I almost fall off of the fence I'm leaning on when she says that. This makes me wonder what made the girl lose so much confidence. Bullies?

I mean if she has such a bad opinion on friends, then...

"What makes you think so? I've left my house."

"For good?"

"Yeah, it's probably blasted and in ruins."

"Centre of the city?"

I nod.

"At least yours made it through the war."

"Uh. Wait!"

"What?"

"You didn't tell me your name."

She smiles. "If you really wanna know, it's Naya."

"That's a beautiful name. I'm Will."

"William?"

"Wilbur. Wilbur Throttle." She smiles. "Now, tell me about yourself."

"Ok. But you better return the favour," she says, still smiling. "I have a very weirdly shaped head. It's bigger than average. That's why all this," she gestures at her head, which, on second thought, is kinda weird. But definitely cool.

"I'm sorry, I don't get you."

"I'm different, Ok? People gave me a hard time about it." I think people have moved past all that...

I realise I've said that aloud when she says, "Is it that hard to believe?"

I can only nod.

"You're probably a genius." I blurt out.

"This barrier wasn't there earlier, you know." What?

The fence. Right.

Of course, I know. I was the one who fought a war.

I'm so petty; I know.

"My parents are, were, both doctors. I wanted to study robotics. So I went to a different school. At first, I was ignored. Stuck out like a sore thumb and stuff. But it didn't matter. Then the others started banding up. All of a sudden, I was the only one alone. Then I got great grades. People were impressed. And then I made some 'friends'." She held up air quotes.

"And then the war came. They just... disappeared...?" she said, frowning a bit. I somehow feel like she's hiding something...

"My parents left me with grandma. She went out yesterday and never came back. And then I ended up here. Your turn!" she concludes, hurrying the last part like a child concealing a lie.

I can't help laughing at her pathetic attempt at lightening the mood.

"What do you mean 'disappeared'?"

"Shh. Your. Turn."

"Fine! This is gonna be a long story..." She fakes picking up popcorn.

"Make yourself comfortable..." I sit down. "Here goes..."

~

"A left hand twitch?"

"Yes, do you know anything about it?"

"Well... yeah. One of my favourite teachers taught us about that. An alumni of our school invented something, so she reviewed it. That was one of the glitches."

"Well...?"

"What?"

"What was the invention?"

"I don't really remember."

"Think?" I prompt her. She thinks for a while.

"I wasn't really in class. But I think it was some kind of a concept..."

"Come on, kid! Think harder..."

"I don't think that'll be of any use though..."

I grunt in my frustration. The girl sighs.

"If you really wanna know, we can probably go to my house and I'll refer a couple of books..."

"You don't need to ask again. But..."

"What?"

"Do you live nearby?"

"Close enough. It's walkable," she shrugs.

"What can I do in return for you?"

"Yeah... we probably won't live long enough for all that, so save the dramatics."

This girl is infuriating me. And for some weird reason, I really feel like she's a niece, if not a sister.