STOIC

SEVEN

EMMERSON

Emmerson 12

Stoic 18

MY BODY WAS STARTING to change, and I was not sure I liked it.

I felt like I was getting taller by the minute. My chest was beginning to grow, and my nipples were very sensitive. All my clothes were starting to get shorter on me, and the new things my mom had been making for me were very... girly. I didn't like them. I was still the same, Amelia too—the non-girly girls. My hair was growing longer. Since Stoic was not around much, I learned how to comb and take care of it myself.

I got to see Kenzo and Stoic every other weekend. They went to a different village to train. I had no idea why, and to be honest, I didn't really care. Out of the three days he had free, Kenzo always spent one at home, and for the other two, he got lost. He didn't come back until late at night or early in the morning before their train left.

I had heard Dad lecturing him, but I guessed Kenzo always ended up doing what he wanted. Mom didn't like his behavior either. Ethan was so different. He never got himself in trouble like Kenzo. He was more into his studies and spent little to no time outside. When he did go out, he did it very secretly. I thought he had a secret girlfriend. He tried hard to hide it, but I knew better. I could read it on his face.

Stoic usually used most of his free time to follow me around. Gosh, did he love to bother me! At least I only had to put up with it for four days every month. There was always one day that he disappeared early in the morning and didn't return home until it was time for dinner.

Stoic didn't say much, just lingered around me like a creep and scared my friends away. He watched me play with Amelia and wrote things down in his notebook. Regardless of what he did during the day, he always did the same things during the evening that he used to do when I was little. Watched me eat, waited for me to be done with my shower, combed my hair, told me stories, and put me to bed. I thought he hadn't realized I was growing and didn't need help doing those things anymore.

Mom and I had been going to this new dance group a friend of hers started. I loved it. We danced to the rhythm of African drums. The dance was similar to my mom's culture, so she loved it too. I must have had it in my blood because swinging and moving my hips to the beats came very naturally to me.

Amelia joined us too. Once we got good enough, we would do performances and everything. I was super excited. Dancing was so much fun, and it filled my heart with happiness. Stoic hadn't seen me dance since we usually danced on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he only came home on the weekends.

Other than dancing, Mom had also started to teach me some of our relatives' native language, Portuguese. I thought it would be difficult to learn, but I was getting the hang of it fast. I knew I'd be good at it very soon.

I was spending so much time with Mom that I was even learning to sew. It was sometimes tricky, but I was getting it. I didn't like making clothes, although I liked making other useful things like bags, backpacks, and quilts. So far, the things I had done were very simple. Amelia said I had a talent for it. Stoic noticed I was interested in sewing, and one day, he came back from the camp with a new sewing machine. My very own machine. I'd make something for him later. I didn't know how he got it, but I was glad he did.

Their training was ridiculously hard, but I thought they were doing good. Somehow, both Kenzo and Stoic got taller and more muscular. They were starting to look more like beasts than humans. Especially Stoic, he was intimidating. Mainly his dead-serious face.