Psychic Lies: An Urban Fantasy Academy Romance (Psychic Academy Book 2)

by Samantha Bell

  We stopped at the door of the training facility. The courtyard was empty and quiet.

  “Hey, Ryland?” I said softly.

  “What?” The sharpness of his voice cut into my skin.

  “I was wondering if maybe you’d like to get together after class or something.” My voice faded away shyly.

  Ryland scoffed. “We will be together after class if you didn’t notice. I’m in charge of protecting your ass until the end of the day.”

  Any confidence remaining was dashed out. I didn’t bother trying again. “Ok, then.” I mumbled. “I guess I’ll see you after.” Ryland was silent as I pulled open the heavy facility door. I didn’t look back as the door clanged behind me.

  The training facility had been opened up into larger portions for group training. I looked around, walking past a group of teleporting students. They vanished and reappeared on marks etched onto the floor.

  I found my group one section over. I recognized the three students from the last time I had embarrassed myself during Turner’s lesson. These kids were much more experienced than me. I had proved myself in my eyes, I knew I was powerful, but they still looked down their noses at me.

  Ms. Blackwell was there, watching them warm up. She was looking even better than yesterday. She was standing a little straighter in her stiletto-heel boots. How she had returned from a near-fatal injury as still maintained her fashion sense was beyond me. How did she train in those things anyway?

  Ms. Blackwell turned to me as I pulled the accordion divider shut. I was the last to arrive, despite being early. Everyone must have been excited to get back to training with the best telekinetic teacher on campus.

  The only one of the students I knew the name of was Qadir; he was the one who humiliated me in front of Turner and the other students. I lost control of my powers and he taunted me for it. I couldn’t let that happen again. I couldn’t embarrass myself when Ms. Blackwell was watching. If there was anyone in this academy that really, truly cared about me, I’d like to think that it was her.

  I put on a strong face and joined my classmates.

  “Everyone, please welcome Bianca Hernandez. I don’t believe you’ve met?” Ms. Blackwell asked.

  Qadir snickered. “Oh, we’ve met.”

  “I joined a group session while you were away,” I said to her as neutrally as possible. “But, I am very excited to show how much I have improved since then.” I shot a glare a Qadir, who shrugged.

  “Excellent.” Ms. Blackwell broke us off into pairs.

  Thank goodness I was with someone who wasn’t Qadir. I had seen her in the cafeteria once or twice before, but I didn’t know her name. Whoever she was, she did not look happy to be paired with me.

  I forced a diplomatic smile. “Hi, I’m Bianca.”

  “Gracie. Let’s just get this over with.” She muttered.

  Her expression told me everything: I was the cursed new girl and anyone who got too close to me was at risk. I was an outcast. Shunned by the very people who were supposed to understand me. If other psychics were scared of me, what hope did I have in the real world? I swallowed my pride and nodded.

  Ms. Blackwell gave us drills to perform. Simple ones like passing a ball back and forth with our energy and then moving up to heavier objects. This went on for half an hour and just before I died of boredom, she clapped her hands to get our attention. “Break time. Take five and then we’ll continue.”

  I sighed and let the metal plate slowly sink to the floor. It was hard to believe that only a month ago I found simple psychic exercises like this to be exhausting. I used to faint every time I used my powers, now I was able to work for a few hours and only get dizzy or hungry. It was like my teachers promised, I would get better with time and I had. But it seemed that I was the only one who was impressed with that. I mentally patted myself on the back before grabbing my water bottle and sinking down onto the mat to stretch.

  “So, new girl.” Qadir’s voice rang in my ears.

  I glanced up. “What?”

  Qadir’s smirk warped into a frown. “No need to be rude, I was just saying hi.”

  If he never spoke to me again, it would be too soon.

  “I was actually hoping we would get paired together today,” He went on.

  “Why?” I asked. “So you could humiliate me again?”

  Qadir scoffed and shook his head. “I never did anything. You being all loose with your powers is what caused that. Seriously, you need to get a hold of yourself before you hurt someone.”

