She smiled and then beckoned me to follow her. She rushed down the hallway with the grace of a ballerina, light on her feet and practically giggling like the pixie she resembled. Whatever the secret was, she obviously thought it was a good one.
Wesley was coming out of his room as we passed. “Iggy,” he caught me by the arm. “I need to talk to you.”
I felt relieved that he actually spoke to me, and I tossed him a bright smile. “Pippa and I need to have a girl chat, but I’ve been wanting to talk to you, too. Can it wait?”
Disappointment flashed across his face before he nodded. “Find me after you’re done.”
I nodded and ran after my friend. In her bathroom, she locked the door, grabbed my hands, and jumped up and down. “Okay, okay, okay,” she breathed with a face-splitting grin. “I’m settling down.” She let me go and took a few cleansing breaths. “You can’t tell anyone. This is top secret. Top, top secret.”
“Got it.”
“You can’t tell Cael or Brian – even though he knows, he can’t know you know – or anyone.”
“I won’t, Pippa. Spill!”
She stared at me a moment and then confessed, “I can do something I’ve never done before. I can pull water from any source, not just people and animals.”
I stepped back. “What? Like how? What do you mean?”
“Look.” She pointed at the sink faucet. Water began flowing from it while she stood across the room.
I clamped a hand over my mouth. We looked at each other. “Just from the sink? Or from anywhere?”
“From anywhere that has water in it. A glass, a pool, a toilet.” She pointed at her toilet. Water filled the bowl and poured over the sides.
I stepped back so I wouldn’t get my shoes wet. “Pippa, that’s amazing!”
She threw her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re not freaked out by it. I was worried how you’d react.”
I was floored. Pippa and I had the same gift! “Do you realize what this means?”
“That I can do cool stuff?”
“It means,” I corrected, “that you don’t just control the cells that hold water. It’s not osmotic control, Pippa. You have power over an inorganic substance.”
She gasped and slapped a hand on her forehead. “Oh my god! You’re right.”
I grabbed her arms exactly the way Wesley had grabbed mine. “You can’t tell anyone, Pippa. No one. You have to hide this from Jensen. From everyone. This could be very dangerous for you.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“How long have you known about this?”
“About a week. I just discovered it. I was sitting a table with Brian and I remember thinking about how thirsty I was. And when I looked at it, the water bottle on the desk across the room tipped over, and the water oozed toward me like some freaky living substance.”
“Did anyone see it?” She shook her head. “Cameras. Were there any cameras around?”
“Maybe. It’s a possibility.”
I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “Well, what’s done is done. If Jensen saw it, then there’s nothing that can be done to change it.” The floor was a mess. “You need to clean up. And be careful what you’re thinking around all water sources from now on.”
“Right. Okay. I’ll go get a mop.”
I grabbed her arm as she turned around. “Just make the water go back in.”
She paused and shrugged. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. If you can pull out, you can put it back. Just…I dunno…think the opposite of what you just did.”
“I’ve tried it. I can’t make it go back. I can’t do anything but make it come toward me like a slithering snake. It’s kind of creepy, actually. But still cool.”
I closed my eyes briefly and shook my head.
Pippa said, “I’ll go get the mop. We’ll just say the toilet overflowed.”
Something clicked in my brain. A split-second decision. I stopped her again. “Let me show you how to clean it up.” I looked at the water and it lifted into the air. I thought a snake was a very apt description. I made a floating water coil and pushed all of the liquid back into the bowl.
Pippa gasped and squeezed my hand so tightly that my fingertips turned white. “How did you do that?” I shrugged. “How long have you known you could do this?”
“Not long.”
I wondered if it was a mistake to have told her my own secret. But then she hugged me and said, “We’re sisters in this. We have a secret that’s only ours, Iggy. I’m so glad to have someone to share this with. I felt like I was going to explode trying to keep it to myself.”
“I’m glad I can talk to you about it, too.” And I wondered just how many others had discovered something new about themselves lately.
