"Wait up, Kiya!" Myini yelled as I ran to history. "I need to talk to you!"
"I'm going to be late Myini," I called back, letting him hear my thoughts. "Can't it wait?"
"No," he said, catching my sleeve and pulling me around. I winced as I saw the bright orange of his shirt. He looked at me questioningly.
"What's the real color of your shirt?" I asked.
"It's dark brown," he said. "You having problems with your colors again?"
"There's a lot of stray energy flying around," I said. "And the manufacturers can't even use pure dyes in their products. It's starting to give me a headache."
"Hope you feel better," he said. "Anyway, there's a new smart student. He needs to be tested. Meeting during lunch today."
"See you there," I said. "Now I need to go, or I'll be late."
"Bye," he said as he ran off to his math class.
I headed for history, and thought about what he had said.
"So, they found another smart kid for our school," I thought. "I wonder if he can be trusted. How will we test him? This has never happened before. I wonder why he wasn't sent here earlier."
I was lost in speculation when I entered class, and I never saw Gorif standing there with some strange boy. When I heard Gorif clearing his throat, I looked up and saw them.
I just stood there for a while, staring at the boy. He was tall and slender. His hair was blonde in a shade so pure I could see it without having to filter out energy induced other colors. His eyes were a pale violet color, like mine, and the color was pure too. He was wearing a uniform from a different school. Our school didn't have a uniform. His pants were black, and his shirt was dark blue.
"Kiya?" Gorif said in a worried tone. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sure," I said. "I was just surprised. Who's this?"
"This is a new student," he said.
"I kinda noticed that," I said. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
"Yeah," he said. "Kiya, this is Jalki. He's new to the shelon-school system. Jalki, this is Kiya. She's been here since right after her birth."
"Hi," he said. His voice was awesome, with a rich tenor tone. It had those weird undertones that I could hear, but that most people didn't. Of course, everyone has those tones in their voices. The strange thing was that he seemed to be consciously controlling them, almost as if he could actually hear them.
"Hi," I said. "I hope you'll be joining our choir. We're known throughout the world. It's just the smart students, and I think you would make a good addition."
"I was planning on it," he said. "I love singing. They wouldn't let me sing in the choir at home, because I was a she-. It made me really angry."
"Kiya," Gorif said. "Jalki will be joining you in most of your classes. He has similar interests to you, and is at about the same level. I hope you don't mind too much."
"It's fine," I said. Inside I was both really angry and really happy. I was glad I was going to have so much time with Jalki. He was cute. I was angry that I would essentially be having my teacher time cut in half.
"Well then," Gorif said. "Let's get started."
By the time class was over, I was more angry than happy. I had had a few questions during class, and I wasn't able to ask them when I wanted to because Gorif had been talking to Jalki. I was really, really, angry, though I didn't show it.
I had lunch next, and I showed Jalki where the meal hall was. He went off to his own table, and I went to meet up with the others. They were all watching me as I came over.
"What?" I asked Serru, who was staring at me with a smile.
"You look really good with him," he said, his white teeth glinting out from his dark face. "Is he the new kid?"
"Yeah," I said. "And he's in almost all of my classes. It's really frustrating having to share a teacher."
"What's he like?" Dsekene asked eagerly. "Is he nice? Do you think we can trust him?"
"I really don't know," I said slowly. "And I don't know how you plan on testing how trustworthy he is. I can't really think of a way. Can you?"
"We hoped you would have an idea," Tuadra said. "What caste is he anyway?"
"I never found out," I said. "Gorif introduced us by first names only. Why do you want to know?"
"What if he's a mayin?" Tuadra said. "He could be listening to us right now, couldn't he?"
"I'd hear him," I said. "Now, anyone have any ideas at all? I really don't want to have to hide it all the time. It gets hard enough when my parents are here."
"Sorry," they all said at the same time. Then, Myini got the look that he would get when he had an idea.
"Would anyone mind if I asked him over here?" he asked brightly. "I know how to tell if he's mayin or not."
"Sure," I said. "Go ahead."
"No," he said. "You do it. You know him, we don't."
I cast Myini an evil glance with that comment. I then got up and made my way over to where Jalki was sitting. He watched me curiously as I approached.
"Hi," I said. "One of my friends wants to meet you. He asked me to invite you over."
"Okay," he said.
He got up, and I led him over to our table. I saw the others whispering softly to Myini, probably asking him what he was doing, but Myini was ignoring all of them except Dsekene.