  I knew he was just trying to get under my skin. I took a long drink of water to avoid saying something I’d regret. “Whatever.” I said, hoping he’d take the hint and leave.

  “So, you wanna try me again?” He raised his eyebrows.

  I wasn’t sure if he was flirting or being serious, but either way I was not interested. I’d rather go on a date with Major Griffiths before I even looked at Qadir again. “No thanks.” My voice was clipped.

  Qadir didn’t get the hint. “Why not? I thought you said you got better?” He waved his hand and my water bottle trembled and then flew out of my hand.

  “Hey!” I jumped to my feet. “Give that back, Qadir.”

  “Or what?” He sneered.

  The other classmates looked over. Ms. Blackwell had still not returned from her break.

  My cheeks went hot when I realized everyone was watching us. “Give back my bottle,” I said. “I don’t feel like messing around today.” I clenched my fist.

  “Oh,” Qadir faked a frightened shiver. “I’m so scared of you, Bianca. I bet you’d love to kick my ass.”

  I gritted my teeth. “Oh you know it, too bad it won’t happen.”

  “Yeah, ‘cause you can’t!” He sneered.

  My patience snapped. I lunched forward, summoning all of my psychic energy. The tingle ran up my spine and to the base of my skull. The energy surged and grabbed my opponent. I pulled the bottle hard and sent it flying across the room.

  Qadir gasped under my strength. “Fuck, let me go!” He grunted.

  “I thought you wanted me to kick your ass? Did you not just challenge me?” I lifted my hand and squeezed him tighter.

  Qadir finally fought back. I felt his energy pulse against mine and he managed to get free. He might have been an annoying asshole, but he was skilled.

  I stepped back and raised my arms, fighting with my energy against his.

  With a flick of his wrist, he sent the rubber balls stacked against the wall flying towards me.

  I broke off and jumped back to avoid them. “Is that all you got?” I challenged him.

  Qadir laughed and motioned for the other students to step back. “You’re serious then, aren’t you? Ok, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He raised a ten pound metal plate into the air.

  Metal was quickly becoming my specialty. I motioned with my fingers, feeling the pulse of energy move from my brain down through my arm, and snatched it away from him. With a groan, the metal twisted and buckled under my invisible psychic strength.

  Qadir’s mouth fell open in shock. “Holy shit, where’d you learn that.”

  “Somethings aren’t learned in a classroom.” Before I thought better of it, I swung my arm and sent the twisted metal disk straight at him.

  Qadir dodged, throwing up his arm and sending the plate away. It spun off towards our watching classmates and collided with Gracie. She gasped as the metal hit her in the gut and she sank to the floor with a groan.

  “BIANCA HERNANDEZ! QADIR TOMA!” Ms. Blackwell shouted from the doorway. She teleported to Gracie’s side. She was unconscious, but she looked to be alright. There didn’t seem to be any visible damage. But internal bleeding was still a possibility. I wasn’t a doctor, but I guessed she’d be alright.

  I let my energy fade and my hands fell to my sides. “Ms. Blackwell! It was an accident!”

  “She started it!” Qadir’s voice was shrill.

  One of the students ran off to get medical help. The others stared
at me in stunned silence.

  “It wasn’t me. It was —” My protests died in my throat as Ms. Blackwell shook her head in disappointment.

  #

  “I am very surprised at you, Miss Hernandez.”

  I slouched in my chair. How many times had I been in the Major’s office since enrolling here? It had to be at least twice a week at this point. I knew his secretary by name and I noticed when his desk had been rearranged.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” I said. “But it wasn’t all my fault. If you’d listen to my side of the story.”

  The Major cut me off with a wave of his hand. “It doesn’t matter whose fault it is. What matters is that your classmate is currently in the hospital with two broken ribs. We’re lucky the damage wasn’t worse.”

  “I didn’t throw the plate at her!” I sighed. I was tired of everyone not believing me.

