Feel

Chapter Two: Science and Strangers and Labs, Oh My!

Approximate Reading Time: Six Minutes

"Hey, the freak is doing the thing again!" Taylor points out with fake excitement woven into his voice, and I wince as I duck my head. Must they point it out every single time?

"Oh, he is! Look at that, how does he do that?" asks Jordan. I sigh, willing the blush to go away.

"Does it happen every time he says something stupid, or only some of the times?" Ashley wonders aloud. Why does the universe hate me?

"Now, Class," the teacher interrupts, and I thank the Heavens for giving me a sane adult. "One must be polite when turning a classmate into a science experiment. Tyler, would you mind explaining to us the reasoning behind your chameleon powers?"

"Oh, oh my dear Notch - I don't have any chameleon powers! I blush when I'm embarrassed, okay? It's just the blood rushing to my face, get over it," I huff, regretfully feeling my face heat up even more.

"Well. Someone sure is snappy today," Tiffany snorts.

"Maybe he needs those anger management classes we read about in that Before book," Annie suggests, and I throw my hands up.

"What the crap, I'm not even angry!"

"He ain't even mad," Jack whispers to Mark, forcing a giggle, and I drag my hand down my face in exasperation.

"Why must you always be so annoying?"

"Tyler!" our teacher rebukes. Her terrible attempt at looking offended almost pains me. "That was horribly rude. I expected more from you."

"No, you didn't!" I shout, standing up and pushing my chair in. "Of course you didn't! I'm Feeling, you expect me to fail regularly! Why can't you just-"

The bell rings, cutting my rant short, and I scowl at the entirety of the class before stomping out the door with my backpack slung over my shoulder. Why do I tolerate their crap!? It isn't fair, and they're all Blank idiots, and-

Oh, geez, what did I just do?

I never react to them like that! Heck, I never have the courage to react to them like that. They're terrifying, and their roles in my early childhood were, frankly, traumatizing. Plus, I'm shy to begin with. Me standing up to the Blanks? Not exactly something you see every day.

"Yo, Tyler, wait up!" shouts an empty voice that I'm sad to say I recognize. My non-Blank (but still Blank) student. "We heard the commotion in your class from all the way across the hall."

"That's great, Ryan."

"So, you gonna do it again tomorrow? It was totally awesome, but you're usually so quiet."

"No, definitely not. And, uh, yes, Ryan, I am."

"Right, because you're Feeling and we're all Blanks. None of us understand any of that emotion stuff."

"Thank you for that lovely observation, Captain Obvious."

"No problem, Sergeant Sarcasm." He giggles. "Did I do it right?"

I sigh, plastering a fake smile on my face and hoping this Blank won't be able to tell the difference. "Yeah, Ryan, perfect execution."

"Thanks!" He pretends to glow at the praise, a trick I taught him in an attempt to try not to feel so alone. It was dumb, thinking I could teach a Blank to Feel. "So, wanna come over to my house again? You can teach me more about Before!" He pauses, eyes widening. "Hey, that rhymed! Do I laugh, or just smile?"

"Either one. It depends on your personality."

"Which one should I do, then?"

"Hmm. Based on the personality you've built for yourself, I would expect you to do neither. You'd probably just ignore the rhyme and move on."

"Oh." He frowns, sensing that he's done something wrong and should act accordingly. "Okay. So, wanna come to mine?"

"No, thank you, Ryan. I need some time to binge-watch a couple Before shows or something."

"Ooh, can we binge-watch togethe-"

"No. See you tomorrow, Ryan."

He furrows his eyebrows in mock confusion as I start to turn away. "Should I act offended?"

"No. Just go home."

"Oh, okay!" he yells cheerfully. I let out a long breath and begin on the path through the woods. Life, I swear.

Luckily, my house is fairly secluded - and by 'fairly,' I mean 'absolutely.' It's smack dab in the middle of Hazelnut Forest, and the route that leads in and out of said forest is creepy and mildly dangerous. We're talking annoying, path-blocking foliage, inconveniently-placed raging rivers, and an unnecessarily narrow path. Despite not being capable of emotions like fear, most of the Blanks avoid my forest. Whether it's because of some instinctual need to steer clear or because of a direct order from the Tyler-loving government that rules our nation, I don't really care. Just so long as I'm allowed to sit peacefully and uninterrupted in my lovely home, I'm fine.

"Ba dum, ba dum, ba dum ba dum ba dum, ba dadadada..." A sound, so quiet that it's nearly inaudible, so airy that it may be one with the wind, drifts through the forest.

"Um..." I raise an eyebrow and glance around at the trees.

"Ba dum! Ba dum..." Okay, probably not the wind at this point.

"Hello..?"

"Ba dadadada-"

"You are terrible at this," a new voice hisses, and I spin to face the direction it came from.

"Who's there?" I ask, trying not to get too nervous.

"What, no! I'm great at this, did you not see my ninja rolls!? Ba dadadada!"

"Notch, shut up! We're on a mission." the second voice huffs.

"Mission, shmission!"

"Sky," the second voice groans. "This is important. Tyler's an Emotive."

"No dip, Sherlock."

"Screw you, Watson."

"That was honestly really good," the first voice giggles, and I growl.

"Who are you?" I ask. A couple of Blanks from school? Nah, they wouldn't venture into the forest for a prank. A couple of Blank adults, then? But why would they be bothering me? "Either show yourself or leave."

"He's a snappy one."

"Could you please take this seriously, Sky?" asks the second voice.

"Pssh. Seriousness. The excuse of horribly bland people."

"Am I horribly bland, then?"

"No! No, of course not, you're awesome, you're-"

"I don't care what you guys are, I care who you are!" I tell them, fighting the urge to stomp my foot like a Feeling child.

"Ah, right. Sorry, Tyler," the second voice replies, and a boy my age steps out of the darkness of the forest.

"I'm Ty, nice to meet you."

"And I'm SkythekiDRSBUTYOUCANCALLMESKY, OH, NOTCH-" The owner of the first voice - Sky - falls out of a tree, flailing his arms, and Ty sighs in exasperation.

"Sorry. Again. We're here because you're an Emotive," Ty explains, blatantly ignoring Sky's troubles.

"Emotive?" I ask, doing my best to ignore him as well.

"Yeah, as in feeling emotions..?" Ty's voice goes up at the end of his sentence, and I wonder if he thinks he's got the wrong person. Maybe he does.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm Feeling. Why does it matter?" I'm hovering between extremely curious and mildly concerned.

"We're supposed to bring you back to the lab so the scientists can take a look at you." Ahem, scratch that, mildly curious and extremely concerned.

"Haha, cool! Let me just, um, maybe I should go empty my backpack first..." I trail off before whipping around and sprinting down the path toward my house.

Two strangers kidnapping me to take me to a laboratory? Haha, no, not today, Universe.

"Tyler, wait! We're trying to help-"

"Ty!" Sky screeches, and I falter, the part of me dominated by Feelings urging me to go back and make sure they aren't hurt. But then I remember the whole scientists and laboratories bit of the conversation and decide they're probably fine. "Oh, Notch- are you all right? Ty!"

I force myself forward, through the dangerous vegetation of Hazelnut Forest and towards the front door of my house.