Gifted

The power of emotions

They called it “The Gift.” A mysterious power that afflicted a tiny percent of the population. Those who
were touched by The Gift found they had some control over the emotions of themselves and those
around them. It manifested in many different ways and varying strengths. Most were benign in nature,
such as making yourself and those around you happier. These people were, for lack of a better term,
always ‘on’ when it came to their power. The official classification for these people was level three—
otherwise known as the passive tier.

In uncommon cases, there were physical effects tied to The Gift, like getting a burst of energy when a
certain condition or emotional state was met. The effect and duration varied greatly based on individual
users. No two people were alike, even if their Gift was similar. Everyone had different conditionals to
‘activate’ their Gift and most were challenging to purposefully activate. These were people in level two
—the semi-active tier.

The rare cases were extremely powerful. They were active effects where the individual could trigger at
will. Like flipping a switch, an individual could turn their Gift on and off. It varied by individual, but some
could let their Gift run for hours or days with no ill effects. Others could only use them for a brief period
of time. There were some whose Gift’s only lasted a few seconds before exhausting them. All these were
classified as level one—the active tier.

The vast majority of individuals who had The Gift were benign or positive in nature. Giving people a
chipper attitude, making someone feel loved, giving someone the mental equivalent of wrapping
yourself in a warm blanket out of the dryer on a cold night, or other mental boosts. There was no real
knowledge of how many people had The Gift in level three. It was hard to tell if an individual's overly
positive attitude came from a low-grade Gift or was a part of their personality after all. To register, that
person had to have a strong Gift or have a unique effect that made it noticeable.

Not all people who were touched by The Gift made a positive impact. There were unfortunate
individuals who made people uneasy, sad, angry, or any host of negative emotions. While most didn’t
have a strong Gift, it was often enough to make life difficult. Worse were the ones who purposefully
used their Gift to make others miserable, taking pleasure in inflicting emotional pain on those around
them. Most of these people found themselves in legal trouble or otherwise isolated from society.

Thanks to the beneficial and powerful nature of these Gifts, most of the elites of society have some form
of The Gift and send their children to specialized schools to help control or regulate their Gift.

On the Academy Roof

The school’s roof was a sanctuary. When the building was first constructed, the original vision was
having the roof be a courtyard with a view—provided you ignored the fence. It had benches and
greenery to liven up the area. Didn’t take long for the administration to ban it for students. Four months
after the school opened, a student climbed the fence and took a swan dive onto the pavement below.
Instead of rooting out the cause of the tragedy—namely the severe bullying she was receiving from her
classmates—administration took the path of least resistance and banned students from using the roof.
There were ways around the ban. For most students who broke the rules, it was a name thing. Their
family name and the wealth and power behind it protected them from any consequences. For students
like me who didn’t have a fancy name or unlimited funds, it took some greasing the wheels. My access
here cost a pair of courtside seats. The head security guard was a fanatic fan and took his son as a
birthday present. That favor earned me access to the rooftop during lunch. Even better was my new
friend disabled the only camera to ensure there wasn’t any evidence. The administration never pulled
footage, but it was better to cover all bases. If there was one thing this school had taught me, it was
never allow someone to gain leverage against you.

My rooftop sanctuary took me away from all the noise. It allowed me to think with a clear head. Hands
resting at my side, I took a deep breath as the breeze tugged at my posh uniform. The smell of earth and
tinge of sweetness filled my lungs. Below me, I watched students move about their day unaware of my
passive observation. It was a lunch period and a nice day, so people were taking advantage to eat their
lunches out in the carefully maintained landscape.

The thought of food caused my stomach to rumble in soft protest. I ignored it. The last place I wanted to
get near was the cafeteria during lunch. It was the battleground of the countless invisible wars being
fought on a daily basis. There, the noise was a roar I couldn’t escape as people were torn apart by their
enemies and backstabbed by their allies.

No, it was best to avoid the cafeteria. The student body in general. Here, giants and titans sent their
offspring to learn. When you were a mere man, it was only a matter of time before you were crushed
underfoot.

The burst of noise warned me of their presence before the door opened. I took a few steps back to be
out of sight behind the walls covering the doorway and stairs. This was the reason I didn’t stand out in
the open courtyard. Even if students rarely came up here, there were times I had visitors.

The door opened and voices spilled out into the air. They were speaking too low for me to hear properly,
but the laugh told me there was at least one girl. A glance around the side of the building confirmed it.
One girl and a boy. Ducking back around the corner, I closed my eyes as I found I recognized them both.

Adam was a big name around school. His mother was some big CEO and his father had political
connections. He was in the untouchable class of students here at the academy. His family’s wealth and
power inflated his ego and he walked around as if he owned the school. Considering how staff and
administration bent over backward to accommodate him, he might as well own this place. It also made
him a grade-A asshole with a God complex. He was one of the worst bullies around school. While he
didn’t have the most creative ways of going about making other people’s lives miserable, he could do it
with impunity. What made it all worse was his Gift. He had an aura of charisma which won him easy
allies despite his rotten nature. He had a way with words that could weave themselves into your mind
and make you want to believe him—even if you objectively knew better. It didn't last forever, but those
in his orbit were never separated long enough for that to matter.

Adam was hardly the only one here who abused his Gift, but he was uniquely egregious. It went against
some cosmic balance that such a horrible person could be so universally loved. The man was popular,
extroverted, and attractive—yet there was some nugget of evil at his core that everyone ignored.
As for his companion, I knew her by reputation as well. Chloe Reed. Unlike Golden Boy, her notoriety
was definitively negative. It was no secret that she was the school’s fucktoy even if people went about
pretending it was a rumor. The mystery surrounding her was never about sleeping with guys--that was a
confirmed fact--but why so many guys were willing to metaphorically line up to do it. As squeamish and
hot-headed as they normally got regarding their girlfriends, it was an enigma why she had so many
repeat customers.

Literally. It wasn’t enough that she put out, she charged for it too. Considering the sickening amount of
wealth most people here had, it wasn’t an insignificant sum either. And they paid. Even someone like
Adam, whose charm could talk him into any pair of panties in school, was apparently willing to pay. The
only thing I could figure is it had something to do with her Gift, but the specifics eluded me and I wasn’t
about to ask.

I risked another glance around the corner at the sound of Chloe’s bubbling laughter. Chloe was the type
of girl who captured your attention without much effort on her part. The way she moved reminded me
of a dancer. Graceful and flowing as she moved towards the center of the courtyard. Arms out, she spun
in gentle circles as she took a breath and enjoyed the sunlight. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into
a low ponytail. As she spun, the white skirt of her uniform lifted to reveal the white of her thighs not
covered by the black thigh-high socks. She appeared to be in a joyous mood, her smile as radiant as the
sun.

It was a lie. I might not have been able to hear their low conversation, but her noise was deafening.
Sadness. Resignation. Disgust. Her emotions rolled off her like ocean waves. Each one crashed into my
mind. Strong emotions like these were always the easiest to read as they broke against the fortress in
my mind again and again.

Adam was calm as he followed after her. There was a swagger to his step, hands in his pockets. Even if
he was following after Chloe it didn’t seem like he was chasing her. Stalking was more apt. A casual pace
that indicated he had all the time in the world. His noise suggested otherwise. I could feel his impatience
and annoyance flaring. The only thing that kept them in check was the lust and excitement.

“Well? We’re on the roof,” he called out loud enough for me to hear. “Just like you wanted.”

She stopped her slow spin and focused on the golden-haired boy. His Gift was in play. It brushed against
the fortress of my mind. It whispered demands for my attention. My respect. It wanted me to hold onto
every word he said. I ignored it, brushing it off like an unwanted bug crawling up my arm.

“What’s the rush?” she asked, keeping her smile in place. Her noise told another story. She was stalling
against the inevitable.

“I’m hungry and we only have about thirty minutes left in lunch. The quicker we are finished here, the
sooner I can eat.”

The mask slipped as she stared at him. “Then go eat if that’s more important. Nothing is keeping you
here.”

I couldn’t see his reaction, but I felt it in his noise. He was smiling. From what I was sensing, it wasn’t the
good kind of smile. “True, but I’m also horny. Can’t take care of that in the cafeteria.”
Arms crossed, the facade was tossed aside. Chloe’s face was more in tune with her noise. Annoyance
and disgust marred her pretty face. “Then get your girlfriend to take care of it—or is she charging you
now too?”

“You really need to work on your customer service, Chloe. I am a paying customer after all. Is not the
customer king?” The moment the last word left his mouth, I felt it. A crash of his charisma slammed
against the walls of my mind. This wasn’t like the whispers from before. It was a thunderclap. The voice
of God.

Powerful as it was, it failed against the impenetrable bulwark of my mental fortress. Whatever broken
piece of my mind that kept my emotions at arms-length also protected me from others’ Gifts. A blessing
as much as it was a curse.

For Chloe, she was not as fortunate. His Gift didn’t dominate her. That wasn’t what it did. Instead, it
nudged her attitude towards him. The hostile emotions she felt for him were mere annoyance now.
“Whatever,” she said, dropping her arms. It wasn’t enough to make her like him, but the disgust she felt
for him was absent—for the moment.

Once more, Adam was abusing his Gift. Using it on someone like this would land a normal person in a
heap of trouble. Rules didn’t matter much to him. Taking a few confident steps forward, he made a
show of pulling out his wallet.

“How much?”

She didn’t hesitate. “Three hundred.”

Annoyance flowed from Adam. “It was two-fifty a week ago.”

“And now it’s three hundred.” This time, she wore a genuine smile. The way it hit her eyes made all the
difference. “Supply and demand. Demand is up, prices go up. Aren’t you planning to go into economics
or something? Thought you’d know that by now.” She plopped back on one of the benches, stretching
her arms out over the back as she crossed her legs. “Take it or leave it.”

He said nothing as three hundred dollar bills appeared in his hand.

“Thank. You!” she said in a sing-song voice, snatching the offered money away. Folding the bills, she
tucked them down the front of her uniform. “You providing the condom, or you want to buy it from
me?”

“I’m not buying your thirty-dollar condom.” She clicked her tongue. “Don’t give me that. We’ve always
done it raw.”

Even with his charisma blasting from him, it wasn’t enough to stop a pulse of disgust from her.

“It’s extra.”

“Fine.” He didn’t even ask for a price, tossing another few bills at her.

She scrambled to collect them. “This—”

“Not pulling out is extra too, right?”

A slight pause. “Right.” The bills disappeared the same way the others did.

Impatience radiated from Adam. Giving a short whistle, he spun his finger around in a silent command
before reaching down to the front of his black slacks.

Seeing what was about to happen, I slid back into cover. Even if I couldn’t see them, I heard their noise
as clearly as ever. At least it wasn’t overwhelming with only the two of them. Adam was a mix of lust
and smugness. Chloe’s was a bit more varied. His Gift had removed a lot of the disgust and dislike she’d
been feeling before. There were the usual things I expected in this situation. A bit of lust. Some
excitement. Anticipation. I’d almost written the whole thing off until I felt the whisper of sadness
underlying her noise. The deeper I listened, the more it pulled at me. Deeper and deeper my mind fell
into the cold embrace. It wasn’t only sadness that gripped me, but profound loneliness.

Before it could consume me, I pulled away and retreated into my mental solitude. There the noise
battered against the walls and left me unaffected. Looking down, I found my hands quivering before
balling them into fists. It had been a long time since I’d felt an emotion strong enough to move me. Here
in my mental fortress, I was calm and collected. My racing heart continued to slow as I took deep
breaths.

