The next morning, the sun shined brightly through my bedroom curtains, waking me up rather easily. [...bitch sunlight..] I groaned as I got out of bed. Then, out of a sudden, I reminisce about the events of yesterday. [...that was one ridiculous situation, I never thought I'd have to deal with this kind of thing.] I walk out of my room into the kitchen where Florence was standing.
She turned around and greeted me once she saw my tired face, "oh ! Good morning Cortana !"
"...Good morning Florence.." I grabbed bread to make myself some toast and a glass of milk cause why not ? "You should get ready Cortana, school is gonna start soon." I remembered that I still hadn't told her about what happened yesterday but I found it unnecessary to cause her any worry.
Once my uniform was on and I had checked that all of my books were in my bag, I headed out of my apartment as I waved goodbye. "Have a good day sweetheart !" I could hear her shouting from the other side of the door and it made me chuckle a bit. I may not have my biological parents but she was determined to take care of me. The job was well done, I'm thankful for it.
Here I am, once again in this class of gossiping students who have nothing better to do than to talk behind the back of others thinking that no one notices them at all. The teachers being uncaring as they are don't pay attention to whatever is happening when they do and don't do their job. The reason why I had no friends was partly because of how I looked and mostly because of the way I interacted with others.
...
Actually- I take that back, my appearance is the real problem here.
I had dark brown skin but that's not the issue, my eyes were red as fuck and the doctors thought I was some kind of living disease when I first opened them. Two major conditions cause a red or pinkish eye color: albinism and blood leaking into the iris. As someone who isn't albino, the whole iris issue was caused by a nerve malfunction. I can barely see anything out of them without my lenses which cost a fortune, how I pay for them ? Easy, my blood mother left something for me after she left the living.
To top it all off, the part of my aspect which I was most judged for was my long, very much grandma white hair and eyelashes. I assure you that even if it sounds cool, it's horrific.
It's a condition I was born with called Poliosis. Poliosis itself is simply a harmless lack of pigment in hair follicles, which causes them to become white or gray. The condition can exist from birth, or it can appear without warning at any age. It can affect both children and adults. You've probably seen people with poliosis in movies, on stage, or on TV. I came out of the womb this way, and if the real cause of my mother's death was her shock at my horrific features then I wouldn't be surprised.
My thoughts were soon interrupted when our class received special visitors. The door violently slammed open and three agents dressed in suits came in with two of them being male agents both hiding their eyes with glasses and a female one holding out her ID to what I assumed was to prove who she is. The class went silent as she spoke in a firm tone, "We are the personal bodyguards of the La Croix family and on behalf of the princess' orders, we ask for a young woman named Cortana to step forward and come with us"
At that moment, I looked around me like an idiot while being completely aware of the fact that I was practically the only one named Cortana in this entire college. The announcement caused quite a ruckus as students started to whisper amongst each other, "No way...The La Croix family is here in Haling Burgh ?!" a girl murmured quite loudly and the place she indicated was indeed the town where all of us lived in. "Wait...They're searching for Cortana...?" another boy asked himself a question which I wanted answers from as well.
That statement caught the eye of the female agent who turned her attention to the boy, but right when she was going to approach him the teacher calmed the class down and moved away from the board to talk with our special visitors. I took a second to recollect myself and think [If they truly are looking for me...it's worth a shot to calm everyone down. Wait- No- That would make it worse-]. I stood up despite my conscious telling me not to and announced, "I'm Cortana" like the most shameless person on earth, naturally my decision was quickly regretted as everyone started to stare at me like I was some kind of maniac.
The teacher was about to ask me to sit back down but he was instantly cut off by the female agent who turned and looked at me with a razor-sharp gaze and responded in a cold tone, "Cortana Adelman ?" I knew I couldn't back down now that she confirmed it was me so I responded with, "Yes."
"Good. We need you to come with us, feel free to contact your parents or guardian about your current status. Please follow me." As soon as she was done I took my bag and walked out of the class with my phone in my hand texting Florence that I will be heading home late today, I was too afraid to sound suspicious if I told her people were taking me with them. As I walked out of my classroom I saw the stunned expressions of my classmates, [Well I'm just as surprised as them anyway.].