Author: Dorotea Topić, Centar Primary School, Rijeka
Hi. I’m Gia and I’m a weirdo. Why am I a weirdo? I have no idea. Everybody has been telling me that since I was little. I like being weird, different, but not all people like the same things. I’m 17 and I’m an orphan. Obviously, I don’t know anything about my parents, but I think it’s better this way. They left me in an orphanage so why should I care about them if they didn’t care about me. School is not my favourite institution (that is the polite way to say it). I’m not a bad student. I’m just tired of it, it’s boring. But that was before him.
When he showed up at school, he was still the new kid, fresh meat. Every girl wanted him. Not me. I had Jace, Alec and Sebastian to amuse me. They were characters from my favourite book series. I was reading in the school hall when he bumped into me, probably imagining I was a cactus or something. He even apologized! Oh my gosh! There was a polite human being in this city! The bell rang and I ran to the cafeteria because I was starving. I was eating my burger when he stopped by my table. I was shocked. I literally dropped my burger. “Hi,” I said with a shaky voice. “Can I sit here,” he asked with a smile on his face. “Okay, I mean yeah, sure. You can sit here.” I was so nervous. Nobody had ever looked at me or talked to me in this school, except teachers and the janitor (funny guy, actually), but there he was: tall guy with hazel eyes that looked exactly like mine and light brown hair. He sat and apologized again. “It’s not that big of a deal. You just bumped into me. People do it all the time and they never apologize.” I sighed. “Were you challenged by some kids to mock me or what,” I asked. “Why would you assume that? Do I look like a guy who would mock someone?” “Honestly, yes.” It was clear that I shocked him. “That’s rude, but I guess I deserve it. So, you like to read, huh? By the way, I’m Jem,” he said. “Gia, and yes, I like to read.” Suddenly someone came behind me and started talking to Jem. It was Aimee, the school’s queen bee. As usual, she was ignoring me. I didn’t care. I just continued to eat my burger. “Stop chewing while I’m talking to Jem!” She looked at me with her snake eyes. “So, I’m not supposed to eat?” She was annoyed and I enjoyed it, but I guess she didn’t. She spilt her latte on me. I just got up, smiled sarcastically at Jem and left. Finally, the lessons ended. I was walking home when Jem came behind me and scared the hell out of me. At least he thought he did, but I was used to this stuff, so I just looked at him with no expression on my face. He quit smiling. “We need to talk,” he said seriously. “Okay. I’m free after 6 p.m. That’s when my shift ends.” My voice was still shaky. “Ok, where do you work?” “Bookshop called The Brian’s Books.” He nodded and left.
To my surprise, he was waiting for me after my shift. We went for a walk by the main square. I was wondering what he wanted to talk about. Then he just stopped like he was reading my mind. He took a deep breath and then he just spat it out: “I’m your brother.” Now his voice was breaking. My jaw dropped and I’m pretty sure I looked like students in Hogwarts when professor Quirrell was screaming: “Trolls in the dungeon!” “W-What? Are you delusional or something,” I asked, staring at him. “Haven’t you noticed that we have the same hazel eyes with a green speck on the left eye?” When he said that, I was terrified. How would he know that? I started running away from this lunatic. He, of course, was faster and caught me by the hand. It hurt. “How can I prove it to you?” He sounded hopeless. “You can’t! That’s the point! You’re not my brother!” “Not only am I your brother, I’m your twin. We have the same birthmark on our thigh.” Now I was scared. A lot. “You’re a psychopath,” I screamed and tears welled up my eyes. “I don’t have a brother! Or a family! I’m an orphan! My mother left me and so did my father!” Now I knew I was crying. The tears were all over my face. “Father never left you. He never knew about you. Mom hid you. That’s why he sent me,” he said, with a calm voice. “Then why didn’t he come? Making more babies to abandon?” He just stared at me. Then he took a deep breath and a strange light appeared behind him. The light became even brighter and some feathers turned into wings. Those were wings, black wings, more black then a cloudy night sky. I was speechless. “You can do that too.” he smiled. “Of course I can’t. How did you do it?” I watched with disbelief. “I’m a dimidius. Half angel, half human and so are you.” He looked serious. “Angel? You mean our mother was an angel?” “No. She is dead. She died while giving birth. Our father is an angel. A fallen angel. Lucifer.” he didn’t look like he was joking. “You mean the devil. I’m sorry if this surprises you, but I don’t believe you.” I said sarcastically. “Try to spread your wings. Imagine them. Their color, shape, weight…” I tried. The wings really appeared. I was speechless. I started crying again.
I’m an angel. Half angel. I really am. I have a brother and a father. Now I know who I got my sarcasm from.
