by SM Olivier
I turned his hands over and placed my hands over his hands, feeling the warmth flow out once more.
“Is it true?” he asked with a voice full of awe and fear.
“What’s that?” I asked deliberately acting obtuse.
“You have six connections…” he said hesitantly, like he was treading on thin ice.
I stood up and held a hand out to him. He took it cautiously. I waited for him to begin running once more and fell into step beside him.
“I do,” I finally answered him, noticing he was horribly out of shape as he panted beside me.
“You made fire, you made that scientist reveal himself, you put up a force field, you carried a man twice your size, and you healed a dead man,” he must have noticed the faux paus of his last comment, because he blushed furiously. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled quickly.
I looked at him in consideration. “There aren’t many people that know the true nature of my abilities and the fact that I have six connections.”
“But that’s impossible,” he spluttered.
“It should be,” I shrugged nonchalantly, but even I could see how it was unbelievable. If I wasn’t living it, I would find it hard to believe
Remy and Rachel had already reached the stop sign and was headed back to the house.
“We should pick up our pace if we want to get back to get the children to school on time,” I encouraged him.
“Running is just not my thing,” he muttered. “I think Jemmy is my spirit animal,” he grumbled.
I giggled. I think we were on the right track now.
Running had helped me take my mind off things for a moment, but it hadn’t lasted long. I took a quick shower after my run and got dressed in a pair of jeans, long sleeve grey Henley, and a white vest with a hoodie attached to it. I grabbed my heather-gray boots as I walked out of the room. I was so thankful for the family I had found. Especially where the children were concerned. There was no way I would have had the time to get ready and get them ready as well.
I rushed down to the den to meet Micah’s tutor before heading to the kitchen. She seemed bright and had a solid game plan to get him ready by next year. Micah didn’t seem very happy about not being able to go to school with the other kids, but he also understood that he wasn’t ready to join other children his age. There was no way he was willing to be stuck in a classroom full of kids much younger than him, either. He was disappointed, but he still had an upbeat and confident attitude.
The team had brought their change of clothing with them, so they could shower from here. Breakfast was a simple affair this morning—bagels, fruit, and muffins. The children eagerly grabbed the muffins.
The kitchen was packed once again. I had to dodge in and out of people just to grab a bagel to throw in the toaster. Will had left long ago to tell Collin’s parents the tragic news. I had paused in the doorway, fully expecting to see him at the bar, drinking his coffee, eating his toast, and reading his newspaper. My stomach clenched at the thought of what he had to do. My heart sank. I no longer had an appetite, but I didn’t want to land in the hospital again, and I had some weight to gain.
“Don’t forget you have your audition this morning,” Jace reminded me with a kiss to the back of my head.
“I’m not going. I already emailed the school my apologies,” I said as I spread cream cheese on my jalapeno cheddar bagel.
I took a bite of my bagel and noticed, once again, all eyes were on me. “You love music,” Gavin finally spoke up. “You went through a lot to get that audition again.”
I refused to meet his eyes as I took a thermos of coffee from Troy. It hadn’t taken him long to remember how I liked my coffee. “I really haven’t had the time to practice all weekend, and I’m not ready.”
Jace seemed to be searching his memory for something. “You really didn’t need the practice. You could do that song in your sleep.”
I shook my head and took another bite of few. I took my time chewing it before swallowing. “I’m not embarrassing myself.”
“Every time before a game, I always psyched myself out too. You just need to trust yourself, you know you can do it,” Jaxson hugged me briefly.
“I’m not ready,” I repeated myself with a shrug.
“Listen Blake,” Noah said slowly. “I know how hard it is…but you need to continue…living.”
I was irrationally irritated at this point. “I said I’m not ready,” I said forcefully. “Can’t you guys respect that!”
“Blake—" Ella came skipping up to me.
“What?!” I snapped and realized I had. I felt guilty immediately. “I’m sorry, Ella, what would you like, hon?”
She handed me picture. “Look, I drew you a picture.”
“Great, thanks,” I forced a smile, not bothering to look at the picture before I shoved it in my messenger bag. I would look at it later.
I remember in my previous high school, always feeling like a freak. Back then, I had down-played my figure, wore black, hid behind baggy layers of clothing. In a world full of appearances mattering, I hadn’t mattered much. Now, thanks to Jemmy and Collin, my clothing was current and even flattering. I never expected my gifts would cause the stir I felt passing through the hall ways. I could feel people staring at me and whispering behind their hands.
I was flanked by Noah on one side and Drake and Gavin on the other. “Ignore them,” Drake whispered reassuringly.
“Easier said than done,” I muttered back.
“People always fear and talk about things they don’t understand,” Gavin said as he glared at a couple of people that wasn’t even trying to hide their rudeness. I knew he spoke from experience. “I just didn’t think in a school predominately gifted you would face this kind of scrutiny.”
“Me either,” I said tersely.
I heard a commotion behind me, and before I could even figure out what was happening and turn around, I felt my hair being grabbed from behind. I felt the sharp pain in my scalp as my neck was snapped back.
