Something's Wrong With the Different Realms

Twenty: Café Arguments

"Well, first, if we told someone else it might be worse than the time that they told us. Who knows, maybe someone could assault them or something. And I don't know, I guess their guardian probably helped them. And I guess it led nowhere because they're still stuck here. And isn't it better to join efforts anyway? Isn't two brains better than one?"

"Yes, but not when we know nothing!"

"Can you guys keep your voices down?" asked the cute barista who glared pointedly at me and Isla.

We snapped out of our argument to look at his toffee brown eyes. "Sorry," we said.

"Thanks," he nodded before walking away.

"Where was I?" asked Isla.

I just glared at her. "I don't know, where were you?" I whisper-shouted.

Isla rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

I pursed my lips. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Anyway..." she continued after taking some time to gather her thoughts, "the point is that we do know something. Didn't they tell us their life story? And can't we use that to conduct some research and gather information and give them some leads?"

"If it were that easy then they would've already figured it out by now."

"There's something that they're missing."

"Duh."

"And it can probably be amended if we help them and we use our collective thinking to figure something out."

"Remind me of why we should help them again?"

"Because I know what it feels like to be helpless?"

"Really?"

"Yes!" Isla raised her voice a tad too loudly, earning her a glare from the cute barista. "Sorry about that."

"Look at me!" she hissed.

I took in her ebony skin, her chubby cheeks, her glasses and her acne. I took a good look at her raven-black hair with green streaks and her plain, navy blue shirt. She looked like an average teenager.

"So? What's your point?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning back against the wooden chair.

Isla just shook her head. "Take a closer look," she hissed.

I looked again before saying: "you look like a normal teenager?"

"Wow, sometimes you're really quite stupid and ignorant."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I hissed defensively.

"Just let me finish," Isla patted the table.

I grunted and relented.

"If you've actually been paying attention then you would've noticed my skin tone. I have dark skin so I'm more likely to get discriminated against. This also means that I'm a minority. And I'm also 'average looking' or below average looking, give or take. So I don't have 'pretty privilege' to help me out. Oh, and I'm a girl."

"And how does this tie to the Harry and Alexa situation?"

"Even though Majesty is accepting and we're lucky that we live in the Pacific Northwest where they have stricter laws, that doesn't mean that I don't face discrimination or racism or sexism or microaggressions. That doesn't mean that I don't feel left out because of the color of my skin or my gender or my looks. That doesn't mean that I don't feel helpless like Harry and Alexa do. So I actually understand how it feels to be left out, helpless, and scared unlike you."