Chapter 12
“I still don’t see why you were so mean to him,” Malaya said taking another lick of her ice cream cone.
“I mean, it’s not like this is the first time this has happened. His friend’s bully people all the time, and that isn’t going to change overnight. Did you think that because he was nice to us that he would all of a sudden be nice to everybody?”
“I don’t know what I thought,” Lily sighed. That wasn’t entirely true. She had hoped he would be that same person who helped her with her homework and made her smile. “Let’s just forget about it, okay?”
“Okay. So why did you want to come here anyway? The mall isn’t usually your first choice of Saturday hang out locations. If you want to see a movie, I’m short on cash until tomorrow,” Malaya warned as she watched the patrons of the Frisco Mall pass by the food court.
“I don’t like the mall because I rarely have any money to spend, but that’s not why we’re here today,” Lily summoned up all the courage she could, because this wasn’t going to be easy.
“Do you remember my first day back at school, when we were in the hallway with Landon, and I knew that he hadn’t stood up to Dean? He asked me how I knew, because obviously I was a few tables away, and wouldn’t have been near enough to hear anything they were saying,” she said shakily as she hurried along her explanation. “Well, I didn’t hear Landon, but I heard Dean.”
“Huh?”
“I heard Dean’s thoughts.” Lily said waiting for the reaction she knew was coming.
“I think you fell a little too hard on that noggin of yours,” Malaya said looking at Lily like she had just escaped an insane asylum.
“No really, I know this sounds crazy, but it’s true.” Malaya’s eyebrows were as high as the Empire State Building.
“When I was in the coma, I spoke to my mom and dad. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear their voices. They told me, well my dad told me, that I would have a special gift when I woke up. He said I would be able to hear evil thoughts.”
“So you magically woke up a mind reader and will save the world with your super powers,” Malaya said flatly.
“Not everyone’s thoughts, I can only hear bad thoughts, and I didn’t say anything about saving the world. I didn’t even want it, but the fact is that I have it, so I would appreciate if you would lay off the sarcasm and be a little more open minded,” Lily snapped back.
“Whoa there, you’re getting feisty on me Lily! Okay, I’ll try to be more open minded to your mind reading, uh, gift.”
“I know this is unbelievable, so I really think it will be best to show you.” Lily’s eyes searched the packed mall as she spoke. “I can apparently hear anyone’s thoughts if it’s a bad thought. Like when you want to do something wrong or something bad to someone else. That’s mostly what I’ve heard so far, but there are probably other situations as well.” She spotted a couple of guys who were maybe a couple years older than they were. They didn’t look any different than most teenage boys. No one would have guessed what was about to happen.
“This one is perfect,” Lily said to Malaya nodding in the direction of her chosen subjects. “That boy in the blue button up shirt, the one with the baseball cap?”
“Yes, I see him. What about him?”
“In a moment he will steal that bar of soap in the display at the doorway of that store.”
“Why would a boy steal a bar of soap? That’s dumb. If I were him, I would at least steal something good. I mean a bar of soap is what, a dollar or two?”
“I’m only repeating what I heard,” Lily said shrugging her shoulders. The two girls watched as the boys approached the display case.
“The blue one,” Lily said her eyes not moving from her target.
“What?”
“He’s going to take the blue one.” Just as she had finished her sentence, the young man silently swiped a bar of blue soap and hid it in his folded arms.
“Whoa, he really did it. That thief! He’s not going to get away with that is he?”
“He will unless one of us stops him, and it won’t be me.”
“Yeah, you’re not usually one for confrontation, are you?”
“So what about you?”
“What am I supposed to say, my friend knew you were going to steal that, so give it back right now?”
“So you believe me then?”
“Well, why don’t you show me something else, because that could have been pure luck,” Malaya said folding her arms.
“It wasn’t luck. I even said it would be blue, and was it blue?”
“Well, yes, but it still could have been luck,” Malaya answered unmoved.
“Alright,” Lily sighed searching once more for someone to demonstrate on. After a few minutes of hearing nothing but the hum of people walking by, Lily could hear the buzzing that was becoming more and more familiar to her.
“I hate her. I don’t see why she thinks taking me to the mall will make everything better, because it won’t. I wish she would leave me alone. I need to make her leave me alone somehow.” The thoughts were coming from a young girl dressed in black. Everything she wore was a shade of black. Black heavy boots, black leggings, and a black t-shirt with a skull slapped across the front of it. Her short, spiky hair was streaked with red highlights. Her face was angry and her hands were curled into fists. The older woman was talking to her about something, but the girl wasn’t really listening.
