Chapter 1 - Just My Luck
Of course it's my luck to be put in the 'Talent Show' group. Of course I am; because I can't possibly have a good day without something like this happening. "It will be fun," they said, "A social experience!" they said, "Interact with people you don't normally interact with!" they said.
'They' would be Mr Soper; one of our teachers; he is of the few people who I can actually stand. The other main teacher at our school would be Ms Macbeth; Macbeth is the complete opposite of Mr Soper. There are others, but they don't really have any schemes to take over the school, and besides, there are too many of them to mention. Anyway, where Mr Soper is kind, Ms Macbeth is evil. That's pretty much all you need to know about her. Oh, that and she has a tendency to sing quite badly about her schemes. The downfall of every Disney villain. Ever. If she actually learnt to stop being cliché and singing about her plan, her machine, and our imminent 'downfall', one of her plans might actually work. But she won't learn, after all, she was the one who had the password for her doomsday computer as 'the password'.
My name is Zero, though, that's not my real name. I am 15 years old and I go to this boarding school called Pinkerton. I am part of an organisation called I.N.K – the Invisible Network of Kids, formed two years ago in my second year here. It's a wonder we learn anything at all, what with the schemes that one of our teachers (Macbeth) comes up with to control us, the students and the school. This is why I.N.K was formed. Originally as a mutual understanding that our teacher needed to be stopped, but grew into a tight friendship. Vin, the 'Creator' of the Network; Trixie, most defiantly the 'Brains' of our operation, most of our missions would have failed if it weren't for her planning, and the unofficial leader; Newton, the 'Gadget Guy' and me, Zero, the 'Brawn'. I'm only part of the organisation because they needed some strength; sure they say that they would be nothing without me, but I know they can get along fine without me.
No one really knows me, they think they do, but they don't. Not really. They don't know that I forge my test results from Mr Soper to look really bad, I don't need to do it for Macbeth's class, she gives us 'Z's anyway. They don't know that I 'ran away' from home because my parents went missing at sea and I became an orphan when I was nine. They don't know that they are in the presence of royalty. They don't know why my hair is white, or why I am so pale. They don't know my name. They don't know who I am.
They think I am terrible at school work. They think I ran away because I was abused. They think I am an only child. They think I'm from America; I'm from Amrira, an island country hidden from the world. They think I dye my hair and apply heavy gothic looking mascara on because I like that style. They think that I'm pale because I don't go outside for long enough to get a tan. They have their doubts about 'Zero' being my name, but they do not ask questions. They think they know about me.
'They' are this school and the world. No one knows anything. They will never know anything. I am alone. I will always be alone.
This talent show could be another layer of protection for me, or my downfall. Should they find out about me I will have to move. During those first few years as an orphan, I changed schools three times. As we have to be in teams, it shouldn't be too hard to cover my tracks, so I don't have to leave.
There were three groups for this 'character building' exercise. The 'Drama Performance' group, the 'Trivia Quiz' group and the 'Talent Contest'. None of them are great options for me, but the Drama option would probably have been the best for me, as everyone already knows that I can act. The Talent option is the worst. If I make one wrong move, everyone will know what I can do, and therefore, who I am.
At least I can be in a group with my one of my fellow I.N.K members; Newton has been put in Talent too. At least I won't be completely alone.
"Hey, Newton, are you in a group yet?" I asked him
"Sorry Zero, but I've already agreed to form a group Hector and Aaron. You can join us if you want." Came his reply
"That's okay, you're better at science than me, I'd only make a fool of myself anyway." I say as I walked off towards the oval.
Nice going, Zero, you don't have a group and everyone's probably already paired up.
