them, I’m sure. You don’t need to owe anyone anything on my behalf.”
Tara stood up and was surprisingly graceful for her farm girl build. “I told you she wouldn’t understand. This is beyond the understanding of her kind.”
“Oh? My kind? What kind would that be?” First impressions definitely served here. Tara was a jerk and she was an easy target for the anxious flare up I felt coming on.
Troy put his hand on Tara’s wrist to stop her, and she turned to face him. “Let’s put it out there and see what she does.” That kind of control meant he had to be the leader here. It was good to have him stop Tara’s attitude, except I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going. It was getting a bit too intense here for me. I started to think about how I could get Stephen to take me home.
A sigh from the couch next to me brought me back. “Claire, what do you believe about the paranormal?”
If he didn’t look so serious, I would have laughed right in his face. Paranormal? My life seemed to be constantly going round this theme, but I was the daughter of a man who did not give a lot of time to fairy tales and ghost stories. I was raised to see things as they were and nothing more. My curse was the only hiccup in Dad’s rational theories on life but that didn’t mean everything was real. Out of respect though, I tried to make my point in a non-offensive way. “Books and movies are my only exposure and I’m not certain that those are based in reality. After all, look at what the books say about things like ESP. They aren’t all in agreement. Not even close. I think if there was any truth to them, they would be more in sync with each other.”
“What about your gift? Doesn’t that make you believe there’s something else out there? Jenkins’ book?” This was from Troy again, who was sitting forward in his seat, elbows on his thighs looking directly at my face.
I was really hoping we were just having a philosophical discussion, but I was careful not to offend, regardless. I was in the minority here and didn’t want to test Stephen’s loyalties if I could avoid it. “My gift, as you guys call it, is a weird fluke that is just an overly emphasized, but perfectly normal, thing. Everyone understands other people’s emotions to a point, I just get them in more detail.” That was something I had tried to convince myself of before; I was just really observant.
Troy cocked his head to the side, staring right into my eyes. “First off, you can feel people’s emotions not just understand them and Stephen says you can channel people’s emotions as well. That is definitely beyond the norm. That makes it para normal.” He said this last as two words to emphasize the point.
The little detail that had been nagging gently at the back of my mind kicked me then, Troy knew something even Stephen shouldn’t have known. No one should have known because I had never told anyone. My fury swelled in my chest. “How do you know I can channel? I know I have never said that to you. Ever.” I stood up. I was pretty sure that I could walk back a block to the gas station we’d passed on the corner and wait for a cab there. I was about two seconds from walking out the door. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I didn’t want to be here anymore; that much I knew for certain.
Stephen touched my arm, very lightly. His touch was just a whisper, but there was a flash of something. I didn’t know how to describe it. In my head flashed my terrified face when I was falling into him, then my fear of feeling him. I tried to remember what he had said that day in the coffee shop after I first met him. He’d said that I “blasted him” when I touched him. I had thought the word “ouch” but had not felt any pain myself. Since then, I had admitted to him that I feel people but
Tara stood up and was surprisingly graceful for her farm girl build. “I told you she wouldn’t understand. This is beyond the understanding of her kind.”
“Oh? My kind? What kind would that be?” First impressions definitely served here. Tara was a jerk and she was an easy target for the anxious flare up I felt coming on.
Troy put his hand on Tara’s wrist to stop her, and she turned to face him. “Let’s put it out there and see what she does.” That kind of control meant he had to be the leader here. It was good to have him stop Tara’s attitude, except I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going. It was getting a bit too intense here for me. I started to think about how I could get Stephen to take me home.
A sigh from the couch next to me brought me back. “Claire, what do you believe about the paranormal?”
If he didn’t look so serious, I would have laughed right in his face. Paranormal? My life seemed to be constantly going round this theme, but I was the daughter of a man who did not give a lot of time to fairy tales and ghost stories. I was raised to see things as they were and nothing more. My curse was the only hiccup in Dad’s rational theories on life but that didn’t mean everything was real. Out of respect though, I tried to make my point in a non-offensive way. “Books and movies are my only exposure and I’m not certain that those are based in reality. After all, look at what the books say about things like ESP. They aren’t all in agreement. Not even close. I think if there was any truth to them, they would be more in sync with each other.”
“What about your gift? Doesn’t that make you believe there’s something else out there? Jenkins’ book?” This was from Troy again, who was sitting forward in his seat, elbows on his thighs looking directly at my face.
I was really hoping we were just having a philosophical discussion, but I was careful not to offend, regardless. I was in the minority here and didn’t want to test Stephen’s loyalties if I could avoid it. “My gift, as you guys call it, is a weird fluke that is just an overly emphasized, but perfectly normal, thing. Everyone understands other people’s emotions to a point, I just get them in more detail.” That was something I had tried to convince myself of before; I was just really observant.
Troy cocked his head to the side, staring right into my eyes. “First off, you can feel people’s emotions not just understand them and Stephen says you can channel people’s emotions as well. That is definitely beyond the norm. That makes it para normal.” He said this last as two words to emphasize the point.
The little detail that had been nagging gently at the back of my mind kicked me then, Troy knew something even Stephen shouldn’t have known. No one should have known because I had never told anyone. My fury swelled in my chest. “How do you know I can channel? I know I have never said that to you. Ever.” I stood up. I was pretty sure that I could walk back a block to the gas station we’d passed on the corner and wait for a cab there. I was about two seconds from walking out the door. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I didn’t want to be here anymore; that much I knew for certain.
Stephen touched my arm, very lightly. His touch was just a whisper, but there was a flash of something. I didn’t know how to describe it. In my head flashed my terrified face when I was falling into him, then my fear of feeling him. I tried to remember what he had said that day in the coffee shop after I first met him. He’d said that I “blasted him” when I touched him. I had thought the word “ouch” but had not felt any pain myself. Since then, I had admitted to him that I feel people but
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