Persona

by Amy Lunderman

  Knowing he’s crossed the line, that’s what, lets him decide to let her go. Daniel is pleased, but Fletcher makes him sign a waiver that if she were to develop any symptoms then she had to be brought back. He signs it without pause, just so delighted to take his daughter home finally. Peter walks Daniel out of his office, and joins him to Moira’s room. Her step mother Caroline, and baby brother Damon are in the room with her. Moira and Damon were coloring when the men walk into the room.

  Peter watches Daniel tell them the good news, and sees how happy they all are. Moira jumps up and runs into her father’s arms, making her strawberry curls bounce. He thinks back to when she used to be happy to see just him, and he hopes she comes back to him one day.

  Chapter Five

  As soon as Moira crosses the threshold of the cafeteria that day, she notices the new level of activity inside. She realizes that everyone is in a flurry over the new guy, and she can’t believe how juvenile they all are. She took interest in him too sure, but it’s not like she doesn’t have other things to occupy her thoughts. With an eye roll, she makes her way to the table in the back of the room.

  Reaching the table she sees that she is the last one to arrive. They are all in deep conversation and don’t even notice her when she sits down between Raven and Marty.

  “I heard he was in reform school or something, and now here on probation.” Raven says in excited, while pulling up her dark hair into a knot.

  “That’s not what I heard. He was at a private school, and got kicked out. This was the only place that would take him.” Ray replies.

  Marty laughs then, “Why would they send him here? We’re not really known for reforming criminals.”

  “Those could be all lies you know. Maybe his parents just moved.” Daisy says optimistically.

  Moira looks around at them all with a pout, she doesn’t remember anyone getting this excited about her when she moved here a month ago. Though, she doesn’t exactly have that mysterious air about he either.

  “You know, no one was this interested in me. Maybe he’s less exciting than me, so you shouldn’t tell tall tales.” Moira says with a sigh.

  This makes them all laugh and feel bad for her at the same time. Not exactly making her feel any better.

  “Don’t feel bad Warner, we just liked you from the start is all.” Marty says as he pats her back.

  “Yeah, don’t feel bad babe. You’re just more open that this guys is. I can hear his secrets calling to me.” Raven says with a sigh.

  “Oh boy, you in heat again Raven?” Ray says with a laugh.

  They all laugh at this, since Raven has the tendency to take interest in any member of the opposite sex. Which is why she always gets into trouble, she likes her boys normal and not like her.

  “Shut up, I am not.” Raven is the one to pout now.

  “Don’t worry girls, we all love you no matter your quirks.” Daisy says sweetly.

  Ray and Marty agree with a smile and nod, but Raven can’t get off the idea that the new guy is more interesting than he probably is.

  “What if he’s like us? That would be hot.”

  We all groan, and push away our already forgotten food. Moira wonders what it would be like to have another one like them around. It would take the focus off of her, if they’re was. With her persona problems lately, she’s had a couple close calls. She knows Daisy means it when she said Moira had quirks. They probably think other things about her worse than that, but she tries to reassure them that she’s normal.

  Whatever that means.

  “Speaking of hot, Spencer was my lab partner today. The new guy Liam actually came in late to our class.” Moira offers her own gossip to add to the mix.

  She doesn’t notice that Marty scoots a little away from her then, and focus on his lunch.

  “Are there any other juicy adulterous activities for today?” Raven asks as she leans closer to her.

  “Other than our hands touching? No.”

  “You naughty girl. That’s almost G rated.” Raven laughs out.

  “He’s still seeing Quinn right?” Daisy asks.

  “Yeah he is, I just don’t see why he’s with her.” Moira says in disappointment.

  “That’s because he’s an ass, and is trying to get something on the side.” Marty grumbles under his breath that the others almost miss it.

  “That is pretty much true Moira. The guy has been with Quinn for as long as I can remember. He’s just as vindictive as she is.” Ray agrees.

