When Cameron opens his bedroom door at six thirty in the morning the next day, he looks mildly surprised to see me, already dressed and showered, sitting on top of my bookshelf waiting. I don’t know why I got up so early (because I never do), but I’m feeling strangely hyped, which is a rarity for a midget like me. Cam and I sat up reading last night, after we’d both sorted things out between us. We have this thing where the two of us pick a book we both like and I sit on my brother’s shoulder so he can turn the pages while I read along with him. The book we happened to be reading last night was my personal favourite, Gone by Michael Grant.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” I smirk up at him as he shuts the door behind him to face me.

“Well, this is a shock…” He giggles, eyes scanning me over. Today I’m wearing baggy jeans and one of my favourite slogan t shirts, this one reading Yo In big comical letters. My feet are covered with the usual socks for extra grip and I’ve got a pair of bright yellow ear muffs slipped over my head to match my shirt. “You never get up early!” Cameron says in mock astonishment.

I shrug, ignoring his shock. “I don’t wanna miss breakfast this morning. Couldn’t concentrate in class yesterday my stomach was groaning so loud.”

“Please, Marcus!” Cam snickers, reaching out to poke my belly with a finger. “No one can hear that mini stomach of yours!” Grumbling under my breath. I dodge his first attack but completely miss his second hand as it grabs me by the ankles and lifts me upside down into the air. I fold my arms, blood rushing to my head. It’s a miracle my poor earmuffs stay on.

“I really wish you could see how being suspended upside down hundreds of stories high feels, Cam.” I say, already feeling lightheaded from being upside down for so long. My ankles are clamped together by my brother’s thumb and index finger so tightly they’ve begun to ache. “Can you hurry up and put me on your shoulder? I think I’m about to pass out.”

Instantly, Cameron drops me headfirst into his other hand and places me on his right shoulder. My face, which was red before from all the blood is now turning a sickly green. “Sorry, big brother.” Cameron teases. I slap my temple with my palm to clear my head.

“I’m hungry.” I say.

“Ooookkkkkaaaayyy.” My brother drawls. I smile in satisfaction as he takes me downstairs to the kitchen. My breakfast is, as like most days, a bowl of cereal with a dash of milk. Since a single cornflake is the size of a football to me, I crush the cereal up to resemble midget sized flakes. It doesn’t help, though, with milk the consistency of glue. While I’m munching on my breakfast, which is in one of my many dolls’ bowls, Cameron pours himself a mug of coffee. Our mother’s at work already, as always, and Katherine’s in childcare.

“We’ve got PE together today.” Cameron announces with a small smile, even to my standards.

“I spose I’ll be watching you play, then?” I sigh. Cam frowns at my unenthusiastic attitude and nods.

“You can be like our midget support crew!” He laughs.

“Well, I did want to participate in some things…” I say.

Cameron snorts, looking at me in disbelief. “Like what?”

“Gymnastics is fine… as in the tumbling part.” I smile.

“Gymnastics is for girls!”

“That’s a pretty sexist thing to say!”

“Still… you can’t exactly do any of the obstacle courses…”

“No, I mean the floor work stuff.” I say. “I’d get an A+ for that.”

“True.” Cameron says, knowing I’m inhumanely good at tumbling and anything parkour related.

“I want to participate in the school’s cross country, too.” I say slowly.

“Wait… what? Marcus, that’s over 100 midget kilometres! It’s only three for everyone else but…”

I nod. I’ve worked that out in my head already. But I’ve wanted to participate in the event for years. I’ve seen runners on TV and everything, but to be in an actual race… “Yeah, I did the maths.” I tell him.

“Bro, no one can run a full 100 kilometres without dehydrating…” Cameron’s voice trails off as he creases his forehead.

“Forrest Gump did.” I say. “And being a midget, my metabolism’s wwwaaayyy higher than yours.”

“You can’t run that race, Marcus.” Cam’s friendliness has vanished. I set my empty cereal bowl down on the kitchen bench I’m sitting on.

“You watch me.” I challenge.

My brother looks pained. “Why are we arguing about something so pointless?” He retorts. “We both know you’re too sm-“

“Please. Don’t say that.” I snap. Quite frankly, I’m fed up with being called anything ‘small’ or ‘tiny’ related. Particularly when it comes out of my overprotective brother’s fat mouth. “Mum says it’s ok for me to run.” I add in a softer tone.

“I can’t let you do this…”

“Just. Let. It. Go.” I sigh. “If you were in my position, you’d understand. And you aren’t, so just stop.” I stand up, adjusting my yellow earmuffs and then folding my arms. “Let’s just get to school.”

“Marcus…” Cameron’s eyes are pleading to a point where I almost give in.

“Cameron.” I say sternly. “I’m sick of you telling me what I can and can’t do, especially when I already know the answers. Please just let it go.”

My brother stands in front of me for a moment with his eyes downcast, but eventually he sighs and holds out a hand for me to climb onto. I scramble up his arm to sit at anti-midget level on his shoulder. Sitting on someone’s shoulder used to really freak me out, with there being no back support if I slipped off, but nowadays, it’s my favourite way to travel. I like seeing the world eye to eye with all the normal sized people, even though it’s all just a matter of perception.

*****************

Cameron doesn’t speak as we get off the school bus to enter the grounds. Teenagers wander around, but no one really catches my eye… except Kevin and Thomas, who are standing out front of the school together. Kevin’s face lights up when he sees me and he waves us over. “Mind if I hang out with these guys before class, bro?” My question must have really gotten to him, because Cam suddenly looks like he’s going to be sick. He nods, though, to my relief and meanders over.

