Will made a displeased sound. “I need her file complete by the end of the week, and if she cannot be where she is by the beginning of next semester, she will be placed in high school once more.” He looked over at Zach. “I’m wondering why you’re showing interest in Ms. Thomas. Is she…special?”
“No, not in the way you’re implying,” Zach said hastily, a little too hastily. “She’s an old friend of Collins, and he asked me to do him a favor and help her out.”
Will raised a brow. “So, you attended the school my son teaches in? The same school Collin came from? Did you take any music classes there?”
With Zach’s compulsion, I was unable to do anything but shake my head. I could feel him convincing me that Will was evil, Will wasn’t to be trusted. I had to push back with everything I had in me. I couldn’t let him tarnish my memories of Will.
Zach was quick to speak. “She didn’t attend that school. She met him elsewhere. I’ll have her transcripts by the end of the day.”
I looked over at Gavin, panic in my eyes. He seemed to be highly confused. He looked between me and Zach. Suddenly, I felt like all my limbs, head, and body were unable to move. Zach must have realized I was trying to silently communicate with Gavin. He was ensuring none of us could act for me.
I’m sure Zach had outside help to forge all that paperwork. It wasn’t like I could deny his lies in that moment or refute him in anyway. The moment Will got my forged paperwork, there would be no reason for him to delve further into my true identity.
“She should be in the music program,” Dr. Allen said coolly from the doorway. I had forgotten that he was even there. “Even though she broke the rules, and since she was unaware of them, I’m putting in a recommendation that she’s allowed to participate in the upcoming try-outs for next semester.”
“Really?” Will said with interest. He seemed surprised. I knew from past experience that Dr. Allen barely bothered himself with recruiting new students. He would occasionally be on the board of admissions, but other than that, he was too busy with the select students he had a special interest in.
Zach made a sound of annoyance. “She already has enough on her plate. She can’t add a music class to her already busy schedule.”
Will looked at me. Well would you be interested?”
I wanted to eagerly nod, but once again I was frozen to move or speak.
“She would love to,” Gavin blurted out.
I wanted to look over at him in gratitude.
“She can speak for herself,” Zach said coolly. “Well, Blake?” he asked with a smug smile.
Gavin stood up in agitation, clearly understanding that I was unable to move or speak. “She was just telling me today how much she missed music. That’s why we snuck into the music hall. She’s highly talented and deserves this opportunity. She must be feeling overwhelmed now.” He squeezed my shoulder reassuringly, and I felt this odd feeling like his touch was unraveling the hold Zach had on me. The icy coldness that had engulfed me was being replaced with a warm heat. It was like Gavin’s gift had the ability to imitate Mr. Youngs.
My eyes widened, and I finally turned to him. Gavin didn’t just have the ability to see people’s powers; with his touch, he had been able to release me from Zach’s hold. Zach looked at him with narrowed eyes and an equal amount of shock.
I cursed inwardly. I needed to protect him now as well.
“Well, it’s settled then,” Will finally said. “Try-outs are October twenty first at 8 a.m. Here’s an excusal slip for your class—your class has already started.” He looked sternly at me and Gavin before he handed us a slip. “I’m hoping to never see either one of you in here again.”
“No, sir,” Gavin and I replied simultaneously.
“What did you do?” I whispered urgently to Gavin as we walked from the bus to the school.
“What do you mean?” Gavin asked truly mystified.
“Mr. Young had compelled me.” At his confused look, I said carefully, remembering he was new to all this, “Basically, he’s a puppet master, like I am, was. He can make people say and do whatever he wants. He can even make you forget it. You touched me, and I felt his hold release.”
He looked at me with widened eyes. “You can do that? Wow,” he breathed reverently. “I don’t know what I did. I got really upset when I realized he had you…immobilized and I just imagined…breaking his hold on you.”
“I’m impressed. You say you see…auras, is that it? Have you ever tried to do anything else?” I wasn’t that familiar with all the gifts out there, but I had a few hunches.
I racked my brain wondering who I could trust to help us.
He shook his head and put his hands deep in his front pockets. “I don’t know. This is all so new to me.”
“Well, we need to make sure we keep you away from Zach Young. He wanted me to not trust Will, that Will was evil. He isn’t,” I said hurriedly as we took the steps up to our History of Performance Arts class.
We were approximately twenty minutes late, and I knew we were going to look horrible walking in late. Luck was not on our side today. The doors were squeaky, and everyone turned as we walked in.
“Sorry we’re late,” I said awkwardly as I started to make my way up front. “We…umm had a meeting.”
The professor acted like we didn’t even affect him as he continued to teach class with a slight twist of his mouth in displeasure.
My eyes widened as Noah stood up from a seat in the back. “I’m a TA for this class,” he stated with a smile. He held his hand out and I handed him my slip. Gavin handed him his as well.
Noah looked at the slips with a raised eyebrow. He looked at Gavin, then me. “Pops barely ever deals with disciplinary issues. What did you do?” he murmured with a teasing grin.
I cleared my throat. “What can I say? I like pushing the limits,” I said with a flirting tone.
“Interesting,” he said with a husky tone. “Is this the infamous Gavin?” he murmured in my ear as I began to walk to a seat.
“Just a friend,” I whispered urgently back.
“With benefits?” he asked as he caressed the inside of my arm.
Operation Make the Connection was in full effect as I leaned into his ear. “I’m hoping someone else might want to apply for that position.”
I knew I had stunned him, so I took my seat next to Gavin, glad that he found two empty seats close to each other. Gavin turned and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I held up two fingers, and I knew he knew exactly what I meant as his jaw dropped open.
Noah called Gavin and I over to a desk tucked in the back corner of the room as we were getting ready to leave. He was very professional as he handed us each slips of paper.
“Mr. Kincaid, why did you choose to drop your speech class? You were doing very well in it,” Noah asked conversationally.
Gavin looked at him with seriousness. “I spent the last seven years with a gift. At first, I thought I should fly under the radar, but after meeting Blake I realized how important it might be to learn about my gift.”
I was shocked that he revealed so much so quickly. He gave me a reassuring nod, like he had it handled.