What Divides Us

The Boy With the Green Eyes

            “What was that about?” Lucas asks as he approaches me and I smile genuinely.  I spent the first half of the day talking with him during our AP classes and found that he is extremely easy to talk to, even if I’m just making stuff up about my fake life.  If I were living a normal life, I would think that he’d be the type of person that I’d be friends with. 

            I shrug, feigning nonchalance.  “Aiden came over to introduce himself.”

            Lucas nods but looks confused as he sits across from me.  “Cool.  Sorry I’m late.  I had to stay late and talk to Mr. Ackerson.”  I nod in understanding even though I have no clue who Mr. Ackerson is.

            “Sooo,” I stall as I try to broach the subject of Aiden, “Are you friends with Aiden?”

            Lucas ponders this question for a moment.  “Not really.  I mean we talk sometimes, but usually he keeps to himself.”  He pauses.  “In fact, he’s actually kind of weird.”

            Yeah, I kind of know that already.  “What do you mean?”

            He shrugs.  “He doesn’t really have any friends, that’s why I was surprised he was talking to you.”

            “Hmmm,” I murmur, urging him to keep talking.  The good thing about Lucas is that he loves to talk.  All the time, about anyone or anything, so I don’t have to do much to prod information out of him.

            “And he misses a lot of school.  He’ll get a call and just take off in the middle of class.”

            “Really?  That’s weird.”  And suspicious.  The probability of Aiden turning out to be Agent 0013 is quickly rising.

              “Yeah,” he shoves another French fry into his mouth.  “Some people, mostly the girls, think that he’s some kind of model and that’s why he has to leave all the time.  You know for gigs and stuff?”  He leans over the table and I lean closer to hear.  “Personally, I think he’s a part time superhero.”

            I laugh along with him the best that I can, but my thoughts are elsewhere.  Aiden could probably be Agent 0013, but who does he work for?  Or does he even work for anyone?  The Director said that he left the agency and more than likely betrayed our secrets.  But if he betrayed us to the unknown enemy, our location would be revealed and the agency would be on red alert.  This doesn’t add up.  Maybe Michelle is right, maybe the Director isn’t telling me everything I need to know.

            The bell ringing incessantly jars me out of my conspiracy theories. 

            “I’ll catch you later,” Lucas says as he heads toward his next class.  I smile in acknowledgement.

            Fumbling with my locker, I finally get it to open and pull out my Art notebook and my AP Science Lab book, which by the way is extremely heavy.  Unfortunately, I end up extremely late to class because 1. My earpiece is malfunctioning, therefore Caleb cannot tell me where to go  2. Lucas doesn’t have this class with me and can’t show me where it is.

            Luckily for me, my art teacher is extremely gracious and doesn’t make a big deal of me being ten minutes late for her class.  In a way, she kind of reminds me of Candace.

            “Okay class.  Settle down,” she says in her soft voice and surprisingly the room becomes eerily silent.  They must respect her.  “Today we’ll be choosing partners to sketch.  Get to it!”  She turns her attention back to her own notebook.

            Slowly panic settles into the pit of my stomach.  I look around the room hoping to see a familiar face I could pair with, but to no avail.  The funny thing is that I don’t understand why I’m so nervous. 

            “Want to be my partner?”

            A little seed of hope is planted inside of me.  Maybe I won’t look weird for sitting by myself.  Not that I care what a bunch of weak high school students think.  But anyway, I’m still happy someone asked me to be their partner.

            Too bad it was Aiden.

            Narrowing my eyes I reply with an icy, “No way in hell.”  Unfortunately, my rude reply did not result in the desired outcome of him walking away and getting hit by a bus.  Instead he just smiles revealing a cute set of dimples and sits down next to me.  Stop Alex.  Don’t get distracted by his pretty face.  He could possibly be the enemy.  The enemy that I have to kill.

            “What do you want from me,” I hiss, openly glaring at him.  In all honesty, I’m kind of afraid of what he wants from me and I brace myself for an unexpected attack.  If he wants to kill me, he can’t do it here.  If he wants to kidnap me, he’ll have to wait until after school.  I twiddle my pencil nervously as I wait for his answer.  I’m pretty sure he won’t come out and say he’s planning on killing me.

            Aiden just smiles unaffected by my hostility and opens his notebook.  “I want you to sit still while I try to transfer your beauty onto this paper.”  He smiles again and begins sketching.

            Well that was unexpected.  Maybe that was code for “watch your back, you don’t know when I’ll strike,” but that’s highly unlikely.  Either way, his comment brings an embarrassed flush to my cheeks and I turn away, hoping that my cascading hair covers up the proof that he confuses me.

            Lost in my thoughts, the class period flies by.  Thankfully, I don’t completely neglect the assignment.  While thinking excessively, I doodle a half-assed stick figure that barely resembles Aiden.

            “Can I see it?” Aiden puts a hand on my shoulder.  His touch feels like it burns and chills my flesh all at once weird.  Anyway, to test my theory of him being Agent 0013, I decide to jab my left elbow to where I assume would be his ribcage and nobody would be the wiser.  If he’s really Agent 0013 he’ll probably retaliate, but I’ll be ready.  Of course he has to defy my expectations and instead, he simply catches my elbow before it even gets close to his body.

            Releasing a frustrated and somewhat impressed sigh, I hand him the picture that I drew, not even caring how ridiculous it looks and in return, he hands me his drawing.  A beautiful girl sits in the middle of a meadow, surrounded by daisies, gazing up at the starry night sky.  The expression on her face is brighter than the moon itself.  She smiles and her eyes are hazy, almost wistful as if she’s daydreaming.  But she isn’t me, she can’t be me.  I don’t think there’s a day in my life that I’ve ever looked that happy.  Not even the day that I completed my first mission in record time, and that’s my happiest memory.  For a moment, I feel a little twitch in my chest.  But as quickly as it arrived, it vanished.  Perhaps the sensation occurred because I had never seen such a beautiful sight before. 

As I tear my eyes from the radiant sketch, I feel an absence in my chest.  Kind of like it’s hollow.

The room is empty and Aiden is long gone.