  “I thought you were ready to train with the others, but it’s obvious that you can’t control your powers as well as we thought.” Major Griffiths continued. “I understand that there was a disagreement, and Qadir will also be punished, but injuring another student is a serious problem.”

  I nodded. There was no fight left in me anymore. Why bother trying to defend my actions when no one bothered to listen. It was obvious that I had been written off as a bad egg since the incident last month. Maybe I was bad luck after all.

  “In light of this event, we have decided to further suspend your home visits.”

  My jaw dropped. “What? No! I haven’t seen my parents in months!”

  The Major shook his head. “Young psychics who cannot control their powers or their emotions,” He added with a look. “Are a danger to the community at large. We cannot allow off site visits until you can control yourself.”

  I collapsed back in my chair. This wasn’t a school. It was a prison.

  CHAPTER THREE

  It felt as if something had been torn out of me. Seeing my parents was the last shred of light that I had been holding onto since the academy went on lock-down. Now it seemed so hopeless.

  Ryland was waiting for me outside the office, still upholding his Bianca babysitting duty. “What happened?” He asked. “I went to your training to pick you up and someone said there had been an accident.” He sounded genuinely worried.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I said. “I screwed up again. That’s all.”

  “Talking might help,” Ryland said.

  I couldn’t believe my ears. Ryland, who had just shunned me hours before, was suddenly caring about my feelings again. His hot and cold attitude was too much for me to handle right now. “I just want to go home.” I said.

  “You mean the dorms?”

  I cringed inwardly. No, I meant home. But that wasn’t an option now. “Yeah, that.” I agreed.

  “You should have dinner.” Ryland said as we walked towards the exit closest to the dormitories.

  “I’m not hungry.” I said flatly.

  Ryland didn’t press the matter further. He walked me to my dorm room and shrugged awkwardly. “Well, if you need me, I’ll be around.” He said.

  I forced myself to look at him. “Thanks, Ryland. Really. I just need to be alone right now.” I looked away as I shut and locked the door.

  The room was dark and dreary. The white walls seemed so cold to me now. I curled up on my bed and let myself cry, biting my pillow so no one in the hall could hear me.

  #

  The sound of my phone ringing woke me from a troubled sleep. Despite my hazy mind, I had a feeling that it was important, so I reached out and answered in a groggy voice. “Hello?”

  “Bianca!” It was Daniel.

  I bolted up from my bed. “Daniel!” I cried. “Oh my gosh, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. What’s up? Is everything ok?”

  “Yeah, everything is fine. I wanted to check it and see if you needed anything for your visit on the weekend.” Daniel said. His cheery voice broke my heart.

  “Oh,” I sank back down onto the mattress. “Yeah, about that. I guess I’m not coming anymore.”

  “What?” He gasped.

  “Something happened during training,” I said, keeping the details vague. “And apparently I’m not trustworthy enough to be around normal people. My powers are too erratic. Someone might get hurt.” I rolled my eyes.

  There was silence on the other end of the line. “Oh, I see.” Daniel said finally. I could feel the hurt in his voice. “I was hoping we could go to the beach or something, like we always did in the summer. Before people move away for college.”

  My heart strained in my chest and my eyes swam with tears. “Yeah, me too.” I sniffed. The lake wasn’t the nicest beach, but anything would be better than this place. I hadn’t realized how much I was looking forward to visiting until it had been snatched away.

  “They can’t keep you there forever, right?” Daniel said after a moment. “I mean, it’s not a prison.”

  “It’s starting to feel like one,” I said darkly. I forced myself to put on a brave face and keep my tone light. “But don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll let me visit soon. And, when they do, we can go to the beach and get ice cream and do anything you want.” I hoped it wasn’t a lie.

  “Yeah.” Daniel didn’t sound convinced. “Oh!” He added. “There was something else I wanted to tell you too.”

  “What is it?” I could sense the juicy gossip.

