Ella: Sorry, wrong number.
I felt close to tears once more. Should I call the Judge right now? Should I wait until I had a free moment without Collin around? I didn’t know who he worked for or what his purpose was, but somehow I knew he wasn’t on my side. Will had warned me to be suspicious and cautious, and I needed to act cautious, at least for now. Instinctively, I felt I couldn’t use my phone.
Before I ended up here, we had just discovered we had spies among us. Horatio, another gifted man, was Will’s best friend, and together, they created an institute to test and discover gifted people. Will eventually changed his ways and went towards a nurturing practice, whereas Horatio was known to use inhumane techniques. He also felt the gifted should take their ‘rightful’ place in society and should no longer stay in hiding. He felt the ungifted should be our slaves and the gifted used to enslave them.
I had four other siblings out there, three of which that were unaccounted for. I had a promising idea where two of my brothers were. Supposedly, my sister already worked for Horatio and supported his beliefs.
“This seat taken?” a somewhat familiar voice asked smoothly.
He was a tall—although at five feet one or so, almost everyone was taller than me—lean guy. He had short sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was ruggedly handsome, and I knew beneath his blue V-neck t-shirt he had a trident shaped mark on his shoulder blade.
I looked up in surprise and grinned widely, forgetting myself for a moment. “Gavin!” I exclaimed.
He looked at me with confusion, slight interest in his eyes. “Hey, there. Do I know you?” He gave me a lopsided grin.
I blinked, remembering he wouldn’t. Not anymore.
I blushed. “No,” I mumbled. “I think I’ve seen you around,” I said lamely.
He looked at me with some appraisal. “Are you new to this class? I’ve never seen you before, and I never forget a pretty face.”
I ducked my head, looking for an answer. “I am. Just started today,” I stated.
I didn’t want to rebuff him, because he could very well help me in my endeavors, but I wanted to make it clear that I was unavailable.
“Hmm,” he murmured as he slid into the seat next to me. “Maybe I can help you get acquainted with the school, get a coffee together? What’s your next class?”
I looked down at my schedule, even though I knew it by heart. I had a great memory and was a very fast learner. “That sounds great and physics,” I stated.
“Me too.” He grinned.
The professor walked in at that moment, ending our conversation.
After class, I accepted Gavin’s invitation to walk me to my next one. I was glad I found a familiar face, even if he didn’t remember me. I knew he could help me find my little brother Alex again, maybe even get to him before his gift started coming in, help guide him and, hopefully, introduce him to me.
“So, what brought you to this school?” he asked conversationally as we walked to the next building for our next class.
“It’s kind of complicated,” I finally said after some thought. I needed to form a friendship with him. “A…a friend went here, and I needed to leave an unpleasant situation.”
He looked at me thoughtfully before giving me another lopsided smile. “Well I’m glad you decided to show up here. Suddenly this boring school year got a whole lot better. I just started here myself this past fall.”
“Because of your gift?” I blurted before thinking.
He looked at me with some shock before slowly nodding. “How did you know?” he whispered.
I shrugged, silently berating myself. I had to tread carefully. I had to be careful what I said and did now. “I just took a guess.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Are you a reader? Can you tell who’s gifted and who isn’t?”
I shook my head, not knowing what exactly I should say. “I’m not,” I answered truthfully.
“Yet,” he said seriously, all traces of flirting gone, “You guessed I was gifted, even though I just started here and haven’t enrolled in any of the ‘performing art’ classes.”
I shrugged once more.
He stopped suddenly and grabbed my arm firmly. “There’s something…about you. When I first saw you, I thought you were…normal. Now I can see you may be gifted, but it’s…hazy.”
I looked up at him. “Are you a reader,” I said quietly, urgently.
He nodded and looked around. “I’m not sure, and I don’t want anyone to know. So, what’s your story, the real one?”
I gulped. “I can’t say…” At the look of suspicion, I quickly added, “Not now, anyways. Please,” I said as he turned to walk away from me. I grabbed his arm. “I’ve never been the trusting type, and lately I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”
“Blake,” I heard my name being called from behind me. I stiffened, my eyes widening. I didn’t know if Gavin could be trusted. Ella never said anything about him. Was he on the wrong side? I already knew this school had wolves among us.
Collin came up behind me and draped a possessive arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. “Who’s this?”
I looked at Gavin warily, hoping, praying. “Umm, my new friend Gavin. He was in my first class, and he was showing me to our next one.”
Collin looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Oh yeah, I’m Collin. Blake’s boyfriend.”
Gavin looked at me with suspicion and distrust. “Hey man.” Gavin stuck out a hand and shook Collin’s hand.
“Hey,” Collin replied with no warmth. “Well, I’m headed that way myself. Maybe I’ll go with you.”
I knew I couldn’t refuse, so I quietly followed along.
Gavin avoided me in the next class. He was sitting next to the doors by two other people, so there had been no room for me at his table. I knew I had to make things right. After arguing with myself for most of my class, I knew he could be trusted. I had to enlist his help. He was the first friendly face I had seen, and I desperately needed his help.
The moment the professor dismissed us, I got up and followed him.
“Gavin,” I called. I knew he heard me, but he continued walking.
I ran to catch up with him. I was winded by the time I reached him, and I was pissed. Not at him, but by the fact that I was so out of shape…again. That run would have been nothing before. All of those weeks working on my calves, back, abs, getting in shape…now gone.
“Please,” I said as I yanked his arm. “If I tell you everything, you’ll think I’m nuts.”
He stopped and looked down at me, somewhat irritated. “Too late,” he said coldly before he started to turn once more.
I felt momentarily stung. “Stop, please. I can help you.”
“Doubt it,” he called over his shoulder.
“Krista and Alex aren’t safe,” I called to his retreating back.
He stopped abruptly and slowly stalked back towards me. “What did you say?” he hissed. “Who the hell are you, and how do you know Krista and Alex?”