Chapter 2; The U word

Clarisse pushed open the door and strode into the fancy entrance hall. She was VERY pissed off at Erik. Some "official" had called and said that she had to send Erik to school. And worse, they interrupted her social life! She had been out with friends at the spa and then she had to come home.

The second her eyes met her son's; she gave him a glare so fierce it would make a mountain cower. "HOW DARE YOU! "She shouted at the top of her lungs. "HOW DARE YOU TELL ANYONE THAT YOU'RE ALIVE!"

In a very small voice, almost a whisper, Erik said "But I didn't"

"WHAT!"

In a slightly stronger voice, Erik said again "I didn't tell anyone I was here, I swear."

"GO TO YOUR ROOM! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Clarisse said, unable to think of a retort.

With that Erik raced out of the room before he could get hurt. Obviously. His mother was not in too good of a mood.

Clarisse did not want to send this monster to school.
" What will the other moms think? They wouldn't want a horrible creature like him to be around their precious normal children. For that matter, Clarisse didn't even want Erik around Jamie. She was normal right now, but to much exposure could ruin her.

Clarisse valued her social status. She did not want anything to happen to it. And furthermore, Jamie was her baby and she didn't want anything to happen to her reputation either. What would people say if they knew that we were related to him?

Clarisse walked over to the phone and called the number left by the government official. She needed to know if there was any way she could get out of sending him to school. But after a 3 hour heated argument with an official, she realized she had no choice. He had to go.

Just then Jamie entered the room, her green eyes lit with rage. "HE CAN"T GOES TO SCHOOL! HE"LL RUIN ME! NO ONE WILL WANT TO HANG OUT WITH ME IF HE"S AROUND! EW, MOOMMMM, YOU CAN"T DO THIS TO ME!" She threw a huge temper tantrum, screaming and stomping her foot on the floor! "LIKE, EWW, MOM HE"S SO UGLY!" With that she burst into tears, real ones. Jamie would be a perfectly normal person if it wasn't for her mother. She had been taught that looks and popularity were everything! "EWW, MOM, ITS NOT FAIR!". She turned on her heels and ran out to her huge, pink adorned bedroom to collapse crying on her fluffy pink bed.

Meanwhile…..

Erik was in his room trying to test himself on all the Math, Science, and French he had taught himself. He didn't bother testing himself on music; it was second nature to him.

"Let's see, a pentagon has 5 sides, and a hexagon has 6.. Newton's first law states that an object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion at a constant speed in a straight line unless acted upon by an unbalanced force…let's see a verb comes before an adjective.. And a monosyllabique is a word that has one syllable.

Erik put down the notebook he had used to write that all down, proud of himself. He couldn't wait for school.

Only one thing nagged at his mind. Jamie and his mother had always told him that no one would like him.. Would it prove true? The one time his mother had taken him out in public, he had not been wearing his mask. A man had caught sight of his face and ran away.. Erik hadn't thought about this in a long time and wasn't about to start now. He pushed the thought away to the corner of his mind.

Suddenly Jamie burst through the door screaming at him. " I HATE YOU! YOU RUINED MY LIFE! I"LL NEVER SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN!" Her eyes were red and tears were dripping down her cheeks.

"What's wrong? "

"YOU KNOW! "

"No I honestly don't!"

"YOU'RE GOING TO SCHOOL! THE SAME SCHOOL I GO TO! NOW ALL OF THE KIDS ARE GOING TO KNOW THAT YOU'RE MY BROTHER YOUR SO UGLY!"

For a second Erik didn't know why he would ruin her life. Then his gaze fell on the mirror and he knew. Doubt sprung into his mind. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps no one would want to speak to him. Maybe he shouldn't go. He tried to ignore the thoughts pounding on his brain. Telling him that he was a freak, a horror, a devil, a demon, a beast, a gorgon, twisted, grotesque, contorted, unseemly, and worst of all the U word. Ugly. These insults hammered his head, he was drowning in them. He wanted to die just so he could escape from them. He hated himself.

He lay down on his bed and cried himself to sleep.