"Only
what they say, not what they think." Rebecca said into the mirror. It
was her daily mantra before school. It had been two weeks in her new
school in LA and so far things had gone a lot better than they had in
Vegas. She had lost twenty pounds and gained a cup size over the last
year but none of that really changed her opinion of herself. All she
could think about was the party.
She and her friends got drunk and she started mouthing off about being able to read minds and then she backed up her talk. The next week she became known as the witch. It hurt so much to go to school every day and hear them thinking about her, how she was evil, a freak, a monster. She heard it all without even focusing on anyone, just a constant static of negativity and insults always floating inside her head.
She quit drinking and vowed never to mouth off about her powers again. Then luck had it that her dad got a promotion and raise at his company and he had to move out to LA for it. Leaving Las Vegas was a blessing for Rebecca and so far she hadn't screwed up anything in the city of angels.
She walked into her second period class with Mr. Mills with an air of confidence, she loved tests since all she ever needed to do was to find the nerds and parrot their answers. Tim and Greg were to be her ticket to a high 90's score. She sat down and watched them file in, behind them was Randy. Randy was gorgeous, short curly brown hair, golden eyes that were so expressive, cute dimples when he smiled. She remembered an impromptu dance off held one day after school and he just jumped into the middle of it and had everyone cheering by the end, he was so graceful and fluid in his movements. If not for the constant sexual comments she heard in boy's thoughts she'd have felt worse about her gender's reactions to Randy that afternoon.
The tests were handed out and she glanced at the first question about one of the issues the colonies had with the crown. In this case she knew it was the Stamp Act but was thankful that Tim confirmed it for her. Tim helped her breeze through the first five questions before he started fumbling for an answer as to who was the British commander who lost at Saratoga, thankfully Greg was confident it was Burgoyne.
Eric helped her for the next two and then he was drawing a blank on who was the foreign officer who helped drill US troops at Valley Forge. She went back to Tim and he was also puzzling it out, but something was weird, she could feel something fuzzy going on in Greg's head, like she had on headphones that were giving feedback. Almost instinctively her head turned to the right and then her eyes locked with Randy's.
They stared at each other and she could barely breathe. She closed her eyes and winced trying to fight off a panic attack, her heart pounded in her chest.
"He figured it out, it's Baron Von Steuben." Randy's thoughts filled her mind. "You stick to Greg. I'll stick to Tim so we don't screw each other up."
She looked at him and he gave a quick smile and went back to the test. In almost a catatonic state she filled out the rest of the test based on Greg's answers and then turned the paper in. Was this real? Was her mind messing with her? Never before in her life had she fought to keep thoughts out as hard as she did after finishing the test, she felt like she was having a nervous breakdown.
The bell sounded and she had to fight the urge to run screaming from the room. Instead she timed her exit so she got to the door just behind Randy.
"Can you hear me thinking about you?" she thought, waiting to see if Randy would respond.
"Yes I can. As you can hear me." he thought back to her. "Have you ever met anyone else who can do this?" he asked.
"Nope. This is so strange. I can't believe this is happening." she thought back to him.
"James, my man!" Randy said as he clasped hands and hugged one of the captains of the football team. James and Randy started small talking and Rebecca felt weird and started walking away. She kept her focus on Randy's mind to see if he kept trying to message her.
"Sorry about that. James is all smiles on the outside but his home life is rough. I do what I can to help him." Randy thought. He disengaged from James and followed her. "So, did you get every question right?" he thought to her.
"All but one. High eighties is the goal after a bunch of high nineties. Keep them from thinking I'm a cheat." She replied.
"You aim high, I just pass, straight C's and no stress." he retorted.
"What about college? A good job?" she asked.
He started laughing out loud it would have been jarring if anyone had been paying attention to them to see him burst out laughing while just walking down the hall. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Rebecca right? Hate to be talking in thoughts and getting your name wrong. Are you kidding me? We're mind readers, we know anyone's thoughts, ATM numbers, safe combinations, there's no secret that's safe from us, the world is ours."
Rebecca pushes his arm away. "That's dishonest. We can't just steal from people!" she wished thoughts could yell as she thought that.
"Then just get into a big company, show your power to the right people. How much would Bill Gates pay to have a mind reader in the room with him when he's working on a deal with some other CEO's? What would the government give to find out what other world leaders are really thinking?"
Rebecca looked at him and felt stupid. Her whole life she'd let herself abide by the same rules the rest of the world followed, but they were not her rules, she was different and special and could do practically whatever she wanted with her gift so long as she used it wisely.
