S.E.R.G.A! That was it! It’s what Remi had made up to help me remember the top five trading gems for our exam. It was his voice I was hearing! He was sending me help, trying to save me from humiliation and the locker!
I quickly scribbled the answers on the board and then trotted quickly back to my seat. There on the board in my scrawling handwriting was Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, Garnet and Amber, in perfect order. I felt electrified! I not only figured out the answer to Mr. Greyvin and my classmate’s surprise, but I had discovered another power! I was like Nova! I could hear thoughts! I sat at my desk tingling, smiling at Remi who was sitting to my right.
“Very well, 65. It seems you have learned something from me after all,” said Greyvin sarcastically. “Moving on… Your homework will be to read pages 114 to 142 for tomorrow’s lesson. Please be prepared everyone.” And he shut his book and sat down just as the bell chimed.
I grabbed my books and Remi’s hand and darted out into the hallway ahead of everyone else.
“Come with me!” I hissed at him when he pulled against me.
I dragged him into our room and shut the door behind us. Room 13 was deserted, as the rest of our year was making their way to Math and Calendars, our last lesson of the day.
“Remi! You did it! You helped me remember the stones!” I squealed hugging him.
“I know, I was so impressed you remembered. See all the studying pays off.” he said smiling. I released him from my embrace and grabbed him by the shoulders, looking as serious as I knew how.
“No, I didn’t remember on my own. I was up there panicking, and then I heard you!”
“What?” he said taking a step back.
“I heard you! You were thinking it over and over in your head. S.E.R.G.A, S.E.R.G.A.! I never would have remembered it without your help. I was too scared standing up there to think straight, but I started to hear what people were thinking and I heard you, and you were helping me. You saved me!” I said, hugging him again.
Remi pushed me away from him. “What are you talking about? You can’t read minds, you just finally remembered something that I had drilled into your brain.”
“No, Remi, it was you! I heard you!”
“Okay, I really think you’re starting to lose your mind. Maybe you’ve been hanging out with these new friends of yours too much or maybe you hit your head really hard when you fell off the rubble pile, but we’re going to be late for class. Let’s go.” And he walked out of the room, leaving me standing there alone.
I was stunned. Remi was my best friend. I thought he would believe me. I would have believed him if he told me something like this, wouldn’t I? I stood there hoping that I would, but maybe not? Maybe I only believed it because of all the incredible new things Nova had opened my eyes to recently. Maybe Nova was right that I couldn’t tell Remi about my powers yet? Maybe I would have to show him. Yes, I would show him, and then he’d have to believe me. I needed Remi to believe me. I really needed my best friend with me in this crazy new life I was discovering.
I had made up my mind that I would tell Nova that we had to let Remi in on this all when the second bell chimed. “Shoot!” I was late for Math and Calendars. I sprinted out of Room 13 and ran straight into Miss Breia.
“Dear Jane! Are you alright?!”
I had bounced off her and landed square on my rear end. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said as I stood, dusting the sand from my uniform. “Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“Well, you’d better come with me. We’ll need to get you a late pass so you don’t get into trouble for wondering the halls dear.”
I followed Miss Breia into her office and sat in the chair while she bustled about her desk looking for a late pass.
“So, how has your head been treating you? Any more dizzy spells?”
“No, I think I’m cured, thanks.”
“Good, good, very good to hear,” she said distractedly. “Ah-ha, here they are. Alright then, where are you headed little Jane?”
“Mr. Hookturn’s class.”
“Here you are,” she said handing me the little square stone that she had just written my number on.
“Thanks,” I said taking it from her, letting my hands run over its worn smooth edges, avoiding the sticky black cretil ink. We learned about this ink in P&P class. It’s made from the sap of a cretil plant and the black lava rock found on the island. It’s washable with a particular solution, so it’s perfect for the stone passes we use in the Troian Center. You need them to go to the nurse’s station, the Jane’s room, Greeley’s office, or anywhere other than where you’re supposed to be.
I walked into Mr. Hookturn’s class and handed him my pass, then headed for my seat next to Remi at the long table in the back of the room. He glanced at me questioningly and I shrugged at him putting my books down. We sat silently next to each other through the whole class, quietly working on filling out our calendars and equations. I could feel the distance between us and the tension that was building. It made me uncomfortable to have secrets from Remi and I was hoping after today that I could come clean and we’d be on the same page again.
Chapter 10
Finally the bell chimed and I gathered my books and rushed out of class, back to room 13 to change for Flood work. The rest of the Center was heading to the dining hall for lunch, but I needed to talk to Nova and was desperately trying to call him with my thoughts. I sat on my cot bed in my oversized work uniform with my eyes squeezed shut.
“Nova, I need you! Nova! Nova! Nova!”
“Meet me in our spot.”
I jumped at the sound of his voice in my head. It worked! I’d called him and he heard me! I was so excited and proud of getting the hang of these powers. I laced up my shoes and ran to the courtyard. Nova was already behind the banana palm when I arrived. He was staring out the hole when I breathlessly climbed through the leaves to meet him.
