Esperança 》B. Blake

1.21

[C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y - O N E]
The Fall

☆☆☆

September 1st, 2134
15 Years Ago.

SIX YEAR OLD ROSELINE was excited to start school. Her mother and father had already taught her so much but she yearned for more knowledge. She wanted to become the smartest person in the Ark, just like her parents.

She was also excited to make new friends. Of course, she had Clarke and Wells, but they didn't always want to hang out with Roseline or do the things she wanted to do. Her mother would say that people don't like a third wheel. Whatever that meant.

Katie and Conner Taylor walked their daughter down the metal corridor and into a wide room with lots of kids. It was just orientation day, but Roseline was still jumping up and down from excitement. Her backpack danced on her spine. Roseline had insisted she bring it and fill it with stuff to she her new friends.

"Can I go play?" Roseline looked up at her parents with wide brown eyes. They smiled and nodded, ushering her away.

The little girl made straight for a group of kids laughing and playing with blocks on the floor. "Hi!"

They all looked at her.

"Hi," one replied.

"My name is Roseline. Do you want to see a cool thing I found?"

The kids set down their blocks and nodded. Roseline smiled and grabbed her backpack, digging through it. With a toothy grin she pulled out a chunk of metal.

"Look!" She held it up for the kids to see. "It looks like a heart!"

The group of kids stared at the blob of metal. None of them hid their confusion.

"No it doesn't." a girl commented, crossing her arms. The others just stared.

Roseline frowned, that was not the reaction she was expecting. "Yes it does. See, this is the artery and this is the ventricle." She pointed at the spots for emphasis.

The kids gave her blank looks. Roseline was confused too. Why didn't her new friends see that the piece of metal she had found looked just like a heart, something her parents had just recently taught her about.

One kid held up a book with little doodles on the cover. "This is a heart." He pointed at the cartoon drawn heart on the page.

Roseline shook her head. "That's not what real hearts look like. There's no arteries on it. This is what a real heart looks like." She showed her metal again.

More stares from her peers.

"You're weird." the girl said before going back to the tower she was building. The others followed suit, leaving Roseline standing with a chunk of metal and broken ego.

For the rest of the orientation, Roseline sat in the corner with a pile of anatomy books she had brought to show the kids, only to read them by herself. She didn't understand why they didn't like her and why they kept huddling up, pointing at her. Her new friends weren't as nice as she had hoped they would be.

Finally, Roseline's father ushered her to the door. "C'mon, Rosebud."

She packed her things and shuffled to the exit, looking back at the kids who didn't even spare her a glance. The family walked out and down the hall back home, Roseline still clutching her metal heart.