Beaker to Life, Page 2

  “Yeah, I know, it’s because of her.”

  My face fell, and my stomach twisted as I glanced over at Sawyer, who just glared at me.

  “Oh, please, can we go to the game!” I begged.

  “Get into your seat now R187!”

  I stared at the ground as I got into the car to climb into my booster seat so the Doctor could buckle me in. I detested being called a bunch of numbers. Sawyer had a name, but I got just some numbers. After Dr. Vodola roughly buckled me in, he then drove off. Sawyer and I met gazes; both of us were very upset.

  “Freak of nature!” Came a yell followed by a ‘thunk’, an egg smashing into the front car window.

  “I don’t get why they don’t see what’s so great about this technology,” Dr. Vodola said as he shook his head.

  I started to tremble.

  “Abomination!”

  “Devil’s work!”

  I covered my ears, and I closed my eyes, wishing that I was anywhere else except this car. Another egg smashed against the window as I felt tears coming.

  “Please, please take me home!” I cried.

  “We are going in.”

  People surrounded the car in fury as I tried to curl up in my booster seat. Tears were now rolling down my face, one right after the other. My hands shook as I brought them up to my ears.

  “Monster! What have you created?”

  Sirens began to sound off, and the police pushed their way through the crowd to the car. The car door was thrown open. Fuming voices rose when one policeman grabbed me and ran through the mob to the inside of the building. I held onto the cop as I trembled, with tears continuing to stream down my face. I couldn’t take this anymore.

  “School? You want me to send something so valuable to public school?”

  “Dr. Vodola, she’s going to be five years old next week and must attend school to show she’s like her peers.” Dr. Green spoke up.

  “She isn’t like other five-year-olds. She’s the first successful human clone. She’s special.”

  “She’s also causing riots and other problems, so to prove to everyone that she can survive in this world. We need to prove to everyone that they’re wrong about her. She might be a scientific marvel, but you must let her live a life to demonstrate to everyone that cloning is a good thing. Prove to everyone that clones can be part of everyday life without any issues. Let her live a life. It would be best if you treated her like every other child. You have a child yourself, don’t you?” a woman with her hair tied back spoke up.

  “Yes, I do. I have an eight-year-old son. He and R187 have birthdays close to each other.”

  The scientist who was arguing with the Doctor gave a small smile. I started to grin. This meeting was about me going to school with other children. I was going to be allowed to be around kids instead of adults. I might be able to play for the first time. I’ll be able to go on a bus with Sawyer.

  “R187 won’t fit in with the other kids.”

  “Now, why’s that?” the woman questioned.

  “I’ve been homeschooling her, and she’ll be ahead of the other students her age.”

  I looked over at Dr. Vodola, seeing his face and body stiffen.

  “Is that all? I thought you were going to say she wouldn’t fit in because you refer to her by a number by a lab rat.” The woman snapped.

  My grin only grew, realizing that the scientists were on my side. I squirmed in my seat as I moved to sit on my feet to see everyone better at the round table. That was when Dr. Green gave me a lollipop. This meeting was not like the other meetings that I have attended. I started to unwrap the lollipop, I haven’t had one before, but I have seen Sawyer have them. He tried to give me one on a day, I think he called it Halloween, but he got into huge trouble and wouldn’t look at me again for a couple of weeks.

  “What do you think you’re doing? You can’t give R187 candy!” he snatched it out of my hands.

  “Why not, Dr. Vodola? If you don’t learn to let this little girl live, you’re going to ruin the whole experiment. If you keep doing so, we will be forced to take the little girl away from you. You’re destroying the experiment and proving to everyone out there that a clone can’t become part of society.” The woman said.

  Dr. Green unwrapped a new shiny hard candy and gave it to me.

  “Now, Sawyer, you’re not to lose her.”