Before I could even react, whoever had grabbed me was off me. I turned to see Terrance holding Rose’s arms behind her. She looked like she had been crying, her face was red. Behind her pain was fury.
“It’s all your fault, you stupid little bitch!” she screamed at me. “It wasn’t enough that you took Drake from the girl pregnant with his baby. You also got my best friend killed. You did nothing to save him!”
I blinked at her for a moment, surprised at her attack. I winced as I saw the amount of people that believed the lies spewing from her mouth. I could physically feel their disdain and loathing. I bent over in pain.
I hadn’t realized Gavin moved closer to me until his hand was on my lower back. He imitated my empath gift. I could feel the quiet envelope me, and I felt restored. I glanced at him and gave him a crooked little smile.
Drake stepped forward, and I could barely hear the words he hissed at her. “We know the truth. We know the baby may not be mine. I’m sorry for your loss. I know how you feel, but it’s not fair to take it out on Blake, she did everything possible to save Collin. She tried to save him, when…when someone else abandoned him.”
She broke free from Terrance’s loose grasp—to be fair she weighed a whole 100 pounds to his 220, and slapped Drake across his face. “She did all this!” she screeched. “I won’t believe her lies. All of you are so blinded by her and why?!”
“She is my connected,” Drake said with coldness. “I will not tolerate another attack on her. Ever.”
“So, you’re picking her over your own child?!” she screamed maniacally.
“You don’t even know if it’s his,” Noah said in the silence of the hallway.
She flushed white, “Is that what he told you, because he’s lying! He just doesn’t want to take responsibility. He wants to believe he has a connection out there, and he’ll believe anyone that tells him that they’re his. He’s 21 years old. If he hasn’t found his connection before, he never would.”
I cal
mly turned around and lifted my hair, clearly revealing my mark. Anyone that had ever seen him with his shirt off would recognize it. “Believe him now,” I stated. “Anyone,” I looked around at the crowd, “that knows Drake, knows he would never turn his back on his responsibilities. If it was his.” I took a few menacing steps towards her. “And if I ever hear or see you raise a hand to him again, you will regret it,” I hissed, before I turned my back on her and went to my first class.
The rest of the day went no better. Everywhere I went, people pointed and talked about me. I never felt so alone, even though I was always surrounded by Gavin, Drake, Noah, Terrance, and John. I was ready to go home, but we had training this afternoon at the Knights training facility.
This training included every Knight not on duty. Troy and Remy were putting everyone through the paces, including the instructors. It was up to the instructors to disseminate the information to everyone else.
I changed into a pair of yoga pants and a long sleeve t-shirt. As I put my hair up, I noticed my head still smarted from Rose’s attack. I walked back out of the locker room and headed towards the gym. I found a seat on the bleachers. Remy and Troy were already there talking to the instructors.
Troy noticed me first and came over to me. “I heard you had a difficult day,” he said softly.
I grunted, “You could say that. I’m not going back,” I stated resolutely.
I thought about it all day long, and as the day progressed, I recognized the only solution to my problem was to not return. I had already talked to a few of my professors; I was going to do online classes until the rumors died down.
“Do you really think hiding from your problems is the best solution?” Troy said carefully.
I nodded, feeling the tears I had been holding back all day, burning at the back of my eyes. “I can’t think of any other.”
“Maybe you can stick it out for another week,” Jace advised from behind me. “You’ve been through worse, but this time you have us, well most of us, around you.”
I turned and looked at him in his gray muscle tee and black gym shorts. I frowned. “It’s not the same. I didn’t care if I was considered a freak before. Now I am a freak, and people just like me are so much harsher than the ungifted ever were.”
“They are only intimidated by you,” Jaxson stated as he joined in on the conversation. “Once the newest rumor starts, they’ll forget all about you.”
“They think I took Drake from his pregnant girlfriend and I killed Collin,” I mumbled.
Noah came up behind me and threw an arm around my shoulder. “Collin wasn’t the first person I lost,” he said softly. “And I’m sure he won’t be the last. It happens, their number was called, we can’t let it eat us up.”
I sighed knowing they wanted me to pick myself up, brush myself off and walk on with my head up high. I was too tired. I had been strong for too long. I was too tired to continue to allow the water to roll off my back.
Luckily, Remy clapped his hand, calling class in session.
I didn’t realize that Remy and Troy secretly loved torturing us. They had created a mixed martial arts program that was no joke. We were taught individual stances and basic punches and kicks.
Then we were taught how to fall—yes, how to fall. Remy, Troy, and another instructor well versed in martial arts took turns throwing us. After being thrown for the fiftieth or hundredth time, my whole body ached down to my toes.
Jemmy finally stood up and groaned. “Why do we even know this?! We’re gifted!”
“No kidding,” Dawn lamented as she blew a piece of hair out of her face. She even sweated prettily. It was hard to dislike her, the more I got to know her.
“We know she doesn’t need this,” Michael joked as he pointed at me.
I rolled my eyes. I knew he was joking, but after the day I had, I knew I was being sensitive. “Want me to show you how much I don’t need this?” I threatened him.
“Rule number 1, no gifts allowed,” he said smugly.