“I can’t take this anymore. I don’t want to be here. I wish I had been born into a different family. I don’t belong here. I can’t possibly belong here with her. I wish I was older so I could move out. Grrrrrr. Why won’t she stop talking? She knows it irritates me.” Lily watched the girl become increasingly irritated. Every inch of the girl’s body was tense. Her jaw was clenched tightly as she stared angrily at the floor.
“Do you see that girl in black?”
“The one with the psycho dye job? Yeah, I see her,” Malaya said.
“She’s going to scream in a minute.”
“Why?”
“It seems she can’t stand her mother,” Lily said sadly thinking of her own mother.
“I think her mother looks nice,” Malaya said. “I mean she’s taking her shopping. What’s so bad about that?”
“I think her mom is just very different from her and she doesn’t feel like her mom supports her.”
“Oh, okay.”
“This isn’t going to be pretty,” Lily warned. The girl in black had stopped walking.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU,” yelled the girl exploding with anger. Her poor mother looked absolutely shocked. “WHY ARE WE EVEN HERE? WE DON’T LIKE ANY OF THE SAME THINGS. I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE WITH YOU. I DON’T WANT TO BE ANYWHERE WITH YOU. I HATE YOU,” the girl said spitting out venom along with her words. She stomped off back the way they had come. Her mother followed her appearing both hurt and humiliated. When they were gone Malaya sat in stunned silence.
“What a brat,” she said under her breath. She grabbed Lily by the shoulders. “You really can hear people’s thoughts, can’t you?”
“Yes,” Lily said quietly, not wanting the other mall patrons to hear their conversation. Malaya jumped up from their bench and spun around in excitement.
“Do you know what this means? We can single handedly take down the Westview High School bullies once and for all! This is so cool, I mean, I know I was just joking about that saving the world thing, but you really can save people. You can save them from being harassed at school. This is awesome!”
“I don’t think I can do that. I’m a nobody.”
“Um, yeah, you’re a nobody with the gift of the century! Seriously, can’t you see how amazing this gift is?”
“I don’t really see how this is a good thing, but you can explain it to me on our way to get some more ice cream. Oh, and can you keep it down a little? I don’t want people to think we’re crazy,” Lily said glancing around at the mass of people surrounding them. She hoped no one would pay attention to a couple of teenage girls. Although if anyone had heard them, she wasn’t sure they would take it too seriously anyway.
***
“Yes, she really did it.” The deep voice spoke stubbornly into the black cell phone. He paused every so often to listen to his superior. “She said he would steal the soap, and he did. She said the girl would scream, and she did. She predicted it with immaculate precision. I really think we should look into this. I can do it if no one else is available,” the tanned man said secretly hoping every other agent was already busy. “I can do both. It won’t cause me to neglect my other assignment, John. I’m almost done with it anyway. Alright. Goodbye.” The tall, muscular man pressed the button to end the call and sat himself on the black metal bench while he planned his new mission.
***
“Hello ladies,” Landon said as he appeared from around the ice cream stand.
“Hi,” Malaya said, her face lighting up like a Christmas tree.
“So what brings you to the mall? A little shopping, huh?”
“Not really,” Lily said curtly. She hoped he wasn’t planning on sticking around, because she really didn’t want him to. She would rather not converse with the enemy.
“We were just hanging out,” Malaya said nearly singing her response. “We were about to get some ice cream.”
“Ice cream sounds good. I think I’ll get some myself,” Landon replied splashing on a hunky smile. Lily tried to force a smile, but wasn’t very successful at it. “Look, I know that you’re both probably still mad at me for what happened a couple weeks ago, so let me make it up to you. Let me take you to a movie or something.”
“A movie sounds great,” Malaya quickly responded before Lily could reject his offer.
“Good, you can pick whatever movie you want. I’ll even force myself to stay awake through a chick flick if that’s what you two want,” Landon said laughing.
“Sounds great, right Lily?”
