The Blackbird

1 Cafe Dandylion: Cappuccino, Cake and Conversation

< INDIA'S POV >

I watched the world go by, and wondered why I felt so much apart from it. I am 16, not 61, so why do I always feel so isolated? Sure I'm brighter than average, and my home life is chaotic but loving. But even at home I don't really belong. Yes, I love my multitudinous family, from sweet little Ranita all the way up to Grandpa Blackhawk. And they love me back, well most of them do.

I could see my reflection in the mirrored wall of the coffee shop and considered. My racial heritage was mixed Indian, Japanese, Caucasian and Native American. My hair was long, thick, straight and very black. My eyes were grey, sometimes almost silvery. My skin tone was homogenous, not really pale or dark, but somewhere in between. I was short, only 5' 2", and extremely slender, not anorexic, just naturally thin. All in all, I was nothing special to look at.

Financially, I was quite well off, which could have been surprising if you didn't know I was a published author of three novels that had done extremely well. Yes, they were written for young adults, and yes many had labeled them as trashy teenage romps, but I AM a teen, and following the advice of my mentor, I write what I know. One of those novels had already found some interest from the film industry, and I was contemplating actually turning it into a movie... but that was a consideration for another time.

The ditty about "sweet sixteen and never been kissed" applied to me. It wasn't that I had never had opportunity, because I had. It's just that I was finding it hard to meet someone I could relate to. Being a "genius" sucks big time, because no one really understands how differently we, I, think to others of our age group, not even ourselves. Thus my virginity is not only intact, it hadn't even been mildly at risk. And while it didn't normally bother me, for some reason it was starting to.

I sipped my cappuccino, ate a bite of my cake and contemplated my plans after graduating College. I was majoring in applied psychology and business accounting, but what did I want to do next? I had choices to make and no idea what I really wanted to make them. Suddenly a thought had come to me, hence why I was here, sitting at a table waiting. Looking at my phone, I saw that he wasn't late yet, and nibbled at my chocolate chip cupcake.

"Is everything ok?" asked the waiter, and a looked up at him in curiosity. He was young, but older than I, and looked a little familiar.

"I'm fine, thank you," I replied. "Derrick? From Ashley Waters?"

He blinked, and then nodded. He didn't remember me I could see, and that didn't surprise me much. I was only there a year, and I was two years ahead of him, but I also looked quite different now. It is amazing the difference four years can make. I smiled and told him who I was.

"India? Really? Wow," he said, and his eyes smiled at me. "You were so tiny, and so crazy smart that we just tended to forget you."

"I'm still small," I said grinning. "You were one of the nicer boys. You never tried to use me or abuse me. That I will never cease to appreciate. I keep seeing people from Ashley Waters, and many surprise me with what they do now. What are you wanting to do?"

He sat with me a moment, and told me about his dream. He admitted to being a lot lazy, but that he was starting college soon to study the one thing that had fascinated him as a child. Astronomy. His brown eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, his hands speaking almost as much as his voice, and I admitted to myself that I liked him.

"I'm finishing a degree this semester," I told him, "but I'm not sure what to do with it when I do."

"You ARE only 16," he said smiling, "so you could just do another degree or something so that when that is done your age group has caught up to you a little?"