They Call Her Special

Dozens of questions start running through my mind.
Whoa, whoa, calm down. He said to me as he held his head, as if he had a headache.
Oh. Sorry.
I made my mind blank, and almost laughed at myself.
Uhm. So, can you show me around?
“Sure.” I said aloud, and turned around, knowing that he would follow. “What’s your first class?” I asked. He looked down at his pocket, and so did I. I finally realized what he was wearing; what he actually looked like.
His hair was brown, just about as long as mine and barely lighter. He was about two, maybe three inches taller then me. His skin was fair, just like everyone else’s who lived near here. He seemed like the boy that everyone enjoyed talking to, the boy that made everyone else laugh and smile.
His shirt was black and short sleeved. He wore regular jeans, lighter then most I’ve seen, and his belt was a boring black.
He wasn’t muscular, nor scrawny. He was skinny with just a little meat on his bones. It surprised me how much him and I were alike.
He took a piece of folded paper from his pocket and started to unravel it.
“Oh.” I said, “I never got your name.” I said to him as he handed me the paper, which was his class schedule. He looked at me with his dark eyes and replied, “I’m Jared.”
“Nice,” I said as I looked at his schedule, “I’m Alex.”
I smiled. Score. We have the first class together.
Really? He replied.
I had already forgotten that almost anything I thought, Jared would hear. “Yeah,” I replied, showing him his schedule.
Kids were starting to fill the hallways, the chatter of gossip was starting. Both Jared and I could sense the eyes on us, the stares, the glares, the disgusting looks.
When did you register?
Yesterday. He replied.
That was enough time for the news to spread.
Everyone already knows who you are, they know your secret.
He gave me a look that said “What?”
“When people started to realize what type of person I was, who my parents were, what my family was capable of, the news of that spread fast, and almost every single person in the community hated us. Parents are now raising their children telling them that people like me are dangerous, not even human, that we don’t belong here. It’s so wrong, but since there aren’t many people like us, like you, me, my parents, and I’m guessing your parents.
We’re treated differently, don’t expect to be treated nicely, don’t be surprised if they start treating you like shit. That’s the way things work now.”
He didn’t say anything, but I was guessing that he wasn’t expecting special treatment. I didn’t think he wanted anyone to know who he really was, he didn’t want his secret to get out, he didn’t want people to know that he was like me.
Not what you wanted? I asked.
He shook his head, “This place is just different.” he replied.
I continued to look over his schedule. “We have every class except one together.” I told him with a smile. “That’s cool.” he replied. “You have forestry, and I have computer construction.” I explained.
“How soon can I change my classes?” he asked.
I had to think for a second. “I think you could go talk to the office about it today, but I’m not sure if they’ll let you. You have to have a pretty good reason for changing a class, and it could take up to a week for it to actually change.”
“Alright. Well, I’m not too sure about forestry anymore, I mean is it really fair?” he asked jokingly.
I laughed a little bit, “I don’t think it would be fair, especially if we make it to state just because of you. You know... I’m not even sure if they’ll even let you join forestry.”
“That’s like... racism.” he joked.
“Yeah, I know right.” Since both him and I had super strength, we didn’t find it fair to all the others in the class if we were to do forestry or a class that involved physical strength.
The bell rang. Kids started to quickly rummage through their lockers, grabbing books and binders, breaking away from their cliques.
Ready to kick some prep ass? I asked.
He nodded. Hell Yeah.
-
“Dodgeball today kids! If I see you standing around you’re running laps, now let’s go!”
I hated all the teachers here, especially Mr. Storm, the Physical, and Health Education teacher.
Jared didn’t bring shorts, or the right shoes to wear, so he got a warning from Mr. Storm.
Everyone stepped off of the black line directly under one of the basketball hoops and started to spread out through the entire gym. Mr. Storm threw out the balls and the game began.
Ever played before? I asked.
I used to play with my older brother all the time, and we played this occasionally at my last school.
I won’t hit you if you don’t hit me? I told him.
I saw him smile. Deal.
At my school, dodgeball was scramble. People at my school were so idiotic that they didn’t know what scramble was, and they didn’t even know how to play dodgeball right.
Scramble is just like dodgeball, except there aren’t teams, and there are no boundaries, you can’t take steps unless it’s Friday, then you only get one step.
We only have about thirty minutes, so try and make it last, but don’t hit too hard, they start to complain. I told Jared.
He responded, I’ll try not to throw too hard, I hate hearing people complain.
When the teacher had first realized that I was much stronger then everyone else, he warned me not to throw too hard, he said some of the kids were complaining to him about me, how I hurt them so bad during class. I’ve remembered that warning ever since the fourth grade, I was scared I could seriously get in trouble if I didn’t respect that rule.
I got my first ball and threw it at the nearest person, to me, the sound it make when it hit his back echoed.
Damn. Jared told me. Throw hard enough? That echoed.
I tried not to laugh, It only echoed to us.
Oh yeah. He rolled his eyes. I keep forgetting.
-
When class was over Jared waited for me by the door.
“Science?” he asked.
“Yeah, Integrated Science next.” I responded.