Chapter 30
Iggy
“You see, I think that it’s just easier for you to manipulate molecules that are fluid, like water,” Cael proposed, toying with strands of my hair as I lay on his sofa with my head in his lap. “If a muscle is dehydrated, it will spasm. Cardiovascular function can be impaired. But maybe you control calcium and magnesium too, which are key in muscle function. So it’s not only that you control the muscle fibers liked Jensen believes; rather, you control the molecules that make the fibers function.”
“Does that mean I could pull water out of people like Pippa does?”
Cael’s fingers brushed across my cheek. “Yeah. Like I said, even after all the reading and research I’ve done, I don’t know squat, and this is all conjecture; but if I had to take a guess, I’d say you could control any molecule, whether or not the test subject is organic or inorganic.”
I sat up. “Whoa. Hold on. I took biology and chemistry in high school, but I’m not even sure I remember what a molecule is.”
“They’re basically just two or more atoms that stick together. Some are simple and some are quite complicated.”
“Could I do what Krish does? Could I make someone bleed out?”
“Iggy, plasma is ninety-two percent water. Who knows what you could do.”
“Then Pippa’s ability is very dangerous.”
“Everyone around here is very dangerous, in my opinion.”
“What about what Ibram does? Could I control pyrogens that cause fever and kill someone by cooking his brain?”
Cael made a face. “You’re getting really morbid with this.” He tucked me into the crook of his arm. “But what’s really interesting is that you don’t just control the water molecules in living organisms. Since you have some kind of molecular control outside the body, then maybe you can manipulate other inorganic molecules. Hell, maybe you could manipulate anything made of molecules: elements, minerals, fuels, metals, polymers…”
“I can’t.”
“How do you know? Have you ever tried? According to what I’ve read, Jensen has always focused on bioscience. All of your tests were conducted on living creatures.”
“Should I try manipulating other stuff?” Admittedly, I was excited about the possibilities. And having Cael’s support in this gave me confidence.
“Sure. Why not? How do we know what you can really do if you don’t try your power on everything?” He leaned his cheek on the top of my head. “As far as I’m concerned, I think that if you can manipulate water outside the body, there might be all sorts of things you can do.”
I tilted my head up to kiss his jaw. “I’m kind of excited to try this out.”
Cael pointed to his nightstand. “Your bottle of tea over there. Pull out the liquid.”
I lifted the brown liquid out, moved it in a spiral, and sent it back down into the bottle. I was too forceful in putting it back in, and the bottle tipped. Tea splashed everywhere. But it was an easy cleanup.
Cael laughed. “That is so freaking amazing!”
I smiled at him, loving him even more for thinking that the bad parts of me were actually good. I watched him rub his hand over the floor and the
nightstand where the tea had spilled.
He said, “It’s dry. You got up every bit of it.” He poured the tea onto his comforter. “Can you get it all out of something more porous?”
When I had all of the liquid back in the bottle, Cael felt the cotton and grinned. “Dry as a bone.” He walked over to his desk where the leftovers from our lunch sat. He picked up an orange wedge. “This has water in it. Try it.” He tossed it at me.
I stopped it in mid-air and made it hover, and then I gasped and clamped a hand over my mouth. The wedge started falling, but I thought to return it to the tray, and it happened. Cael looked awed, and I wanted to keep impressing him. “Try something else.” He picked up half a blueberry muffin. “That’s not juicy like an orange.”
“It’s moist. It has water in it. Try it,” he encouraged. Again, he tossed it at me, and I immediately pushed it back. I used a little too much force, and the muffin flew backwards like I’d hit it with a baseball bat.
Cael ducked out of the way and laughed. “Did you just start a food fight?”
I backed up to the opposite wall and curled my fingers, beckoning. “Bring it on.”
He laughed and wound up for a pitch. “Batter, batter, batter, swiiiing batter.”
