After yesterday's events I just wanted a break today. A day where I was just with Aiden. Laying in his arms. He was still peacefully asleep. I was admiring him. I started to play with his hair. Feel the silky-smooth strands of his brown hair. It was so soft. His face was nuzzled into my neck. My chin resting upon his head. I was embraced with his warmth. His sweet scent. I kissed his forehead, and he slowly stirs. I then feel a trail of kisses go from my neck to my lips. Even though it was a quick kiss I could still feel the fire burning my soul. He smiles at me and continues to kiss me all over my face until I burry my head into his chest.
"Good morning love." Aiden said laughing.
He placed a kiss on my head and tried to pry me off him so he could leave to get ready. I didn't let him. He eventually gave up and laid back down pressing his chin on top of my head.
"What do you want to do today?" I ask.
"Well, I would like to get up." Aiden chuckled.
"That's not going to happen." I say muffled against his chest.
"Mm I can see that." Aiden said.
"You still haven't given me a proper answer." I say laughing.
"How dare I." Aiden said acting shocked. "How about you let me go and then we can decide."
"I don't want to let you go." I say quietly.
Aiden brushed his fingers through my hair. He places a few strands behind my ear. Catching me off guard he grabbed my hands and pinned them down with one of his. Hovering over me he gives me a quick kiss.
"I'm going to get ready I'll be back." Aiden promised.
He got up and left my room. I was left alone so I decided to get ready for my day as well. The party was today so it would be for the best. I was dreading the party. Which in all honesty I completely forgot about. I was surprised that I wasn't thinking about Aiden pinning me down. Or all the kisses. I wasn't really thinking about anything. My mind sort of snapped back to the party but not fully. I guess I was living in the now and not in my head.
Aiden was waiting outside my door and we walked to the hall together. We weren't hand in hand, but his hand was close to mine. If I wanted to hold his hand, I could've grabbed it. Everyone was talking. There was excitement, nervousness, a bit of anxiety. I didn't expect the hall to be so loud when we entered. But I didn't really have any expectations for it. Everyone was actually together the pure human guards and Jason. This wasn't normal for breakfast.
"Hey." Jason said walking towards us.
"Hey." I said stopping.
"Your breakfast is already on the table." Jason said to the both of us.
We walked over to our table everyone was happily talking. Jason was across from me when we sat down. Aiden and I's shoulders were touching. And occasionally I would feel his hand on my knee. Every time he'd put his hand on my knee, I'll place my hand on top of his. No one noticed and no one knew. It was our little secret.
"How's the speech coming along?" Jason asked.
"It's okay." I say aware that I hadn't even started it.
Jason looked at me as if reading my mind, he shook his head laughing.
"Why am I not surprised." Jason said with a smile on his face.
"I haven't had time." I say in defence.
"I can see that." Jason said looking at Aiden and straight back to me.
"Are you ready for training?" I ask trying to change the subject.
"Yes actually. I'm excited for it." Jason answered.
We carried on with the small talk. My mind now had to focus on the speech. What I was going to write was a mystery. A mystery to me anyway. We are all different. That's a known fact so I don't know whether I should write that. People are afraid of what they don't understand. I am definitely writing that one down. Now all I need is some time to myself.
"I'm exhausted." I say trying to catch my breath.
"So am I." Jason said sitting on the ground.
I sit next to him. I've never trained like this before. It was nice doing something different. Usually, my coach would get me to use my abilities. But not Jason. He was brushing up my defence skills. We were sparring for ages. It was a good exhaustion where I knew I would recover quickly from.
"Ah! I need to write that speech now." I complained.
Jason looked at me laughing uncontrollably.
"You really go straight to thinking about that don't you. Why don't you comment about training. What could I do different?" Jason asked.
"Nothing that I can think of." I say looking over at him.
A while later I left the training building. Straight outside is where I'm going after I go to my room. I grab a pen and some paper. Making my way to the garden I see Archie. To my surprise Aiden and Nick were there too. Archie seemed to be talking to Nick and avoiding Aiden's gaze. I walked over to them. Whether I should or not is a different question with different answers. Answers.
"Nova." Archie said welcoming me.
"What's going on?" I ask Nick and Aiden.
"We are organising the garden area for the party." Nick replied.
"They can't decide on anything." Aiden said looking over at Archie.
"We can decide things." Archie said in defence.
"What's the decision?" I ask.
"Whether we should put the tent up or not. Which coloured tent? What area to we put it? Things that you wouldn't understand Nova." Archie said.
"Put the tent in the middle. Between the flowers and roses. The white tent to balance the colours of the garden." I say immediately.
"Let's do that." Nick said walking off.
Archie looked at me surprised. To the Nerds no one is good at making decisions. Not like them. But the problem is that they don't see things creatively. Their logic can be a bit confused. To them everything must be perfect and easy to understand. Sometimes they put too much thought into something so easy.
"So, Nova." Archie said with a smile.
I draw my attention to Archie. I knew what he was going to ask, and I knew what I was going to do. Aiden looked over at me and somehow knew what I had planned.
"What." I say bluntly.
"Have you thought about it?" He questioned.
"No. And I'm not going to." I say as I walk off.
Aiden and I make our way to the tree that we always seem to be around. I needed to think about this speech. Aiden could help me. But as I look over at him, he rests his head on my lap and places his arm over his eyes. Clearly not interested in what I had to do. It was up to me. I guess I could get him to read it when I had finished. I rest my head up against the tree. I lifted my leg up and placed the paper on my knee. Now I had to figure out what to write.
