Different (Scomiche)

two.

"Being a Different isn't like saying you aren't like everyone else. As this is a part of it, a Different is someone who is not what the society's idea of 'normal' is. A Normal is someone who grows up without any doubts of the society. The always follow rules without any second thoughts. They grow up to marry someone of the opposite sex and are always happy with the society. All of you, as of now, are Normals." Our professor explains. Kirstie sneaks a look over at me thinking I didn't know. I saw the frown on her face. How she knew that this description of a Normal was simply not what I was.

In all honesty, Kirstie wasn't the perfect Normal either. She knew of my secrets and didn't tell anyone. While this is being a good friend, an amazing friend at that, it still isn't follows society's rules. But I wasn't the one to judge that. I was ten times more of a Different then she was.

"And you should be proud to be a Normal! All of us are amazing species. Being a part of this society has bettered us all, don't you agree?" A low ringing noise starts. I was used to the sound, we all were. "And now I'm sure you all would love to have some lunch." Everyone scurries out of the giant class room and heads into the lunch room.

The sixteen and seventeen year old kids had the misfortune of eating at the same time as the Differents. They all looked so strange, almost polar opposites of the Normals.

For the Normals, lunch was quiet. You ate peacefully and silently talked with others. For the Differents, they laughed and yelled all lunch. It was a big distraction to the Normals. Most of us hated them, wish they had been assigned a different lunch. But for me, I loved watching them. They got to be themselves. They all had big groups of friends. This was the only time the Differents looked happy. When they were together. If they weren't, they'd keep their heads down and avoid eye contact, like the boy in the courtyard.

But I could see him now, throwing food in the air and catching in his mouth. Laughing with his friends and having a good time. I had never done something like it before, although I wish I had.

"Stop staring, Mitchell. It's obvious." I look back to Kirstie and smile. She shakes her head.

"Why can't we be like them? They have fun. We are so boring." I complain, picking at my food but not actually eating it. Like everything else, it was the same food options everyday.

"We are also Normals. They aren't, Mitch...ell." She says, almost forgetting the last part of my name. She did it a lot and hoped that the silvers didn't hear her.

"Maybe being a Different isn't as bad as everyone thinks, Kirstin." I say, putting my fork down and sipping my glass of water.

"Are you serious? They live in the most vile places! People can't even look at them." Kirstie explains. "And they are treated awful. You don't honestly want to be one? I mean, you aren't anyway."

"I guess not." I say, looking down. It seemed fun now, being able to act like myself around people that also acted like themselves. But the cons outweigh the pros. It was actually quite terrifying knowing that someone could take you, call you different and run tests on you. After they run tests, they take you away from your family and already made friends and put you with other people that had the same thing done to them. Maybe Kirstie was right.

"Thank you." She says, taking a bit of her food. "And stop talking about this stuff in public." She lightly kicked Mitch leg under the table so no one could see the small touch. Kirstie was the only person I have ever touched, except my parents occasionally.

They weren't supposed to touch me until I was an adult, but sometimes they gave me a hug to show that they were there for me. It was sweet, but never lasted too long. They were Normals and didn't like to disobey society's rules.

Kirstie and I head back out to the courtyard. After lunch, there was also a two hour break before having to go back to class. We usually go to a place that a friend of ours had named Drake's Den before he was taken away from us. He is now a Different. Obviously, his name was Drake. We go here in honor of him, he wasn't even given a chance to live a life as a Different. We don't know why, but they killed him instantly.

Kirstie and I remember mourning over him. He was the third part of our trio that has know been turned into a duo. We missed him a lot.

We open the small door and crawl inside. No one knew of this place. We found it when all three of us were kids and made it our own. We wanted to make it look cool, but since everything was drained of color, the things remained white.

Kirstie crawls onto the small cushion and opens her arms for me to crawl into. We cuddle into each other and bathe in the silence that had taken over us. We took a minute of silence every time we got here in memory of Drake's death. Sometimes Kirstie would cry, but she wasn't this time.

"A minute?" Kirstie asks. She didn't like the minute of silence because of the distant memories, but did it anyways for our old friend.

"I think so." I say. "I'm sorry for bringing that stuff up in public today. That was really risky." I look down.

"It's okay, Mitch. I know how your thoughts are, they can't control themselves sometimes." She explains, intertwining our fingers.

"What if someone found out about this? Us? Drake's Den? What would happen? We'd become a brown, wouldn't we? Not even a Different, but worse."

"Mitch, no one has ever come close to finding this place. I've never seen someone within 500 feet of it except you and Drake."

"I miss Drake."

"Everything happens for a reason." Kirstie explains. "Drake will always be a part of us that we will cherish, but a good part. Not bad." I nod. We rest in silence for a good five minutes.

"I think I'm a Different." I say randomly. Kirstie sighs in my arms.

"I know." She whispers.

"Please don't tell anyone."

"Never. I'd never tell anyone." I nod into her arms, kissing her cheek.