They called me freaky-boy, but my real name is Shen Wei.

I had a power, but that's not why they gave me that nickname. They said that I was ugly, that I freaked them out. Kids can be really cruel sometimes.

I grew up alone. I think I'm human so I must have had parents, but I never knew them, never knew what happened to them. The people at the orphanage said that they found me at their door and had no other choice but take me in.

Did my parents abandon me? Did they think I was ugly too?

I also had no friends, it's not easy to make friends when they call you freaky-boy. You tend to dislike them in return.

I don't know why I was the only boy with a 'talent', as I liked to call it. Maybe I wished so much that I could change that my wish was granted.

It happened when I was only six years old. A new boy joined the orphanage, and when the other kids went to meet him for the first time, I wished so hard that he would like me that something in me changed.

I didn't realise it at first, and was surprised when he talked to me full of smiles. Like most of the boys and girls in there he was older than me, and treated me like I was a pretty doll. I couldn't believe it, I felt so happy, but then I realised that something was wrong when he complimented me for my blue eyes and blonde hair.

I didn't have blue eyes and blonde hair. I had small brown eyes, dark hair, and a horrible skin full of freckles.

When he said, "You look just like the angel I saw on tv once, you're the cutest little thing I ever saw!" I realised what had happened. I had wished I could look pretty in his eyes, that's why he was seeing me like that.

My suspicion was confirmed when nobody else recognised me. Everyone started asking around who was this new kid who looked like a foreigner. I ran away and hid myself, so that I could change back to my old self before everyone found out what I had done.

I didn't want them to know. I was so scared, I wished nobody ever knew, and when I came out and they saw me, they were suddenly startled and started saying that I was freaky.
The new boy didn't speak to me again.

At the age of six, I realised that I lived in a superficial world where image mattered more than substance.
It wasn't a happy time for me.

My fondest memories are all about our occasional trips to the city. I could get the chance to see many things and people, and as I grew up I could even walk by myself, as long as I came back at the given time.

I would sometimes try my talent on other people, to test if it was real or nothing more than a child's fantasy.

It was real. I had no doubt about it. I would walk in front of a person and observe their reaction, then hide and walk again in front of them, this time after wishing to look handsome to their eyes, and this second time they would smile at me, or look at me in a different way. They saw me in a different way.

I could change the way people saw me. I knew that the real me was still there, but after my wish people would see another me.

I couldn't use my talent at the orphanage because everybody knew me there and expected me to be there. I couldn't just vanish leaving a pretty-looking boy in my place.

But I could use it whenever we went on a trip and I saw someone new. I couldn't help it. I became addicted to it.
I liked the way people looked at me after I changed.

When I was 15 I first knew what sexual attraction was. I saw a person that stole my breath.

It wasn't a girl. It was a boy.

He had deep eyes that seemed to know everything, the quiet expression of someone who doesn't care about what other people think, and the mocking smile of someone who knows all that he cares to know.

I didn't know who he was but I wanted to hear his voice, I wanted to talk to him.

I was too scared that he might avoid me repulsed by my insignificant appearance, I knew I wasn't handsome as he was, so I desperately wished to look alluring at his eyes.

Comforted by my talent, I approached him when I saw him stopping to look at a shop window.
For a couple of seconds we both looked at all those sweets, then I said, "They seem delicious."

It was the only thing that came to my mind.

It wasn't anything brilliant, but I was never a brilliant person. It was better than nothing though, and it worked. He turned around and looked at me. "Of course they are, which one would you choose?"

I remained speechless, he was smiling at me and my mind went blank. He had such a charming smile, I wished I could follow him instead of going back to the orphanage, but I was still underage and they would find me and bring me back.

I sighed and he gave me a mocking smile; I blushed furiously, I had no experience in this sort of things.

I was so embarrassed that I was about to turn and run away, but he touched my arm and said, "Wait, I'll be back in a moment."

I stopped, how could I go away now? All I could think of was that I wanted to touch him too.

I stayed still while he went inside, and soon he came out with a grin on his face. He said, "Close your eyes and open your mouth."

I would never do such a scary thing at the orphanage, who knows what trick they might pull on me, but thanks to my talent this boy was seeing something he liked so I hoped he wouldn't do anything nasty.

I closed my eyes and opened my mouth.

I immediately felt something hard and sweet hit my tongue. I opened my eyes, he was grinning again. "I hope you like strawberries. Strawberry flavoured lollipops are the best!"

Just like that, my heart was stolen. I wondered if I would ever get it back.