We all need answers. Sometimes those answers are hard to find. We ask questions. But some questions don't have answers. Our need to find answers leaves us with more questions. Some things make sense others don't. But maybe not everything is meant to make sense, our lives are different after all. As I look around all I see are broken people from a broken system. People who have scars so deep it affects generations to come. A world that is run on hatred. For those of us who are different we get discriminated. Whether we are stronger, more powerful, or more likely to succeed it's a curse. We can't live normal lives, have normal relationships or friendships. Our space has been invaded. You have yours and we have ours. But now you are in ours. None of you have a right to invade our space. The only space we have that we are safe in. Safe from you.
I place my pen down. I still needed to write more. I can't just ridicule them. I had to have my solutions. I still had a lot to talk about. A lot that needed to be said. But I think my first paragraph is done.
Sometimes in life you can feel like no one understands you. It's common. We often wonder if we are a good person or a bad one. It's all about what we do in a moment of vulnerability. There's so much around us that we can learn from. But no one's listening. Instead, we are repressing people for being different. People discriminate and fear what they don't understand. Those people being discriminated against are ignored and outcasted. Pure humans who have control of their own actions who use fear to divide us and torture us are the ones that you follow. That you trust. We've all been told to act a certain way. Look a certain way. Listen don't speak. People tell us we can't make a difference. That our voices aren't heard because we're young. I disagree. We see the world from a different lens.
There's a balance where some people fight their demons everyday whilst others have no battle. But I believe we all have demons inside us pushing us to do either good or bad. But no one understands those individual fights like we do. Because they are unique to us. We all have a purpose mine is my demons. Society tells us to fit in their order the order where you don't strive to be different. If you happen to be different people have the right to discriminate against you. It's not fair. But everywhere you go there is always bound to be one person who'll treat you differently. Not all rules are made for the right reasons. The system that has been built is the problem because they built a system of division.
Knowledge is often power. The more you know the less you can be fooled. For us when the soldiers moved in, we were on high alert, and we were uneasy about it. I had a choice to sit with the people who accepted me or with the ones I feared. I didn't want to change things for I would feel like I betrayed the only ones who accepted me. Some people will be the first ones to turn you away but if we keep trying to bring people together, we will become stronger. There will be people who will fear change at first. But don't be afraid to be the leader of change. Don't be afraid to be different. All it takes is for one voice to stand up. One voice to create momentum for something better.
To cease segregation or division we need to go against the norms. Against what some people believe in. Join together even when no one else is. One strand of change will cause more. We are all bonded by love and love is a bond that joins people together. For us change is starting. We are no longer sitting in our groups. We are not separated. We are joined together. It's up to you whether you join us. We are all protectors in different ways, and we are standing up for what we believe in.
Finished. Seems like all I had to do was find momentum. I had got Aiden to read it. He didn't add much of a comment. But he did say he liked it. I folded up the speech and tucked it into my pocket to give to Jason later. I run my fingers through Aiden's hair. Not many words were said but it was peaceful.
Walking into the hall it looked so different. Party decorations were up. Everything had been organised. Aiden and I were close to each other. Afraid of separating. We didn't want to leave for the events of last time.
"Nova!" May said as she approached us.
I saw a hint of fear cross her face when she saw Aiden beside me. I knew she knew who he was, and she also saw him kill Dr Crane.
"May." I say when she was in front of me.
"It's nice to see you. How have you been?" May questioned avoiding Aiden's gaze.
"Okay, how have you been? How's the café?" I ask.
"I've been good. The café is going well. Business is still booming as usual." May answered.
We stood there in silence I could feel her uneasiness. And as people started coming in, I could feel the fear. Smell the fear. It was overwhelming. I had to take a step back. Straight into Aiden's side. He didn't move. And I know that he noticed. May didn't notice but Nick and Jason did.
"Are you okay Nova?" Jason asked.
This brought attention to me that I didn't want.
"Yeah." I replied.
With my eyes I signalled Jason to the amount of fear in the room. He nodded in understanding. But whether it was the people or fear that he understood. I'd never know. There were so many people. Crowed in one room. The hall may be big, but it seemed small. Jason stood up at the makeshift stage.
"Welcome everyone. I first want to say thank you to everyone who set up. You guys did an amazing job. We have some activities planned for everyone to join in on. But before we start, I have a speech to read that was written from someone special. This person whether she knows it or not is the heart of this place. I don't know what I'd do without her. To you she's different. But to me she is one of us. The people here are family. Whether they know it or not. I know there is fear and uncertainty, but it isn't just on our side. We all feel it. But with this fear we should push on. Take the time to have fun and be normal in a way. The person who wrote the speech once told me that they have become family. The group that everyone or mainly everyone had feared. She also told me that all you can do is make the most out of the moment. Learn and enjoy. I trust her with my life." Jason said.
"Please don't say my name." I whispered to Nick and Aiden.
They both shook their heads laughing to themselves.
"This speech is written by Nova." Jason said.
"No." I said complaining.
Jason read my speech. Everyone was quiet for a while until people started to applaud. I was nervous and I didn't want to be in that room. And I certainly didn't like the unnecessary attention that I was getting. People would look in my direction. People in our prison would give me dirty looks. As if I called them out. Which in a way I did. They just didn't want other people to know how they treated me. The guards and soldiers I swear were the loudest. The most accepting of me. Aiden grabbed my hand and lead me away from the crowd. For this I was grateful. Grateful to get away from the unwanted and unnecessary attention. Aiden led me outside. And within an instance I was in his arms. His lips pressed against mine. I felt the heat rising in my veins to my heart. This man was mine. I didn't want him to pull away. He was addicting. Like a drug. And I could never get enough.