Returning to my collected self, I tuned out the noise as best I could and thought about my situation. I
figured it wouldn’t take long for them to finish and go about their way. I just needed to endure.

A Quick Peek

I don’t know why I peeked again. It certainly wasn’t for the thrill. While my mental fortress protected me
from the maddening effects of all the noise people made, it didn’t differentiate between what I felt from
others and what I felt. It was difficult to explain, but it always seemed like I was a third party inhabiting
my own body. I understood emotions, even understood what I should be feeling. It was all as an
observer however, clinical and sterile.

So when I watched the two having sex, I knew there was an aspect of arousal there but my body
remained numb to its effects. The more rational side was thankful. Voyeurism was a dangerous hobby to
get into.

Besides, there wasn’t much to be excited about. The only thing that changed since I last peeked was
Chloe leaning forward against the bench instead of sitting on it. Adam had flipped up her skirt and was
currently busy thrusting against her. With his pants around his ankles, he was more undressed than she
was. The only thing I could see from my position was the white skin of her ass and the black pair of
panties halfway down her legs.

“Fuck, Chloe. I can’t believe how god damn tight you are,” Adam gasped. His noise was… weird. His lust
still dominated what I could see, but there was something else there I couldn’t quite place.

Chloe said nothing. Head down, her hands grasped the bench for support. I could hear her moans from
here, matching what I felt in her noise. Whatever reservations she had before they started were gone
now. It was difficult to tell if this was her enjoying the moment or if it was because Adam’s Gift was
fluctuating wildly. He was losing control, which was unlike him. I didn’t know much about the guy, but
control was something he maintained at all times. He was constantly using his power to control those
around him and here he was letting it all fall apart.
The two had completely lost themselves in the moment. The smug dominance Adam maintained had
crumbled. The lust in his noise was growing into something more. He was desperate. The way his hands
clutched at Chloe’s waist, pulling her against him as he hammered himself against her with all his might.
It reminded me of a druggie craving their next hit. Nothing else seemed to matter but achieving…
something.

Adam wasn’t the only one experiencing this. The same lust and desire he felt was consuming her as well.
She no longer bothered to hide the pleasure she was feeling, her sweet voice crying out in pleasure.

“Fuck! Make me cum. Make me cum,” Adam grunted as something built inside him. “So fucking close.”

I knew the moment he came—they both came. Their combined noise hit me like a physical blow,
causing me to stumble back as a singular emotion washed over the walls of my mind.

Euphoria.

Back behind cover, I grasped at my chest. Sweat ran down my face as the emotion held fast. I gasped for
breath, lungs never pulling in enough to satisfy me. I felt it. Felt it. Nothing in life had ever overwhelmed
my mental fortress as completely as this. It took everything I had to keep myself from laughing.
Laughing. I felt… fantastic. Better than fantastic. Overjoyed. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs.
Scream at the sky. Scream at the world. No one should be this damn happy.

As an ocean wave eventually withdraws back to the ocean, so too did this wave of euphoria. The crash
was so severe, I found myself on my knees. It was as if I had emptied out all at once. The highest of
highs, only to collapse into a void of emptiness. I was devastated. A hollow emptiness took root as I
struggled against a sluggish heart that no longer had the will to beat.

The roller coaster of emotional swing lasted only seconds before the walls of my mental fortress
appeared. All at once, the hollowness disappeared and I was back to normal. Only the hollowness hadn’t
disappeared, only my ability to feel it. It was slowly lessening, but I guessed it would have taken nearly
an hour for me to recover normally.

Standing, I casually brushed at the knees of my black slacks.

Interesting.

Chloe’s long list of customers suddenly made sense. Whatever that was, it clearly had something to do
with her Gift. It seemed my Gift had amplified the effect of hers, but if Adam had felt even a tenth of
what I had… Well, that might have been worth several hundred dollars to people with unlimited money.

After a few minutes to collect myself and confirm I was back to normal, I peeked around the corner once
more. As I suspected, there was a lingering euphoria in Adam’s noise. It was surprisingly prevalent,
meaning Chloe’s Gift was quite powerful. She seemed in a much better mood as well. It seemed she got
the same boost he had—maybe even more.

Adjusting his pants, Adam had put himself back together. He was grinning as he fiddled with the sleeves
of his uniform jacket. “Worth every dollar.”

“Glad you approve.”

“You free on Friday? I could use a top-off before the weekend.”

“Friday’s my busiest day. You know that.”

“I’ll pay double.”

She hesitated, staring up at him. “I can probably fit you in—”

“Before the others,” he interrupted. When she opened her mouth to protest, he pushed on. “I’m not
dropping that kind of money to play sloppy seconds.” He paused long enough to make a point. “Or third
or however many you go through a day.”

His words seemed to cut through the high she was feeling. Anger and dislike swirled in her noise yet it
was absent in her voice.

“Fine.”

Smiling, he reached down to give her a condescending pat on the head. “Good girl.”

I ducked back into hiding. He whistled happily as he left. The door squeaked slightly before it closed with
a thud.

“Fucking prick,” she called after him when he could no longer hear. I heard a frustrated growl. “I still
have four fucking periods after this! Had to let him cum inside…” There was silence as I felt her noise
shift and radiate the multitude of emotions raging through her. Powerful as they were, it was much
better when it was only her up here. Still, it made uncomfortable feelings press against my mind, forcing
me to acknowledge they were there. It felt like I was spying on her. At least in a group I could pretend I
wasn’t focusing on any specific person.

Closing my eyes, I waited for her to finish so I could leave.

“You can come out now.”

Hearing her speak caused my eyes to shoot open. Was there someone else? Impossible. I would have
heard their noise. That left only one person she could be talking to.

Me.

The spike of anxiety brushed against the walls of my mind but didn’t penetrate. Mind calm, I weighed
my options.

Reveal Himself

There was no point in pretending. Chloe knew I was here. Taking a moment to correct my uniform jacket
and adjust my tie, I stepped out from around the corner. Chloe had finished pulling up her panties,
letting her skirt drop back into place. Her gaze fell on me as she quickly sized me up.

“I usually charge for watching.”

I wasn’t expecting that. My expression remained stoic as I took a second to read her noise. Nothing
much had changed besides a tinge of embarrassment.

“Never asked for a show,” I answered. “You brought it to me.”

“Could have left when we came up here.”

“Why? I was here first.”

“You aren't even supposed to be up here.”

“And here we are.”

Her head tilted slightly as she broke into a grin. “Enjoy the show at least?” I remained silent. Watching
her and Adam together hadn’t interested me in the slightest. What happened at the end however…

“More interested in the end.”

Her grin widened. “Most guys are.”

I ignored the obvious innuendo. “I was curious—”

I was stopped by her raised hand. She said nothing more, pulling her phone from her bag and checking
it. She looked from the phone to me, then back at the phone. “Less than twenty minutes until lunch
ends.” She chewed on her lip, thinking. Silently finding her answer, she looked back to me. Once more,
her eyes ran up and down over me. That seemed to confirm whatever thought she was thinking. “If you
can be quick, I don’t mind going again.”

I processed her statement. Ah. She thought I wanted a turn. “I don’t want—”

She winced. A burst of embarrassment and shame washed over her noise. “Shit. Adam didn’t use a
condom. Right.” She huffed, sounding dejected. “Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll give you a discount.” Her
smile was cute. Genuine too with the way it touched her eyes. Her head tilted again as her eyes met
mine. “Have we done this before? Sorry, I don’t quite remember you, but there is something familiar…”

I gave her a smile. I put in some effort to mimic the emotion I didn’t feel. Shifting my body, I rubbed at
the back of my neck. I hoped it was all a passable show of awkward discomfort. “I think there is a
misunderstanding.”

“Oh?”

“Not… uh… interested.”

She blinked a few times. A huge wave of embarrassment hit my fortifications. “Oh. Oh! Sorry. I didn’t
mean—Wow. Okay. I usually don’t fuck up like that.” She gave me a bright smile. “Sorry. Uh…”

“Jake.”

“Jake,” she repeated. “Jake… Jake… I know that name.” Before I could say anything, she shrugged as if
tossing the thought aside. “Anyways, Jake. If you have no need for my services, I, am getting lunch.” In
the process of moving towards the door, she approached me. The top of her head came up to my chest,
but she was an imposing presence far beyond her physical size. This close, I could smell the faint scent of
sweetness and flowers that drifted with the wind. Her hand brushed against my chest, pulling my gaze
down to hers. This close, I could see the dark hazel of her eyes as they held my attention.

“If you ever have need of my… talents… feel free to reach out.” She gave me a wink before sliding past
me. I turned to watch her go. She was playing up her dancer's grace, hips and skirt swaying.
It was moments like these I was glad for my mental fortitude. The emotions it held back would have
turned me into mush. Chloe was good. She knew exactly how to entice men and plied her trade well.
The fact that I barely noticed her noise was interesting. It had enveloped me, caressing softly at the
edges of my defenses. That wasn’t a part of her Gift—at least not that I could tell.

Chloe was proving to be a rare breed of person. A genuinely nice person was hard to find, especially in a
place like this.

The door shut. Even though I could no longer see her, I felt her noise linger. She must have been
standing on the other side. Her noise was shifting. The warmth drained, replaced by bitter cold. The
playful friendliness and curiosity that had been there before was now anger, guilt, and shame. The only
thing that kept it all from crushing her was the burning euphoria that still lingered. The remnant of her
Gift that kept the cold from freezing her solid.

She didn’t linger long as I felt her noise begin to fade before blending into the whispers of the crowd
elsewhere.

I moved to the fence, hands clasped behind my back. Beside me was the bench the two had used.
Unidentified liquid was the only evidence something had happened there. Turning my gaze away, my
stoic expression eyed those below.

A part of me wanted to forget everything that happened. None of it concerned me after all. Nothing
good would come from getting involved with Chloe. She had dealings with the major players in the
school. Adam might have been the top, but he didn't stand there alone. No. She walked in a realm no
man should tread.

But...

For the first time in years, I felt something. Overwhelming and fleeting as it was, I knew she had been
the cause. Perhaps there was a way she could help me. While this fortress of mine protected me, it was
also my prison. It separated me from the world. From myself. If there was a chance her Gift could help
me figure out more about it, perhaps the risk was worth it.

Besides, I recognized the underlying emotion in her noise. It was one that persisted the longest outside
my own walls.

Loneliness.

Home

The remainder of the day passed uneventfully. I did walk past Adam on the way out of school and
confirmed that the euphoria was still there. It had barely decreased since I saw him at lunch, which
meant Chloe’s Gift lasted quite a long time for something so powerful. My current hypothesis had Chloe
as a level two with above average strength. If Adam was still under the effects tomorrow as well, I would
revise her to a strong.

The bus home was painful, as it always was. While fortunate that the school day ended before people
got off work, the bus was still filled with people. Unlike the wealthy and connected students at school,
these were the common folk. Those who were under severe stress. Who suffered from the grind of life.
They were exhausted, depressed, and anxious. Their noise grated at me, wearing me down little by little.
Finally at my stop, I stumbled out of the bus. My strength was sapped. The joy of having a Gift that was
always on. The more people around me and the stronger their emotions, the faster it drained the
batteries. Today had been particularly bad. A gentlemen riding the bus had been in a horrid state. The
void in his noise… Exhausting as feeling everyone’s emotions were, at least in the extent my defenses
allowed, there was something innately terrifying about feeling…nothing. It was as if the man didn’t exist,
his entire existence collapsing into some emotional black hole.

The arrival at my apartment building gave my body a much needed rejuvenation. Unlike the posh and
luxurious school, the place I called home was a dump. Graffiti livened the crumbling infrastructure as I
walked to the elevator and stairs. Pushing the up button, I waited.

