The Genetic Code

Chapter 14

It's a while later when I'm sitting on the bus, driving towards school. It's still earlier than when I would normally leave, so the bus is relatively empty. I take reprieve in the solitude, alone to ponder upon my thoughts.

That Perfect was one big mystery. From the moment I met him two days ago, to the moment he left the convenience store, he left me with more and more question marks.

A long black limousine cruised by to pick him up soon after he arrived. The driver scurried out ready to open the door for him but he simply swung the door open himself, slipped in and slammed it shut behind him without a word, before the driver could even get over to that side of the car. The driver stood on the road, baffled for a moment, then scuttled back to the front seat and drove off, up the street.

He seems to live as glamorously as Iron Man, harbor as many secrets as Batman and is probably as good looking as Superman. Or maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way, and he's actually the cunning villain, deceiving people with his sly charm. Regardless of whether he's the hero or villain, he appears to be living some sort of dual life: Tough guy in a Perfect world; Flawless guy in a Normal neighborhood. Whichever his true nature is, I don't need to know. I just accidentally got tangled up in the intertwining of his two personalities. It's best I cut my ties here, before I find myself caught up in a raveled web of someone else's life that might drop me in deep waters.

I generally try to stay out of other people's business, like how I want people to stay out of mine. I have enough to worry about when it comes to my own life. With how twisted my life is, I don't want to even imagine what other people's might be like. Though I'm sure mine is much more twisted than your average girl's. Then again, I'm not your average girl.

Then there's that eerie girl across the street. Those distinct amber eyes of hers were almost glowing in the darkness, as she glared pointedly at me. I've never seen anyone with amber eyes like hers, none that I remember, anyway. Brown eyes are common, but amber eyes as light as hers, like the color of raw honey, are pretty rare. I would remember eyes like those. As far as I know, she's not someone I've met before. So why was she staring at me as if she could see under my skin, straight into my soul? That's some scary stuff.

I've seen worse though. Like my burly five-foot-ten dad in a fairy costume, once when he took his role as tooth fairy way too far. Now that's something truly frightening.

Between a vampire-esque guy leading a duplex life and a wolf-eyed girl stalking me in the dark, I feel like I'm caught in the middle of a trashy supernatural drama.

But this is the real world. With real problems. Dilemmas far worse than having to choose between a cool vampire and hot werewolf in some sort of warped love triangle. For instance, having your most despicable secret exposed to the world in the form of a label eternally etched on your ID, right below a name that's not truly yours.

I sigh, sinking further into my seat, and flutter my eyelids close.

***

Being in school this early, I observe things that I never really noticed before:

The Invalid kids that scurry into the school compound before anyone has arrived, keeping their heads bowed down, trying to move as quickly as possible to distance themselves from their mothers who head in the direction of the kitchens or their fathers who look for the nearest janitors' closet.

The teachers whom drive their Bentley or Porsche, or other fancy cars I can't name, towards the East Wing, where I can only imagine there is a private carpark with a valet service waiting for them.

'Forbidden Couples' — a relationship formed between a girl and boy of different gene statuses — meeting at corners of the school for secret rendezvous before the other kids come and catch them in their treason. I even recognized one blonde girl who casually whisked past towards a secluded stairwell as Athena, followed five minutes later by Edward Idris, a Border from our class, captain of the varsity baseball team. That's Athena, alright. She can get any guy to fall for her luscious hair, alluring eyes and bold charm.