Extraordinary Mistakes

12. Welcome

August 2016

13-year-old Ánh finally arrives in her new home after a long flight. All the excitement kept her from sleeping on the way there. She's the only child from Vietnam, and one of eight from Eurasia, to be part of the first group of international students. The photos of the Institute that she saw made her fall in love with it. Everything is modern and beautiful. Unlike the institute in her home country in which she had been studying since she was seven.

This is her opportunity to be happy. Ever since she was a child that Ánh wondered if having the gene truly made her special. Her parents are both deviants and struggle to make ends meet with precarious jobs. They rarely even use their abilities. The cartoons that she watches never portray a deviant superhero. They are always the villains, and everything ends well when they are either dead or arrested.

She has her own room, which is far from ideal, because she wanted a roommate. Nothing to be concerned about, she'll have plenty opportunities to make friends. It's a setback, but everything will be fixed in due time, and then she'll be happy. For the time being, she occupies her time with modifying her computer. 

On the news from Vietnam, she sees that the organization of Eurasia has determined that all members are to implement the possibility of deviants to go to university until 2025. Ánh doesn't understand the 9-year deadline. Surely the countries could make it happen faster than that if they wanted to.

She arrived right on time on the Institute, she enters it and gasps at how grand it all is.

"Morning. What's your transference number?" The employee in the reception asks. "Ok, you are associated with Miss Abigail Parker. She isn't around yet. Here's your schedule, the map of the Institute is on this tablet, and your card to enter and leave. Miss Parker will come to find you when she gets here. Please be around this lobby. Next."

Ánh enters the bathroom and records an audio to send to her parents.

"What's that language?" an older girl asks.

"I'm Ánh Nguyễn! I come from Vietnam, Eurasia."

"Can't understand a word. Speak English?" another girl asks slowly and loudly.

They all look the same. One couldn't tell them apart. They go near Ánh and spray paint her shoes. The paint they used to write welcome, friends! Other girls enter the bathroom and leave immediately.

"Sorry!" one screams in Ánh 's ears.

Ánh starts to weep, which makes the girls make even more fun of her. They pick on everything they can: her clothes because they are too symmetrical; her accent because it sounds fake; her ability, even if they don't know it.

They are too busy to realize that, behind them, a girl, younger than them, blonde with blue eyes, with a long, tent dress, has a broom and hits one of them on the head.

Ánh takes several steps back. Who are you? She wonders in Vietnamese.

"What the-?!" The girl grabs her head.

She hits another, this time on a leg.

"I'll kill you-" the girl doesn't end her thought when she sees who it is. How one phone call could make her lose her spot on the Institute.

"Go to hell, Abigail!"

The girls leave and Ánh takes a deep breath finally.

"Are you okay?" Abigail tries to go near her and Ánh flinches. Abigail drops the broom and takes a few steps back. "You are not Ánh Thi Nguyễn, are you?"

How... how... did you pronounce it correctly?

"Are you?" Abigail asks again.

Ánh nods while looking away, still in tears.