"Oh shit, he's blocked out normal thought," I thought. "If Jalki is mayin then he'll know Myini is."
"Hi," Jalki said pleasantly. "My name is Jalki. Kiya said one of you wanted to meet me?"
"Ha!" Myini crowed silently to me, and only me. "He is mayin! I could hear him!"
"Then might he not hear us?" I returned, as privately as I could. "You aren't the quietest person in the world."
"Would you care to tell me what you're talking about?" someone asked us silently. I knew then that my cover was blown with Jalki.
"You're good," I told Jalki. "How did you hear us?"
"I just did," he thought. "But who's talking? I know you are mayin." He gestured toward Myini. "But who else? He's quarun, I can see his gills."
"Maybe we won't tell you," I thought. "It really is a secret. Maybe if you prove that we can trust you, we'll tell you. Or if you're really good, maybe I'll tell you myself."
"Go to hell," he thought. "I don't need you."
"But you're curious now," I thought teasingly. "And you won't want to leave us alone until you find out who I am."
"You're right," he thought grudgingly. "But I'm not going to spend my time with you. I'll find out someway else. You can't hide from me too long. The school is only so big."
"Who said the school would be a limiting factor for me?" I asked.
"You don't sound like a trained mayin," he thought. "I've heard enough of those. You sound younger. I'd say about my age."
"Well," I thought. "You just might end up getting what you asked for. Prove yourself, and I'll tell you who I am."
"How do I prove myself?" he asked me.
"That's for you to find out," I thought enigmatically. "Good luck."
"Um, Kiya..." Myini thought.
"MYINI!!!!" I screamed silently. "You idiot! How could you?"
"What did I do?" he whimpered at me. "Oh, I really screwed it up, didn't I?"
"Yeah," I thought. "Now he knows."
"But you're a girl," Jalki thought. "Mayin are always male. You can't be."
"Try me," I thought sardonically.
"Kiya what's going on?" Tuadra asked worriedly. "You look really pissed off."
"Myini just blew my cover," I said tightly. "We don't have to worry about whether we can trust him or not anymore. He knows."
"I still don't get it," Jalki said. "You're female. The magic is the God-given gift for men only."
"You don't really believe that, do you?" I asked acidly. "It's just a bunch of mystical bullshit. The mayin powers are just a mutation. Just because it usually happens to be attached to the Y-chromosome doesn't mean anything. That's just a stupid religion. Before the War, humans had gotten away from the damn male-dominated society. Now they reign supreme again."
"Kiya, calm down," Serru said soothingly. "He didn't mean anything bad. He was just spewing forth what he's been fed all his life."
"Actually," Jalki said. "I don't believe that. I think it's a load of crap. I thought you guys would be part of the loyal masses."
"Well, we're not," I said. "No one in a shelon-school who can actually think for him or her self is. We've experienced what comes of being on the wrong side of the prejudices. Why have you been out so long?"
"My parents care for me," he said. "They only sent me now because my brother's wife's father is very anti-she-. Otherwise, I'd still be home."
"Lucky," I said. Serru nodded.
"Why?" he asked.
"At least you got to be with your family," I said. "I was sent here right after I was born. Serru's parents don't even remember him, and he's an only child."
"What about you three?" he asked Dsekene, Myini, and Tuadra.
"My parents come to visit," Tuadra said. "But they're afraid of many of my friends."
"Our parents love us," Myini said. "But our grandfather made Father send us away."
"How did we get on family?" Jalki asked suddenly. "I still want to know how you have mayin magic."
"I don't know," I said. "I just do."
"That can't be," he said. Then he looked thoughtful.
"What?" I asked.
"Are you blind?" he asked. "I don't mean, 'Are you not able to see?' I mean, 'Are you not able to see wavelengths of light within the visible range?'"
"How did you know?" I asked, shocked. "I..."
"You're like me," he said. "And his shirt is bright orange."
Everyone looked strangely at Jalki, except for Myini. Myini just stared at him.
"Kiya," Tuadra asked thoughtfully. "Have you been having color problems again? Because if you were, wouldn't someone who sees the same way be having problems as well?"
"You!" I shouted at Jalki. "Leave me now! I don't want you around here! Just go back to your family. They're the ones who want you. We don't need you!"
"What did I do?" he asked dazedly. I had blasted him too. "Why are you so mad at me?"
"I think you made her feel too normal," Tuadra said. "She's always been happy knowing that her father was wasting someone truly special by having her in the shelon-school. Now she's not unique, and it makes her feel useless."