  I was excited, jumping up and down as I stood next to Sawyer before we went to the bus stop. I was nervous, but Dr. Vodola told me that the school was for kindergarten to fifth grade, so I would be able to go with Sawyer, who was going into third grade.

  “I know, Dad.”

  Sawyer rolled his greenish eyes then looked down at me. I was so happy to be getting out of the house. Not only was I going to leave the house, but I wasn’t being dragged to another meeting. I was leaving the house without Dr. Vodola. I even got a few new clothes and shoes instead of my shirt with the skirt. I still was sleeping in the corner of the lab, but I got to leave the house now.

  “What do I tell the teacher my name is?”

  I knew the man who was yelling at Dr. Vodola had said I needed a real name, but Dr. Vodola hadn’t given me one yet.

  “Bye dad,” Sawyer called out as he pulled me out the door to go to the bus stop.

  “Why are we in a rush?”

  I nearly stumbled to keep up with Sawyer before he slowed down.

  “Mom used to call you Madeline when we were little.”

  Sawyer was focused on the ground as he held my hand, and we headed for the corner of the street.

  “I didn’t think I had a mom?”

  “You don’t. My mom called you Madeline.”

  I was confused.

  “Where is your mom?”

  Sawyer let go of my hand and kept walking. His steps were longer than mine.

  “Sawyer! Slow down. I can’t keep up with you.”

  Sawyer stopped as I ran to get him. Sawyer’s eyes were on the ground.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  I knew that tone. I got it from Dr. Vodola all the time.

  “What’s school like Sawyer?”

  He sighed.

  “You’ll see.”

  I was sitting at my desk nervously as the other kids were outside playing. I folded my hands on my desk as I rested my head on them. The other kids didn’t like me. They stared at me, called me a freak, threw a crayon at me because I knew the answers, and they didn’t, pulled my hair, and kept me out of their games. Then to top it off, a little boy threw sand at me.

  I could hear the laughter from the other kids as I felt a tear fall from one of my eyes. Today had not been what I thought school would be like. I couldn’t just sit there any longer because it was boring, so I got up and walked over to the shelf of books. I was smaller than the other kids, and I hadn’t noticed it until we were in line. I tried to get the book from one of the shelves while standing on my toes. Finally, I got the book and sat next to the door to watch the others while I read.

  “Madeline, why don’t you come out here and play?”

  I looked up from the book to see my teacher. She seemed to be the same age as the Doctor with reddish-blonde hair. She was a smiley person and was genuinely lovely, unlike the Doctor, though.

  “They don’t like me.”

  I stared back at the book.

  “How about you sit down next to me then? It’s a nice day?”

  I glanced at her again as she held out a hand. I nodded my head as I put the book on the shelf and held her hand. I followed her into the blinding light and sat next to her on the bench.

  “I saw you had a book. Can you read?”

  “Yes, the Doctor was teaching me some things like you were doing today. I can read chapter books.”

  “What else did he teach you?”

  I tried to think back as I watched the other kids on the swings.

  “Um, he taught me math, reading, writing, science, and a few other things.”

  “How long h
as he been teaching you?”

  “For a while, I don’t know.”

  “Do you have any friends?”

  I looked up at her smiling face as she tried to be sweet. Dropping my gaze to the ground as I watched my feet hang because they were too short to touch the ground. I just shook my head. I noticed that I had something else different than the other kids. They all had last names, and I barely even had a first name; with this coming back to me, my eyes started to burn.

  “Oh, Madeline, it’s okay.”

  “Even Sawyer doesn’t like me.”

  “Who’s Sawyer?”

  “Sawyer is the Doctor’s son. Sawyer is furious at me all the time.”

  “Does he go to this school?”

  I nodded my head as I brushed away the tear.

  “What grade is he in?”

  “Sawyer is in third grade.”

  She stood up and told the teacher next to her something. She grinned at me and held her hand out. I took it, and we walked through the classroom then down the hall. The halls were quiet as we headed down them. She kept beaming down at me as I tried to figure out what was happening. My teacher told me to stay where I was as she went into a classroom, then she came right out.