“I did it! I called you and you heard me! I had to talk to you! So much is happening. I think I’m like you! I mean I know I am, but I can do stuff like you, I heard voices today. I think I was reading minds! I read Remi’s mind in History and Trade and he gave me the answers while I was at the board! It was so AMAZING! And then…”
“Whoa, Tippy. Slow down. You’re talking a mile a minute. Take a breath.”
“Okay, okay, sorry.”
“Why did you need to meet with me, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m great. I just wanted to tell you that I read minds today!”
“Really? That’s impressive. How did it happen?”
“Mr. Greyvin called me up to the board to write down the top five trading gems and I panicked. I was just standing at the blackboard shaking and sweating, and all of a sudden it was like everything slowed down and I could hear everything around me, the flies, the pages rustling, people breathing, and then their thoughts started rushing at me.”
“So, you were afraid?” Nova asked.
“Yeah, but that’s not the point,” I said frustrated.
“It’s important, Tippy, we’re still trying to figure out your powers and what triggers them remember? I need to know what you were feeling and doing when you discover new powers.”
“Well then, yes, I was scared. Do you think that could have done it?”
“Definitely, fear is a very powerful emotion. What happened next?”
“I took a deep breath and focused on the voices and I could start to pick out different voices, and then I was able to focus on them one at a time and make out what they were thinking. That’s when I heard Remi, I recognized his voice instantly because it was so positive. He was giving me the answer. He kept saying it over and over again in his mind.”
“Hmm,” Nova mused while rubbing his chin.
“What?”I asked impatiently, but got no response from Nova.
He seemed lost in thought and suddenly I was lost with him. I had touched his arm to get his attention and at that same moment was in his mind with him. I could see, hear and feel his tho
ughts. It frightened me to be inside his head like that, so surrounded and consumed. I jumped out as quickly as I could, gasping for air.
“Tippy?” Nova said, grabbing my arm to steady me.
“You think he knows and we can’t trust him!” I sputtered.
“How did you do that? You were reading my mind, weren’t you?”
“Yes, I think so, but it was different. Not like in lessons. I, I felt like I was you! I could feel your emotion, and see what you were seeing and hear your thoughts… it was… I don’t know what it was. Is that normal? Is that what you do?”
Nova looked at me, smiling and shaking his head. “No Tippy, it’s not what I do, but it’s okay. You’re perfectly normal for a freak,” he laughed.
“This isn’t funny, I don’t know what’s happening to me!”
“You just came in here bragging like super-girl a minute ago.”
“I know, but it’s all happening so fast!”
“It’s fine, we’ll practice more tonight. One step at a time, remember? You just need to stay calm.”
“But what if something crazy happens?”
“If you need help just call me. We know we can talk to each other telepathically now, so you’ll never be alone.”
That did reassure me actually. I took a deep breath and started to feel a little better.
“Okay, so what now?” I asked.
“Just get through your Flood work and meet me at night like we planned.”
“Okay,” I said, starting to slide my way out from behind the palms.
“Tippy, stay away from Remi for now, okay?”
“He doesn’t know anything, Nova.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Well, he’s my best friend for one, he gave me the correct answers in History and Trade, and I told him that I read his mind and he just told me I was crazy and walked away.”
“You what?!” Nova exclaimed.
“I was so excited that I just read minds that I had to tell someone, and he helped me, so I thought maybe he knew I could do it or something and he was trying to help me.”
“You can’t go around talking about this, Tippy. There’s so much you don’t know. There’s people who will want to hurt you because of who you are and what you can do. We’ll talk about all this tonight. But for now, please stay away from him. He knows too much already and we need to be careful.”
“Jeez, okay. I’ll try, but it won’t be easy.”
Nova shook his head at me and pushed past me into the courtyard. I watched him stalk away. Wow, I was really having that effect on everybody today. I started the morning with four friends, that’s three more than usual, and now with how I was finding ways to annoy Nova and Remi, it seemed I was down to two. Not a good track record. The orphans were starting to make their way into the courtyard to line up for Flood work. Great, I had missed lunch, too. Now I’ll be starving while I sweat, digging through the rubble piles. I fell into line and listened to the sound of my stomach growling when suddenly I felt something round thrust into the palm of my hand. I looked behind me to see Sparrow grinning at me.
“I didn’t see you at lunch, so I figured you could use this.”
I looked down to see a bright green avocado in my hand.
“Thank you,” I said in amazement.
At least Sparrow was still on my side. She was proving to be a great friend. We followed our Grifts out to the fields and I decided to join Sparrow on a rubble pile instead of going to my usual spot with Remi since he was still looking sour. This would give me a chance to talk to her more anyway. Nova hadn’t said anything about staying away from Sparrow. We grabbed baskets and climbed up the pile, working in silence for a while before my curiosity got the best of me. Sparrow was polishing a rather large emerald she found when I scooted over closer to her so we could talk without attracting attention from the Grifts. They frowned upon fraternizing, saying it slowed down our work, but if you kept it to a whisper, you could usually get away with it.
“Sparrow, can I ask you something?” I whispered.