“Yo, Tom Thumb.” Kevin teases when we get closer. I roll my eyes as Cameron places me onto Thomas’s waiting palm, along with a familiar device. I clutch the IPod touch in both hands and wave half-heartedly to my brother as he walks into the main building with his head down. Instantly, I’m overwhelmed with sadness for Cam. I know he’s just trying to protect me.

“Hey, Kevin, Thomas.” I say, trying not to think about Cameron. I’ll talk to him later after school. “I noticed you’ve both followed me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and I think I’ll stop there.”

Kevin laughs, his eyes trailing to the flat screen sized IPod in my arms. “Do you do all your schoolwork on that thing?” He asks, the curiosity in his voice barely hidden.

“Well, so far, yes.” I say. “The teachers have hooked up this airdrop app so I can download all the work.”

“That’s awesome.” Kevin smiles.

Thomas uses his free hand to check his watch. “We’ve got PE together first up.” He announces. Like most people, he’s already memorised his timetable.

“Damn.” I mutter.

“Why?” Kevin queries, raising an eyebrow.

I’m pretty surprised that he hasn’t caught on with the obvious already. “I can’t do sports.” I explain with a sad smile.

“Ohh.”

I wave off his pity. “Nah, it’s cool. I’ll just stuff around on my IPod while you guys play.” To be honest, I can’t even keep the pity out of my own voice. My IPod’s fun, yes, but sports? I dream about playing soccer like my brother does. The best I can do is play Fifa on our Wii. I’m not even going to describe how I control a Wii remote, which is taller than I am. Let’s just say it’s a complicated process.

“Well, we should probably head up to the gym, then.” Kevin says, dismissing the topic and pulling out a laminated map of the school. “It’s around the corner.”

“Good idea.” Thomas nods. I grip his finger for support as the two of them begin walking in the direction of the gym. It’s a huge building, air conditioned, with a timber floored basketball court inside, as well as a teacher’s office and a bubbler system. As Thomas and Kevin enter the building, I’m almost blasted off his hand by the chilling aircon.

Most of our class is already inside, Cameron amongst them. The moment he sees me, he jogs over, his sneakers squeaking on the polished timber floor. “Long time no see.” He says, his smile wavering.

I smile up at his gentle face and nod. I sense the pity behind his trashcan sized blue eyes. Ever since mum’s decided upon sending the two of us to school, he just… hasn’t been the same. Not like he used to, at the very least.

“Hey, Cameron.” Thomas says, as if he’s sensing the tension between us. I’m thankful that the other classmates haven’t found me yet; it gives us a bit of time to talk. I guess they’ll spot me eventually. Everyone does. I may be the Hide And Seek Ninja, but I’m also the class’s ‘freakshow’. There’s always one in movies. A kid who stands out in a crowd because he’s got a messed up face or something- occasionally they have cancer. They’re the rejects. That’s where I fit in.

“Hi.” Cameron mumbles back. Kevin shifts on his feet awkwardly beside Thomas. I grin up at him, earning myself a smile in return.

Just then, my ears explode, and I mean explode. It’s like white noise at first but once the shock passes, all I can feel is pain. Automatically, my hands snap up to clutch my already covered ears, which throb with the beating of my heart. Cameron’s quick to notice my pain, which he doesn’t even register himself.

It’s then that I find out that the ear ripping noise originated from a whistle. A short woman with mousey brown hair stands across from our little group, a metal whistle in one hand, positioned just in front of her mouth.

“Are you ok, bro? Oh, god… why are you even doing sport?” Cameron’s being a worry wart again. I grit my teeth and gingerly remove my hands from my ears.

“I’m fine.” I manage to say.

“What happened?” Kevin and Thomas are both confused. Well, more so Kevin, because Thomas would have known a little bit about us midgets from his mother beforehand.

“It’s nothing.” I mumble. “I’m just super sensitive to sound. It’s why I wear earmuffs everywhere.”

I can almost see the cogs turning inside Kevin’s head. “Ohhh. So you’re like a dog, then?”

I shake my head. “Worse.”

“That sucks, man.”

I don’t reply, instead simply nodding. I can hear fine, except everything’s gone fuzzy. Although, when the woman holding the whistle who looks like a teacher blows it for the second time, I really go deaf.

“Stop!” Cameron yells at her, waving his arms to get her attention. Meanwhile, my brain is doing fifty or so things at once; my nerve cells are trying to repair themselves, my skin cells are recovering from the amplitude, my heart is trying not to explode, my lungs are trying to function properly, and my mind? I’m cursing my bastard of a midget body for screwing up my life and making even the tiniest thing like the blow of a whistle send me into complete deafness. The teacher notices my brother yelling and stops blowing the metal whistle, looking baffled. Only when Cameron points at me, sitting clutching my ears in Thomas’s hands does she understand.

As I go through my own private round of embarrassment now with the eyes of the kids in the entire room trained on me, I realise that all the teachers must know about me and my obvious disorders. Why does my life have to suck? I ask myself. Finally, I retain my hearing again and when I do, I regret it.

“I’m sorry, Marcus, is it? I was just using the whistle to get everyone’s attention… I know you’re sensitive… I’m sorry…” The teacher babbles, her eyes filled with concern. She jogs over to us and I catch a glimpse of her soft hazel eyes.

“It’s alright, miss.” I say.

My apparent PE teacher looks relieved. She wheels around on her heels to address the rest of the class, who are now gathered around us, most of them staring at me. “I’m sorry, guys.” I mumble to Kevin and Thomas. “This is embarrassing…”

Thomas opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by the PE teacher. “Sorry, everyone. Welcome to grade eight PE and my name’s Mrs Davies. This term we’re going to be focussing primarily on soccer…”

I swear that over the chattering of the students, I hear Cameron laugh out loud. I also swear that I hear myself groan out loud.

We have so much in common.