  “Aren’t we lucky? I picked the right third-grade classroom to find our little friend.”

  Sawyer came out with his eyebrows fused.

  “What’s going on?”

  I was so upset I threw my arms around him. Sawyer jumped back at. First, I buried my face into his shirt. I tightened my grip.

  “Sawyer…” I couldn’t finish my sentence as I started to cry into Sawyer’s shirt.

  Sawyer slowly put his arms around me, and we held each other in the hallway.

  Part Two

  Eight years later

  3

  Sawyer

  I was finally an upperclassman in high school. I was no longer the scum below everyone’s feet! I even got my license last week, but now I just had to get the money to get the car. All the money I was earning at work was going towards one. I had a month or so longer until I had enough for this old car our neighbor was trying to sell. The neighbor and I worked out a deal last month. The agreement was just between the two of us, and my dad didn’t know. Everyone knew how my dad was.

  Thankfully, until I got a car, Ricky, a friend of mine who was a senior, was driving me to school while Madeline took the bus for her freshman year of high school. She was trying to give me space by taking the bus, I guess. She didn’t ask to ride with Ricky. Madeline just got her stuff and went to the bus stop.

  As I walked towards the school from the parking lot, laughing at something my friend Ricky had said. I then saw a couple of buses pull up to let students off. The first bus stopped and let off the students. A little thirteen-year-old brunette hopped off the bus reading as she made her way into the school, ignoring the people around her. The girl’s hair was thick and dark to the middle of her back. The sun shined off her hair as she strolled towards the building. Madeline was wearing a jean skirt that was down to a little above her knees with a short sleeves shirt that was her typical shade of pink. Father made her buy pink if he had to get her clothes. I never understood why he was so specific about the color.

  “Woah, when did your sister get legs?” Justin, my other friend, commented as his eyes watched her.

  “Dude, she’s thirteen years old. Leave her alone. Secondly, she’s not my sister.”

  “If she isn’t your sister, then you wouldn’t-”

  “Leave her alone. Madeline doesn’t need to get mixed up with the likes of you. I’ve seen how you are with girls, and you aren’t allowed to go out with her. She’s off-limits.” My voice was firm.

  I glared at my friend, who I knew wasn’t listening to my warning. Madeline has spent enough nights crying herself to sleep; there was no reason she should be crying, moreover Justin. I so didn’t need my friends drooling over Madeline; that would be so awkward. She wasn’t my sister, but we were close. My dad made sure to let me know, every chance that he had, that Madeline wasn’t my sister. It was a fact that was well drilled into my head like the sky was blue. The two were the same in my father’s eyes.

  “You told her to pretend that she doesn’t know you, didn’t you?” asked Ricky knowingly.

  “Nope, no point, everyone in town knows about her and my family by association. I’m sure we could go to China, and people would know who we were, mostly her. So that warning would be worthless.”

  Of course, I had to get eighth-period lunch. I couldn’t figure out how I was going to make it to the last period of lunch. I’d eat lunch, have one class, then go home; that was pointless. I didn’t know how the school expected any guy to wait that long for food. At least I had friends to sit with, and since we were upperclassmen, we could sit at the round tables at the back of the room. I bit into a chicken nugget our school served as I saw little Madeline sauntering into the cafeteria. Her eyes were wide while they scanned the room. Madeline’s books were pressed against her chest as her arms wrapped around them tightly.

  She had two girls she kind of called friends. I doubted the relationships. I glanced around the room to see if I saw either of them then when I didn’t, I got up and walked towards her. She was standing in front of the room, skimming the room, still holding her paper brown lunch she made tightly in her grasp.

  “Come on, Madeline, sit with us,” I said as I looked down at her, there were four years between us and several inches.

  “Are you sure?” her green eyes stared into mine sadly.

