I glanced at Thomas, feeling the fear from the past grab me. Once again, he soothed me. If I revealed my secrets, what would he do? What would he think? Would he still want to sooth me?
“Out of all of us, you and Michelle are the most vulnerable. Michelle’s brothers need to be sent away and protected. Emmitt, if he’s taken, will be a risk to both of you. They will want to break the Claim Michelle has as much as they will want to hurt Emmitt to sway you.”
I glanced at Emmitt. Though he was a man, I still saw my baby boy; and no one would hurt either of my boys.
He gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. We know now, so we can make sure it doesn’t happen.”
I nodded. I would stay near both my boys and make sure nothing happened. I would do whatever it took, even if it meant revealing the past and the secrets I still held.
Two
The past...
“Ms. Farech. Is there a problem?” Mr. Melski asked from the front of the room.
“Yes.” I struggled to keep all the emotion from my voice. “Someone just threw gum in my hair.” I stood and picked up my books. “I’ll see if someone in the office can help.”
His eyes flicked to Penny. The faculty knew. So why in the heck did they let her sit behind me? It was a small school. Because we were in the same grade, we had most of our classes together. Not all, though, because I’d managed to squeak into a few of the advanced ones. Hard classes, but I loved them because she wasn’t there.
I kept my pace even as I walked out the door.
The secretary, an older woman who yelled at most kids, made a sympathetic noise when I walked in and showed her the gum. I hadn’t touched it much and had walked carefully so it wasn’t too embedded.
“Charlene, why on earth does Penny dislike you so much?” she asked as she worked.
“Because when we were kids, I told her not to hit her mom.” The truth, yet not all of it. Penny was the only one who knew my secret. Never once did I give the rumors she had started any credence. But she and I both knew I could do what she claimed. I could control people with a thought. I just didn’t let her goad me into doing it openly.
The secretary extracted the gum wad within minutes, only taking a few strands with it.
“Make sure you don’t sit near her at the assembly,” she warned just before I left.
As if I would purposely do so.
I went to the bathroom to check my hair before heading back to class. Hopefully Penny wasn’t chewing more gum in anticipation of my return.
The door opened behind me. Penny’s gaze met mine in the mirror. She wasn’t done with me yet.
“Why?” I asked, turning. “What do you get from doing this? You were never mean when we were little.” She continued to eye me hatefully. I tried again. “We were friends once.”
“Ha!” she barked bitterly. “You were never my friend. You never listened to me.”
I knew exactly what she meant. She’d wanted me to use my ability to make her mom look away so we could sneak candy when we went to her house. She didn’t understand as I did that my ability wasn’t meant for that. Somehow, I’d always known I shouldn’t misuse my power.
“You always asked too much,” I said sadly. “Just let this go.”
“No. At some point you’ll make a mistake, and I want to be there so everyone knows I was right about you.” She reached out and slapped the books from my arms. They tumbled to the floor.
“All you’re going to prove is how mean you can be,” I said, glancing down at the books. She didn’t answer.
When I bent to pick them up, she pushed me over. I snapped and grabbed hold of her will.
“Stop.” She froze poised in a half-crouch ready to come after me. I held her still with my will, but I forced nothing else on her. I felt bad enough for holding her as I did.
“I’m really sorry, Penny, but this has gone on long enough. Forget your hate. Remember the friendship we once had.” I picked up my books and stood. “Don’t try to hurt me again.”
I walked out the door, intending to get a good head start before I released her. From behind, I heard her yell through the door.
“I still can’t move!”
Before I rounded the corner, I let go. For the rest of the day, I managed to avoid her. When the teachers released their classes for assembly, I followed the flow of students to the gym. The crowd moved slowly, with the upper classmen claiming the top bleachers. Sophomores, like me, spread out in the middle.
Sitting on the bleachers, surrounded by the entire student body, I looked around warily for Penny. She would hate me even more, now, after our confrontation in the bathroom. I should have made her forget. I just couldn’t bring myself to mess with someone’s head like that. It wasn’t like anyone really believed her anyway. Other than the bullying, she wasn’t a threat to me. I had no justification for taking the extreme measure of robbing her of her memories.