Variant

Chapter 4: Explaining This to Mother

16 years later

"So what was it like?" Amanda looked up at her friend over her coffee cup, stirring the fluid slowly with the small silver spoon.

"What was what like?" Amanda asked. Maria smiled.

"Raising a child on your own?" Amanda had just met Maria a few days ago. Maria had showed up at her work on her night shift and they had talked all night. As of now they sat in Amanda's small kitchen drinking coffees. Amanda was telling Maria about her husband Rick and her two children though she had left out names. She had told her that she had been previously married and had raised her eldest for four years alone before she met Rick.

"It was hard." She said. "Especially once he entered school." She sighed. "I had to take him out and put him into private school. Half way through though I had to put him back into public because I couldn't afford it." Maria flinched.

"Ouch." She said. "Hows he doing now?" She asked.

Amanda shrugged. "He's having some difficulties. Not academically, academically he's considered a genius." She said. "But socially."

"He a bit of a nerd?" Amanda shook her head.

"No he's-"

"Mom?" She flinched slightly as she heard her son come into the house. Maria turned and paused as she saw a sixteen year old boy walk into the kitchen. "Who's this?" He asked moving to one of the cupboards pulling out a glass.

"This is Maria." Amanda said smiling at him. Maria stared at him. He looked like a normal sixteen year old boy for the most part. He wore blue jeans with a tear in the right knee, a black Asylum T-Shirt with a white long sleeved shirt underneath. Kind of retro for the times but stylish none-the-less. Or what was considered style for a teenager. His hair was black and slightly spiked in the front. What threw her off though, was the slight slant of his eyebrows and the point of his ears. "Maria, this is my oldest son, Spock." Spock smiled at Maria though frowned when he noticed she was staring at him. Great it's started again.

"Hi." Spock said simply. Maria didn't say anything as she continued to stare at him. Spock shook his head at her and turned to fill his glass with milk. He turned without saying good-bye and went up to his room.

Maria realized what she had been doing and turned towards Amanda. "I am so sorry." She said. "I shouldn't have been staring like that." She covered her face with her hands a moment before putting her hands on the table. Amanda nodded.

"He does get that reaction a lot." She said. "I also should have warned you that my first husband was a Vulcan."

"That might have slightly prepared me for that." Maria smiled slightly. "I really am sorry. Can you call him back down here so I can apologize?" Amanda didn't need to do anything as Spock came back down the stairs his backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Spock?" Maria asked. "Hi... I'm really sorry about how I reacted. It's nice to meet you." Maria said. Spock glared at her for a moment.

"Sure." He said nonchalantly. He slipped his shoes back on.

"Where are you going?" Amanda asked. He usually didn't go out after school.

"Out." Spock said moving out the door.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The sun was already starting to set. Winter was coming soon. Spock pulled his black hoody tighter around him a moment before he pulled up the zipper. He had spent the last three hours at the library not wanting to be in the house with his mothers friend. Not to mention he didn't want to face his brother. Even though the kid was only eleven years old he was a living terror. He adjusted his bag back onto his shoulder and walked across the empty street. He paused when he saw a small group of boys from his school. He'd have to pass them to get to his street.

Spock kept his head down in hopes that if he ignored them that they would ignore him.

"Hey Cock Rimmer." Spock flinched No such luck. He hated how his mother had married a man with the last name Rimmer. It just added to the insults they could have dealt him in the first place. Spock looked at them annoyed.

"Is that really the best you can come up with?" Spock asked. "With you GPA I would think you'd be a little more intelligent than that." He said. He paused when three of the boys blocked his way. He rolled his eyes.

"Will you guys grow up?" Spock looked over to one of the girls that was in his Xenolinguistics class. What was her name? Oh yes... Uhura. He smiled slightly at her and was shoved back onto the sidewalk.

"You ogling my girlfriend freak?" He looked up at the brown haired boy.

"Kirk leave him alone." She said. Two of the boys laughed as they picked Spock off the sidewalk. They held him in place as Kirk punched Spock in the stomach. Spock doubled over and would have fallen to the sidewalk if it wasn't for the two hands holding him in place. "Kirk stop it!" Uhura said angrily. Kirk laughed as he continued to punch the alien. Spock finally fell to the ground as they let him go and covered his head with his hands as they started to kick him. He vaguely saw Uhura intervene, little good that she did. They pushed her back and continued their assault on him. It seemed like forever to Spock as they continued to beat him. You'd think by this point he'd be used to it. But no.

They eventually stopped when Spock stopped moving and laughed as they walked away, one of them spitting on him.

"Go back to Vulcan freak. We don't want you here." Another laughed.

Uhura stood there staring at Spock as Kirk tried to pull her away with him. She pulled out of Kirks hand but he grabbed her and pulled her along.

By the time Spock awoke it was dark. He glanced down at his watch. It was after one am. Three hours after his curfew. He was never late for curfew and knew his mother would be worrying about him. He stood up slowly and brushed off his blood flowed from his nose and lip and from a scrap on his knee. His other knee of his pants are now torn to match the other.

How was he going to explain this to his mother.