In the country of Ghrun, doctors could examine a gene sequence and determine exactly what type of hardships someone would suffer throughout their lifetime, whether it be through disorder or addictions.
June, a young girl in the city of Ghrun was a freshmen in highschool, and she was one of the popular kids. She was beautiful, received good grades, and she was extremely social. She loved hanging out with her many friends and she loved shopping and the many things typical girls her age liked to do. From the outside looking in, it seemed as if there was nothing about her that was not normal, except…
Most girls in high school liked the good looking, popular boys, but not June. June was in love with a boy called Mercury who was odd in every sense of the word beginning with his name. He had two different colored eyes, and he was one of those kids who sat in the back of class and either didn’t pay attention of slept through it. Mercury did both.
But it wasn’t just that Mercury skipped class and frequently got bad grades. There were rumors he had an abusive father and a neglectful mother… and that his genes had been sequenced, and it had been determined that he had the psychopath gene. Those were the types of kids everyone else steered clear of. Most of the normal kids talked about him behind his back.
June didn’t know why she loved him. She could just stare at him for minutes when he wasn’t looking and fall into his eyes. She knew the risks of having a crush on him and wanting to date him; her reputation was on the line as well as… the two of them would be Comorbid together—a term used to describe two individuals who were predisposed to mental disorders who were also a romantic couple.
June continued to stare at him, frustrated at herself for not being brave enough to talk to him. Sometimes, Mercury would notice her staring and wink at her devilishly—causing her to blush--but he would never otherwise talk to her.
She wondered if his parents were truly abusive. Judging by his
He was a bad boy, or so she thought. He smoked sometimes, he ditched classes, and rumor had it that he sold drugs at the school (she wasn’t so sure about that one, however). There was one more rumor saying that he never liked to go home and stayed out when he could. June could believe that one.
June’s best friend, Trisha, knew that June loved Mercury. It was clear to anyone who bothered to notice, but Trisha chose to ignore it for June’s reputation and sake. But, one day, while June ate lunch with Trisha in the cafeteria, Trisha noticed June glancing at Mercury who was eating alone as usual. June was rubbing the back of her neck and looking particularly lovesick.
Trisha crossed her arms. “June, you’re so weird. No one’s stopping you from talking to him. I mean, I don’t want you to fall in with a bad crowd, but you’re going nuts looking at that kid.”
June was embarrassed. “How did you know?”
Trisha tapped her nails on the table. “Come on June, it’s obvious.”
June sighed. “Yeah… I don’t know what to do.”
Trisha took a bite of a chip as she glanced over at Mercury. “You’re only fifteen. You’re gonna get to spend three years with him. You have plenty of time to talk to him. Why not just wait out the years and talk to him at the last second?”
June groaned. “I can’t wait that long!”
Trisha giggled. “Geez June, the hottest guys ask you out and you take interest in the trashiest boy in the school?”
“Come on, we don’t know he’s trashy…” June said nervously.
Trisha made a face. “Really? June, we’ve all seen him smoking. Who knows what else he does. He might hurt you.”
But June didn’t hear her friend. She was gazing at Mercury, who was gazing back at her. June’s mouth was open a little in an o shape, Mercury was giving her mischievous smile. For a moment, it seemed as if the world fell away and the only thing that existed was those two different colored eyes.
“June?”
“June?”
“June?”
June snapped back to reality and she rubbed the back of her neck again. June lay her head on the table miserably. “There’s a bug in my brain, Trisha. I’m obsessed with him. I see him when I sleep. I think about him when he’s not there, he’s in my head. I… I think we’re destined to be Comorbid.”
Trisha was silent for many moments, and then she asked, “June, what kind of genes did they find?”
June was quiet, and then she looked down and said, “Borderline. What about you?”
“I’m clean, for the most part…. Some risks of alcoholism, but nothing major. How likely a candidate are you?”
June wiped a tear away. “Ninety percent.”
Trisha looked compassionate. “June, the likelihood that he had the psychopath gene is…”
June was frustrated and she looked away from her friend with angry tears in her eyes. “I know… I know I should listen to you. Just keep telling me not to talk to him; hopefully your words will keep me away from him.”
Trisha put a hand over her friend’s comfortingly. “Okay. Don’t worry, I’ll be your guardian angel!”
*
June walked home with Trisha. They lived in the same gated neighborhood. Laanon was a rich neighborhood with incredibly green, pruned front yards and freshly painted, pristine houses. June walked down the sidewalk with her friend and stopped where her house was. June said to her friend, “Promise… Promise you’ll keep my head out of the clouds?”
Trisha grinned. “Leave it to me!”
“Wait!” June cried as her friend began walking in the direction of her own home. “Promise you won’t ever abandon me?”
Trisha shook her head with a little smile. “I won’t abandon you.”
June breathed a deep breath. “Thank you. You can go now.”
Trisha waved goodbye and then hurried home.
June knocked on the door and the maid opened it for her. “Hello June, your mother’s in the kitchen.”
June nodded and checked the kitchen; she saw a feast laid out for her and her father, who would be home soon as well.
June’s mother, Ann, was a tall woman who was just as pretty as her daughter, and who was made all the taller by the long heels she wore. June wanted to wear shoes like that, but her mother wouldn’t let her.
“Hey June,” Ann said as her daughter sat down at the table. “How was your day?” Ann sat at the other end of the table opposite her daughter.
June shrugged her shoulders a little nervously. “It was fine. Made more friends, learned more math…”
Ann smiled and took a bite of the delicious steak she had made. “That sounds like fun…”
“Actually Mom…” June said, slumping down in her chair. “Hypothetically speaking… Do you think there’s anything wrong with just talking to someone who might have the psychopath gene?”
Her Mother blinked twice and then nervously put her fork down. “Are you planning on talking to someone like that?”
June could either be honest with her mother or make up a lie; she opted for honesty. “There’s this boy who’s always alone in class… he just, sits in a corner, and the other kids ignore him. He seems lonely, and yet he seems to want to be left alone. But I want to be his friend. Is that okay, Mom?”
Ann didn’t know. She was silent for a moment and then breathed heavily. “He has no other friends?”
June shook her head. “None at all…”
Ann gathered her thoughts as she crossed her legs. “Me and your father were both about fifty percent predisposed for depression and conduct disorder, but we got married anyway and it was the best decision of our lives. There’s more to humans than genes. You should talk to him, especially if it’s not for sure he has the gene.”
This encouragement made June very happy, but also somewhat worried. She had her mother’s permission; nothing was stopping June now, except her friend and her own good sense.
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