About Being Different

Chapter 1, The new girl.

Margot leaned against the roof ledge. Her cell phone was neatly tucked between her head and shoulder. In her left hand she held an expensive black cigarette and in her right a cold cheese croissant. Margot wasn't one to let a moment or a private space go unused. About a month after she started working at this particular mid-level computer company some guy got himself trapped on the roof. He was looking for an inconspicuous place to smoke. Her employers, also known as the Pollution Nazis, fired the guy a week later. Publicly he was fired for shoddy programming.

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Alone in bed, she could avoid herself no longer. She rolled over and opened her eyes. It was pitch black in the room. The darkness was brighter and sharper than the thoughts she allowed in her waking world. At least in the darkness she couldn't see the clutter. She thought she could avoid the truth in the dark. But it was the clutter in her head, that raced around in circles and jammed tight her busy mind, that made sleep impossible.

She turned on the light and her eyes cowered from the brightness. The covers fell to the floor with a soft thud.

Chapter 1, Summer Sunshine.

John walked into the air-conditioned store, past the front counter, and slung his backpack into a folding chair. Mark was making a character. He waved a hand at John without looking up. Luke was late, as usual. It was three and John was just on time. To pass time, John strolled over to the display. He ran a finger over the new supplement for D&D. The cover was smooth like leather and gold letters were embossed for the title. John sighed. Just like TSR to make it's competition look second rate.

A few books down, John saw the core book for Pendragon.

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Rolling over to expose her pale skin, she let the coverlet fall off. He moved around like a beast at it's first stages of waking up. Tawny and lean he was just as she liked her men. Brown hair trailed over his body, in the manner like the mat of hair on a lion. Deciding that she didn't desire to excuse his presence in her bed, she lashed out her foot to move him. Growling he batted away the offensive leg and continued in the guise of sleep.

Making no attempt to cover herself she levered off the bed rudely.

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A bridge of warmth in the cold winter afternoon avoided her. Sitting on the concrete step the frosty air seemed to view her as a barrier to this nearly frozen stone. Her eyes focused off into the distance as her creamy face screwed into a mass of twisted skin exhibiting her irritation. The little displeasure passed and she was left staring into a dark cloudy sky.

Some unknown movement of red through her area of sight snapped her out of the trance. She wondered briefly how she had come to sit there on such a chilly day. The self examination was fleeting.

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The television sang, "Where everybody knows your name..." Restless, the girl on the couch flipped onto her stomach and extended her arms. She hummed along with the familiar tune. A gray tank top and blue panties stretched over her unsettled body. It was a good send out, that song. Her eyes darted to the wall as if remembering something. She shifted her hips into a less comfortable but more attractive angle. Only two minutes to go.

She bent an arm and ran her hand through a curtain of blond. Unnaturally straight hair brushed the couch cushions. The room was bugged.