“Afternoon, Jake,” a quivering voice called out. Turning, I found an elderly man making his way towards
me.

“Mr. Wells,” I replied with a nod.

A crooked finger with weathered skin pointed at the elevator. “Not working. Again.”

I turned to the elevator. The light still glowed, but I saw the number hadn’t moved. I turned back to Mr.
Wells. “They fixing it?”

He gave a pah noise and swatted the air with his hand. “Cheap bastards never fix a god damn thing. My
ceiling still pisses on me every time it rains.” I quickly moved over to open the stairway door for him. He
gave me a kindly smile as he passed. I liked Mr. Wells. Had a hell of a mouth, but his noise was always so
welcoming and warm. He may have sounded bitter, but he held a genuine appreciation for each and
every day.

Taking his arm, I helped him up the stairs. “Look at the bright side,” he panted as we rounded the
second floor. “Don’t need the stair machine in the gym!” He took a few more breaths before finishing.
“If they ever get around to fixing that too.”

I chuckled. It was one of my better ones. It was always easier to mimic the real thing if it was something I
would have done without the mental blocks.

After helping Mr. Wells to his room, I politely accepted his offer for a meal later. Another reason why I
liked him and something I learned quickly. Never turn the man down when he offers you a meal. The
man could cook.

Back down on the third floor, I finally made it back to my room. Fishing the key out from my pocket, I
jiggled it around until I got the door to unlock. Kicking off my shoes, the door closed behind me.

Without my mental shield, seeing another person in my apartment would have scared the shit out of
me. I didn’t so much as flinch at the sight of someone lounging on my couch—though I felt the
adrenaline surge. She paused the game she was playing and scrambled to her feet. Alexis was as scantily
clad as always. Her spaghetti-strap crop top revealed a great deal of her toned abs. Even more when she
stretched like that. Her shorts could barely be considered pants.

“’Bout time you get home. Was worried I’d have to play alone.” She gestured to the screen. Walking
past her, I headed for the bedroom without a word. “Hey!” she called after me.
Shutting the door, I methodically changed from my uniform to something more casual. Seeing one of the
Parker sisters in my apartment was nothing new. While I didn’t know why they decided to use my place
to give the other space, they had become a common presence for the two years I’ve been living here.
Neither of them had a key to my apartment, but Alexis didn’t need one. The lock to the small balcony
was busted. It went against the terms of the lease to put my own lock on it, and you would have better
luck boiling water with a hair dryer than getting them to fix anything.

I didn’t mind, even if they tended to show up an inopportune times. Alexis loved playing games and
Natalie and I seemed to share a taste in bad movies. They were the only real contact I had with other
people outside my aunt checking in every week to ensure I was still alive. Most importantly, the sisters’
noise never bothered me. Alexis in particular was the type of person who wore her emotions on her
sleeve.

Locked away in my room, it didn’t take long for me to hear the reason she was here. Natalie had her
boyfriend over. Didn’t need to read her noise to know what she was up to—the thumping and moaning
told me all I needed to know. That too was a familiar experience here. The walls were paper thin and
both sisters were quite vocal in their lovemaking. When I first moved in, they were apologetic and did
their best to minimize the noise. It only took a few weeks for them to go back to their old ways. Alexis
seemed to take it a step farther as if playing it up in a misguided attempt to get me aroused.

Wearing jeans and a loose t-shirt, I carefully hung my uniform so it wouldn’t wrinkle. Heading back to
the tiny living area, I left the thumps and moans behind. Alexis was waiting by the door, poised in such a
way to show off her athletic body. The loose curls of her red hair framed her face, a playful smile
lingered as her eyes followed me.

“Go home, Alexis,” I said in my calm voice as I walked past her without a second glance.

I heard her huff as she followed after me.

“Play with me.”

“I’m busy.”

“You can spare an hour.”

Right before reaching the kitchen, I stopped to face her. Seeing she had my attention, she turned her
charm back on. “Please?” she said, touching a hand against my arm. The other found my chest. It was
warm as it applied slight pressure. “I’ll make it worth your while,” she added in a husky tone. She rolled
her lower lip into her mouth as she gave me the best puppy eyes she could muster. It was moments like
this I was glad emotions didn’t affect me like others. A look like that would have put me completely
under her thrall.

Unfortunately for her, my mental walls were immune to her seductions.

She was constantly teasing me like this. Innuendos, casual touches… not so casual touches. She always
promised something more. I think she saw me as a puzzle. A mystery to work out and play with in the
meantime. I didn’t mind, but I knew the limits involved. Alexis promised the world, but offered nothing.
It was all a game to her and when I tried to play, she took the ball and went home.
There were times I called her bluff. She promised something expecting me to rebuff her only instead of
passively ignoring it like I normally did, I agreed. I still remember the shocked look on her face when my
hands rested on her chest. I got so far as to running my hands under her shirt before she abruptly put a
stop to it.

I still didn’t know her end game. It wasn’t sex. Alexis got plenty of it from the numerous men she
brought home. Yet despite that, she constantly dangled it in front of me, baiting me into jumping at
something she had no intention of following through with. A situation that would frustrate other men,
but I found I didn’t care. I enjoyed being around her—so much as I could enjoy things. I knew from her
noise she had no ill intentions towards me.

She just enjoyed teasing me.

Tease Her Back

Alexis liked teasing me, so I wondered how far I could push it today. I took a step towards her. Reaching
out, I slid my hands along her waist and held her in place as I moved closer. She was good at masking her
true emotions, but I didn’t need to read body language to know what she was feeling. Her noise
betrayed her. Looking up at me, she still maintained her sultry look but her emotions were anything but.
Her anxiety had spiked. Surprise and a hint of fear mixed into her noise as well. She didn’t expect this
sort of response from me and I capitalized on it.

“I suppose I could play for a bit.” My voice was as steady as my heart. I suppose it was a benefit of my
Gift in this situation. The heat of her body against mine, the smoothness of her skin, the playful look on
her face, and her familiar tangy scent were digging up various emotions inside me. Emotions that
ultimately ended smashed against the walls of my mind. As attracted to her as I was, I felt none of it—at
least not in a way that physically moved me. Like it always was in this type of situation, I felt like an
observer in my own body.

Her hand ran against my chest as she held eye contact. “Yeah? What do you have in mind?”

I nodded. I had expected her to crack by now. Normally she would have pushed me away and teased me
for ‘falling for it.’ If she wasn’t going to back down, I wasn’t either.

“I was thinking…” Leaning in, I held her gaze as our lips grew closer. I was committed at this point. I
would push as far as she would allow. “Taking you back to my room and seeing which sister is louder.”

She didn’t stop me as I went in for the kiss. I would have done it too if not for the shift in her noise
stopping me. Our lips were close. Close enough that I could feel her nervous breath against my lips. She
wasn’t stopping me, but I could feel it was time to stop.

Pulling away, I turned and continued to the kitchen. Two clear emotions chased me. Disappointment
and relief.

“I’m feeling a fighting game,” I said over my shoulder as I rummaged through the fridge for a snack.

More relief flowed from her as she gave me a confident grin. Emotions lingered, but it seemed like she
was going to push to put this behind us. “Asking to get your ass kicked?”
“You do realize I have school? I don’t have the luxury of lounging around all day in my underwear
playing games,” I said as I offered her a soda. She took it, cracking it open as she radiated confidence.

“Don’t give me that. I play single-player games when you’re at school. Not to mention I have classes
too.”

“How about you stop breaking into people’s homes?” I asked, returning back to the fridge. “Or at least
have the decency to replace the food you eat. How are you not a thousand pounds?”

“Rude. I don’t eat that much.”

I shooed her away. “Go pick something out. I’ll be there in a second.”

“Don’t keep me waiting” she said before skipping back towards the couch. As I made myself a snack, I
replayed the situation from before. Right before we kissed, I saw something in her noise. I didn’t
recognize it because she didn’t recognize it. Whatever she had felt in the moment, it scared her. That
was the reason I stopped. If nothing else, Alexis was the closest thing I had to a friend and I didn’t want
to do anything to upset her.

As curious as I might have been about sex, I lacked a lot of the drive normal people felt because my
emotions didn’t seem to trigger the body’s hormones like other people. The only way I’d been successful
in the past was physical stimulation and that was more as a curiosity than a need.

I certainly found Alexis attractive and would have done my best to make good on the promise to find out
which sister was louder in bed if she had wanted it. I felt a desire to go forward in my own weird way,
but stopping was easy for me because there was always that separation.

It’s why I found Chloe so interesting. A Gift with the power to overwhelm my defenses... That could
allow me to feel things as they were meant to be felt instead of experiencing them like words on a page.

Taking a bite of my sandwich, I filed it away. A curious incident, but nothing to concern myself over.

Alexis was on the couch, a controller for me on the cushion beside her. This was the Alexis I was familiar
with. Excitement and joy rolled off her, filling her noise with a happy warmth. As I joined her, another
burst of noise washed over me. Joy, ecstasy, and happiness all swirled together in a pattern I recognized
as pleasure. The source wasn’t the woman next to me but from the direction of my bedroom. It
surrounded me like a wave yet failed to penetrate as I felt the emotions of Natalie enjoying her orgasm
from the other apartment.

Oblivious to her sister’s current situation, Alexis shoved the controller at me as she taunted me with the
promise of my incoming demise. My smile was as genuine as I could get it as I took it and settled in
beside her. Shutting down any errant thoughts, I focused on the game. I was going to need every ounce
of attention I could muster to stand a chance.

Group Work

Despite the week starting with some unique situations, the next two days passed without anything of
note. I spent my lunch period alone on the roof without anyone interrupting. I did take a detour to check
on Adam both days to sate my curiosity. Two days after his rooftop rendezvous with Chloe he still had
remnants of the euphoria in his noise.
That was a hell of a pick-me-up.

The mystery surrounding Chloe’s business success was becoming clear. It wasn’t the sex she was selling,
but the euphoric aftereffect that came from it. Sure, it was less than a quarter as strong as it had been
after two days, but that was a hell of an uptime. Her Gift was incredibly powerful if it was providing
mood enhancements that lasted days. People were considered above average if their Gift lasted a few
hours after exposure. Rarely was anything more than a day.

I wondered if people knew how strong her Gift actually was. The only reason why I could tell was
because my Gift allowed me to ‘see’ what others felt. Euphoria was a rare emotion--especially at these
levels. It made it easy to track. It also gave me an idea of how widespread it was. Once I knew what I was
looking for, I saw Adam wasn’t the only one walking around with remnants in his noise. From what I
could see and at two or three hundred a session, Chloe was doing well for herself.

“I have good news and bad news.” Pulling my attention from the window, I focused up on the teacher.
Mr. Braun was a decent enough teacher and I enjoyed his class—for the most part. “Good news, we
aren’t having a test for the unit.” That got a round of relieved sighs as a unified wave of relief and
happiness crashed against my mind. “Bad news? You’ll be doing a project that will take its place.”

The class groaned in unison. I was in agreement. Testing was easy. Provided you paid attention and did
your work nothing here was that hard.

“Relax, it will be group work.”

Even worse. Normally when it came to groups, I got stuck with a few of the preppy rich assholes who left
me to do all the work. Teachers here didn’t differentiate by who was doing what, meaning if I wanted a
good grade, I would do most of the work. The others coasted by on my sweat and blood.

“Can we pick our partners?” a girl near the front asked. Angela, I think. She was a good student and had
a sharp mind. She stressed out a bit too much over grades though. Her anxiety gave me anxiety.
Fortunately, that didn’t affect me as it did her.

