First Project

by Jennifer Rose McMahon

Holy shit.

  "Um, thanks." I reached for his hoodie and pulled it over my head.

  His warmth lingered in the soft fabric, and the smell of him overwhelmed my senses. It was fantastic.

  I wrapped my arms around myself again, not knowing what else to do, praying he wasn't picking up on my reaction to him.

  But I knew he was.

  A slight smirk teased at the sides of his mouth, and I just wanted to die.

  I'd been so distracted by Dom's classic attractiveness, I hadn't noticed how hot Shane was. I'd never been the cougar-type, so just hadn't thought about him in that way.

  Well, shit, he'd caused a complete one-eighty in me now, and in the present moment, I could no longer function.

  "I didn't mean to make you nervous," he said. "Sorry, I can feel it." He shook his head like he was only making matters worse. "Ugh, this is so awkward. Like, we can't hide shit like normal people. It's annoying."

  I chuckled.

  He was trying to lighten the moment and was actually doing an okay job of it.

  "It's okay," I said. "I'm just not used to people being nice to me. I react all wonky and shit."

  He grinned. "You think I'm nice?" he teased.

  My fist shot out and punched him in the arm before I could stop it. "No," I teased back. Then I turned back toward the massive arch and shouted, "What the fuck is going on-on-on...?"

  The sound of my cry bounced back at us, over and over, making us laugh.

  Shane called out, "This fucking sucks-sucks-sucks!" And the sound echoed into our bones.

  "Shit! Fuck-fuck-fuck...!" I screamed, and his voice mixed with mine as he shouted the same.

  We buckled over in laughter from our lewd display, but the catharsis was worth it.

  "I feel better now," he said.

  "Yeah," I agreed with a chuckle. "Me too."

  Chapter 20

  For the rest of the week, we all strategized as discreetly as possible. Ms. Kelly hadn't returned, and we knew our focus had to be on getting her pardoned. From their perspective, she appeared to be a negligent educator placing her students at risk, but that was because she'd kept the academy a secret.

  She had to.

  We were different, and no one would be willing to believe what we were capable of. There was enough history of people being put away in mental hospitals for symptoms similar to ours.

  Ms. Kelly would never expose us like that.

  Instead, she helped us to embrace our gifts and strengthen them. Her mentoring was life-changing for all of us. We each believed we were weird or strange in some way like we didn't fit in. But it was because we were unique and powerful.

  Sending us on these projects was her way of training us. Sure, it may have seemed irresponsible to the untrained eye, but we knew her methods were necessary, and we had the protection of our powers.

  The only way to redeem her good name was to complete our project and show that her leadership created growth within each of us—more than any classroom could ever achieve.

  Then I thought about the closed-minded school committee members and Principal Haney's tunnel vision. They'd never see Ms. Kelly for what she truly was. They only wanted bland educators who would follow the letter of the law to the T.

  My wondering thoughts paused.

  What was Ms. Kelly, anyway? I'd seen her true essence, and it was unworldly.

  Honestly, I wasn't even sure what the options were for labeling her.

  She understood each of us and our abilities more than we even did. Then she had the power to enter our thoughts at the most crucial moment. And there was probably more she was capable of.

  I didn't know why I'd never thought about it before. I just assumed she was more in tune with supernatural occurrences and fostered it when she picked up on it in others.

  Naive.

  Ms. Kelly was more.

  A lot more.

  But something was holding her back. Something kept her confined within her own abilities.

  And I was determined to find out what.

  She needed to be freed. In every way.

  And finding Tommy was the first step.

  I hadn't seen Laney at all for a few days, until she flashed her smug grin at me in the hallway, reminding me of her incessant existence.

  Seeing her reminded me that all I wanted to do was get out of the school. It was Friday afternoon, and we'd suffered long enough with our self-imposed separation and brutal confinement within stagnant classrooms.

  The grin on Laney's face had caused my stomach to turn. It was like she thought she'd won something and flaunted her intangible victory around the school. But the arrogance in her gaze held more than that as if she knew something we didn't. It wove insecurity through my gut.

  And annoyingly, her minions didn't hesitate for a second in their worship of her next-level status, regardless of the fact they had no clue what was really going on. They followed her like eager puppies, flipping their hair at me and giggling as they passed. The degrading power of their giggle was maddening.

  Laney thought she'd silenced me. She believed Dom had moved on.

  That was her internal victory.

  But that was the furthest thing from the truth.

  I hadn't been silenced.

  If anything, I'd grown louder these past few days—my senses ready to explode.

  And Dom hadn't moved on.

  He'd actually focused his attention harder on me, and it burned my ass. It was as if he knew I'd been distracted by Shane recently, which pulled my attention away from him. So, he didn't hesitate to up his game.

  Dom may have been silent these past few days, but his staring eyes gripped me, frequently. I caught his burning gaze every time I felt him enter my thoughts. It was like the heat of lasers burning into me, creating images of his animalistic hunger. The feeling raised my desire to levels of craving, and I fought against the urges that he awakened within me. The mixed signals between us messed with my head as I struggled to keep boundaries in place.