  “He’s been nothing but nice to me though, and I’ve never seen him bad to anyone else.”

  “I wouldn’t put it past him, to trying to get at you because Quinn doesn’t like you.” Marty says.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence guys.” Moira pouts.

  “She’s right, maybe he’s changed.” Daisy says, giving her a smile.

  “Yeah, he’s probably breaking up with Quinn right now, so he can have Moira all to himself.” Raven says with a note of teasing in her voice.

  Moira ignores them, and looks around the cafeteria until she spy’s Spencer. He’s sitting with his friends across the room, and as if he feels her eyes on him he looks up at her. Smiling he waves and she feels a relief to know that he must really like her. She smiles back at him before he looks away, and wonders if he’s ever break up with Quinn for her.

  “Wow, you were right Daisy, he is cute.” Raven says, as she points to the new guy Liam striding into the cafeteria.

  Moira shifts her attention to him and away from Spencer, and once again is surprised with his lack of interest with anything around him. The activity in the room dims down and everyone is gawking at him again, but he doesn’t even notice. He just walks between the tables, gazing at the people sitting, as if weighing the option if they are worthy of his company. He doesn’t stop at any of them, and he gets closer to her table.

  When he gets a foot away, Moira picks up on a new scent in the air. It smells like warm spicy cinnamon and her mouth waters as if tasting fresh baked cinnamon rolls. The scent gets stronger the closer gets to they’re table, and with it is the feeling of her persona teasing her senses. Looking around at the others to see if they notice anything, but they aren’t acting as if they do. He gets so close to the table now that her skin feels like a million bugs are crawling inside. She thinks he’s going to stop at they’re table to sit down, but he walks past.

  As he does, the scent slowly fades and she can no longer taste anything. Her skin stops tingling and returns to normal. He goes to the other side of the cafeteria and reaches an empty hardly ever used table, and pulls out a chair and slouches into it. Slowly, the activity picks back up in the room, and everyone goes back to what they were doing. Moira doesn’t take her eyes off him though, and he looks right up at her again. Her skin tingles for a split second and her vision sharpens, indicating they changed. His grey eyes go wide, and they flash violet, before he quickly looks away. When he does, her skin and vision go back to normal. She hopes no one saw her, but wonders in anyone saw him.

  Moira has the feeling her friends might be right, that he has hidden secrets. She just doesn’t know what, but she definitely wants to.

  ***

  August 2023

  Moira has been home for eight years now, and has grown accustomed to the day to day activity’s that come with being normal. It’s the end of summer, and her parents wanted some alone time in the house. So she said she’d take her ten year old brother Damon, and seven year old sister Annie outside to play. She got them into playing tag for a while, but Damon grew bored and wanted to play hide and seek. Annie didn’t want to though. She said she was too scared to hide alone.

  Moira sympathized and tried to come up with something else to do, but Damon became upset. He started teasing Annie that she was a baby, and shouldn’t be out playing anyway. This made her cry and run into Moira’s arm. Getting angry, Moira yells at Damon to leave they’re sister alone. This makes him livid, and he tells Moira that she isn’t even they’r
e real sister. He then runs over to her, and shoves her down onto the ground. This causes not only her to fall, but also Annie, who is crying in earnest now.

  Moira gets so mad and hurt suddenly that her body is filled with a vibrating sensation. Before she can worry what it could be, it intensifies to the point of pain and causes her to hunch over with a cry. Her head, mouth and hands are throbbing now and she feels tears falling out of her eyes. She feels pressure in her fingers and jaw, and then her nails and teeth begin to push up to a point. Next her hair that was up into a loose knot, falls free and cascades auburn around her shoulders. Blinking tears from her eyes, she realizes that she can see as well as a moment ago.

  The pain she felt goes away, and she’s left with light tingling feeling beneath her skin. Annie gasps in surprise when she sees her, but she stops crying. Moira looks back to Damon, to see that his eyes are wide and he’s shaking. Before she can ask if he’s all right, he turns around and runs into the house calling for his mother.