“I already came up with pairs.”

I tuned out from the groans. A lot of emotions were hitting me all at once and I needed to disengage. I
ignored Mr. Braun as he called out names, rubbing my temples. My head was on the verge of a
headache. It wasn’t as bad as when my Gift first awakened, but when people got riled up like this I had
trouble maintaining distance. It took work to sort through all the emotions hitting me all at once and it
could be overwhelming.

A faintly familiar noise separated from the general white static of emotions. I knew it from somewhere,
but I couldn’t quite place it. Lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t realize the noise was next to me until I felt
a hand against my arm. Once again, my stoic nature prevented my startle from showing as I calmly
looked over to find Chloe standing next to my desk.

“Jake, right?”

“Chloe.”
She let out a breath of relief and quickly settled down in the empty chair next to me. “Thought I
recognized you! From the roof?” I nodded in confirmation. She smiled. She was proud of herself for
remembering my name. Her noise stood out from the others. Was it because she was closer to me than
the others or did it have something to do with the euphoria that lingered there? “So this is where I
recognized you from! We are in the same class, yet I had no idea—” She stopped suddenly as regret
spiked in her noise. “Anyways. Sounds like we are partners.”

That was news to me. Taking a moment, I glanced around the room. No wonder people were giving us
looks. Chloe was aware of them too, but she was doing a better job at ignoring them than I was. The
disdain I felt from the other girls in class was intense. She wasn’t popular among the girls. I suppose that
was to be expected. Quite a few relationships had ended because of her. A lot of girls here didn’t take
well to finding out their boyfriend was a regular customer. It was an interesting situation to think about.
Instead of being angry at their boyfriend for cheating, they blamed Chloe. I may not have been
knowledgeable about the whole situation, but I did know Chloe wasn’t going around throwing herself at
boys. Boys came to her. Provided they had the money to pay, she had no reason to refuse.

The guys were a weird mix. Half seemed to be envious of my position, the other half was hostile. The
intensity was a spectrum.

“I see.” I felt her confusion as I focused on my laptop. Bringing up the project assignment the teacher
posted, I quickly skimmed what it was asking. Fairly standard stuff for a Gift-oriented class. We were
being asked to do a deep dive into a particular Gift. An overall easy assignment, but time-consuming
considering all the research we needed to do.

She was still staring at me when I turned back to her. “I suggest we do something on a negative oriented
Gift in the level two and one ranks. Those are generally better understood and studied than three.”
Saying nothing, she continued to stare. “Unless you want to do something else?”

“You really are an odd one, aren’t you?”

My face remained passive as I thought over a response. “Excuse me?”

“I’m usually a decent read of people. You though?” She shook her head. “I can’t get anything from you.”

“That a problem?”

She had a nice smile. It was even better when it matched her noise. “No. It’s refreshing in a way.” She
hesitated and I felt the concern souring the happiness she was feeling. “You really don’t mind being in a
group with me?”

“Should I be?”

“Most people are.” She let out a huff. “Last time, I was paired up with a girl who blamed me for seducing
her boyfriend. As if it was my fault her man was paying for some side action. I am either paired with
someone who wants to kill me or someone who thinks they’ll get freebies because we're in the same
group. Don’t know which one is worse,” she muttered.

I looked back at the screen. I wondered if she was saying all that to make me uncomfortable.
Unfortunately for her, that didn’t work on me. Even if it did, I’d put money down Alexis would have
worked that out of me a long time ago with the situations and flirting she put me through. Looking back,
I kept my face flat.

“So level two?”

My blunt and emotionless question took her by surprise. She was really expecting me to be flustered by
her statements.

She leaned forward, voice low. “Want to know a secret?” I said nothing, waiting for her to continue. The
faint smell of sweetness and flowers reminded me of the last time we spoke on the rooftop. She was
grinning, half expecting her sudden closeness to knock me off balance. “You’re lucky we’re in the same
group.”

“I am?”

She nodded. “Mr. Braun and I have an arrangement when it comes to grades in his class. We can literally
turn in a blank assignment and I personally guarantee a B.” I felt my eyebrow quirk. A reflex from me
practicing to be more expressive. She looked proud, her noise confirming she was being honest
regardless of the negative emotions in the undercurrent. “So you can leave it to me. We can spend the
next few days chilling and I’ll take care of the hard part.”

I said nothing at first, looking back at my laptop. She’d all but confirmed she was sleeping with the
teacher. Now that I thought of it, I seemed to remember that telltale euphoria in some of the
administrators. More pieces of the mystery fell into place. How did a student with such notoriety
operate with zero restrictions or punishments? She wasn’t getting in trouble because the people in
charge were using too. Chloe was a specific sort of drug dealer, and it was looking like everyone big
enough to throw their weight around was a user.

A sound business decision.

“I’m thinking level two terror Gift. There are some pretty famous cases that should be easy to—”

Her confusion hit me pretty hard. “Didn’t you hear me? I’ll take care of the grade. We don’t actually
have to—”

My look cut her off mid-sentence. “This work was assigned to us. You can do whatever you want, but I’m
doing the assignment.”

“But—” She didn’t finish. Her gaze would have been unnerving. She didn’t mind staring right into you. If
she was used to people flinching and looking away, she wasn’t going to get that from me. I stared right
back, not feeling embarrassed or uncomfortable in the slightest.

She broke, looking down at my screen. There was a mix of emotions I couldn’t catch with the way her
noise was rapidly shifting. “So terror Gift? Why not love or lust? Those are pretty popular.”

“Because I’m guessing two or three other groups will pick that. There is a presentation aspect to this
project. We’ll get a much better response if we try to do something a bit more unique.”

“But why terror?”

I said nothing as an old memory surfaced. The look of sheer terror on my father’s face as he abandoned
me without a second thought. The way he and others around him didn’t care about anything but fleeing
from the man in the monster mask—even if that meant running into traffic. The squeal of brakes, the
screams suddenly silenced by blunt impacts.

The confusion behind the mask as the man wondered why a lone child stood before him, unaffected by
his Gift.

The memory collapsed as quickly as it surfaced. “No reason,” I said at last.

She was mixed on whether to believe me or not. In the end, she let out a huff as she leaned against my
desk. This close, her sweet scent was tickling at something in my brain. It seemed I enjoyed it even if I
was prevented from doing so. “I’d rather just take the B.”

“I’m not asking you to do any work.”

“Well, I’m not going to let you do all the work alone. You want to work on it, I’ll do my part.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

“I’ll be in the library after school then.”

Surprise roiled through her noise. “You’re starting today?”

“Yes.”

“It’s not due for two weeks.”

“And?”

Her jaw went slack. “So… we don’t even have to start until like… next Friday.”

“I prefer to get my work done sooner rather than later.”

She groaned, head falling to the desk. “Of course you would be a workaholic too.”

“So I take it I won’t see you there?”

Chloe lifted her head. “I’ll go—” She stopped abruptly and I felt the mix of shame, guilt, and concern
swim through her noise. “Oh wait. I uh… I have some prior engagements today. Meeting right after
school would be… difficult… for me.”

I understood what she wasn’t saying. She had clients to take care of after school. Her noise was showing
that mix of emotions but she hid them well.

This was understandable since I did spring this on her rather suddenly.

“That’s fine.”

“No. I can… I can still come. Just… not right away.” She pulled out her phone. “How about you add me?”

“Add you?” She was holding her phone and I saw the app she was loading. “Oh. I don’t have that stuff.”
She gave me a questioning look. There was a bit of amusement in her noise. “How about we exchange
numbers? I can text you when I’m free.”

I didn’t think twice and pulled out my phone. It was a bit confusing why she was surprised I was doing it
considering she was the one who suggested it.

“There,” I said after entering my number.

“Thanks,” she said softly. No idea why she was reacting the way she was. She was happy, holding the
phone tightly. Chloe called me odd, but she was getting worked up over a phone number. We couldn’t
say much else, because Mr. Braun was telling everyone to get back to their seats. Standing, she brushed
at the hair on her face, giving me a warm smile. “Later then?”

I nodded. “Later.”

Meeting in the Library

Being the prestigious school it was, most students lived in the posh dorms near the main building. They
were basically luxury apartments for all the rich kids sent here. As such, the library and cafeteria stayed
open until much later in the night. The library wasn’t a popular location to hang out at any time of the
day so it was easy for me to claim a spot. The school loved showing off its money featuring a collection
that rivaled, maybe even surpassed, the local city one.

With the help of the librarian, I got a collection of books on the subject of terror Gifted. Most students
would have opted for Internet sources, but I enjoyed the professionalism that came from a well-
researched book. I recognized a few of the names. Mathias Greene was a huge name in the Gifted field.
He specialized in negative-aspect Gifts. Many of the current Super Max prisons employed security
techniques he developed. Even though his focus was on the dark and painful side of the Gift, he was an
advocate for people whose Gift was negative in nature. The main focus of his research was minimizing
or controlling even passive level three effects to ensure those with them could live a normal life.

I focused on his books first, skimming through his opening of the Ben Patton case before starting on his
book about Rebecka Hoss. After an hour, I had some good information to start with.

“You’re here.” Looking up, I found Chloe sliding into the seat across from me. I’d known she was coming
without looking. Her noise was easy to identify and there wasn’t anyone else around.

“I said I would be.”

“Yeah but… Never mind,” she said with a smile. “Sorry I’m late.” I gave her a nod before turning my
notebook and sliding it towards her. She took a moment to glance over what I’d written. “Why not use a
computer?” she asked as she dug through her backpack. “Would be a lot easier.”

“I remember things better if I physically write them down. Beyond that, I like books. There is something
about digging through a book and pulling out its secrets.” The physicality helped as well. Holding and
flipping through a book was more rewarding than typing on a laptop.

She chuckled as she pulled out her laptop and set it up in front of her. I took the moment to look at her.
There was amusement and happiness in her noise now that she was with me. Curious. Beyond that, I
saw the effect of her Gift on herself. Euphoria blazed brightly in her noise, mixing freely with the other
emotions she was feeling. This was far greater than what I saw after she finished with Adam. My current
hypothesis was she had multiple clients before meeting me here.

“Something wrong?” she asked as caution bled into her noise. I’d been caught staring.

“No,” I said, pulling my gaze away from her. Before she could press me on the subject, I continued. “I
was thinking you could start on this part while I…”

Attention directed towards our project, we worked in earnest for a good two hours. Enough to have a
solid outline of what would make up our project. There was still a bit more that I would have liked to get
done, but I could see I was testing her limits. She was yawning a lot, rubbing her eyes, and taking deep
breaths as she tried to focus.

“I think that’s about enough for today,” I said, closing the book I’d been using.

She let out a relieved sigh. “Thank God…”

“You didn’t have to stay the whole time,” I said as I began sorting my things. “As I said, I am more than
capable of doing this myself.”

“And I said I would help—unless this is your subtle way of saying I’m only stepping on your toes.” I shook
my head. “Good.”

Stuffing my notebook into my bag, I took the books I wasn’t going to use and put them back. When I
returned, Chloe was still there waiting for me. She perked up when she saw me approach. There was a
nervous energy to her noise, but her body language suggested a cool detachment.

Ah. She was probably waiting for me to bring up our next meet time.

“So I was thinking,” I began. The shift in her noise was immediate. Hope? I had her full attention, but I
wasn’t sure where her excitement and other emotions were coming from. It didn’t take much for my
brain to form a hypothesis. Chloe was ostracized by our peers. The only interactions she had with other
people were her clients or the hate she got from girls. If she had friends, they would be outside of
school.

She brushed at her hair, the only outward suggestion that she could be nervous. I immediately shifted
what I was going to say.