A slice of ham hurdled forward, unfolding from the wad he had it in as it sailed through the air. I pushed it back, directing it at Cael’s face. He jumped when it hit, and then peeled it away from his forehead and nose. A grin stole over his face. “So that’s how you want to play.”
I angled myself to the side and squatted just a bit, holding up my arms as if I had a bat in my hands. Cael picked up an apple wedge in one hand and a slice of cheese in the other. “Ohh, trying to make it difficult, are you?”
“Let’s see how you handle two objects at once.”
I chuckled and told him, “I’ve been practicing this kind of stuff already. I can freeze fifty birds with one look. This is child’s play.” He threw them both before I’d finished my sentence. But I swung my pretend bat and sent the objects flying back to him. He threw his arms up to cover his face; the cheese landed on his forearm, and the apple wedge bounced off his stomach.
“That does it,” he told me. “I’m done taking it easy on you.” He started throwing anything he could find at me: grapes, a banana peel, my unopened bag of chips. He ducked as I sent everything back at him, both of us laughing like crazy.
More stuff came at me: another slice of lunch meat, a wadded up napkin, a crumpled ball of paper. I batted them all back. Then Cael stopped suddenly and stood straight, staring at me with wonder.
I laughed, “I think some of those were home runs.”
“Iggy,” he said in a serious tone that flipped off my happy mood switch. “I threw a napkin at you. A wad of paper.”
It took only a second before I understood the ramifications of what he’d just pointed out. My eyes widened, and I wrapped my arms around myself, backing up to lean against the wall. “Oh, my god,” I breathed and covered my open mouth with one hand.
Cael looked as stunned as I felt. For a full minute, we just leaned against opposite walls and stared at each other. Then he walked forward and reached out for me. I went right into his arms, relieved that I hadn’t scared him off. But he lifted me off the ground and swung me around, laughing. Laughing! It was infectious, and I laughed with him. Then he set me down and pressed his lips to mine. “That was amazing.”
“It was?”
“Look what you can do! I’m speechless. I can’t even think straight. I…I don’t know what to say.”
Cael wasn’t angry with me. Not disappointed. Not afraid. Not appalled. He accepted everything about me so easily, and my body filled up with how much I loved him. Loved his laughter. Loved that he could play fun games with a power I thought was nothing but evil. I told him, “Just say you love me.”
He threaded his fingers through my hair, holding my head still so he could pierce me with the intensity of his gaze. “I love you, Iggy. Always.” And he stayed by my side as I experimented.
Chapter 31
Iggy
On New Year’s Eve morning, Cael was looking through some of my old test procedures and results again, furiously typing away on his laptop. I remembered that Wesley had wanted to talk to me about something the other day, and I headed for his room. I hoped we were finally going to have a heart to heart and get back to the way things used to be between us. I missed him. I missed the special bond we shared. I missed the way we practically read each others thoughts. I missed his hugs, his support, his advice. I loved Cael, but no one could replace Wesley. And I hoped Wes felt the same way.
His door was cracked, and a glance through the opening revealed no one was at his desk or on the sofa. I started to turn away, but then I thought I heard his voice. I pushed on the door and stepped inside. “Hello?”
The noise I heard was coming from the bathroom. I turned to look, thinking I might find Wes showering or shaving. The door was cracked, and I barreled ahead to burst in. But before I got too close, I saw my best friend and Alex naked, and Wesley had her pinned against the bathroom wall with her legs around his hips. The way they moved together and the noises they made sickened me. I felt like someone had stabbed a knife through my gut, and I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep myself quiet as I backed quickly away, unable to tear my eyes away. But I bumped into Wesley’s bed, making a scraping noise that caught his attention. He looked at me. Our eyes met. I was frozen to the spot. Stunned. Knowing about it was one thing. Seeing it was more painful than I ever imagined.
“Shit! Fuck!”
I buried my face in my hands, unable to stop the tears. I heard Wes say, “Get off me,” followed by a grunt.