  ***

  October 2028

  The following morning Moira has to brave the bus ride to school alone. Marty was suspiciously absent, for the first time since she met him. Thankfully the line into the school was uneventful, and she didn’t have any run in’s with Quinn. She did however see her as she went to her locker, and thought about going in the other direction, but remembered she has to hold her ground.

  Moira had just opened her locker, when Quinn is walking past her. She regards her with alertness, but the other girl doesn’t even look her way. She notices then, that Quinn is all alone. Her clone copies are nowhere to be seen, and she looks less than her usual chipper self. Moira lets herself wonder what could possibly make her be so different all of a sudden, but then she remembers that she doesn’t care. Slamming her locker closed, she rushes to her first class before the bell can ring.

  By the time she gets to gym, she still hasn’t seen Marty anywhere and she’s getting really worried. The last time he disappeared, he got into trouble defending Raven. As she changes into her workout clothes, she hopes he’ll be in lunch and everything will be alright. With a heavy heart, she follows the heard of girls into the gymnasium. As soon as she walks through the locker room door, her persona starts to tingle inside her. She pushes it back inside, as she gets farther in the room, and that’s when she picks up on the light scent of cinnamon.

  Swiftly she takes in the room, until her eyes land on Liam Morgan sitting off to the side on the bleachers watching her. He’s wearing the usual sweats and shirt, and he makes it look rather rugged slouched back like he doesn’t care about anything. His eyes are bright though, and again they flicker from grey to violet before he looks away. She feels her vision getting brighter and weaker, and has impression her eyes might be flickering too. She stops right where she is, not caring that some girls yell at her and walk around. Closing her eyes before someone sees, she takes deep breathes until the tingling sensation dims.

  Moira hears the other kids in class, make their way around the room, talking to one another, and she tries to ignore them. Hearing movement close to her, she opens her eyes to see Spencer standing in front of her. He looks worried about something, and she wonders if he’s worried about her. So she gives him a smile, and he easily returns it.

  “You looked deep in thought there, everything alright?” He asks, as he puts his hand to her back and guides her over to the bleachers where most of the class is now seated.

  “Just a headache is all. It’ll pass.” She tries to reassure him.

  The closer to the bleachers and Liam she gets, the scent of cinnamon gets stronger and she can almost taste it. She tries to breathe through her mouth and ignore it, as she sits down next to Spencer. But she can feel eyes on her, and has to force herself not to look to see if it’s Liam again.

  She gets a reprieve from her thoughts as the teacher tells them that the girls and guys are being immersed again today, and get to play opposite each other with volleyball. They are all instructed to get on opposite sides of the gym, while the nets are hooked up for them. Moira quickly scurries to get away from the scent that accompanies Liam, and Spencer gives her a weird look as she walks away from him. She doesn’t bother trying to reassure him since she’s not sure if he needs it, it’s not like he’s affected by her.

  Now that she is on the other side of the gym, her sense are her own again. Taking deep breathes, she wonders if maybe she’s just imagining things. She doesn’t think it’s possible for Liam to smell so strongly. She’s never picked up scents form people before, not even others of her kind. But then, she doesn’t really know if he is like her. His could be wearing defective contacts or something, but deep down she doesn’t really believe that. As the game begins, Moira slinks around the court only pretending to care about participating. That is, until it’s her turn to serve.

  She steps up to the net, and holds the ball up high and fists her other hand and pulls it back. Before she tosses the ball, she sees Liam in the back across from her. He’s watching her again, with such intensity that she feels the cinnamon scent tickle her senses even from the distance. He doesn’t look away from her this time, and she feels drawn into his gaze. Only when the teacher yells at her to serve, does she look away. Knowing she’s blushing, she tosses the ball into the air and brings her other hand up and hits it high over the net. It ends up going all the back on the guy’s line, but Liam moves fast and hits the ball back over to the girls side before anyone else can. He never looks his eyes off her and as she looks away from him, she notices Spencer watching her now. He gives her a confused look before turning to glare in Liam’s direction. Now she feels really embarrassed, she wonders how long she was zoning in on Liam.

