Begin for Me

"There are some things that I can't tell you. I think you realized it before when we met. I would but…" Zoe started, then looked into her hands.

"Yes, I… I noticed that. Why is that, Zoe?" August asked.

"I'm not like you. I'm not like them. I'm… a different kind," she replied, running a finger over her deceptively normal-looking wrist.

August's eyebrows pinched together. "I don't understand. What kind?"

Zoe chuckled dryly. "I can't tell you. That is part of it."

"Did the elders do something to you? Is that why?" August asked, reaching her hand through the hole in the door and gingerly touching Zoe's ankle. The girl flinched and withdrew it from her reach.

"No," she exhaled deeply. "It wasn't them. I was a gift, I guess you could say."