“Um, yeah I guess so.” Lily wasn’t looking forward to spending the next two hours stuck in a dark room with Landon, but Malaya seemed to really like him. She hadn’t seemed so happy and excited since she bought her first wand of mascara a couple years ago. She had practically danced out of the store. Lily wouldn’t be too surprised if Malaya cartwheeled down the hall of the movie theater. She had never been one to hide her emotions. Lily would do just about anything for her friend, so she made every effort to temporarily forget how much she didn’t like Landon at the moment.
The theater was already dark when the three of them went to find open seats. There wasn’t much space left, but they managed to find three seats together at the end of a row. Malaya went in first, then Landon, then Lily so she could rest her crutches in the aisle. The previews had already started, so aside from a few remarks about upcoming movies, the three of them were silent until the movie was over.
***
Landon stared at the screen, his eyes glazing over slightly. Of course they had to pick a chick flick, they were girls after all, but he had kind of hoped they liked high speed racing, and killer explosions. No such luck. He spent most of the movie looking out of the corner of his eye in Lily’s direction. He could spend all day gazing at her beautiful face. He knew she was still mad at him, but wasn’t sure what he would have to do to prove to her that he wasn’t like those other guys at school. Whatever it was, he knew he would do it, regardless of the consequences. He didn’t want to lose his group of friends, but he knew if she asked him to give them up, he would. She had that much power over him. Not so much power as influence perhaps. Sitting next to her in that theater he made up his mind that he would do just about anything for her, even if that meant changing his entire life. When the movie was over, they talked as they waited for the theater to clear. Lily didn’t say much, but her demeanor had softened. Malaya didn’t waste any time inviting him to eat lunch with them the following Monday. Landon looked to Lily for her approval, but he didn’t find any. He didn’t find any disapproval either, so he accepted the invitation as they made their way out of the now vacant theater. They were on their way down the hall to the theater’s lobby when Landon heard a familiar voice coming from behind him.
“Hey buddy, whatcha got there?” It was Dean. Landon turned around to confront him and found himself face to face with not only Dean, but his now ex-girlfriend Amberly. Her shiny blonde hair fell around her shoulders as she thrust her nose in the air.
“Hi, Slade,” she said flashing her phony, white teeth at him.
“Hey,” Landon replied cautiously.
“I see you found yourself some beauties here,” Dean said winking at him.
“This is Malaya and Lily,” he introduced them quickly.
“Amberly,” Dean said nodding in her direction. “And I’m Dean of course,” he said whipping out his “girls can’t resist me smile”.
“We were just leaving,” Landon said quickly.
“Alright, you’re welcome to join us though. We’re watching that zombie slasher flick everyone keeps raving about.”
“Maybe next time,” Landon said turning to go. He wasn’t sure who “everyone” was but he was pretty sure the girls wouldn’t want to see it.
“See you at school then,” Dean said eyeing Landon suspiciously.
“See ya,” Landon said as he hurried the girls out to the lobby.
“Well, that was interesting,” Lily said inquisitively once they had reached the lobby.
“That guy is a jerk, Lily. He’s always doing something dumb. I probably just saved you both from a horrible movie anyway. If we had gone with them and watched that movie, you would probably be having zombie slasher nightmares for the rest of the week. So, I’m actually your knight in shining armor,” Landon said moving his hands to his waist for a quick superhero pose.
“Are you sure we would be the ones having nightmares? You barely made it through a romantic comedy without heading for the hills,” Malaya challenged. Lily smiled as Landon and Malaya bantered back and forth over who would have been more terrified of flesh eating zombies. None of them noticed the muscular man staring at them as they went down the escalator.
***
“The situation has changed somewhat, Mr. Wilson,” the agent said over the shiny, black cell phone. “The girl is friends with the boy, so I will be able to tail them both with greater ease.” The man fiddled with a loose string from his shirt as he finished his conversation.
“I’ll see you soon, is that correct?”
“That is still to be determined. This girl may change things considerably. Continue to keep tabs on her. Don’t worry yourself so much about the boy. If this goes how I think it will, we are going to be very powerful, my friend, very powerful indeed,” said a man’s husky voice.
“Good, because we deserve it, especially you after all they put you though.”
“I know. I look forward to meeting this little mind reader.”
“You won’t be disappointed sir.”
“I should hope not,” the rough voice croaked at him.
“I’ll expect a full report by Tuesday.”
“Yes sir.”
“And Mack, remember what’s at stake for you.”
“Yes sir, I will, I mean I do.”
“Good. I’ll speak with you again soon.”