never the most frightening part of my talent, the fact that I could lose myself completely in someone else and channel them. That was also the part that I had yet to master control of, the part I wasn’t sure I could control.
My breathing was speeding up; I was starting to hyperventilate. “How do you know that? Can you read my mind?” I sat back down, my mind going numb with shock. The phrase, “ You have to listen ,” running through my head brought me back to the present, and I tried to focus on what Stephen was saying, my heart began to slow back down.
“No, but you and I have more in common than you think. I kind of figured things out when you landed on me. I felt a lot of power there.” He sat back into the cushions behind him with a sigh, “You can feel other people’s emotions rather strongly, yes?” I nodded. “If someone is having a strong feeling and they touch you, you can’t help but feel what they are feeling, right?” Slowly, wide eyed, I nodded the tiniest bit. “Well, I have a similar ability. You feel people by their emotions, I see them by their intentions.”
“I don’t understand.” I was totally confused now and was thinking very strongly about running outside right now despite the compulsion I felt to listen.
“How do I explain?” Stephen looked up at the ceiling and put his hands on his head, mussing his hair again. He looked about twelve years old. He stared right at me, appearing decided. “Think about your parents,” he instructed me.
“Why?” I had no idea what was going to happen but I didn’t want to give him any information about my family that could be used to harm them or me.
“I’m going to show you what I do.” He waited for me to process all of it and gave no more than a slight muscle twitch of the eye when he saw me cave.
“Okay.” For some reason beyond my comprehension, I followed his instructions and closed my eyes, thinking about Mom. She was probably worried about me by now, I thought, I should take them up on their offer to come take me to lunch. It was just so easy to get lost in my new life. When I got back to the dorm, I would have to call and invite them down for the afternoon. I could try out my new shielding on them.
“So when are you going to have them over?” Stephen asked, breaking into my thoughts.
Rolling my eyes at him, I answered sarcastically, “That isn’t hard to figure out. It’s like a phony magician. All you have to do is read me. Here I am, a college student away from home and you have me think about my parents. It is going to either be ‘I’m happy I’m away’ or ‘gee I sure miss them,’ you have a fifty-fifty shot at being right.”
He patiently tried to explain his point, “Well, as you explained about your gift being one that is just a normal human response heightened to a special level, so is mine. I can go downtown and show you who is going to commit a crime, when a girl decides to go home with a guy from a bar, anything like that. I read emotions like you do, but I can’t tell much until the person makes up their mind. That is when I can see what they are going to do.”
“So can you tell the future?” My eyes widened in disbelief. No wonder he was so calm all the time, nothing surprised him.
“No, but if the President decided to go to war, I could tell. That doesn’t mean it will happen because it isn’t that simple to go to war, but I could tell that is what he decided to do. I can see his intentions. It has come in handy a few times when we’ve needed to figure out if someone is telling the truth.”
“Like a human lie detector?”
He seemed pleased. “Yes, that is one way we can use it. I can also see if someone is able to handle strange information.” He looked meaningfully at me and I smiled a bit shyly. “My gift compliments yours very
My breathing was speeding up; I was starting to hyperventilate. “How do you know that? Can you read my mind?” I sat back down, my mind going numb with shock. The phrase, “ You have to listen ,” running through my head brought me back to the present, and I tried to focus on what Stephen was saying, my heart began to slow back down.
“No, but you and I have more in common than you think. I kind of figured things out when you landed on me. I felt a lot of power there.” He sat back into the cushions behind him with a sigh, “You can feel other people’s emotions rather strongly, yes?” I nodded. “If someone is having a strong feeling and they touch you, you can’t help but feel what they are feeling, right?” Slowly, wide eyed, I nodded the tiniest bit. “Well, I have a similar ability. You feel people by their emotions, I see them by their intentions.”
“I don’t understand.” I was totally confused now and was thinking very strongly about running outside right now despite the compulsion I felt to listen.
“How do I explain?” Stephen looked up at the ceiling and put his hands on his head, mussing his hair again. He looked about twelve years old. He stared right at me, appearing decided. “Think about your parents,” he instructed me.
“Why?” I had no idea what was going to happen but I didn’t want to give him any information about my family that could be used to harm them or me.
“I’m going to show you what I do.” He waited for me to process all of it and gave no more than a slight muscle twitch of the eye when he saw me cave.
“Okay.” For some reason beyond my comprehension, I followed his instructions and closed my eyes, thinking about Mom. She was probably worried about me by now, I thought, I should take them up on their offer to come take me to lunch. It was just so easy to get lost in my new life. When I got back to the dorm, I would have to call and invite them down for the afternoon. I could try out my new shielding on them.
“So when are you going to have them over?” Stephen asked, breaking into my thoughts.
Rolling my eyes at him, I answered sarcastically, “That isn’t hard to figure out. It’s like a phony magician. All you have to do is read me. Here I am, a college student away from home and you have me think about my parents. It is going to either be ‘I’m happy I’m away’ or ‘gee I sure miss them,’ you have a fifty-fifty shot at being right.”
He patiently tried to explain his point, “Well, as you explained about your gift being one that is just a normal human response heightened to a special level, so is mine. I can go downtown and show you who is going to commit a crime, when a girl decides to go home with a guy from a bar, anything like that. I read emotions like you do, but I can’t tell much until the person makes up their mind. That is when I can see what they are going to do.”
“So can you tell the future?” My eyes widened in disbelief. No wonder he was so calm all the time, nothing surprised him.
“No, but if the President decided to go to war, I could tell. That doesn’t mean it will happen because it isn’t that simple to go to war, but I could tell that is what he decided to do. I can see his intentions. It has come in handy a few times when we’ve needed to figure out if someone is telling the truth.”
“Like a human lie detector?”
He seemed pleased. “Yes, that is one way we can use it. I can also see if someone is able to handle strange information.” He looked meaningfully at me and I smiled a bit shyly. “My gift compliments yours very
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