  I shook the distracting thoughts away as I breezed past Laney's stare-down and moved toward the front entrance of the school to make my great escape. The weekend had finally arrived, and I was sure this would be a big one.

  As I turned the final corner, the main office came into view, and I noticed a buzz outside the door.

  Scanning the group of students that hovered by the windows, my eyes landed on Shane's. He held my gaze with focused concern. At that same moment, a sensation of alarm shot through me as his thoughts meshed with mine.

  Something wasn't right.

  As I held his gaze, attempting to understand what was happening, I bumped to the side after being knocked by someone. My attention broke away from Shane as I turned to whoever had just crashed into me.

  Intense heat radiated off him as I gazed up and met Dom's wide eyes. Energy surged off him as if he were burning up from a fever, but instead of looking sickly, he was pumped up, ready to detonate.

  He leaned into me and whispered near my ear, "This weekend."

  The side of my face warmed from the heat of his breath, and I flinched from the shock of it.

  Attempting to remain aloof in front of the other students, I nodded slightly while keeping my eyes averted.

  He moved past me and shot out the doors with a loud smash.

  My face reddened from the strange encounter, and I stared at the ground, recovering from the unusual sensations he'd awakened in me. How did he have the power to do that, every time? I squeezed my eyes shut to push away the lingering shivers.

  Trying to refocus, I thought about his words. All he'd said was, "This weekend." Two words that screwed with my mind. Was it an innuendo? Or was he focused on finally getting to work on our project? As much as the butterflies in my stomach wanted the first tempting option, I had to stay focused on our mission and believe he was doing the same.

  He was ready to go back.

  Ready for all of us to go back.

  And the intense energy surging o
ff him proved he was ready for a fight.

  I took a deep inhale and looked toward the office windows to see what all the excitement was about. In that same instant, my eyes met Shane's again.

  His unblinking stare confirmed he'd watched every detail of my encounter with Dom. And probably picked up on my feelings around it as well.

  I pulled my eyes away from his and cursed myself.

  Fuck.

  This was getting more complicated than we needed right now. Our focus had to remain steady on Ms. Kelly and our project. Any other distractions could derail our mission.

  Feeling Shane's eyes still on me, I moved closer to the office windows and looked in.

  Standing among the principal and the school resource officer was Laney's mom. Her perfectly coiffed blonde hair and high-end designer outfit emanated a sense of authority that the others responded to without question. As a member of the school committee, she held full command of whatever was discussed, as if she held supreme power within the group. The others listened and nodded, causing my stomach to turn.

  I shot my eyes back to Shane's.

  We pushed all other concerns aside and focused only on the current situation that unfolded in the office.

  Our thoughts collided, erupting in panicked unison. "She's on to us. We don't have much time."

  I sailed out of the school to get as far away as possible from Mrs. Rosco and her posse. She had them all tightly wound around her finger, knowing she had their employment contracts under her thumb. Being a member of the school committee held considerable power over the school officials, and they knew it.

  Shane pushed through the other students and followed me out of the school. I felt his angst tearing after me, so I sped up. The last thing we needed was to be seen interacting, but I could tell he was ready to throw that to the wind.

  I rushed past the wrought iron entry gates of the school and shot around the corner. Right away, the chaos of the school quieted behind me, and I let out a huge exhale. It was crazy the level of intrigue that lady was able to conjure, and I was happy to leave it far behind me.

  Before I could pull the next breath in, Shane rushed around the corner, nearly smacking right into me.

  "Shit," he hissed, pulling back apologetically.

  I turned to keep walking.

  "We shouldn't be seen together," I warned. "It's too crazy right now."

  "Wait," he said.

  I glanced at him quickly and then pulled my eyes away.

  He froze, not knowing what to say next, and hung on the suspended moment.

  My first instinct was to save him from the awkward tension and his desperation to know what was going on. But I didn't have an answer. My mind spun with everything that was going on, and I couldn't think clearly.

  In the silence between us, he pulled my arm to get me to look at him again. I fought to keep my eyes steady in the direction of home, but his plead over-powered my sensibility, and I turned to him.

  He held my gaze with an intensity I hadn't felt before. It burned into my soul, igniting me from inside. He poured his heart into me—his insecurities, his desires, his pain, and his hopes. All of him.

  I gasped at the rush to my senses, and my heart rate accelerated, pounding in my ears. Breathless, I stared into his eyes, wanting nothing more than to fall into his arms. The rush overwhelmed me as every nerve in my body responded to him.

  He reached for my other arm and stepped closer. Our proximity sent heightened excitement through me, making me lose all sense of time and place.

  I only saw him.

  I only felt him.

  His eyes moved to my mouth as he pulled in his bottom lip. Mesmerized, I stared as it glistened, and my muscles went limp.

  In that instant, a horn blared as a car pulled up next to us.

  "Get in!" Poorva shouted from the open window.

  Chapter 21

  Poorva gunned it and pulled away from the school before Shane and I were fully settled. Her anxiety filled the car, leaving us more breathless than we already were.

  "Dudes, this is insane," she blasted. "There's no way I'm jeopardizing my scholarship to Stanford."

