Gold That Appears To Be Silver

Chapter III: Secrets Are To Be Kept

~People give and take energy. Make sure that you have surrounded yourself with the ones that are lighting you up and not with the ones that are leaving you out in the dark

The next day is another day sacrificed to school. School is really greedy on the taking of those days. The fact that there is vacation surprises me.

While I'm inside my head yet again, a rough fist connects with my arm without causing me any pain.

Afraid for the face that I'm going to see, I look up, only to be getting the urge to put my eyes out. It's Flynn. He's giving me a helpless expression. I look at him with a neutral expression on my face, having decided to go fairly about this.

'Hi...I...I'll write a piece about myself and you'll write a piece about yourself. I'll send you my piece and you can send me yours, so we can put it in our own words, alright?'

I force myself to smile at him. 'That's fine. I'm sorry about yesterday, I was in a...bad mood.'

Flynn shrugs, like he couldn't care less. 'That's quite alright, Jaydie.'

My face scrunches up in anger but he does not register it as he disappears into the hallway. 

'So you do have a heart,' I hear a voice behind me, the wholehearted mocking in it making me realize that this could only be said by one particular person.

'No, I'm only trying to create that illusion so someone can finally get over it and talk to me again,' I retort, still having my back turned from her.

I hear laughter and school becomes bearable for me for the first time. Her laugh is lifting up the whole corridor, like there has just laughed an angel who will rise me above everything that enforces negative feelings. I catch myself on my own laughter that floats with hers to the ceiling. Hers sounds like everything good in this world, although mine rings hurtfully inside my ears with the darkness of it.

'Your back is really fascinating, I have to admit that,' she remarks sarcastically.

'Good, you will come across her far more often. You can be friends.'

'Did you just not only gave your back a gender but also acknowledge it as a person itself?'

'No, where did that idea come from? You must be getting delusional yourself, my influence is already rubbing off on you.'

I have the most absurd smile painted on my face that I can't take away, no matter how hard I try to wipe it away.

I'm not going to turn around, I think to myself.  To my annoyance, supernatural forces that could also be called Alex's arms, I'm still being forced to look at the supernatural nature of her.

The green of her eyes are shining into the blue. If more people would be like her, I might have more friends one day. Or at least one friend.

'Alex and Jaydee are best friends, I swear. Jaydie is even smiling,' I hear near us.

Alex and I incline our heads at the same time to the person who's clearly getting roughed up by our words.

'Dude, go stalk someone else,' Alex says. Her eyes aren't shining anymore. They are lightning.

'Yes and while you are at it, make sure to not make yourself known the next time. Someone might beat you up. To hell, I actually would do it myself if I wasn't on parole.' 

I feel Alex shaking in laughter next to me as we are taking in the scared expression of the boy in front of us. We could make him believe anything at this point.

A group of other insignificant people has gathered around us, interested in our little conflict. 

The boy laughs sheepishly, like we didn't just roast him. He is fully aware of the eyes that are trained on us, which makes it more likely for him to do stupid things.

'Best friends forever, I am telling you guys. Alex's entire reputation will be wiped away. You will not have any friends besides that bitch.'

'The chance that I would care is as big as the chance that you will ever get someone to actually like you and not due to the money your parents have been giving you. So small that it is negligible,' Alex retorts, gaining ground on him. He looks as if he wants to be sucked into the ground instead.

The group laughs at the boy in mockery and he leaves us , his coloured cheeks betraying his embarrassment. 

Humans. If humans are like this, I don't want to be a human. For a moment, I was at a place where the sun always shines and your skin is covered in the heat of it, but other people always take me back to my birthplace.

'These people are really horrible. I mean, you are kind, actually you're not, but...'

'It's alright, Alex. We are not friends so let's not worry about them. If you are afraid of them looking at you in a bad way, you can always stop randomly popping up and talking to me. But to me, it does not seem like you really care about it that much. You just exist with other people, but you are not really yourself.'

Alex frowns and takes me in with a thoughtful expression on her face. I can almost hear her thoughts if she would be thinking just a little bit harder.

'It's kinda complicated. It's my big secret. If I would give it to you, it would make me very vulnerable. Give me your biggest secret and I'll tell you mine. Your biggest,' she warns me.

I shake my head. 'Secrets are to be kept.'

Alex raises her eyebrow. 'If that's true, how do they always find their way out?'

'Because people are treacherous.', which gains me a humourless smile.

'Is your secret connected to your hateful nature?' 

'I'm going to my class,' I tell her, having grown tired of her questions. 

'I have never met someone who is so unreachable as you are.'

Wow, even my goodbye was better than yours.

'I have never met someone who is as unpredictable as you are,' I tell her gruffly.