Chapter 10 - Peaceful Life(Part 4)

"Wow, this is really good," I remarked with a grin, as I munched on my food, a plate of pasta.

It's the 6th of September, 2009, today's my fourteenth birthday. And to celebrate, my parents brought me out to a fancy restaurant for dinner. Over the last year and a half or so, they've been bringing me out a lot more often.

I guess they must have thought that I was feeling cooped up or something...I definitely wasn't, and honestly, going out is kind of a drag, but I play along and act excited whenever they take me out.

And honestly, it's not been too bad. They've taken me to places like malls and amusement parks, and I really enjoyed myself on those outings. That said, I still prefer staying at home to going out.

But it'd probably be weird for a fourteen year old kid to just want to laze about on their birthday...so, here I am. Well, I guess I can't really complain, the food is great and this place is pretty nice.

I had some cheesy garlic bread sticks as an appetizer, and a beef pasta with spicy tomato sauce for my main meal, and it's really good! There's a layer of creamy white sauce in the middle and gooey, melted cheese on top, there's so much flavor in every bite.

"What would you say is better, my cooking or this food?" Inquired my mother with a teasing smirk.

"I feel like that's a trick question I shouldn't answer, so I won't," I replied with a wry smile.

"You could just say that mine is better, you know," She sighed with a pout, as she reached over to my father's plate and grabbed a mozzarella stick from him.

She'd ordered a salad for herself, while he'd ordered a bunch of appetizers for his entire meal...my parents might be a couple of weirdos.

"Hey, I was saving that...," He muttered with a look of disappointment.

"By the way, are you sure it's okay for you two to be missing the thing today?" I asked them, as I took another bite.

"Oh, it's fine, we can't very well leave you alone on your birthday," Smiled my mother, as she sneakily grabbed a chicken strip from my father's place, much to his chagrin.

There was a protest taking place today at a government forum, Alters and those who support them would be protesting the government's negligence in making the prejudice towards Alters in this country worse.

My parents' pro-Alter organization was going to be a big part of the protest, which is supposed to begin soon. Alter prejudice and incidents where Alters have been attacked or even killed have become increasingly frequent lately, things have gotten pretty ugly.

Which is why I'm glad I made the decision to hide the fact that I'm an Alter...I haven't really thought about my powers all that much in the last few months, I never did find any other powers that I might have, so I kinda just lost interest after a while.

Anyway, once we were done eating, we then headed out of the restaurant and began driving back home. Whew, I'm stuffed...that was some good food.

"Oh, I almost forgot...here you go, happy birthday, Ario," Remarked my mother, as she handed me a wrapped present.

"You didn't have to get me anything, but thanks," I grinned, as I accepted it, "Can I open it now?"

"Sure, go ahead," Nodded my father as he glanced at me in the rear view mirror.

I tore off the wrapping and tossed it onto the seat beside me, my eyes widening slightly...it's a smartphone. They were only recently invented in this world, not quite in widespread use just yet, and they're pretty expensive.

I didn't have a smartphone in my previous life, so this is really cool. I couldn't even begin to consider affording one in my old world, a world where most people have smartphones...and now, here in this world, I've got a smartphone when not many other people do.

"Do you like it?" Asked my mother with a smile.

"Yeah, of course! Thank you so much! I'll be super careful with it," I grinned in response, as I opened up the box and took out the device.

Huh, it's a bit heavier than I imagined. I think I should hold down this button to switch it on, right? Nothing's happening...guess I gotta charge it first.

"Oh, we're passing by where the protest is taking place," Remarked my father.

"Yeah, it's probably already begun, let's hope it doesn't get too out of hand," Frowned my mother with a worried look on her face.

"Which building is it?" I inquired curiously.

"That one over there, with the dome-shaped roof," She pointed in response...right before the building she pointed at suddenly exploded.

"Uh, it just exploded," I muttered, wide-eyed.

The ground shook slightly as windows in the surrounding buildings shattered into pieces, screams ringing out from the passersby as chunks of rubble and shards of glass rained down towards the sidewalk.

"We need to get away from this area, quickly," She said to my father with a grimace.

"Yeah, I know," He replied as he glanced as the dark, massive plume of smoke rising up from the building, tightening his grip around the steering wheel with an anguished look on his face.

Well, this can't be good...was the explosion the doing of the protestors or maybe some resentful Alters? Or maybe it was done by anti-Alters to deal a blow to the pro-Alter movement?

The answer, as I'd later find out, is that the culprits were in fact Alters, at least according to what the news channels were reporting.

The attack was declared an anti-government terrorist attack, and in the following months of the incident, Alter prejudice and hatred in the country would only continue to grow...

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