"Maybe we should have kids. Imagine how powerful they could be." he thought to her. She jerked out of her stupor and looked at him, his handsome smile on his face.
"Hey, it's just a thought." he said to her as he winked and walked away.
She and her friends got drunk and she started mouthing off about being able to read minds and then she backed up her talk. The next week she became known as the witch. It hurt so much to go to school every day and hear them thinking about her, how she was evil, a freak, a monster. She heard it all without even focusing on anyone, just a constant static of negativity and insults always floating inside her head.
She quit drinking and vowed never to mouth off about her powers again. Then luck had it that her dad got a promotion and raise at his company and he had to move out to LA for it. Leaving Las Vegas was a blessing for Rebecca and so far she hadn't screwed up anything in the city of angels.
She walked into her second period class with Mr. Mills with an air of confidence, she loved tests since all she ever needed to do was to find the nerds and parrot their answers. Tim and Greg were to be her ticket to a high 90's score. She sat down and watched them file in, behind them was Randy. Randy was gorgeous, short curly brown hair, golden eyes that were so expressive, cute dimples when he smiled. She remembered an impromptu dance off held one day after school and he just jumped into the middle of it and had everyone cheering by the end, he was so graceful and fluid in his movements. If not for the constant sexual comments she heard in boy's thoughts she'd have felt worse about her gender's reactions to Randy that afternoon.
The tests were handed out and she glanced at the first question about one of the issues the colonies had with the crown. In this case she knew it was the Stamp Act but was thankful that Tim confirmed it for her. Tim helped her breeze through the first five questions before he started fumbling for an answer as to who was the British commander who lost at Saratoga, thankfully Greg was confident it was Burgoyne.
Eric helped her for the next two and then he was drawing a blank on who was the foreign officer who helped drill US troops at Valley Forge. She went back to Tim and he was also puzzling it out, but something was weird, she could feel something fuzzy going on in Greg's head, like she had on headphones that were giving feedback. Almost instinctively her head turned to the right and then her eyes locked with Randy's.
They stared at each other and she could barely breathe. She closed her eyes and winced trying to fight off a panic attack, her heart pounded in her chest.
"He figured it out, it's Baron Von Steuben." Randy's thoughts filled her mind. "You stick to Greg. I'll stick to Tim so we don't screw each other up."
She looked at him and he gave a quick smile and went back to the test. In almost a catatonic state she filled out the rest of the test based on Greg's answers and then turned the paper in. Was this real? Was her mind messing with her? Never before in her life had she fought to keep thoughts out as hard as she did after finishing the test, she felt like she was having a nervous breakdown.
The bell sounded and she had to fight the urge to run screaming from the room. Instead she timed her exit so she got to the door just behind Randy.
"Can you hear me thinking about you?" she thought, waiting to see if Randy would respond.
"Yes I can. As you can hear me." he thought back to her. "Have you ever met anyone else who can do this?" he asked.
"Nope. This is so strange. I can't believe this is happening." she thought back to him.
"James, my man!" Randy said as he clasped hands and hugged one of the captains of the football team. James and Randy started small talking and Rebecca felt weird and started walking away. She kept her focus on Randy's mind to see if he kept trying to message her.
"Sorry about that. James is all smiles on the outside but his home life is rough. I do what I can to help him." Randy thought. He disengaged from James and followed her. "So, did you get every question right?" he thought to her.
"All but one. High eighties is the goal after a bunch of high nineties. Keep them from thinking I'm a cheat." She replied.
"You aim high, I just pass, straight C's and no stress." he retorted.
"What about college? A good job?" she asked.
He started laughing out loud it would have been jarring if anyone had been paying attention to them to see him burst out laughing while just walking down the hall. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Rebecca right? Hate to be talking in thoughts and getting your name wrong. Are you kidding me? We're mind readers, we know anyone's thoughts, ATM numbers, safe combinations, there's no secret that's safe from us, the world is ours."
Rebecca pushes his arm away. "That's dishonest. We can't just steal from people!" she wished thoughts could yell as she thought that.
"Then just get into a big company, show your power to the right people. How much would Bill Gates pay to have a mind reader in the room with him when he's working on a deal with some other CEO's? What would the government give to find out what other world leaders are really thinking?"
Rebecca looked at him and felt stupid. Her whole life she'd let herself abide by the same rules the rest of the world followed, but they were not her rules, she was different and special and could do practically whatever she wanted with her gift so long as she used it wisely.
"Maybe we should have kids. Imagine how powerful they could be." he thought to her. She jerked out of her stupor and looked at him, his handsome smile on his face.
"Hey, it's just a thought." he said to her as he winked and walked away.
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