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 Beneath the Mask 

By Vikki  



This is basically a story about fitting in, but with a big twist at the end. I wrote it at Spinebreakers Live, and I hope you like it!

I sat on the big purple armchair outside the school office and sighed. Through the small windows in the door next to me, I could see the students rushing along the corridor, never even glancing at me, and that was how I liked it. Ever since I’d arrived on this Earth, I’d always had people giving me strange looks, but I’d had enough of it. There wasn’t something about me that people could place their finger on, which was what made them stare, but it was as though I had some aura that seemed to make people wary of me.

If you saw me in a photo, you’d just see a normal blonde girl, not pretty, just plain, staring dreamily into space. Perhaps if you looked close enough you’d notice my long, crooked nose, my stubbornly straight eyelashes or the fact that my shoulders were about the size of Russia. But people didn’t usually see me in photos. People usually saw me in real life, and I always wished they didn’t.

‘This new school will be different’ I thought to myself ‘a new start. You’ll fit in fine if you just stop thinking about it so much.’ I sank further into the chair and closed my eyes. I tried to imagine a world where I could fit in, where I could live without the constant reminder of the way human beings always reacted to me. Last night I’d wished upon a star. I’d dropped a penny in a well in the way here. I’d blown out all my birthday candles last year, and now I hoped all those wishes, or rather that same wish, over and over again, would come true. All the time I’d avoided opening umbrellas indoors, walking under ladders, breaking mirrors... I played with my four-leaf clover necklace and opened my eyes. I’d waited for today for what seemed like a lifetime, and now it was the moment of truth

                                ***

I walked into the classroom and saw the surprised students study my face carefully, trying to place just what it was that made me seem so different. I was so used to this by now that I barely even noticed. I just sat where the teacher told me, and gazed out of the window. Why had I even bothered wishing to be normal? It was clearly impossible. Then my track of thought changed as somebody else entered the room.

She stood in the doorway and gently shook her head so that her long, shiny black hair swayed. After apologising to the teacher for being late, she went to sit down. With a shock, I realised that the only spare seat was next to me. On the way towards me, she greeted people, laughing and smiling like she was best friends with everyone in the class. She sat down and smiled at me as though she already knew me. It made me feel special, and I liked it.
 
By the end of the lesson, we were chatting as though we’d known each other since childhood. Suddenly everyone else wanted to talk to me, too. It was only as we left the classroom that I realised I still didn’t know her name.

“Rachael.” She told me, “Rachael Summers”
“I’m Alice.” I replied

From then on, we were inseparable, and I forgot how it felt to be lonely. We went around to each others’ houses every night, and at weekends, we met up with some of Rachael's many friends. We started clubs like drama, and soon found ourselves auditioning for roles in my favourite musical: Wicked.

“I like it because I understand how it feels to be lonely” I told her, while we were waiting to perform our audition songs.
“What do you mean?” she asked
“Well, back at home, I fitted in, but when I came here, people didn’t seem to...”
I looked for a way to explain how I felt.
“It’s like some shield I have that stops people from liking me how I am. Mum says it’s because I haven’t grown up enough to be able to morph into a human properly yet...”
“What?” she looked up from the newspaper she was reading.
“Yeah, she says people can still sense that I’m not from Earth, and it means I look odd to them...” then I realised what I’d just said.

I’d forgotten that she didn’t know where I’d come from, that I came to Earth for refuge from the evil, scheming monsters that ruled our home planet. I’d become so comfortable around her that I’d forgotten that she wasn’t in on my secret – my family’s secret. Even though we drank human blood to survive and a few hikers in the area had vanished due to our unquenched thirst, we were better than others of our kind. That was why we’d had to flee the planet in the first place. I tried to explain it to her, but she couldn’t take it. She ran out of the room, leaving me alone and shocked.

I sat on one of the wooden chairs and picked up her discarded newspaper, pretending to read it so that no one could see the tears rolling onto my lap. Then a picture on one of the pages caught my eye. I recognised it as the face of one of our recent victims, staring up at me from the page. As I skimmed through the article, I began to feel slightly dizzy. I looked at the caption below the picture of the young boy:

“Above, Gary Summers, as he headed off on his last hiking trip. Left, concerned family awaiting news: Suzanne Summers, David Summers and Rachael Summers.”


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