Alex exclaimed, “What the hell?”
There was a shuffling noise, and then he strode out of the bathroom wearing an unbuttoned pair of jeans, Alex right behind him, wrapping a towel around her torso. I should run. Move. Stop crying. Stop embarrassing myself.
“Out,” he ordered Alex.
“Why don’t you tell her to get out?” she yelled, pointing at me.
Wesley’s response was to physically turn Alex around and shove her forward until she was out the door. Then he slammed the door shut. He turned around and looked at me. I hadn’t moved a muscle. “What are you doing here?” His jeans were falling down. He hoisted them up and put his hands on his hips.
I took my hand away from my mouth and said to the floor, “I…um…you mentioned you wanted to talk to me.” I sounded weak. Little. My voice trembled and I felt more tears slide down my cheeks. “I'm used to just barging in on you. I didn't think...I should have considered that you might not be alone.”
Wesley sighed and walked toward me. “Iggy…”
“I thought I could handle it.” When his hands touched my shoulders, I shoved him so hard that he stumbled backwards. “Don’t touch me!
He held up his hands. “Iggy, please. Let’s talk about this.”
“I don’t want to talk to you, Wesley. Ever. I never want you to hug me again. You’re…contaminated.” I spat the word at him. I realized I was leaning against his bed, and I straightened, giving it a look of disgust. “You’re bed’s contaminated. This room is contaminated.”
“Stop it!” he snapped. “I’m sorry you saw that, but I’m human. There’s nothing wrong with what I’ve done. And you knew Alex and I were together.”
“Why does it have to be her?” I whined. “Have you lost your mind? Has she made you so stupid that you would screw a person you know is trash?”
“She's not trash. And it’s none of your business who I fuck, Iggy. I know you lost your virginity to Cael. I’ve hardly seen you this past week because you two are always fucking. And I don’t go butting into your relationship with him.”
“But I’m your best friend.” God, I sounded like a petulant child! “You’ve ignored me for nearly a month. You’ve thrown away our friendship so you can fuck a skank!”
; “I haven’t thrown away anything. I’m your friend, not your boyfriend. You can’t get jealous every time I fuck someone.”
“I’m not jealous!”
“Then why are you so fucking pissed off at me?”
I thought about my answer, and when I realized the truth, a fresh wave of tears spilled over. “You’re right, Wes. I am jealous. I admit it.” He stepped back, shocked by my confession.
“But Iggy, I’ve never led you on.” His words were softer.
“That’s my point. For the last eight years, you’ve been everything to me.” I rolled my eyes. “God. Now I can see it. My world practically revolved around you. And no, we didn’t have a romantic relationship because you wouldn’t even give it a try. I wasn’t good enough for you. In all these years, you wouldn’t even kiss me. And now that we’re here in this shit hole, you fuck the resident bitch.”
“Iggy…”
He moved toward me. I backed away. “Do you know how that makes me feel? I love you, Wesley. And I wasn’t good enough for you. Or maybe I should say I wasn’t bad enough for you. You obviously like the bad girls.”
“Alex and I don’t have a relationship. I don’t care about her.”
I made a sound of frustration. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? You fuck a girl you don’t care about. But me, who you said you loved…you wouldn’t even give me a chance!” I started to run out of the room, but he caught me and held me tight. The feel of his arms, the smell of him, his voice…everything about him was part of growing up. But somewhere along the way, my feelings about him had grown up as well. I truly was jealous. I had lost Wesley. And now everything was gone. I buried my face in the hollow at the base of his neck.
“I’m so sorry, Iggy,” he soothed, stroking my hair. “I’ve always wanted you. I’ve spent countless hours dreaming about you. We should have talked about this a long time ago.” He sighed. “I didn’t give you a chance because you’re too good for me. I would only have hurt you. And I love you too much to risk you hating me because I slept with you. I was saving you from a bad choice. I’m a bad choice.”
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