  “If I wasn’t would I be telling you to come?”

  She sighed as she followed me. I smiled as I ruffled her hair, and she squeaked in annoyance. Madeline tried to smooth down her dark brown hair that had some lighter chestnut pieces before she sat down next to me.

  “Hey, guys.”

  Madeline put on a weak smile as she greeted my friends. She has met them before, but she was a thirteen girl around senior and junior high school guys, a bit intimidating for her. Being small for her age didn’t help. I smiled as Ricky started to talk to her; he has known us for years and is like an older brother to us both. I usually didn’t invite my friends to hang out around my house. It’s one thing to hear how my dad treated Madeline and me, but another thing to watch my dad in action. Ricky flat out said he’d go to jail if he kept hanging around at our house. We always went somewhere else, but they knew Madeline.

  “So, how was your first day of high school?”

  “The usual, a few people making cracks about me and not having friends in any classes, it looks like I’ll be busy with work though, I have all honors classes.”

  “Gees, you don’t ever get a break, do you?” Ricky questioned.

  “The only problem I see having is Honors Biology when we get to genetics.” Madeline leaned forward.

  I looked at my tray, then realizing how many issues she was going to have. That teacher didn’t have much of a filter either. I never had that teacher, but that didn’t stop him from stopping me in the hallway to ask questions about my dad.

  “You’ve been doing better about ignoring them, haven’t you?” Ricky continued.

  “I have, but it also helps I’m taking an honor’s sophomore class instead of the people in my grade.”

  “I’m still waiting for the day you’re in either my grade or Sawyer’s over here.”

  “She’s supposed to be in your grade, Ricky,” I commented flatly, giving him a quick look then biting into my lunch.

  Ricky’s eyes went wide, and his neck snapped in her direction.

  “They wanted you to skip how many grades?”

  “At the time, I didn’t think skipping four grades would be a good idea, and I’m glad I didn’t.”

  “That would have been fun to have you in my grade.” Ricky smiled.

  “Oh yeah, a thirteen-year-old among a bunch of eighteen-year-olds would be oh so fun.”

  “There are some people that are Sawyer’s age of seventeen.”<
br />
  Madeline raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. Let me just go tell the school board that since some people are only four years older than me, I change my mind that I will become a senior.”

  I gave a small laugh at her and her sarcasm. Ricky and I taught her sarcasm when she was little, but boy did my father freak when he found out. It was worth being grounded for a month for that lesson.

  “Well, hey there, Madeline,” Justin chimed in as he put his foot down on the table. I was so happy to have Madeline in-between Ricky and me at that moment.

  “Hi, Justin.”

  Madeline went back to talking to Ricky as I kept my eyes glaring at my friend Justin. He wasn’t to go near Madeline that way, ever. She was a sweet innocent thirteen-year-old, and he was far from that at seventeen.

  “So how much longer do you evil upperclassmen pick on us, freshmen?”

  Her big green eyes sparkled as she tried to pretend to be hurt, but I could see the smile trying to restrain, which was hard for her. Despite all the crap in her life, it didn’t take much for me to make her smile. When she wasn’t smiling, she was terrified, shaking for me, and I’d have to find that laughter again.

  “I resent that kid, we’re not that mean to the freshmen, and TV makes it more dramatic than it is. The little making fun is more on who is making fun because some are real scum.” Ricky laughed as he put an arm around her to give her shoulder a slight squeeze then went back to eating.

  “So, I thought I’d let you come with us this weekend to celebrate your first week of high school.” Ricky commented, looking at me too.

  “I’d love to,” I answered and turned to Madeline, whose smile vanished. “However, Madeline has a conference with my father she has to go to.”

  “I don’t want to go, but every day brings me closer to that dressy event in December that he drags me to every year.” her voice grew quieter with each word as she picked at the bread of her sandwich.

  “Tell me again why you can’t just stop doing these things?” Justin asked.