“I’m a bit hungry. Want to grab dinner with me?”

There was no obligation for me to do this. The past two hours had been the most we’d ever talked. Until
recently, we barely knew the other existed. Yet it seemed right. The way her noise lit up rivaled that of
her lingering euphoria. Necessary or not, the decision was made and I immediately saw it was a good
one.

Despite what her noise was telling me, her voice was calm and collected. “I’d like that.”

Dinner with Chloe

The cafeteria was full so I suggested we head off-campus. Between the walk and the bus ride, I let her
do most of the talking. Perhaps it might have been better to say she did most of the talking as she didn't
give me much choice. Not that I minded. It was nice listening to her talk. There was something about her
voice that set me at ease. It was fascinating listening to someone try to cram three conversations into
one. Just when one was catching its stride, she was off in another direction talking about something
else.

We ended up at a mom-and-pop shop that sold a variety of things. It was a bit crowded, which made it a
bit difficult to concentrate with all the blends of noise. Fortunately, Chloe’s presence helped with that.
With her euphoric emotion blazing in her noise, it was easy to concentrate on it and ignore the others.

“I am totally dominating the conversation,” she said suddenly. “Sorry, sorry. Tell me, what kind of things
do you do outside of school?”

“I…” Trailing off, I watched as she leaned forward. I didn’t need her noise to tell me she was interested
in what I was going to say. “Do a few things.”

She laughed. “Funny. How about something specific?”

I thought for a moment, trying to think of something that would sound better than the generic hobbies
most people engaged in. “I play video games with my neighbor.”

“What kind?”

“Usually fighting or racing games so she can kick my ass.”

A fluctuation in her noise distracted me, but I couldn’t identify it with all the other people’s noise
creating a sort of static around us. It was hard enough to keep my concentration on her noise while
listening to our conversation. “She that good?”

“Only because she spends all day playing them. It seems every time I come home, she’s sitting there
playing them.”

“I thought you said she was a neighbor.”

“She is.”

A moment of silence. “Does she… have a key?”

I shook my head. “The lock on my balcony door is broken. The only thing separating my balcony from
hers is a waist-high wall. She gets in that way.”

“And you let her?”

“It’s fine,” I said with a shrug. “At least her sister is normal and rings the doorbell.” She continued to
stare at me as I continued. “We watch a lot of movies together. Turns out we both enjoy bad, over-acted
movies.”

She chuckled. “You are nothing like what I expected.” Her hand idly spun her straw around her drink as
she looked at me. I said nothing, breaking my normally stoic expression to hint at my curiosity. “I pegged
you for the virgin nerd and here you are, casually inviting girls over. Sisters even!”

I replayed what I had said in my mind, realizing how it could be misunderstood. “Oh, I am a virgin,” I
confirmed in a deadpan voice.
Chloe looked at me like I’d said something especially scandalous. “You seriously just admitting that?”

“It seemed like you were misunderstanding something. My relationship with the Parker sisters is not
sexual in nature.” I tilted my head slightly. “I suppose you could call them my friends, but our
relationship has never been formally defined.”

Giving me a long look, she slowly shook her head. “I knew it before, but you are seriously one weird
dude. Most guys wouldn’t admit they were a virgin, let alone announce it so confidently to someone
they barely know.”

“Ah. Yes. I apologize if that made you uncomfortable.”

“Don’t worry about me,” she said, waving off my apology. “This is probably the most fun I’ve had in… a
long time,” she finished after a long breath. A grin formed. “You’re a quirky guy, Jake. I like that. It’s
refreshing considering the number of assholes and douchebags we go to school with.”

I gave a firm nod. “I am glad you are enjoying yourself. I have to admit, I am quite curious about you as
well.”

There was a look in her eye I didn’t recognize, but something amazing happened. Her noise seemed…
alive. The run of emotions going through her was staggering. Not even she knew what she was feeling.

And at that moment, she proved my words correct. My initial fascination with her had been her Gift.
After spending some time with her, I found that while that was still important, the experience had been
pleasant—as much as I could feel at least. If anything, I was comfortable around her. Her noise was
entertaining to watch and had a calming effect, much like the Parker sisters.

If she enjoyed my company as well, it seemed we had found something in common.

Movie Night with Natalie

After school, Chloe joined me in the library once again. Like before, she was late to meet with me. I filled
her in on the new information I’d gathered and together we worked on completing our project. Despite
spending the same amount of time working, we accomplished less than half of our first meeting. Chloe
was much more talkative this time around and I was content to listen. It surprised me to learn we had a
similar interest in music. I didn’t take her for an electronica girl, but when she listed off her four favorite
bands, it matched two of mine. That sparked a long conversation about music and some other genres
we enjoyed. Before long, we’d spent most of our two hours talking with little to show for it.

Not that I minded the distraction. We had plenty of time to finish and learning more about Chloe was
interesting. What little I knew of her was from rumors, but it seemed the real Chloe was nothing like
what others described her as. She was neither cold nor heartless. From what I saw from her noise, she
was genuine when she spoke with me and seemed like any other person our age.

There was something else as well. Underneath it all was a sadness I recognized. It stemmed from a
loneliness that followed me as well. While her choices isolated her from others, my Gift made it hard for
me to make connections. Without Natalie and Alexis, I would have been completely alone beside my
aunt and uncle. Yet despite their constant presence in my life, there still seemed to be a separation
there. I didn’t know if it was my lack of outward expression or something on their end.
I expected to spend Saturday night alone. Most weekends were like that. Alexis usually spent the
weekend out partying with friends and Natalie spent the weekend at her boyfriend’s. Hearing the
doorbell ring was unexpected. Finding Natalie there with beer and take-out was the last thing I
expected.

“Hey! You free tonight?” she asked with a smile. Before I could answer, she held up the beer and food
bag. “I come bearing gifts.”

Stepping aside, I gestured for her to enter. Besides the unexpected visit, there was something in her
noise that was off. She was suppressing something and throwing my Gift off.

“I found a new movie I wanted to watch,” she said as she brushed past. I don’t know what type of soap
Natalie used, but it always reminded me of a sea breeze—in a good way. Unlike her sister who liked bold
and powerful, it was a subdued scent that evoked a sense of calm. “How is this for a premise. Zombies…
in space,” she said, drawing out the word space as she made a sweeping gesture with her full hands.

“Sounds horrible,” I said following her.

“I know, right? The reviews said it was horrible, but even the negative ones said the zombie makeup was
good. Acting and cinematography are atrocious of course, but at least they went all out on the
costumes.”

As she set out the food, I got the movie set up. Luckily, it was free on one of the streaming services. We
had an arrangement where I paid for one of the more common ones and they paid for another and we
shared accounts.

I had everything ready to go when I heard her pop one of the beers open. “Want one?” she asked after a
long swig.

“You know I don’t.”

“One or two won’t hurt.”

“They taste disgusting.”

“Beer is delicious.” As if to prove her point, she took another drink.

“Perhaps, but not the cheap shit you get.”

“Hey!” I said nothing as I settled back onto the couch. “Tommy loves this stuff.”

“Thomas has no taste,” I said in a flat voice.

She gaped at me before swatting my chest. “He’s dating me! What does that say about his taste?”

“That even the dumbest of us can find sunlight if they stare at the sun long enough.”

Snorting, she held the back of her hand to her mouth. “Wha—What does that even mean?”

“It means Thomas is an idiot.”

“The man is in grad school for microbiology and knows three languages.”
“‘The ability to speak does not make one intelligent.’”

“No,” she said sharply, tipping the beer bottle towards me. “Do not throw Star Wars at me here.”

“Regardless of his actual intellect, he fails to show it by preferring to act like a man child frat boy.”

“He’s not that bad,” she said softly as she rotated the beer bottle in her hand. “When he steps up and—”

“I judge the man on how he normally acts, not when he is putting on an act. Perhaps you should
consider which one is the act.” I already knew the answer to that. Regardless of how the few brief
interactions I’d had with him went, my Gift revealed another side hidden by most. Nothing outright, but
there was something about his noise that didn’t feel right.

Reaching over, she flicked me on the forehead. I recoiled from the hit. The surprise didn’t faze me, but
the pain did. “I don’t need to be lectured by an eighteen-year-old brat. Tommy is a good man and a
great boyfriend.”

I said nothing as the warmth and kindness of her noise embraced me. This was the reason why I always
felt her boyfriend’s noise was off. Whenever we talked about her boyfriend, I could feel the love and
care in her noise. It was there when she was with him—among other emotions. Him though? I never got
the same feeling from him. They were downright cold by comparison. The only strong emotions shared
between them were lust and sexual desire. As one of two people—maybe three now with Chloe—who I
could consider a friend, Natalie was important to me. The mismatch of their noise meant trouble, but I
never knew how to bring up the subject so I let it go. Natalie was a smart woman. She would figure
things out. Besides, maybe that was what she liked about him. It wasn't like we had any heart-to-heart
about her love life.

We started the movie in silence, picking at the food. There was an awkward tension now. Perhaps there
was more to be said, but I didn’t have the words. Fortunately, this only lasted the first fifteen minutes of
the movie. The plot was ridiculous. Something about a colony ship carrying frozen people to a new
planet when a meteorite hit the ship which carried some sort of alien spore. An emergency system
kicked in which woke up people who immediately got infected. A good thirty minutes in, we were
watching the seven crew members fight off a seemingly endless amount of zombies as they slowly
fought their way to the bridge.

Natalie was almost done with her six-pack at this point. She snorted before laughing as a zombie nearly
got one of the crew members. “How the hell are there so damn many of them?” she asked as she did
her best to breathe and laugh at the same time. “Like… a dozen or so people woke up at the beginning
and I think they’ve killed like, a hundred of them by now.”

“Maybe the zombies reproduce by mitosis.”

She chuckled. “Somewhere on the ship, a zombie is splitting into two zombies.” She took a swig of beer.
“I’ll admit the airlock scene was pretty good, but damn the acting is terrible!”

Agreed. The acting was horrible, even for a low-budget movie. Any excitement the movie built in the last
big fight scene that left one of the crew dead was squandered by the long exposition scene that
followed. They spent nearly twenty minutes talking in a room not much bigger than a closet. By the time
they finally decided on a plan, Natalie was leaning against me as she struggled to stay awake.
I’d known that something was up ever since she showed up even without my Gift. For one, Natalie was
here on a weekend. The second clue had been how hard she hit her beer. She normally drank when we
watched movies together, but nothing like this. With her guard down, I saw what she had been
suppressing in her noise. Sadness and rejection were the two big emotions floating about.

“Going to tell me what happened?” I asked, keeping my voice down. My eyes stayed on the TV, but I
was no longer watching with my full attention on Natalie. Her noise swelled as her emotions amplified.

For a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to answer—which was entirely in her right. I asked in case she
wanted to talk about it. “He didn’t want me to come this weekend.”

“Thomas?” She nodded, face rubbing my arm. “He say why?”

“Out with ‘the boys.’ I mean, I get that he has a social life outside of me, but this is the second weekend
in a row.”

“You saw him earlier this week.”

“He swung by for a booty call.” There was a bitterness in her voice.

“Sounded like you enjoyed it.”

Her noise shifted as embarrassment and related emotions flowed through her. “Well… yeah. That’s not
the point though!” she said as she pulled away from me. Turning my head, I met her gaze. “He’s over an
hour away. Sex is great and all, but I want to spend actual time with him! It feels like I barely see him
anymore. I get that he’s busy. I do. He’s playing a big role in putting together a paper to publish and his
qualifier is coming up, but it feels like all we ever do when we finally see each other is have sex—which
is great. Really great,” she said with a drunken giggle. She seemed to remember who she was talking to
as her expression turned somber again. Clearing her throat, she continued. “I just want the relationship
stuff that comes with it. Talking on the phone or messaging each other doesn’t have the same impact.”

