Nick the Eraser
Chapter 1
My whole life I've known I was different. I watched tv shows with the other guys like me, all wolfy and such, but was never interested in any of the battles. They all looked like adults by the time I was seven, but I still looked like a little kid. Because of that, I was constantly observed with high interest, needles poking me, hurting me. Every so often I'd catch words like "lifespan" or "interesting" or "brain cropping." I didn't want my brain taken out, so yelled at them "NO!"
My brain never left my head, thankfully. I lived life like all the other erasers, and I thought "this is how things are going to be- forever." It all looked so bleak. I had to kill chimpanzees and eat them live if I was hungry, listening to their screams of terror. If I was thirsty, I had to stand under a pipe and let it drop into my mouth. The TV was the best I had, and all the bigger guys hogged it. But everything changed the first time I saw THEM.
I was about eight, and I was wandering around the school, with my wings stretched out comfortably. I found a door that I'd never seen before. I opened it- and gasped. There were six kids and a guy in a white coat, just playing. They all had wings, and there was plenty of space to fly. I walked in in complete wonder, and one of the kids swooped down to me. She was a little girl with brown hair, with golden streaks running through it, about my age.
"Hey!" she shouted, trying to look tough, but sounding a little scared. "What are you doing here? You aren't allowed in here! Daddy, you promised!" her head turned to the man with the white coat as she said this. "No erasers!"
The man with the white coat turned to the girl and said "I'm sorry, Max. He shouldn't be here." He was holding a little baby in his arms, with blond hair falling close to her shoulders. The four other kids looked at me. Two others looked about my age, one was, like, five, and the other was a toddler. The two others that looked my age had black and blond hair. The blond one was looking in my general direction with curiosity. His eyes were aimed just beside my head, and I concluded that he couldn't see me. What was he, blind or something?
The other one my age had fierce, brown eyes, glaring at me intensely. Like he hated my guts before he even met me. I tried glaring back, but my eyes probably looked hurt.
The toddler was a little blond boy, his head cocked to one side with interest. He looked really adorable like that, and "I couldn't help but grin at him. He sort of backed away, scared.
Then the last one, she was the only black one. She smiled slightly at me, as though she knew I'd kind of stumbled in on accident.
The man with the white coat looked at me and said, "Nick, these kids were promised that an eraser would not come into this room. And you ARE an eraser. You should probably leave."
"But I won't hurt them," I said honestly. "I just want to meet them."
The man with the white coat glared at me. "Nick, I know you won't hurt them. But as long as they say so, erasers aren't coming in here. Go. Now."
My eyes got watery, and I turned to leave. "Fine," I choked out. "It's not like it'd be any different if I actually had some friends!"
The white-coated man looked at me with sadness, and said "Nick. I can be your friend. We all are your friends. Just not these kids."
"Tell that to the guys," I snapped at him. "They'd rather kill off all of you before he became friends with me."
I tore out, tears cascading down my face like rivers. Nobody had ever been my friend. Nobody ever would be. Eventually, I slumped down next to a wall in the halls, crying softly. I sat there a little bit, but then I heard hurried footsteps. My head snapped up, and I saw the bird girl that had talked to me earlier. Max or something.
She looked down at me, and said, "I can't imagine not having friends. I'm sorry I yelled at you."
That had been the nicest thing I'd heard in my whole life. I wanted to say something, but I felt frozen. It took me a couple seconds to realize she was probably baiting me. Eventually I stood up and said, "I'm sorry I invaded your privacy. Now go back to your daddy." I kept as little spite in my voice as possible. She probably hated me, just like everybody else.
She looked at me, a little bit sadly, and said, "I don't hate you or anything. I kind of wish… never mind. Bye."
She turned to leave, but I grabbed her arm. She gasped, and then stared at me, with a mix of anger and fear. "My name's Nick," I whispered. I hesitated before asking, "Are you my friend?"
She looked at me, my little bits of white fur, my icy white hair, my blue eyes. She smiled and said "Yup. I'm Max." And with that, she was hugging me, and I stiffened. Nobody ever held me unless they were going to throw me. But she felt… warm. I liked the feel of her arms. She was my friend. My first ever. I loved it. She let go of me, and grinned as toothy smile. "See ya later!" she said, almost happy sounding.
/Then, I turned around, that warm feeling inside of me, and walked towards my room. But then, five erasers were suddenly in my way. "Hey, little freak," one said, sneering meanly. "Wanna play?"
I was so angry right then. These guys had ruined a moment I'd intended to treasure for the rest of my life. I snapped, and a strength surged through me, unlike any I'd ever felt. Within seconds these guys had dropped, rolling and moaning on the floor.
I had somebody to fight for. Never again would I be kicked around by erasers.
I was Nick Tundra, the super eraser. And I had only just begun.