The Gifted [INDEFINITE HIATUS]

2 • Rel

Life on the streets has never been easy.

I should know. I ran away from the orphanage when I was only five years old, and I have been homeless ever since. I'd probably have died soon after if I hadn't met Sage, my closest friend, the only person I truly trust after knowing him for ten years. Surviving is always easier when you're working as part of a team. Not easy, but easier.

I wake up this morning to the sounds of shouting and honking and the sight of police officers all over the place. For a second, I panic, thinking they're here to arrest me. And then I remember. Today is Examination Day. The police are here to help organize the hundreds of fifteen year olds swarming towards the Examination Hall, not to take me into custody or send me back to the orphanage. Besides, I'm holed up in a sewer. They'd have a hard time finding me here if they weren't actively searching for me.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," I hear a voice say. Sage. Seems like he's been up for a while.

"Sleeping Beauty?" I repeat. "It's still pretty early! What time is it, six-thirty? Seven?"

"Seven-fifteen," he tells me. "The police have been here for an hour, honking horns and setting up signs and screaming instructions into their megaphones. I don't know how you slept through that."

I rub my eyes tiredly. "I was exhausted. Do you not remember what I did last night? That huge getaway I had to make?"

Sage pinches the bridge of his nose. "I remember you doing something insanely stupid. Attempting to rob a bank? Have you gone mad?"

"I wasn't trying to rob it, Sage. Even I'm not that reckless. Do you remember that one guy we met the other day?"

"The guy who was insulting you?"

I nod. "Yeah. Well, he was there and people were already giving him suspicious looks because, you know, he looks like a thug. I thought he could use the money some stolen jewelry would get him, so I just helped him out a little."

Sage shakes his head, trying to conceal a smile. "You mean you set off some sort of alarm and framed it on him so he would get arrested? That was a bitchy move, Rel. Even for you. You know that the punishment for that sort of thing is ridiculously strict."

I shrug. "You don't call me a weakling and get away with it. I may not be able to physically take him down, but you have to admit, I can still get him into serious trouble. I was trying to prove a point."

Sage sighs in exasperation. "God, Rel. You're a real asshole, but I can't blame you."

"Thanks!" I say brightly.

"That wasn't even supposed to be a compliment."

"It's all a matter of perspective, Sage."

"Yeah, that doesn't make you any less of an asshole."

"Hey, wait a minute. You can't just start insulting Rel and not invite me! I have a few things to say about her too!" a new voice interjects. 

I groan as a stocky, dark-skinned, curly haired boy drops into the lovely sewer that is our temporary home. Asher is another 'friend' of mine. I don't get along well with him, and he doesn't like me much either, but Sage trusts him, so we've ended up working together. I can't deny that a team of three is much more effective than a team of two, but that doesn't mean I have to like him.

"It's great to see you too, Asher. Your face is almost a better sight than the inside of this sewer."

"Shut up, Rel. I got us breakfast, but I can always accidentally drop your portion in mud," Asher retorts.