  Her comment sent my head spinning in a completely new direction.

  "What?" I twisted my body to face her.

  Shane moved to the middle of the back seat and leaned up between us. "Poorva?"

  Her words caught us off guard. First of all, we’d been focused on something completely different that still fluttered in my stomach, but now it sounded like she was considering dropping out of the project. The tingles in my belly instantly turned to nausea.

  Shane and I leaned in farther, questioning her loyalty to the project. We'd never heard this type of waver in her voice before.

  "No," she said. "This one is getting out of hand. Ms. Kelly's been fired. Now the school committee and the police are involved. You guys don't understand. This could ruin everything for me."

  I pressed my head into the back of my seat in shock. How could she pull out now? This was the moment we'd all been working toward. It was time to finish this.

  I looked back at Shane, and he held the same panicked look in his eyes that I felt.

  "Poorva, please," I said. "We need you. We have to stick together as a team to fix all of this. We’re not as strong when we’re broken apart."

  She shook her head. "It's bigger than you guys realize."

  It was like she knew something we didn't. Something had frightened her, and now she was ready to jump ship. But we couldn't afford to lose her. Ms. Kelly had formed our group, with everyone's gifts in mind, and we needed to stick together. Poorva's gifts were different from any of ours, and without her, we'd have an exposed vulnerability.

  We had to convince her to stay.

  "Did you see something?" Shane asked. "Something unusual?"

  I twisted my head to him and stared. What could he be talking about? Did Poorva see things?

  He looked at me, pressing his lips together in resignation. It was clear to me then that he knew what Poorva was capable of. Maybe even more than she did.

  She slowed the vehicle, then pulled over to a stop. Cars whizzed by as the pressure within ours mounted. Shifting in her seat, she faced us both with a worried look that twisted my gut.

  "I usually just see auras," she said. "You know, colors and energy around people."

  "Chakras," I stated, encouraging her to keep going.

  She nodded. "But, it's more now." She swallowed hard. "I see intentions behind the colors. I see glimpses of events."

  Shane pressed closer. "Precognition."

  Poorva glanced at him and murmured, "Yes."

  Holy shit. Poorva's skills were developing quickly—faster than she could handle. It made sense that her first instinct was to run. But this was the moment of truth—when all of our gifts combined were making an exponential difference.

  "Rule number one—don't run," I stated.

  The car fell silent.

  I waited a moment for my words to sink into her. She turned her eyes front, avoiding my pressure-filled gaze, but I knew she was fuming. Her loyalty went too deep, and no matter how frightened she was, she wouldn't be able to abandon us now.

  My eyes widened with curiosity. "What are you seeing, Poorva? You have to tell us."

  She twitched with anxiety and swallowed hard.

  Holy shit. Whatever she had seen was causing some serious discomfort—enough to make her want to bail entirely.

  No matter how uncomfortable it might be, we needed the information. This was exactly why we were the chosen ones for the project. Our gifts allowed for higher perception that gave us a great advantage. We needed whatever it was that Poorva had picked up on so we could prepare for what we were walking into.

  I stared at her, waiting for an answer.

  Shane repeated my question. "What did you see, Poorva?"

  She fidgeted in her seat, and ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it away from her face. She glanced at each of us and then t
ook a deep breath.

  With a low whisper, she said, "We lose."

  The blood drained from my head, and I felt dizzy. Poorva's premonition was the worst news we could ever hear.

  We lose.

  Her words were terrifying. Not only in what might happen to us in the woods, but also from the idea that we don’t accomplish what we need to do. Her words meant we were unsuccessful in our project.

  We couldn't save Tommy.

  We couldn't save Ms. Kelly.

  Our futures would all be compromised.

  "We can't lose," I stated. "It's not an option."

  Poorva stared at me with sunken shoulders.

  "She's right," Shane said. "It's not an option. Tell us exactly what you saw, and we'll figure out a way to change it. Losing is not what we do. This project is everything we've trained for, Poorva. We got this."

  She shook her head. "If I get kicked out of school, my life is over. Going to med school is everything I’ve trained for. This other stuff is not what I signed up to do."

  My wind was knocked out of me. I had no idea Poorva struggled with her two colliding worlds. The UMAs and our project meant everything to me, so I just assumed it was the same for the others.

  "Okay, so we get expelled. Is that what you saw?" Shane asked.

  He pushed her to keep perspective.

  "That's the least of it," she mumbled. "First, we get our asses kicked in the woods, like, some of us are changed forever. We either lose our minds, or they're stolen from us. Then we're accused of endangering others and delinquency." She exhaled. "No matter what, we're screwed."

  I turned my gaze and stared out the window. It didn't sound that far-fetched. I wouldn't be surprised if some of us lost our minds in the process. The level of terror we were about to face was enough to make anyone lose touch with reality. And add the supernatural elements to the equation, and shit, it's a recipe for disaster.

  But we knew all this going in. We had to keep focus and rely on our unique abilities.

  "Mrs. Kelly's first rule," I repeated. "Don't run."

  Poorva huffed. "No, this is where the other rules come into play, Brynn. Believe what you see. Follow your gut. Run!"