The kid was aware that Mary was looking at him. Everyone looked at him. People always wanted to be his friend, too. He couldn’t help but think of them all as leeches, interested only in his ideas. It was extremely tiring to have such once-sided friendships. He reached up to twist a strand of hair around his finger. Hmmm… hmmm.      His name was Kyle, and everyone seemed to think he was a girl. This suited Kyle fine, because he thought he made a better girl than boy. When people figured it out he often got beat up. Some things never change.