I turned my back on him, but I smiled maliciously. With a little concentration I had Michael barking. When one of the instructors yelled at him, I had him barking, too. Everyone thought it was funny, accept the instructor that was getting increasingly mad.
“Blake,” Troy chided me in my ear.
“What?” I said with an innocent expression. “How do you know it was me?”
He gave me a pointed look, and I smiled sweetly at him.
Jemmy and Dawn came up to me, still giggling. “I think class just got a whole lot more interesting.”
I nodded. “I think so too.”
Poor Michael was just forced to be the butt of my difficult day. I hadn’t lashed out as I’m sure some of them expected me too, but I had lashed out. It still gave me a perverse sense of satisfaction.
Chapter 19
We decided to grab Japanese on the way home. No one was in the mood to wait to eat or cook. The restaurant probably thought we were feeding an army as we ordered three party platters of sushi, five chicken teriyakis, three shrimp teriyakis, and ten orders of egg rolls. My mouth watered at the thought of eating. I barely had time to eat breakfast this morning, and I couldn’t stomach lunch, no matter how many times Noah and Gavin got on me.
Will was home by the time we got home, and he looked older than I had ever seen him. He fondly watched over the kids as they played, but I could see the weight of the world lying on his shoulders today.
We hastily unloaded all our food on the dining room table and dug in immediately. I grabbed some sushi rolls, mixed the wasabi with the soy sauce, and dug in with gusto. I tried to shut all the negative of the day out, but Will finally spoke up after we had put a huge dent into the food.
“Blake, did I hear that you are thinking about dropping out of your classes and doing online courses?” he asked gently with an inscrutable look.
I swallowed the spicy tuna I had been eating. My chopsticks were poised over my next piece. “Yes. Today was…difficult, and I’m not sure I want to subject myself to it anymore.”
“I want to drop out too,” Alex piped up with a mutinous look. “The teacher made me read out loud, and the kids laughed at me when I didn’t say the words right.”
“You just need to practice,” Ella said sagely as she stabbed a piece of broccoli with her fork.
They were in the same class, but it was clear after day one that Alex took a little while to warm up to others. Plus, it didn’t help that his school district was one of the worst in the state, so he was slightly behind his other peers.
“How was your day?” I asked Micah, hoping to divert more attention away from myself.
He shrugged. “Ms. Tanya is great. She’s really patient and didn’t make me feel dumb.” He eye-balled the California roll I had put on his plate to try.
“That’s good,” I told him with a smile.
“Maybe it is a good idea,” Will finally said after a moment pause. “You can do your class work during the day, and if you’re caught up and bored, you can come with me to the clinic. Jace was busy all day with some of those females we brought in…” his voice trailed off.
“Do you think you should just let her bullies win?” Gavin asked incredulously.
Gavin had told us earlier that he had talked to his parents to let them know he was staying here now. They had taken it surprisingly well. He had set up a schedule with them so that he could still do some hours in at the shelter. Jemmy and Rachel had volunteered to go with him.
Will chocked his head to the side as he took a sip of his wine. “We can look at it that way, or we can realize that she may have a larger target on her back now. By now, everyone knows that her gifts and connections make her powerful. Some people may look at that as a challenge.”
Gavin eyes widened as he nodded in understanding.
“We don’t have training until tomorrow afternoon,” Troy stated. “Maybe we can go to the clinic as well.”
“That’ll be great,” Will smiled with relief. �
��I’m stretched thin,” he rubbed his eyes. “With Horatio’s activities increasing, ours has as well.”
“I can drop out of school too,” Drake said quietly from the end of the table. Everyone looked at him in stunned silence and he shrugged. “You all know I never felt passionate about being a psyche major. Maybe this is my sign to back out. Remy, are you still looking for an executive chef at your new We 7?”
“Can you cook?” Remy joked.
“I can throw together a dish or two,” Drake shrugged nonchalantly.
“You already put in a lot of time into school to just walk away from it,” Jemmy frowned. “I mean, I know your heart wasn’t completely in it before, but you’re not using this as an excuse to get away from Rose, are you?” she asked with narrowed eyes.
“Says the girl who still doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up,” Jaxson scoffed with a teasing grin. “If he wants to drop out of school and pursue his actual dream, I don’t see the issue.”
“Shut up!” Jemmy stuck her tongue out at him as she threw a piece of broccoli at him. “I do know, thank you very much. Gavin’s been showing me coding and other cool stuff on the computer, and I like it.”
“You can barely download music,” Jaxson continued to tease her. “I know you can manipulate electronics and all, but…”
“She’s actually really good at it,” Gavin finally spoke up with a smile. “Although I think she’s been cheating and using her gifts often.”
Jemmy smiled mischievously and shrugged. “It still gets done. Is he really allowed to drop out, Pops?” Jemmy asked.
Will smiled into his glass. “I don’t see why not. We go to school to get a career we want to pursue. Drake already has a talent with cooking and an excellent job waiting for him, and he’s an adult. So, I’ll support whatever decision he makes.”
“I’ve been eighteen for two months. I’m an adult. Can I finally get my nose, tongue, and belly button pierced?” Jemmy smiled hopefully.