"I see. You’ve got World History next, then Science, and after that… it looks like we’ve got the same schedule until electives."
He pauses.
"Oh wow, all music classes, choir, band, music theory, vocal, jazz. You play?"
I nod.
"What instruments?"
Sweet Fate, even his voice is soothing. The way he talks makes me want him to keep going, to tell me more. And one thing is certain: I don’t want to talk about myself. Still, I force out a reply.
"Cello, guitar, piano, bass, and drums."
"Oh, holy crap! Wow!" Alex almost jumps in his seat, his eyes sparkling as he asks excitedly, "You’re, like, an actual musician? For real?"
I nod again. A big chunk of my childhood was spent having jam sessions with my family, you couldn’tnotplay at our place, only Storm resisted! The rest of my siblings all play at least one instrument.
"That’s awesome," Alex says with a little laugh. "I used to take piano lessons, but I quit. Kind of regret it now." He shrugs softly, looking genuinely disappointed.
I notice his own schedule on the desk and lean slightly to read it.
"Calculus AB? That’s an advanced class, right?"
Alex blushes a little.
"I really like math, I’m good at it, but my real thing is chess. I play in state-level junior tournaments. A month ago, I won the state championship in my age group," he says with a wide smile, yet still blushing shyly at the same time.
"Congrats, wow. I tried playing chess a few times with Winter, my brother, but I always lost. So, respect." I grimace slightly.
"I could train you sometime," Alex says with a little smile. "You’d beat him."
"Um… he’s good. I don’t know."
"Seriously! I could help."
I slowly stand up because something about this makes me uncomfortable. Too intense, and I just… can’t.
"Maybe another time," I say, painfully remembering that I shouldn’t get too friendly with classmates anymore. My life isn’t what it used to be, something inside me is permanently broken, and I don’t want to stain the kind of purity and cheerfulness that Alex gives off with the darkness boiling inside me.
"I guess we should get going. The next class is in another room," I say flatly.
"Yeah, sure," Alex replies, then sneezes loudly.
A few students turn around, smirking.
Two alphas sitting a few seats ahead glance our way with that same mix of disdain and irritation, but they don’t say anything. They look like brothers or cousins, and they have crude, thick faces.
"Did you catch a cold?" I ask quietly.
Alex gives me a small, sad smile. "No, I’m just allergic to, well… almost everything."
As he talks, he starts packing his things, showing me each item as he goes. "This is my EpiPen, just in case I go into anaphylactic shock. Here’s my antihistamine cream, and this ismy inhaler. Oh, and the pills. Actually, I’ve got three types of them, for different situations…"
"I see. Must be rough living with the thought that anything you touch could mess you up," I say, though I don’t even know why. Everyone’s got their own problems.
"That’s nice of you to say," Alex replies with a soft smile. "Yeah, it’s like that, but it’s the only life I’ve ever known. So maybe it’s easier for me to live with it."
That makes me think about how my life used to be easy too, not so long ago, but not anymore.
