Two Different Worlds

DEMI

I can't see any way out of this mess. I've missed my bus. No one can take me to school, because Mum's at work and Adam's not answering his phone. Just so you know, Adam is my twin brother, and my name's Demi.

You're probably wondering why I'm not taking a taxi. I can't. Not that I don't have enough money, because I do, but because I just can't. I'm claustrophobic. I can travel in cars and buses, but just not taxis. Going in a taxi always brings back bad memories. The next bus is in 45 minutes, and school starts in 20.

As a result, I'm repeatedly ringing Adam; I don't want to disturb Mum. Don't you sometimes find it really annoying that if you really need to talk to someone, they don't answer, and when you really don't need to talk to someone, that's when they call! Yeah, well that's what's happening to me right now. While I'm trying to ring Adam, my best friend Kaya keeps trying to call me. 

You know what? I'm going to ask Kaya to come and get me! Why did't I think of that before? I answer the phone.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Hey Demi, Kaya here. Just wondering why you weren't on the bus." I tell her that I've missed it, and that the next bus was in half an hour.

"School starts in ten minutes! Are you already at school? Can you come and get me? Please?" I yell into the phone.

"Keep your hair on, Demetria!" she screams. "Just wait, I'll be there in five minutes! See you soon!" She hangs up.

I sit down on a bench and stare at my phone. I really regret not answering Kaya's calls before. She's such a great friend. and also one of my only friends. Apart from Libby, she's the only friend I've got. I really should have left when Adam did, then I would't have missed the bus.

I guess I should tell you a bit more about me, while I'm waiting. Let's start of with something basic. My name, Demi, is actually short for Demetria, pronounced D-i-m-e-t-r-ee-a. My full name is Demetria Grace Lamberson. I don't know why my mum, Leila, named Adam something simple, and gave me a tongue twister for a name. Yes, I do shorten it to Demi to make life easier, but whenever something formal happens and I'm involved, teachers always say something like "Dee-m-ee-tria..." or "Dee-metria". Sometimes, that can be really off-putting. Especially because people who don't like me at my school decide to use it as an advantage to call me Demented-tria. I get picked on all the time because of my name. 

Anyway, apart from my name, I'll tell you some other stuff. Adam and I are 16, but Adam is in Year 12 and I'm in Year 11, because Adam was born at 11:59pm in the 31st of August and I was born at 00:00 on the 1st of September.

Let me tell you about Kaya. Kaya and I have known each other for 9 years, not through school, but because we're neighbours. Kaya comes from a mixed family. Her dad's Portuguese and her mum's Indian, hence her full name is Kaya Débora Maria D'Cruz. She has a brother like me but not a twin, called Kiran Dominique Marco D'Cruz. Funny how they have the same initials, right? He's a year older than Kaya which is a coincidence, so we both know what it feels like to have older brothers.

When Kaya first joined my school, Brentwood High, which was in Year 7, everyone instantly liked her. Including me. Whenever she walked to her locker, everybody around her would go silent. Even TT and BB wanted to be her friend! By the way, TT and BB are Tanya Taylor and Isabella Brady. Bella hates being called her full name hence she shortened it. TT and BB are the biggest popularity queens in my school. At least, they think they are. Anyway, she gained huge popularity in short amount of time. She turned down all those wannabes and popularity queens and stayed as my friend, as if nothing had changed between us after she'd moved school. Libby soon grew to like her too.

I mentioned Libby didn't I? Libby was my best friend before Kaya joined my school. She suffered from asthma, like me, so we can empathise with each other. She's great, she really is. Libby was always a unique person; she loved to act, and she always dreamt of being an actress, which she still does fantasise about, and she would always be in every musical that our school performed. She also loves poetry, and she loves to write. She published her first book when she was in Year 6, called A Midsummer Fight's Dream. It was a comical book, and many people loved it. Libby always says that one day, the Statue of Liberty will be named after her! Ha, we'll see about that!

When Kaya joined, Libby looked up to her too, and when I introduced Libby to Kaya, they slowly became good friends as well. Then we all hung out, and we really got along great! So we became a tightly-knit trio. Libby always calls us 'The Kludge', for two reasons. One, because of our initials; 'K' for Kaya, 'L' for Libby, which is short for Liberty, and 'D' for demi. I guess it won't make sense until I tell you the second reason. If you didn't know, a 'kludge' is an ill'sorted collection of parts assembled to fulfil a particular purpose. Likewise, Libby always says that we were an ill-sorted collection of people, with completely different characters, who were put together to fulfil the purpose of proving that anyone can become anybody's friend.

After a long train of thought, Kaya arrives in her mum's car. I quickly grab my bags and hop inside.

"Thanks a lot, Kaya! If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't be coming to school today," I say with a wide grin. "Thanks."

"No problem, Demz, that's what friends are for!" she smiles. I am so grateful that Kaya chose to be my friend than TT and BB's or anyone else's for that matter. I think I'm being a bit too hard on myself. Everybody's different and just because I'm more different than average doesn't mean nobody likes me.

Kayla's phone rings. Since Bluetooth connects it to her car, she just starts talking. It's her mum. She begins babbling on about things going on in her life. So I'll use this chance to spill more beans about myself.

So as I was saying, I'm not completely normal compared to everyone. Wondering why? Because of loads of stupid things. I'm claustrophobic. I suffer from asthma, which causes me to have asthma attacks every now and then. On top of that, I also have Aichmophobia, which is a fear of needles. Since I'm claustrophobic, I always need to have seats near windows in every class, and I'm always given a locker nearest to the door every year. At lunch, I get to sit outside, while everyone else is cramped into a small, airless, dining room. I'd never be able to sit inside there! So there are all the reason why I don't consider myself normal.

That doesn't mean I don't have strengths, though! I have a passion for music, and I play the flute. I like to sing too, but only to myself, of course. Since I have to be outside a lot, it means I can use my spare time to play sport. You probably wouldn't have expected that coming from a person like me. My teacher, Miss Harper, says I'm strong in Netball and Rounders; in sports that don't require contact or tackling. I'm not that strong. I love sport, and since Miss Harper thinks I'm good at it, she always puts me on the school teams. That's another reason why TT and BB don't like me. I'm captain.

The car stops. Kaya has Maths first lesson, and I've got Music, which is at the other end of the school, but i have to sign in at the office first.

"See you later!" Kaya shouts to me as she runs off to the Maths Department.

"Bye!" I reply.

You know what bugs me the most though, despite all my weaknessess? 

The fact that I don't see myself the way everyone else does.