Stealing Perfection

Chapter 3

I swing my bag over my shoulders and wait in the doorway. Every few times a week, Terran and I will walk to school together. Today, I don't necessarily want to talk if we walk together, just find comfort in his presence.

He comes down the stairs, and I hold the door open for him. He steps outside and I follow after him. The door shuts behind us, and I catch up and walk at Terran's side.

"So who are you hanging out with after school?" I ask, as casually as possible. He looks up from me from his gaze at the ground, and his green eyes lock onto me. My blood chills for a minute, afraid that he'll say something that could harm us.

"Xavier and August invited a few other friends to walk around town," He starts, and kicks around a few pebbles in his path. "But I don't really wanna go. I don't like them that much." Now is the time to be a concerned older sister.

"Why not? I thought you hang out with them?" I ask, and fidget with the straps on my bag. The walk to school is only about a half a mile, and we are nearly halfway there. A sidewalk covers the whole distance, so we walk everyday.

"Yeah, but they're just too, you know, preppy and stuff. I guess I just don't like it that all they want to talk about is sports." I nod, because it makes sense. Terran has never been much of a sporty person. He is shy in social situations, but curious when no one is watching.

"I think you should still go around town with them. Maybe you'll get introduced to some guys that you have stuff in common with."

"Like what stuff?" He inquires, and I can hear the curiosity in his tone.

"Oh, I don't know, what if one of them has a super awesome big sister like you do?" I say, and feel my heart warm as he cracks a smile. I wrap one arm around his shoulder, and give him a one armed hug. He just keeps walking.

"You know, I'm not a child anymore." He says after a few minutes. The school is now in view.

"You might not be, but you're still my little brother." He looks up at me.

"I understand things."

"There's more things than what you understand."

"Why don't you tell me them, then?" I stop, and he turns around. I place both of my hands on his shoulders lightly, and scan the area for people watching or listening in. Nothing.

"Ter, you still have four years until your eighteenth birthday. Four years to figure out what you need to do and what you need to hide from others. I can't help you, not now. You're way too young, the only thing I will tell you is important, though. They are watching us through mom, dad, and every single adult in this city. If you screw up, and say something in front of them, you won't ever see the light of day again. Not ever. So be careful what you say where you say it." I am looking straight into his eyes, hoping that every word I say will embed into his brain and stay there, because I cannot tell him any more. He blinks a few times, and nods.

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I sit patiently in my seat until our teacher dismisses us. Normally, every lesson is just a repeat and teaches me things I already know. Today, I have only learned one thing; the weather shield is controlled by a power plant in the center of the city under the Realm. 

As I sit on a bench outside of the school waiting for Terran, people pass me without looking in my direction. I am used to it, but it makes me pity them. They are too oblivious to the world revolving around something bigger than everything. I wonder, when you get your last level when you turn 18, if you are also turned brain-dead. It is a peculiar thought to my adolescent mind.