“Of course.”
“This morning, when you, um,” I paused trying to think how to phrase it.
“Helped you with your uniform?” she finished for me.
“Yes! What was that?”
She just smiled cleverly at me. From the gleam in her eye I knew she knew more then she was letting on, so I pressed on, taking more risks this time.
“You can do things can’t you?” I asked. “Special things that not everyone else can do?”
“Yes,” she said smiling at me.
“I can do special things, too,” I whispered excitedly.
“I know.”
“You do?” I said cautiously. “But how?”
“I’ve been watching you, 65. There’s always been something about you that made me extra aware of you. I couldn’t put my finger on it until I saw you and Jemma get in that fight. That’s when I knew you were like me.”
“But why did you never say anything to me before if you’ve been watching me? And how do you know about what I did to Jemma? I thought Nova took care of that?”
“I wasn’t completely sure about you until that day with Jemma, and I had to be sure. I couldn’t risk exposing myself if I was wrong about you. Once we were sure, we came to you in your room, remember? And Nova, I knew he was trying something with us. He tried to bend our thoughts didn’t he?”
“Yes, you and Journey came to see me, and told me your names. But I didn’t really understand what was happening to me yet. And yes, Nova did try to bend your minds, I’m sorry,” I said sheepishly.
“It’s okay,” she said with a sly smile, “but you might want to let him know that his mind bending doesn’t work on us.”
“Us? Do you mean Journey, too?”
“Yes, he’s like us, 65.”
“What can he do?” I asked.
“I think we’d better let Journey tell you, or better yet, show you on his own terms.”
“Oh, fair enough.” I said.
I sat there silently for a moment, pondering this new information. I was right about Sparrow. I knew she had powers and I had been right to trust her. I was starting to trust my instincts more. But why hadn’t they alerted me to Sparrow and Journey? She knew there was something about me, but I had been completely oblivious to her and Journey until they came to me. I needed to get to the bottom of this. But, something else was still bothering me. If it was true that Nova couldn’t bend their minds with his ridiculous story about Jemma and me falling off the rubble pile, why had Sparrow and Journey gone along with the story? I had to ask.
“Sparrow, how come you went along with Nova’s story?”
“Well, it’s complicated. I knew he was trying to do something to us, but I wasn’t sure what. Nova hadn’t been on my radar, but I suddenly felt that I should trust him after the way he was caring for you, so I just went along with what everyone else was saying had happened. That’s when I figured out he was bending minds and he must have powers, too. I knew exactly what I had seen, yet everyone else was acting as if something else entirely had happened. That’s when I put together that Nova was trying to protect you, and he must have suspected your powers as well.”
“Great, so it’s obvious to everyone else but me that I have these crazy magic powers?” I asked sarcastically.
“No, not everyone silly, just us Truiets.”
“Truiets?”
“Yes, that’s the word the Beto use for people who were gifted with powers from the gods.”
“So you, Journey, Nova and me, we’re all Truiets?”
“Yes. I believe so.”
“Okay, so if I’m a Truiet, I should be able to locate other Truiets? That’s how you knew there was something about me?”
“Well, it’s kind of tricky. Truiets all share a bond and we can feed off each other’s powers. Once we locate each other we form bonds that link us together and are almost unbreakable. Like you and I, if we used our powers together then
we’d be bonded for life.”
I stared back at her with a confused expression.
“Okay, let me put it like this. If you and I decided we were going to focus all our power on this rubble pile and turn it into a tornado, we would be doing magic together. That’s something very powerful and it requires us to share a bit of our souls, kind of twisting them together so that after that, no matter how far apart we go, we will always be connected to each other. We’d know where the other was, and if they were in danger. Stuff like that. Do you get it now?”
I nodded my head. This explained the feeling I had with Nova. In the forest I felt like I had bonded with him in the most powerful way. It was so strong I couldn’t even explain the feeling. That must be what I was experiencing. Well that’s a relief, I thought I was just madly in love with him. I gave a little snort of laughter and looked back at Sparrow.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Nothing, I think I know what you’re talking about. I think I’ve experienced it is all. I’m really glad you explained that to me because I was definitely mistaking those feelings for something else.”
“Glad to help clear that up then.”
“Could we really turn this rubble pile into a tornado?” I whispered.
“Wouldn’t that be a show for Greeley!” she said, sending us both into fits of laughter.
We worked silently for a while with the Grifts nearby. Sparrow was merrily polishing her stones and humming a little tune. Her basket was nearly full and mine was looking like a pretty poor example next to hers. Maybe the Grifts were right, talking really did slow down our production. I scurried around sifting through rubble until I found something worth polishing. I clambered back up to sit by Sparrow again and to my surprise my basket seemed to have taken on powers of its own. There were now about a dozen stones, gems and metals all glistening in a neat little pile. Only minutes ago there were about six poor specimens.
“Sparrow! How’d you do that?” I exclaimed trying to hide my astonishment in a whisper.
“Just gave them a little love is all.”
“That’s what you said this morning too with my uniform! How do you do it?”
The Geneva Project - Truth Page 8