Altean children in attitude. On Altea, Katie had been considered a genius - a prodigy in the ways of technology, bio-science, engineering, and botany. On earth, her skills and talents were frowned upon by her peers, who labeled her a 'nerd' and used it as an excuse to avoid and mock her.

When she had spoken to Matt about it, he had told her not to mind what they said - that the children were only jealous and used her to mask their own insecurities. He told her that they would stop eventually, and even if they didn't, her taxes would eventually be paying for their jail cells.

Katie's newfound family made the pain of losing her planet to a bloodthirsty war-species bearable. Of course, there were days when Katie grieved and spent hours holed up in her room sobbing for her biological parents and siblings who had not been as fortunate as she. During those days, Matt would build them a pillow and blanket fort and hold her tight while she cried, and Colleen would bring them mugs of hot chocolate and kiss her on the forehead, whispering soft reassurances.

And then Matt and their father had gone to Kerburos. Katie had been so very happy for her brother and adoptive father, finding joy in what excited them. She missed them, yes, but it was a good kind of sorrow, because she knew that they were living out their dreams. One day, Katie hoped to accompany them back to space and show them where her home had been.