The next couple of weeks were a blur—Jacob diligently took notes, finding patterns. Red was anger—that made sense. The bright purple he’d seen was loathing, or hatred. He was glad it hadn’t been directed toward him. Matt’s usual color was varying shades of green—happiness. He’d seen a couple of people with the blue/green Amberly had shown when Tito got hurt. That was fear mixed with sadness.
The Makalos were never the strong, bright colors, since they rarely experienced the associated emotions, which were also strong. They were usually closer to pastels and medium-hued colors.
After he found the patterns, Jacob stopped approaching people. At first it was really hard to stop—if there was something he could do to help, he wanted to do it. But he resisted because people were starting to treat him like there was something wrong, or something very special, about him. He couldn’t stand either.
Most everyone figured out he could sense other people’s emotions, and now girls—why was it always girls?—asked him for help with their relationships. “Is he still mad at me? Does he like me? What’s he thinking now?”
The worst was when a girl approached him and asked what she was feeling toward him. He blushed and walked away. It had been many different colors—the ones that equaled infatuation.
It didn’t matter that he’d stopped asking other students how they felt. Word spread, and he was constantly stopped by new people as he went to and from classes.
The one time when this ability helped Jacob was on the court during lunch. He could always tell when people were distracted by strong emotions—fear, anger, love. He didn’t feel bad for zipping past players who weren’t really into the game.
Tani, Josh, and Gus spent a lot of time finding the fastest way from one room to another—sometimes even using the windows. The busier the hallway, the more difficult it was to get through.
Gradually, though, things went back to normal. As normal as possible, of course, since Jacob still had a large group of “fans” showing up for the lunchtime games.
The only breaks he got from all of this were while he was at home with his family, or with the Makalos, who seemed to think everything going on at school was incredibly funny. Sweet Pea, especially. Jacob got the feeling that the Makalo was dying to leave Eklaron and go to Mountain Crest to egg the students on.
Kilenya Series Books 1, 2, and 3 Page 79