  Daniel lowered his voice. “I overheard my dad talking to someone yesterday night. Something about work.” The way he stressed the word work dropped a hint that it was about the psychic division of the FBI. His father was an inspector and even his son didn’t know much about what went on there. “He mentioned something about needing extra security for something. He mentioned the academy.”

  I was silent in shock.

  “Anyway,” Daniel said. “Not sure what it’s about, but something might be happening soon. Maybe that’s why they’re on high alert. I’ll let you know if I get wind of anything else, but Dad is pretty good at hiding his tracks.”

  “Ok, thanks.” I said. I didn’t want the conversation to end. Talking to Daniel made me feel like I was home again. I hadn’t seen him since I was torn away from him and put into the back of a unmarked police car, destined to be sent back to Psychic Academy.

  I talked with Daniel for over an hour and it broke my heart when he had to go. I hung up the phone and let the silence settle in around me. It was heavy and thick with feeling. I felt so closed off from the world. So alone and lost.

  A knock on my door snapped me out of my pity party.

  “Who is it?” I called, not wanting to get out of the comfort of my bed.

  “It’s me.” Ryland.

  “I’m fine. Don’t need babysitting, thanks.”

  “I brought you dinner.”

  It was then that I noticed how hungry I was. I hesitated for a second before abandoning my pride and opening the door with a flick of my wrist. The door swung open and I didn’t have to leave my bed. (Talk about a win-win.)

  Ryland’s eyes lit up, seeming slightly impressed with my use of psychic energy for everyday tasks. In his hand he had a styrofoam container of food from the cafeteria. The smell of noodles and stir-fried veggies filled my small room.

  Ryland walked in and passed me the food before taking a seat at my desk. “Thought you’d be hungry.”

  “Starving.” I admitted and closed my door with another snap of my fingers. I dug into the meal, not caring that Ryland was watching me eat like a crazy person. We were all aware of the strain that our psychic powers had on our bodies and the need for food was almost constant.

  Ryland was silent while I ate, his eyes drifting around my room slowly and then stopping on the photo of my family. It looked like he wanted to say something, but was holding back.

  I swallowed the last of the noodles and threw the empty container in the garbage bin under my desk. “Thanks,” I said.

  Ryland gave me a soft smile. “No problem. I a
m supposed to be looking out for you after all.”

  I looked down at my hands, running my fingers against the blanket on my lap. “Yeah. Sorry about that.” I wasn’t sure why I was apologizing, but it was the least I could do.

  “Not your fault. I’m just doing it because Ms. Blackwell and the Major asked me to.”

  I looked up. “I don’t need a bodyguard,” I said. “I told her that. We can call it off.”

  Ryland shook his head. “How can you say that when that masked woman is still at large?”

  I blinked, taken aback.

  Ryland stared at me for a second and then sighed. “They didn’t tell you?”

  “Didn’t tell me what?”

  “That the masked woman who attacked us that night and her two cronies are still out there. Rogues are still running rampant in this city and we have no idea who they are.”

  My mouth went dry and fear prickled through my body. “No, she didn’t say that.”

  Ryland shook his head. “Typical. Why do they do this shit? Withholding information never helps someone who’s at risk.”

  “At risk?” I repeated.

  “They think she’s going to come after you again.” Ryland explained.

  “I can take care of myself.”

  Ryland chuckled darkly. “Really? Against her? You know that’s not true. All three of us didn’t stand a chance against her and she escaped Federal agents.”

  Ryland was right, but the truth hurt anyways. “So that’s why they’re keeping me here?” I whispered. “This isn’t about my powers at all. Or my parents.”

  “Well that incident with Qadir was a good reason to keep you here, but no, there’s more to it than that.”

  I wasn’t surprised that the whole campus knew about my fight with Qadir, but juvenile gossip was the least of my worries now. My chest ached as the anxiety spread through me. I was in much more danger than I originally thought.

  Ryland waited a beat before speaking. “Hey, it’s going to be ok.”