What is this? What am I supposed to do with it… another power to add to my freakishness? How am I supposed to know how to work it?
Then I had an idea. Turning, I looked at Chay. He leaned back in his chair and looked back at me with a raised eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything. The current poked around, like an eleventh finger. It roamed around Chay’s face and neck, touching him. I felt nothing and was just about to give up on the whole thing—chalk it up to another bizzaro freaky demi-angel thing—when I looked into Chay’s eyes.
The current followed and as soon as it touched Chay’s eyes, I was hit full force with his emotions. They came at me so hard that I took half a step back. The current acted like an extension cord and plugged me into him. His emotions flowed right into me. I felt everything he felt. Saw it through his eyes.
He was full of questions. The strongest was what was going on with me. Yeah, I seconded that. But I also felt a sense of calmness. A bond. A strong tie of strength and protectiveness, and the word ‘mine’ was repeated. I sucked in a breath at the last feeling. Love. Strong, undeniable, unbreakable… love. My heart stuttered at the realization, and the current zipped up my arm, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up like little Roman soldiers.
I blinked and broke the connection. I turned to Muriel. “What?” she asked. I didn’t answer. I just looked in her eyes, and she squirmed in her seat. “Milayna?” Even with her nervousness and discomfort from me staring at her like a lion stalking its prey, I felt calmness when the current touched her, but she still worried. She was scared. Not just for her, but for me too. There was a definite bond between us. Love. Different from Chay’s. A familial love. But there was something else. Something I couldn’t reach. It was like she’d locked it in a closet. Hidden it from me.
I moved my gaze to Steven’s. He looked at me for a few seconds. The current locked on him, and the feelings that traveled over the bridge worried me. There was no calmness. He felt uneasy. There was no bond. He felt like an outsider in our group. There was no tie… he abruptly looked away and broke the connection. The current roamed over him. It didn’t stop moving, poking, searching. But Steven wouldn’t look me in the eyes.
The room erupted. I jumped and lost my focus. The crazy current fizzled. What had seemed like minutes for me and my freaky emotional zapper had really only been seconds. I was thrust back into real time. Everyone talked over each other. They all denied they were having thoughts of changing sides. All but one.
Steven.
I stared at him, waiting for him to say something. He looked at the toe of his shoe. I figured it would happen. He was Jake’s best friend. Of course Jake would try to convince him to change sides, but I had hoped he was stronger. That he’d come to the group for support instead of betraying us and turning traitor.
“If anyone is thinking about switching sides, do it now. The group doesn’t need you. We’ll fight on our own. And we don’t have a problem fighting you.” My gaze lingered on Steven, who still hadn’t looked up.
The doorbell rang. “Pizza’s here,” I said with a smile.
I paid the delivery guy and turned to take the pizza into the kitchen, stopping short when I came face-to-face with Steven. “Oh. I didn’t hear you walk up.” I backed up and hit the door behind me.
“Sorry, Milayna. I forgot I have somewhere I’m supposed to be. I’ll catch ya next time.” He hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands in his hoodie’s pocket. His voice was flat, just like the look on his face, emotionless, empty.
“Sure.” I moved out of his way, watching him walk out of the door and down the drive. He looked over his shoulder at me, his expression grim. Then I noticed them. Black boots with silver buckles. Just like in my vision the night the group went to the movie. “Chay, look at his boots.”
Chay took the pizza boxes from me. He didn’t say anything. There was nothing to say. Steven had already switched sides.
One week, six days until my birthday.
It became a daily ritual at school. Lily walked by me in the hall and shouldered me. The harder the better, it seemed. Well, I’d had enough. I saw Lily and Shayla walking toward me, the ever-present sneer on their faces. Lily shouldered me like I knew she would. I stuck my foot in front of her. She landed facedown on the pile of books she was carrying.
“You’re in way over your head, Milayna,” Shayla said, helping Lily gather her things from the floor.
I couldn’t help the small smile on my lips. It felt so good to watch Lily sprawl out on the dirty floor. I wished I could’ve rewound time and watched it again.
“I’m not the one on my knees, Shayla.” I turned on my heel and walked away, but not before I saw someone in my peripheral vision bend down and help Shayla. I looked over my shoulder and saw Jeff.
Chay walked up beside me. “I swear, Milayna, if you don’t start waiting for me after class, I’m gonna—”
“What are you gonna do?” I interrupted and smiled up at him.