Chapter 1: Welcome to the New World

"What happened at the bank yesterday?" I asked him, knowing he'd been there and having seen the news. I made sure to try and listen to his pulse; if it increased, I'd been told, he's probably lying. I couldn't quite make it out from the rest of them though, instead, I focused on watching for any movements or 'ticks' he might have.

James nearly blanched and took a step back....but just nearly. Instead he blinked calmly and said "What do you mean?" He had experience with lying. After all he got good at it lying to Kat most of the time......even if more than usual, she caught him anyway.

"What happened at the bank yesterday?" I repeated, I'd been taught that if they answered a question with a question, they were trying to hide something. It was a useful skill, "With the robbery?" I added, blinking. He had no ticks that I could see, and I couldn't hear his pulse over the large number of noises in here.

"The bank robbery? You mean with the giant robot thing and that Revenant guy?" James asked. "I only saw it on the news, but I wasn't there if that's what you're asking." Chris and Amy didn't have as good a poker face as James, and exchanged a glance.

I saw the glance out of the corner of my eye and flicked my focus to it for a split-second. It confirmed my idea that they were hiding something, and the lie I already had proof of being a lie made it seem even more likely.
"Who's Revenant?" I asked, the part of the news I'd seen didn't show anyone by that name, though I'd only seen a part of it.

"He was at the robbery, fighting that robot thing," James said. "Some kind of super-hero I think, he said his name once to the cops." Still, now James was nervous, and wondered if this girl knew.....or suspected, something.

"Oh," I said, "Was that on the news? I only saw a part of it, so I might have missed it." I asked, scratching my arm.

"Yeah," James said. "News, websites, a lot of places." They still had ten minutes left for lunch, and his stomach grumbled to remind him of the need to eat. "So uh......we were on our way to lunch," James said, trying to find a polite way to leave the conversation.

"Oh," I said, blinking but not moving, though after a second of thought, I added, "Do you want me to leave?"

"Well no I don't want to say it like that," James said. That would be rude. "just that I'd like to eat and there's ten minutes left for lunch." Chris sighed and said what he could not. "Want to join us?"

I looked at the girl behind James, the one who'd spoken to me.
"Okay," I answered her. Even though I wasn't supposed to eat the same food as everyone else, I wanted to see what it was like.

Nodding at her, Chris and Amy started walking while James looked like a man who dodged a bullet only to be hit by a car. "So uh.....do I still smell weird?" he asked Kristen, remembering their first encounter.

I inhaled through my nose, a little more deeply than I would have if it were just to breathe,
"You smell the same," I said to James, I briefly wondered if telling him I could smell him at the bank would make it easier to find out what had happened, but I held my tongue.

Jake was walking out when he ran into the group. He nearly rammed into Amy.
"Hm?" He took a step back. "Standing in the hallway is a bad idea." He started walking...then stopped.
"Has anyone seen Stella?" He asked. "...haven't seen her since she left me and I'm worried."

"I wasn't standing in the hallway, you walked into me," Amy retorted. "Maybe you should watch where you're going next time? And yeah, I saw Stella yesterday."

"Damn, so much for using a different soap," James joked, and started walking.

"I don't think it was soap." I answered him, not recognising the joke as I followed him.

"I remember seeing her by the shipping area," Amy said to Jake. "She's holed up in some shipping container." With that, she left Jake standing there as she continued along with Chris, James and Kristen close behind. "Oh..." James said to Kristen. "Well....is it a bad smell?" he asked.

"It's not a regular smell." I told him, not really knowing how to describe it myself.

"Well does it make you wrinkle your nose in distaste?" he asked, as they entered the cafeteria. It was partially full, some students clearing out while the rest stayed seated. Most of the good food (by high school standards anyway) was gone, but there was still some decent grub to grab.

"It's different," I said, "It's not something everyone smells like." I paused, his friends seemed preoccupied, and if he already knew I could smell him... "I smelled it at the bank."

Chris and Amy were far enough away to not hear him whisper, especially with the ambient sound of the other students in the school. "And what does that make you think?" he asked Kristen.