I said nothing as she continued to vent about her relationship with Thomas. The entire time, I could still
see the love and care she felt for him. Even with the added frustration and annoyance, that side of her
never changed. She still cared. Probably why this was hurting her so much.

“Bah. I’m tipsy and ranting. Sorry. I know this is the last thing you want to listen to,” she said as she
wiped at her wet eyes.

“I don’t mind.”

“God, they are still in the room?”

I followed her gaze back to the TV. “Actually, I think they are in a different room that looks the same as
the first.”

She chuckled. I felt the weight of her return as she plopped herself against me once more. “Such a
terrible movie.”

“Really is,” I agreed as I wrapped an arm around her. It seemed like the right thing to do and she didn’t
complain. If anything, she snuggled in closer.
Natalie didn’t make it through the rest of the movie. Only a few minutes after finishing her rant, she was
asleep. She didn’t miss much. The climax of the movie was venting the zombies out of the ship. It ended
with the surviving crew celebrating and going back into their cryo sleep. The last shot of the movie was
showing the rock that started it all was still in the ship, implying that the whole thing would repeat once
they started waking people up again. Either that or it was setting up a sequel. Bold of them to assume
people would want to see more.

Part of me wanted to let her sleep in my bed, but I didn’t want to wake her. Carrying her was out of the
question. She wasn’t the problem in that equation, but my own build. Knowing me, I’d only get about
halfway before dropping her. It wasn’t ideal, but she’d have to sleep on the couch. I carefully laid her
down and went to go get a blanket and pillow. Gathering what I needed, I came back to see her still
soundly sleeping.

It wasn’t often I saw her like this. Her normally well-maintained hair was a mess. The dark brown was a
far cry from the red of her sister’s hair, though they shared the same green eyes. Now that I was
thinking of the two, I found Natalie had a more mature atmosphere about her. It might have been an
age thing since Natalie was three years older than her sister, but I suspected it went a bit deeper than
that. Natalie had been in a committed relationship for as long as I’d known her while Alexis never
bothered to settle on just one person.

As I gently put the pillow under her head and covered her with the blanket, I found myself staring at
Natalie’s face. It was weird seeing someone so quiet. With her lost in sleep, the noise that always
lingered was silent. It was a rare moment where I could see someone as others saw them. Thomas was a
lucky man that someone like her was giving him her precious time. It was a shame he didn’t see it that
way.

Making sure she was as comfortable on the couch as someone could be, I headed to my room. I stopped
by the restroom to get ready for bed. Back in my room, I peeled off my shirt and tossed it towards the
laundry basket before falling back on the bed. Closing my eyes, I pushed my Gift outwards. This wasn’t
something I normally did. The last thing I wanted was to hear more noise. The neighbors above me were
having an argument. I could see the wild swirls of anger and adjacent emotions. The neighbors below
were doing something that was spiking humor, amusement, and joy. Watching TV perhaps?

Finally, I found what I was looking for. Like Natalie, I knew Alexis’ noise well enough to recognize it by
sight. She was somewhere in her apartment outside the bedroom. She wasn’t alone either. I could
detect two others in the swirl of emotional noise. Wasn’t hard to figure out what was happening.
Excitement and sexual desire were the dominant emotions in all three. She was enjoying herself, so I
didn’t think any more of it.

Closing off my mind as best as I could, I turned onto my side and did the best I could to get some sleep.

Morning with the Sisters

I woke to something heavy on my chest. Looking down, I found I was under covers I didn’t remember
getting under. The additional body in bed was also something I didn’t remember from last night. Turning
my head, I found Natalie cuddling against me. She was sound asleep, breathing heavily through her
open mouth. I didn’t consider myself a heavy sleeper, yet she had managed to sneak in without
disturbing me. The amazing part was that I managed to stay asleep with all the extra heat.
Peeling the covers off, I scooted away from her careful not to disturb her any more than I needed to. She
was still asleep as I got out of bed and stretched. My gaze fell back on her and I stopped mid-stretch. It
seemed she had lost a few layers on the way from the couch to my bed. She wasn’t naked but wasn’t far
off. I was used to seeing Alexis like this, not her. The main difference between the two was where Alexis
had a firm body toned from all her athletic endeavors, Natalie had a womanly softness to her hourglass
shape.

Reaching over, I moved to cover her again only to find myself staring at her chest. They were larger than
her sister’s, but nothing overly large. With the way she was laying, I could almost…

Realizing I was staring, I quickly covered her again and backed away from the bed. It was a good thing
the emotions that triggered arousal were muted or I’d be dealing with an erection on top of everything
else. Even if she had ended up in my bed, Natalie was in a relationship. Regardless of their issues, I
would never put her in a position that would jeopardize that. Beyond her attractiveness, she was a good
person and deserved happiness.

Even if the guy she was with was an immature manchild.

A shower helped put my mind in order. She was still sleeping as I headed out to make breakfast. I kept
things simple with eggs and toast. Things were almost ready when I found her standing in the doorway
separating my room from the rest of the apartment. Her noise had alerted me to her waking up long
before she got out of bed. It was hard to miss the burst of shock that shifted to feeling ashamed and
apprehensive. She had been dreading facing me and after spending several minutes building up her
courage, she was finally leaving my room.

At least she had found her missing clothes and put them on or things might have been more awkward.

“So, um,” she started as she brushed at her messy hair. It was cute how disorderly she looked compared
to how put together she always presented herself. “Sorry. Last night I—”

“It’s fine.”

Her hands twisted in front of her as she fidgeted in place. “We didn’t…” She didn’t finish as shame
rushed through her. It wasn’t just the embarrassment. There was fear there. Had this been Alexis
standing there, I might have dragged this on. The pain that lingered in her noise made any thought of
teasing her seem cruel.

“No,” I said as I transferred the eggs from the pan to the plate. “I didn’t even know you joined me until I
woke up.”

She pinched at her nose, groaning. I could see the relief in her noise. “I can’t believe I did that. I don’t
even remember…” Looking up she sniffed the air. “Is that coffee?”

I poured her a cup and put it by her plate as she joined me at the small table. She sipped at the cup, not
making eye contact. Maybe there was something to put her at ease but the words weren’t coming to
me. I only managed a few bites before I heard the door open. The balcony door, not the front door.
Turning my head, I found an exhausted-looking Alexis walking towards us. If Natalie was a mess, her
sister was a walking disaster. The bags under her eyes suggested a lack of sleep and her hair was a
tangled mess with strands covering most of her face. She moved with a stumbling step as if she couldn’t
be bothered to lift her foot completely.

Any shame or guilt left Natalie’s noise when seeing her sister. “Jesus, Alexis.”

The response was barely audible and sounded like something from the zombie movie last night. At least
she was dressed. Mostly. Panties and a crop top that was loose enough to almost show her nipple as it
rested somewhat crooked on her. Easy to see since she was lacking a bra.

To distract myself, I got up from the table and walked over to the door to close it. It seemed she wasn’t
in the right mind to close it behind her. When I turned back, I found Alexis had claimed my seat—and
the food. Stabbing at the eggs, she lifted them to her mouth and chewed methodically.

“You do realize that was Jake’s plate, right?”

More garbled noises, this time a few pieces of egg joined them. Whatever emotions Natalie had been
feeling earlier, anger and disgust had burned them away.

“It’s fine,” I said as I moved to make another plate.

“No. No, it’s not. Alexis, this is not how you—”

“Ugh. Can we please skip the mom lecture?” Alexis said, finally managing to string words together. I
suppose it helped that she grabbed her sister’s cup and drained a good amount of coffee before doing it.
Emotions flared as their noises joined together to become a swirl that was hard to follow.

“I don’t bust my ass for rent and expenses so you can fuck yourself up every weekend. I’m paying for
your school so you can—”

“I never asked you to do that.”

“Didn’t stop you from taking advantage of it either.” Natalie looked over at me as if remembering I was
there. She started to stand up. “Let’s go back—”

“Might want to wait a bit before going back.” To her credit, Alexis managed a convincing apologetic
smile.

Rubbing her temples, Natalie let out a breath. “Alexis…”

“In my defense, you are usually gone during the weekend.”

“Who did you leave alone in our apartment?”

“Victoria and Ezra.” Natalie gave Alexis an exasperated look. “What? Don’t give me that look. I know
what you and Thomas did for his birthday last year. You and—”

“Alexis!” Natalie shouted, cutting her off. Her face went red as morbid embarrassment shook her noise.
“This is not the place to have this conversation.”

“You started it!” She gestured to me as she continued. “You think Jake doesn’t know all this already?
Neither of us are exactly quiet and paper is thicker than these walls. Besides, what were you doing over
here anyway? How do you think Thomas would react to hearing about you spending the night in
another man’s apartment?”

Their noise was starting to turn dark as irritation and frustration turned to anger. “Enough,” I said before
Natalie could reply. My voice was flat but powerful. For a second, it looked like Natalie would fight me,
but she slumped back in her seat. Eggs finished, I dumped them on a new plate and joined the two at
the table. Alexis wasn’t wasting any more time, scooping more eggs into her mouth as she gave her
sister a dirty look. My physical presence at the table seemed to act as a peacemaker and the three of us
ate in silence. After two years of knowing them, I had experience dealing with flareups like these. Their
history was a bit of an unknown to me, but Natalie did her best to guide her younger sister which hit
resistance more often than not. Alexis was driven to experience the experimental and free side of
college life and tended to avoid the academic side. Her older sister, paying a big chunk of her tuition,
was not pleased to find her sister seemingly pissing away her hard work.

From my neutral standpoint, I had a better vantage point of the situation. What Natalie missed were the
hours Alexis spent in my living room working on her assignments so that she could play around. Why she
spent time in my apartment instead of hers was a mystery in its own right, but I knew she wasn’t
wasting her older sister’s hard work. Alexis also couldn’t see the stress and other emotions her sister
carried. My ability to see their surface emotions meant I saw all the frustration and exhaustion she
carried when she came home. The weekend was her one time to unburden herself and she hated to see
her younger sister seemingly squandering all she was doing.

Seeing the misunderstandings and saying something were completely different things, however. As
much as I wanted to mediate between the two, it wasn’t my place to get involved. My relationship with
the two was still something I didn’t understand. Their noise was always hard to read in that regard.
Alexis in particular. She teased and flirted relentlessly, but when I took a step closer or responded in
kind, she pulled away in fear. It was a perplexing paradox. Her desire to be close to me seemed genuine,
but so was her panic whenever I embraced her offers.

Natalie was far more comfortable with my close presence but had built a wall to keep a permanent
distance. That distance seemed to be in flux recently as last night proved. Drunk or not, she had made a
conscious decision to move from the couch to my bed. She even peeled off a few layers of clothing in
the process. Not having any sexual intentions didn’t change the confusing nature of her actions. It didn’t
help that she was the one bewildered by her actions. Those insecure thoughts were bleeding into my
own. Numbed as they were, emotions could still impact my mental state if I wasn’t vigilant.

Perhaps communicating about these things would help me understand, but I remained silent. Alexis and
Natalie were unpredictable forces in my life that I found irreplaceable. Without them, I would have little
to break up the monotony of the day. I found enjoyment in their presence and holding onto that was
important. My ability to communicate wasn’t the best and sharing my Gift with the two was dangerous
to what we had built these two years. Most people didn’t like the idea of someone being able to peek
inside their head, even if it was something as vague as emotions that were in constant flux. No matter
how they lied, I would always be able to feel their real feelings.