  She ignores both boys for the rest of the class, and actually gets involved with volleyball. This works well for her until it’s time to go back to the locker room to get changed. Spencer intercepts her before she can get inside. They stand off to the side of the girl’s locker room door. He looks fidgety for some reason, like he’s nervous.

  “I don’t know if you heard, but I broke up with Quinn.” He says in a rush.

  Moira is surprised by this, but the different appearance of Quinn suddenly makes sense to her now.

  “I’m sorry, I hadn’t heard that. You want to talk about it?”

  “Actually, I was hoping I could take you to the movies tomorrow night. If you’re interested?” Moira notices his cheeks go slightly pink, as he says this.

  Moira hesitates for a brief second, not knowing what to think. Since she first met Spencer, all she wanted was to be alone with him and for him to be hers. But it feels different now, and she feels bad that he’d ask her out so soon after breaking up with Quinn. She knows she shouldn’t feel bad for Quinn, since the girl is a monster. She wouldn’t hesitate to take this opportunity, so Moira decides not to let it pass either.

  With a smile, she says, “I would like that a lot actually.”

  Grinning brightly now, he backs up a step toward the guys locker room.

  “Great, I’ll pick you up at six-ish? We’ll talk later though.” He stumbles over his words before he turns around, and jogs over to the guy’s locker room door.

  Laughing to herself, she finds it cute that she is making him so nervous. She thought she was the only one, but apparently not. With a glow, she rushes to go get changed for lunch.

  Moira walks into the cafeteria later in a daze, and can’t wait to see Spencer. It’s not until she’s halfway across the room to her table, that she picks up on the scent of cinnamon again. It fills her senses and makes her stumble, before she regains control to ignore it. The closer she gets to her table, it gets stronger and that’s when she notices that someone new is sitting there among her friends. It’s Liam, and his gaze shifts to her as she approaches. As they’re eyes meet, her persona tingles under her skin and makes her suck in a deep breath. The cinnamon scent travels through her, and she can almost taste cinnamon rolls again. Liam smirks at her suddenly and looks away, and when
he does, the scent dims a bit.

  Raven was talking to him when she walked up, and noticing his distraction, she turns to Moira.

  “There you are, we have new company today.”

  She and the others don’t seem to have picked up on the tension that between them the moment before. Moira finds it weird that she picks up on a new scent and that they don’t. She wishes she could ask them about it, but can’t without giving herself away.

  “So I see.” Moira says as she sits down next to a pensive looking Marty.

  ***

  August 2023

  Moira lies in bed that night after using her persona for the first time, and tries not to cry. She had never been as scared as she was earlier, and her body aches like never before. She feels like she was beat up, but doesn’t show any signs. Right after Damon ran inside, she was so embarrassed that her appearance shifted back to normal right away.

  But she won’t ever get the sight of her brother staring at her, out of her mind. He looked at her like she was some kind of monster, and was really afraid of her. She had run inside before anyone could stop her, and has been hiding in her room ever since. She wishes her mother was here, and not Caroline, her real one. She can’t help thinking that Caroline doesn’t really like her, and she feels the absentness of a mother.

  What really bothers her beside her freak nature, is that she got her period for the first time today, and never got to talk about it with anyone one. She’s about to let the tears fall, when there is a knock at her door. Not waiting for her to answer, it opens, and her dad walks inside. Not saying a word, he walks over to her bed and sits on the edge of it.

  “How are you holding up sweetie?” He asks lightly.

  Rolling over to face him, she says, “I don’t have to go away now do I? Now that I’m different I mean.”

  “I’m not letting you go anywhere honey. I swear you never have to leave.”