"That you were there. I think I mostly want to know why you smell different," I said, looking over the food; none of it really looked appealing, "The bank was just an accident."

"Not sure I'd call a robotic suit robing the place an accident," James muttered as he grabbed a tray and a sandwich, along with a chocolate milk. It wasn't exactly the drink he'd take with a sandwich but hey, chocolate milk.

"So you were there?" I asked him, even though it was obvious he was at this point, "Why?"

"Yeah I was there," James said, though he was hesitant to actually say more, especially on the why. "Just....in the neighborhood really."

"Oh." I said. Continuing to press about it was probably going to get me nowhere, so I dropped it. "What food is nice?" I asked him, having still not decided.

"Here? In a high school? None," James said with a chortle. "It's meant to be edible, not delicious. But I'd probably go with an apple. At least that's not made here." He grabbed one from the fruit basket and handed it to Kristen.

I took the apple and looked at it. I'd seen some of the guards and doctors eat them, but I'd never been allowed to try one. I had some money, if I needed to pay for it, but I'd have to wait to see how much it is.

The four of them reached the cash register, the lady behind it looking at their items and punching in the appropriate buttons for each order. For Kristen and her apple, it was only fifty cents.

I put a hand into my pocket. I usually didn't have change, so I pulled out a note; a ten. The lady on the cash register didn't look happy counting out my change though, so I didn't say anything to her. I just took my apple and followed James.

After they had paid (and nearly exchanged a laugh over the lunch lady's reaction to the ten) the group sat at a free table and began eating.

I sat down, holding the apple in one hand. I stared at it for a few seconds, and brought it up to my mouth, taking a bite. I ate it, though I wasn't sure about the taste. It tasted dry and plain, almost like paper. I swallowed the first bite, and went to take a second, but I was interrupted by a sharp pain in my stomach, and without warning, I threw up.

"Whoa!" James shouted, in unison with Chris and Amy who all grabbed their food and pulled it away as the pool of sick spread over the table. "Kristen, you okay?" James asked, even though it was rhetorical. Chris shot him a look and said "Doesn't look like it."

"I'm fine." I said, aware of the people staring at me. It wasn't that I was worried about what they thought, I was more worried about the fact I wasn't meant to be here. "I should go." I said standing up.

"No you're not fine," James said. "Come on....I'll take you to the nurses office," he said, standing up. His appetite was kinda dead anyway from the sight of the puke. Chris and Amy said nothing, but moved to a different table.

"No, I'm fine," I repeated, stepping away from the table, "I can't go to the nurse."

"Yeah says the girl who just puked up from an apple," James said, and he gently took her by the arm and led her out of the cafeteria. While he did that, Amy looked up from her food and said "Hey is it me, or is James meeting more girls now? First there was Lauren and her band, and now Kristen." Chris took a bite of her sandwich and said "Its the superhero thing. Gotta be."

I pulled my arm away from James. "I told you, I can't. I'm not supposed to be here."

"Fine, no nurse but you need to see someone," James said as they walked down the hall. "What about your bodyguards? They here?"

"He's outside," I said, "I'm fine. I should've known not to eat that."

"What do you mean?" James asked, stopping in the hall. "How could you have known eating an apple would make you puke? You allergic to citrus or something?"

"I have a special diet," I said, "I can't eat anything else."

"Anything else?" James asked, and he was whispering then. "Kristen, what else are you allergic to?"

"I'm not allergic," I said, "I can't eat it though. It's bad for me."

"How can it be bad for you?" he asked. "I mean, do you have some kind of medical condition?"

I shrugged, I wasn't sure of the reasons behind it, but I knew it was because of the way I was. 'Special' is the word I was told growing up.

"Well what can you eat?" James asked, genuinely curious now.

I paused, that was something I was explicitly told not to tell anyone, but I couldn't think of an alternative,
"I can't tell you."

"Why not? It's not like a smoothie or some kind of medicine is a major secret," James said.

I didn't answer him. Instead, I carried on walking towards the main door. It didn't matter if I got caught leaving now, I just needed to get back to the car.