The Watchers by Lynnie Purcell Page B

previous schools. Her face was expressionless, but I
knew she wasn’t expecting much. I decided to go for dazzle, my
irritation overriding my desire to not be noticed. It was dangerous
like that.
    “Where did you learn that?” she asked in her
squeaky voice, ignoring the whispers floating around the room.
    “I was in A.P. English at my old school, but
this school didn’t have it…” I trailed off feeling like my whole
day had been a study in not offending anyone.
    “Oh!” she said impressed. Another brain child. I don’t remember Ellen being
that intellectual. Fun at parties, maybe, but not super
smart. I heard a mental sigh .
I don’t know if I can handle having another genius in here. Of
course, Daniel has an explanation…his parents are scientists. Maybe
her father is smart? I know I’ll have to pair them together, if I
want the others to learn anything, but that might cause
problems…
    I looked over at Daniel, wondering if he had
been as impressed by my answer as the others, but he wasn’t looking
at me. His attention was focused on the desk he was tapping on.
Irritated all over again that I was acting like a five-year-old
over some boy I’d just met, I went back to looking out of the
windows, gratified I’d taught the teacher not to pick on me
anymore.
    I stared at the trees, which were swaying
slightly with the wind, and kept up a constant fidget. I searched
my emotions, wondering about the interest I had. Maybe, the
fascination was because I hadn’t counted on my first day being like
this. I had thought it would be awkward, perhaps a little
depressing, but it was suddenly interesting – not just because
something about him rubbed me the wrong way, but because I wanted
to unearth a little of his mystery. I wanted to know why he put on
the show, why his eyes changed color, why he hid behind his
popularity and his charm – I just wanted to know ‘why’. My
questions had me focused on every move he made, every impatient
adjustment in his chair. It was driving me crazy.
    The bell, when it rang, was a relief. Daniel
seemed to agree with me. He stood fluidly and started talking to
the boy in front of him as they walked out the door together. A
strange part of me wanted to tell him about the jealous thoughts
the boy was having, but I knew I was being silly. He wouldn’t care,
and he’d probably freak out if I told him how I knew. That was a
major thing I had promised Ellen. No one could know about my past,
my mind reading, or any of the strange things. It was what kept us
safe. It was what kept us hidden.
    Alex came over to where I sat unmoving. “What
do you have next?”
    “Chorus,” I told her, shifting my eyes away
from Daniel’s retreating back.
    “Me too. Come on, I’ll make sure you don’t
get lost in the sheep.”
    “Baahhh!”
    She giggled and hooked her hand through my
arm companionably as I slung my bag over my shoulder. “I noticed a
certain someone staring at you in class.”
    “Was it the boy in the front row who looked
like he’d been flunked a couple of times?”
    “Jerry? No, well, yes, but I meant
Daniel.”
    I tried to keep my face expressionless, but
she had already seen my interest. She smiled knowingly. “Yeah, he
barely took his eyes off you.”
    “Wait, why were you staring?”
    “Because you think he’s cute, and I wanted to
know if he thought the same.” Her thoughts were in total agreement
with her words. Was I that obvious? Or was she just that
observant?
    “Well, does he?” I asked, acknowledging how
peculiar it was for me to have to rely on someone else to know what
a person was thinking.
    “I can’t be certain yet. He just looked
confused.”
    “He was probably trying to understand how I
beat him at tennis.”
    “No, it was more than that.”
    “He probably wants to know where I get my
eyeliner,” I joked.
    “Not Daniel,” she replied. “He’s not the
eyeliner type.”
    My stomach dropped at the thought of her
spreading our conversation to the