Numbing of emotions aside, that reasoning was enough to keep my silence. Instead, I would continue as
things were and do my best to give the two nudges whenever I could.
Alexis was the one who broke the tense silence. She was starting to pep up now that she had some food
and coffee in her. “Any plans for the day, Jake?”

“Meeting my aunt for lunch later today.”

“Right. ‘Aunt,’” she said with air quotes.

I didn’t respond to her teasing. Sophie was only ten years older than I was. An ‘oops’ baby of the highest
order. She was closer in age to me than she had been to my mom. She also took on the ‘mom’ mantle
when she passed. A hard burden for a twenty-one-year-old going through college to take on, especially
since she was already dealing with grandfather’s health issues at the time. Even now, she still butted in
to make sure I was doing okay despite being on my own for two years.

“How is she doing?” Natalie asked with a smile. She seemed happy to be distracted from the other
things that had weighed the atmosphere down. “It’s been a while since I’ve spoken with her.”

“Good,” I answered, then realized she probably wanted something more. “Daniel got a new job which
pays better than his old one so they’ve been talking about having a kid.”

“That’s great!”

I nodded. The idea of having a cousin seemed foreign, especially since Sophie had been such a big part
of my formative years. She was always worried whenever the topic came up about being a mother, but
she had nothing to fear. She raised me after all on top of all the other things she accomplished.
Reminding her of that never helped. She gave me the same smile most people did when they
appreciated the thought but didn’t put much stock in what you were saying. Her noise was always
twinged with concern and insecurity whenever there was talk of babies and family.

“Kids. Bleh,” Alexis said before sticking her tongue out and making a bitter face. “No thanks. I’ll pop my
pills and keep using condoms to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“You only say that because you haven’t found the right guy yet.”

“Oh, I’ve met plenty of great guys. And girls,” she said with a wink over in my direction. My passive
response created a tendril of disappointment in her noise as her attempt to get a reaction failed.
“Doesn’t mean I want them pumping babies in me.”

“Please don’t,” Natalie breathed, rubbing her temple. “I already have enough mental scaring involving
you and your friends.”

Alexis rolled her eyes. “How is that any different than you and Thomas? There are plenty of times where
you two are getting frisky and I—”

“Not talking about this.”

“Yet it’s okay to openly talk about my sex life? Double standards much?”

I cleared my throat. There wasn’t any reason to say anything more as they both remained silent. “If you
are both finished,” I said after letting the silence breathe, “I need to get some homework I’ve been
putting off.”
“This early?” Alexis asked.

“Some people actually do their work.” Alexis made a face at her sister in response.

Taking the plates from the two of them, I stacked them on mine and put them in the sink for later.
Before they could get into it again, I chased the two of them out. Natalie left through the front door
while Alexis left the same way she entered.

Alone, I took a deep breath. The two could be exhausting at times, but they helped keep things lively. A
check of the time showed I still had several hours before I needed to meet Sophie. Going for my school
bag, I made good on my plan to do homework.

Lunch with Sophie

Even though I was used to wearing a posh uniform, dressing up felt foreign to me. It wasn’t me and it
brought back memories I’d rather forget. Even still, I needed to put on appearances. Sophie needed to
see I was doing well and the best way to do that was dressing the part.

The man in the window wasn’t one I was used to seeing. My hair was slicked back and heavily styled. My
stoic face was no different than usual, but the aesthetic was off. Wearing a dark button-down and tie,
my slacks were perfectly tailored and shoes were shined to perfection. Without the mop head of mine, I
looked like a cold and calculating businessman.

I stood out. I hated to stand out. Even in the brief trip here, I couldn’t stand the stares. Women smiled at
me, their intrusive noise telling me all they would never say aloud. It was the reason why I drove here
instead of taking the bus. Besides, Sophie would ask me those needling questions if I didn’t show up in
the car she gave me.

Lunch today was at the sort of place you needed reservations for. I don’t know why she insisted on
having these at such expensive places. It would have been far better to have a relaxing meal at the
burger place down the street.

“Meeting Sophie Rhodes,” I said to the hostess. She gave me a polite smile before leading me into the
restaurant. I did my best to ignore the glances she was giving me and focused on the one noise that was
familiar.

“Here you are, sir,” the hostess said before backing away. Didn’t stop her from giving me one last look
before going back to the front.

“Jake,” Sophie said with a kind smile. Her eyes ran over me before giving me an approving nod.

“Sophie,” I replied as I took my seat across from her.

“I already ordered. I hope you don’t mind.” I shrugged. “Daniel has a fundraiser to go to tonight, so I
have things to do before that.” She paused to look at me. “Everything okay?”

“Fine.” Sophie’s noise was calm. Out of everyone I’d ever met, she had uncanny control over her
emotions. It helped greatly when I was learning to function with my Gift.
Folding her hands together, they rested on the table as she looked at me. “And school?” There was a
moment of hesitation, which was enough to alert her that there was something there. “Everything okay
at school?”

“Everything is fine. Been working on a research project about terror Gifted.”

The calm and collected noise broke as ripples of emotion radiated from her. The worry appeared on her
face. “Terror Gifted?” I nodded. “Maybe you should pick another one?”

“I’m fine, Sophie. I chose it.”

“Why?”

Another hesitation. Why had I picked the topic? “I felt I needed to.”

She let out a breath, shaking her head. “I would feel much better about this if you hadn’t stopped seeing
your therapist.”

“He couldn’t help me.”

“Did you even give him a chance?”

“I’m not purposefully suppressing my emotions, Sophie.”

“I know, but—”

“Even if I can’t feel them the same way other people do, I know they are there. Believe me, I’m fine.”

She didn’t say anything as her eyes stared into mine. I know she desperately wanted something from
me, anything. I offered her a smile, doing my best to put what little I could muster into it. Her eyes
narrowed. “You’ve gotten better at faking smiles.” My face fell back to its natural state. Of course she
could see through it. She raised me through the awakening of my Gift. With a sigh, she relaxed back in
her chair. “I wish you would give therapy another chance. I’ve been looking and I found one that works
with Gifted people like you. Maybe she can—”

“Sophie,” I said, purposefully softening my voice.

She held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. No more.” She smiled. “You haven’t forgotten how to
dress yourself, so I’ll leave it at that for now.”

“Thanks.” I knew she was still worried. She might have been good at controlling her emotions, but she
wasn’t perfect. I could easily see the concern and unease in her noise. Seeing her like that scratched at
the walls of my mind. I cared about her and owed her a lot. Part of the reason I declared my
independence and moved out at sixteen was to give her and Daniel space. Daniel was a fantastic guy
and was completely understanding of our situation, but at the same time, they had just married. The last
thing they needed was a teenager ruining their newlywed bliss. After all she had done for her parents
and me, she deserved the time to focus on herself.

I needed to give her something more. Something to show her I was doing fine on my own. “I might have
made a new friend.”

Curiosity blossomed in her noise as she perked up at the news. “Oh?”

“Chloe. She’s my partner in the research project.”

“She cute?” she asked with a teasing smile.

“Cute… No. She is considerably more attractive than that.”

“High praise coming from you.” This was exactly what Sophie needed to hear. All the concern and worry
were gone. The intensity of her emotions was something I hadn’t seen since she said, ‘I do’ at her
wedding. “Going to ask her out?”

I shook my head. “It’s not like that.”

She gave a pout. “She have a boyfriend?”

“Unlikely.”

“Then ask her out!” Her eyes sparkled as she latched onto the idea. “Oh! There is that charity event next
weekend Daniel is helping organize. Invite her to that. I’d love to meet her.”

“Sophie—”

“Oh just ask her as a friend,” she said, waving away my objection before I could finish. “There will be
free food and dancing. At the very least you can watch the rich people drink a bit too much and wait for
someone to make a fool of themselves.” She giggled evilly, no doubt remembering a specific memory of
exactly that.

I drew a slow breath before releasing it. “No promises, but I’ll ask.”

“This is exciting news! We should get something to celebrate.”

“Please no.”

It was too late. She was already looking to flag down a waiter. I said nothing as I took slow and steady
breaths. It was great that she was in such a good mood now, but what was I going to do? I had said I
might have made a new friend. We worked well together and seemed to get along, but there was still a
considerable distance between working together at school to schmoozing with the city elite at a ten-
thousand-a-plate charity event. The dress alone…

I drummed my fingers against the table as Sophie managed to get a waiter over. She was animatedly
ordering something, but my focus was inward. With her so invested in this, not bringing Chloe was out
of the question. I needed a solution, but what could that be?

My fingers froze in place as the answer dawned on me. It was still a long shot, but it was probably my
best shot at making it happen.

Attention back on my aunt I smiled at her as she looked at me, doing my best to match the smile on her
face. I was determined to make this happen, not for my sake, but to ensure that the woman across from
me had every reason to continue smiling like that.

Rooftop Lunch with Chloe

It seemed my relationship with Chloe had grown more than I expected. While I debated the best way to
breach the subject of inviting her, she had sought me out. For the past three days, she joined me on the
rooftop for lunch. The truly unexpected moment was when she brought me something to eat as well
after I told her I avoided the cafeteria and didn’t bring anything from home. It was basic sandwiches, but
it was something my stomach was thankful for. Chloe seemed to enjoy sharing her lunch with me, so I
didn’t refuse beyond the polite one when she initially offered.

We talked about anything. She still did most of the talking, but it was nice to sit and listen. With
something concrete to focus on, it helped keep the roiling noise of all the other people on the fringes of
my consciousness. Things were… good. Like with Alexis and Natalie, things were easier with Chloe
around. I was getting used to her noise and it didn’t grate against me as others tended to do. This was as
close to enjoyment as I could get with my Gift, so I was thankful for the food and company.

“I think this is the first time I’ve actually done a project in…” She let out a long breath as she thought
back. “Hell. A year? Two? Anyways, it’s been… interesting.”

“We should finish everything today or tomorrow.”

Sadness began filling her noise as she looked away. “Yeah,” she said, fighting to keep her hair from her
face. It was a losing battle with all the wind.

I took a bite of my sandwich and looked out over the roof. We were the only ones up here. Not that I
expected anyone else to be. There was a reason I came up here in the first place.

Finishing the bite, I looked over at her. “Chloe. Are you free this weekend? There is a—” I stopped as I
felt the noise buffet my mind. Turning away from the excited and hopeful noise in front of me, I looked
at the door seconds before it swung open. I recognize the guy as one of our classmates, but I couldn’t
place a name to the face. He was in a bad state. His noise was a mess of negative emotions, though he
carried himself with the prim sort of posture most of the students here did. Everyone wore a mask.
Letting others see what you really felt was akin to jumping into shark-infested waters with an open
wound.

“There you are,” he said in a rich baritone as his eyes locked with Chloe. Strutting over, he did his best to
seem nonchalant but I could see the desperation in his noise. He was hurting with an intensity that went
beyond emotional pain. There was a need there. A craving.

Beside me, Chloe’s noise was ruffled as well. Dread, guilt, and apprehensiveness filled her as she
appeared as calm and collected as ever.

His eyes turned to me with a disdain I saw all too much here. “Shit. Someone in front of me? Finishing or
starting?”

“Jake isn’t—”

“Four hundred.”

Irritation spiked within her. “Not right now, Tyler.”

“Five hundred.”

“This isn’t about cost.”

His mask was slipping. “Bullshit. Look, I’m fine with going second so long as we get this going.” He
looked to me. “I’ll pay for your turn if you let me go first.”

