The Others

Chapter One

All of us have emotions. We know when to stop. We know when not to push things. I had always thought that we had some sort of switch that turned on when things got bad. We know how to handle pain, suffering and loss.

The thing is we are all naturally curious about things.

We see people in the street and automatically start to judge them before we have even met them.

It's getting past these prejudices that will help us grow as people and let us learn more from the people around us.

We're all just human after all.

***

It was a Friday morning and I was early into university. I had several assignments due soon and no lectures so I decided to head to the library. The halls echoed in silence as I crept my way past a broken vending machine, trying not to slip on the incessant number of wrappers that were spread around it. I had always been an early bird even on the weekends so getting up hadn't been a problem. As I reached the front of the library and pulled out my ID card which was snug inside my coat on a lanyard. The library was located within the campus building in a place named 'The Street' which was a hallway that connected the Library to the lecture halls, littered with flags of all nations hanging from the ceiling. I smiled as I held out the card to the library security guard who gave me the nod of approval. The library expanded the length and breath of three floors with two glass see-through elevators and double the amount of stairs. On each floor there were books for each of the different subjects taught at the university as well as a multitude of a range of other resources, computers, silent study areas and communal study areas. I had always sat on the ground floor as it had proven to be the least busiest and easiest to come and go. Only a handful of people were here and were relatively spread out across the tables so I was naturally spoilt for choice. Sitting down on a table big enough for five people, I set my laptop down and pulled out a chair. I pulled out my laptop and phone charger and set it to one side of the table and then pulled out my notebook and pen and set it to the other side. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my headphones. Once I was happy with the placement of my things, I grabbed my water bottle and went to fill it up from one of the various water stations dotted around the library. I worked for a couple of hours and as the day progressed, more and more people started to flood into the library. By the time I was getting ready to leave, there wasn't a table in sight that wasn't full and people stood around tables waiting to pounce like pumas. Students loved to pull all-nighters after all...

After my meeting, I had some time to kill before I could get the train home. I decided to grab a snack and head up to the atrium which was the one place I knew would be quiet at this time. As I reached the top of the stairs, I spotted my friend Loz sitting on one of the comfy blue chairs reading a book. I walked up to her and slung my bag between my legs as I sat in a vacant chair next to her.

"Hey Loz, how's it going?" I said as I readjusted my position to be more comfortable.

"Savannah, hey! What's up" Loz looked up and smiled as she folded one edge of a page in the book down and put it on the table in front of us.

"Chronicles of Narnia! Ha, nice! I still need to read that - books are always better than the movies for sure" I laughed as I pulled out a packet of ready salted crisps from my bag.

"Can't believe you haven't read it! This is like my thousandth time reading it!" she laughed.

"So, how have you been - what's new with you?" I smiled as I offered her some crisps.

"Not much you know me, always doing somethi..." we were interrupted by a high pitch buzzing sound.

"Oh gosh, what is that!" I held one hand up to cover my ear.