"But I'm mayin," he said. "Surely my being mayin can't make her feel useless. There are hundreds of mayin in this city alone. How can I be a threat?"
"I've never met a mayin that could see wavelengths of light besides visible, have you?" Serru asked. "And I'm sure you have some other tricks up your sleeve."
"How did you know?" Jalki asked.
"Now you sound like me," I said viciously. "And I'm no normal girl. I have more power than any mayin alive. I can do more than any of those stupid priests."
"So can I," Jalki said.
"Get away!" I screamed. "I don't want you here."
"Perhaps you should leave," Dsekene said cautiously. "Before she gets really mad. I don't want her to hurt you."
"She can't hurt me," he said confidently. "I'm fully capable of protecting myself."
"Just go," I growled. "Or I will make you regret ever coming to this school. I don't want to see you anymore. Don't come in to my classes. You are not welcome."
"But..." he said. I glared at him, and he left.
"What is wrong with you Kiya?" Myini said incredulously. "Why did you get so pissed off at him? He didn't do anything."
"Yeah, Kiya," Dsekene said softly. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," I said, almost in tears. "I just... When Tuadra said that thing about someone who sees the way I do, I got really mad. I don't want anyone to be the same as me, especially a guy. They would believe him if he said what he can do, but they would never believe me. I'm just a girl; I can't have mayin powers."
"It's all right, Kiya," Dsekene said softly. "He won't do anything to you. I think you hurt him. He was happy to find someone like him, and you almost bit his head off. I get the feeling he would not try to hurt you."
"And what would you know?" I said furiously. "You aren't considered shelon. You don't know what it's like for me."
"Kiya, Dsekene is your friend," Myini said. "Why are you being so mean? We know what you go through. We've been with you since we got here. We care about you."
"Shut up!" I said. "I don't want to listen to you. He wants to ruin my life, I'm sure of it. I don't want you to try to tell me otherwise."
I then ran off, tears running down my face. I didn't understand why I was reacting that way. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I left the room, and it just made me run faster.
I didn't look behind me, but if I had, I would have seen Jalki running behind me. He followed me out of the meal hall and through the corridors to my room. When I went into the room and slammed the door, he stopped.
I heard a knocking at my door a few minutes later. I didn't want to talk, so I didn't answer. The person knocked again.
"I know you're in there Kiya," Jalki thought at me. "I just want to talk. Please, just explain to me what I did to you to make you so angry with me."
"I don't want to talk to you," I thought angrily. "I just want to be left alone."
"Please," he thought. "Just a few minutes."
"Fine," I thought sulkily, opening the door. "But I'm not going to forgive you," I said.
"May I come in?" he asked courteously. I shrugged, and he entered and sat on a chair. "What did I do?"
"I don't know," I said. "It's just that before I was special. I was the only one of my kind. Now you come along, and I'm not unique. And you have legitimacy. I don't. No one would ever believe me if I told them because I'm a girl."
"How do you know I'm the same as you?" he asked. "How do you know I can do everything you can? I'm not very sure of that. I just know you see non-visible light and mindspeak."
"And mind move," I said. "And hear non-audible sound. And 'port." His eyebrows rose.
"Any thing else?" he asked. I shook my head. "You are the same as me. That's really weird when you think about it."
"It also makes me an imposter in the eyes of a real mayin," I said bitterly. "To them I'm scum. I'm female, and I'm shelon. Need I say more?"
"I don't think of you as scum," he said.
"You're a she-," I said. "You don't count. My father does."
"Your father?" he asked. "What does he have to do with me?"
"My father is ashamed of me for being shelon," I said. "If he can stop thinking of me as scum, then maybe there's a hope."
"Why are you so worried about your father?" he asked. "Why not be happy with what you have?"
"You just don't get it do you?" I asked. "I want to be accepted. I don't want to be stuck in this shelon-school for the rest of my life. I want to be considered part of society."
"What if I help you?" he said. "My father is relatively powerful. I have some status despite being she-."
"No," I said. "I need to do this on my own. Anyway, I don't think your father is as powerful as mine."
"Will you at least not see me as bad?" he said. "I'd really like to be your friend."
"We'll see," I said. Then, I saw the clock. "Oh, we'd better get going. Class starts in about five minutes."
We went to chemistry, and he left me alone for the rest of the day. He came to choir though. He was a really good singer. I also avoided everyone else for the rest of the day. They got very mad at me.