“Not telling you again,” she said as she stood up. “Fuck off.” I really didn’t like seeing the anger in her
noise. There was an easy way to disarm the situation.

I stood up, Chloe’s eyes widening as she tracked me. “It’s fine,” I said as I brushed the crumbs off my
slacks.

“Jake…” There was an almost whine to her voice, her hand reaching out to grab my sleeve. Looking at
her, I didn’t need to see her noise to know she didn’t want me to leave. The problem was the man—
Tyler. There was something wrong with him. I’d never seen a noise so fractured before. It was like one
push would break him apart.

It made him dangerous. I might have height on him, but I didn’t trust myself in a fight. The threat of
violence was there. It was impossible to tell from his appearance, but it was right there in his noise. I had
no idea what could push someone to this level. It was strong enough to grate against my mind.

Giving her one of my best smiles, I patted her hand before taking a step away. That simple move made
her noise turn dark as loathing, disgust, sadness, shame, and a host of other negative emotions filled
her. It was enough to make me stay in place. I didn’t understand this sudden turn. I thought removing
myself from this situation was the best solution for everyone, yet it didn’t seem to be the case.

Her expression turned cold as she looked over at Tyler. “You said five hundred.”

The man was almost shaking as he took a wad of cash from his pocket. He counted off hundreds like
they were dollar bills. Snatching the money, she stuffed it down her uniform. “We only have ten minutes
left in the period. You make me late for my next class, I’m charging an extra hundred.”

“Yes, yes.” The guy was already working at the front of his pants. His enthusiasm surprised Chloe, who
looked to me. A moment ago, she had wanted me to stay. Now, all I saw was her desire for me to leave.

“I’ll see you at the library later?” I asked. She nodded mutely, avoiding my gaze.

Turning, I began to walk away.

“No, no,” I heard him say in a rushed voice. “Let me sit here. I want you to ride—”

The door closed behind me, cutting off his voice. Hesitating, I wondered if I should wait here for her to
make sure she was okay. I didn’t like the state of her noise when I’d left her and his was threatening.
Reflecting on my actions, a muted sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time lingered at the edges of my mind.

Regret.

Curious. I didn’t understand why something like that was there. I had done the logical thing and
removed myself from the situation. I didn’t want to negatively affect Chloe, yet my leaving seemed to
have triggered something I hadn’t intended. Had I known this, I would have faced the consequences of
staying.

It was too late now. The moment had passed. Returning now would help no one and I suspected would
only make the situation worse.
With a sigh, I headed down the stairs. A fleeting whim made me reach out with my Gift. I felt better
when I saw some of the negative emotions had left Chloe. There were lingering remnants that
stubbornly held on, but sexual desire and the other emotions associated with physical pleasure were
overriding them.

I left feeling a little better about my decision.

At least she was enjoying herself.

Rooftop (Chloe PoV)

Jake was a badass. I don’t know how he kept his cool like he did, but it was so fucking awesome to watch
him take everything life threw at him with that stoic face. At first, I thought he was a bit of a psychopath.
A lot of people in the school did. I heard the rumors. Probably why he was always alone.

It didn’t help that the first time we met, he had watched me with Adam. He thought he was being
stealthy, but he was being obvious about it. Made the whole thing incredibly awkward. I mean, I’ve had
people watch me fuck plenty of times so that didn’t bother me. It was the way he did it. Wish he jacked
off to it like other guys did. Not him. I don’t think he even popped a boner.

That was a bit insulting, honestly. I might not have been on the tippy-top shelf like some of these fakers
here because I didn’t have unlimited money and a plastic surgeon on speed-dial, but I was top-shelf
material. All-natural too, baby.

Talking with Jake these past several days was something else though. People called him a robot, and I’ll
admit it was really hard to get a read on him, but I don’t think he was a psychopath—at least not the
type that would slit your throat, cut up your body and flush it sort of psycho. He did care, even if he
didn’t make a thing about showing it. It was the little things. The way he was always listening. The way
he always seemed to know what I was feeling. Jake might not have the best communication skills, but he
had a big heart and was careful with his words—what few he offered. The fact that he was treating me
like a human being and not looking at me like… everyone else.

It helped that he was hot too.

As much as I hated to admit, he wasn’t up there on Adam’s level. Not many guys were. Shame that
Adam was an evil bastard. Still, I could look at Jake all day and not get enough. Those intense eyes of his
were a highlight. Took a bit to get used to how he held eye contact a bit too long, but I didn’t mind
staring into those beautiful pale blues of his.

That boyish face of his helped make him less intimidating. I didn’t normally go for the pretty boy type,
but it worked for him. I think it was because his stoic demeanor balanced out his more effeminate
features.

The key was the way he looked when I finally got a smile out of him. He was a bit on the scrawny side,
but he was tall enough that I didn’t mind it. I felt it added to his charm. If he was buff on top of it all, his
stoic nature and intense gaze would have come off as too intimidating. Still, the small details didn’t
matter so much. Jake was damn good-looking in my book and that’s all that mattered.

Again, that rare smile. Swoon.

We’d hit it off too. I think. Pretty sure things were going well. We exchanged numbers and texted a bit.
Didn’t want to seem too desperate for conversation despite him being the only social interaction I’d had
this year besides the constant booty calls. This research project was the best thing that ever happened
to me. I’d dreaded it at first. After all, my first impression of Jake wasn’t too great despite his looks. It
had been a blessing in disguise. I hadn’t realized how much I craved actual human communication.
Talking to someone and having them see you as something more than a piece of meat to use and
discard.

This week had been fantastic. Joining him for lunch on the roof was the best thing I’d ever done. I’d
been a bit nervous thinking he’d shoo me away, but he welcomed me. Watching him eat my food made
me feel good. Made me wish I could cook too instead of throwing a sandwich together.

“Chloe. Are you free this weekend?”

My heart stopped at the words. Was he seriously—

“There is a—”

He stopped suddenly, looking back at the door. No. Look at me! Finish what you were going to say,
dammit!

The door opened and I felt my stomach drop as Tyler strolled onto the roof without a care in the world.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Of all the times.

“There you are,” he said, locking eyes with me. No matter how I mentally pushed the, ‘get the fuck
away’ towards him, he was clueless to my pleas.

Standing in front of Jake, he looked down at him. “You already have a client?”

The word stabbed through me, breaking this fairytale lie I’d been pretending. Client. Right. No matter
how I wished it was different, there was no escaping the truth that I was a whore. An expensive whore,
but a whore nonetheless.

I needed to take control of the situation. To get Tyler out of here.

“Jake isn’t—”

“Four hundred.” It was like a slap to the face. He was offering a hundred over the usual amount. I hated
it. I hated myself because of how my first reaction was to accept.

“Not right now, Tyler.”

“Five hundred.”

Damnit. Of all the times…

“This isn’t about cost.”

“Bullshit. Look, I’m fine with going second so long as we get this going.” He looked over to Jake and I felt
sick at the words that came out of his mouth. “I’ll pay for your turn if you let me go first.”
That was it. No way was I going to let this asshole trample over the one meaningful relationship I’d
managed to start.

“Not telling you again,” I said as I stood. “Fuck off.”

Jake stood up and my eyes widened. No, no, no.

“It’s fine.”

No! It wasn’t fine.

“Jake,” I managed, reaching out to grasp his sleeve. I silently pleaded with him. He was good at reading
people. Surely he knew—

The smile made my heart flutter. He patted my hand before stepping away, sleeve pulling from between
my fingers.

It hit me all at once. Of course he would leave. What the hell was I thinking? That a nice guy like him
would actually care about a whore like me? Once that thought hit me, it was like a flood. In the end, I
didn’t deserve it anyway. He certainly deserved better than a used woman like me. The only reason he
was talking to me in the first place was because we had a project together. Without that… Once that
was done…

Fuck, Chloe. Get a god damn hold of yourself. I had a job to do.

Schooling my face, I looked over at Tyler. “You said five hundred.”

I didn’t look at Jake. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to see his face when he saw me for what I was. A whore
who sold her body to whoever had the money to pay.

He pulled out a sickening amount of cash. How the fuck did these pricks have so much fucking money? It
pissed me off. I wouldn’t give any of them the time of day if it wasn’t for their fat wallets.

Life wasn’t fair.

Snatching the offered money, I tucked it down the front of my uniform. “We only have ten minutes left
in the period. If you make me late for my next class, I’m charging an extra hundred.”

“Yes, yes,” he said as he began undoing his pants. His enthusiasm surprised me. He was acting like an
overenthusiastic virgin looking to get his dick wet. That wasn’t the Tyler I knew.

As he fiddled for his dick, I looked over at Jake and found him watching.

No way. Even if he’d already seen me with Adam, I was not going to let him watch this. Not him. Please.
Please leave. This was the one side of me I never wanted him to see. Even if he knew, I didn’t want him
to see it.

To my relief, he turned and walked towards the door.

Turning, I leaned forward, sticking my ass out.

“No, no,” he said quickly. “Let me sit here. I want you to ride me.”
He didn’t wait for my response, plopping on the bench where I’d been sitting just a moment before. His
dick was already out and decently hard. Something about this whole thing was setting off warning bells.
I’d been with Tyler a few times, but he was never like this before.

“Condom?”

“Can’t we just do it—”

“No. Condom or I’m walking.”

He grunted in frustration. Fumbling around, he came prepared as he pulled a condom from his pants. I
said nothing, watching with crossed arms as he opened it and rolled it over his dick.

Blowing at a strand of hair that crossed my face, I moved over to stand in front of him. Reaching under
my skirt, I wiggled out of my panties. Normally, five hundred got the guy a lot of perks. Today, I wasn’t in
the mood. Placing them on the bench where Jake had been sitting, I straddled him. Lust-filled eyes met
mine as my hand reached down to wrap around his hard dick as I guided it to my entrance.

Time to get this over with.

Closing my eyes, I felt him enter me. My body reacted instantly to his presence inside me. Foreplay
didn’t matter as my body ignored the heart and mind. I was as wet as ever as I began moving up and
down on his hard dick.

Furrowed brow, I kept my eyes closed as I focused on the anger and kept a hold of it. I was pissed. That
Tyler had interrupted Jake. That Jake had ignored my pleas to stay. That I had accepted Tyler’s offer.
That someone was once more paying to use me.

The thing that enraged me most?

That I was fucking enjoying it.

“God your pussy is amazing,” Tyler huffed. I groaned. The last thing I wanted was to hear him talk. “If my
girlfriend was half as good as this—”

“Shut it,” I growled.

“Don’t be like that,” he said with a laugh. I opened my eyes to find him giving me a smug look. “I know
you like it.”

I hated he was right. My body was in full rebellion. It didn’t give a shit about what I wanted or how I felt.
It didn’t care about whose dick was inside me, only that one was there. It rewarded me for it. Each time I
dropped down on him was a drop of pure euphoria. Each time that amazing dick filled me was a brush
with Heaven itself. It didn’t matter if it was Tyler, Adam, or any other guy. I just needed their dick. I need
them to fill me with it. Over and over.

I needed it. Craved it. The harder they fucked me, the greater the euphoria. It built and built. It was a
giant feedback loop. Tyler wasn't getting the full amount I was, but he got enough. The better he made
me feel, the better he felt in the process. With the right person, that led to some phenomenal sex.
Tossing my head back, I was barely aware of my moans. Tyler was a distant voice, enjoying the same
sensations I was. All thoughts fell away as the euphoria took over. I cared about nothing but the blinding
pleasure within me. Around me. Tyler was no longer fucking me, but me him. I was desperately humping
myself against him.

More. I needed more. So much more. Endless pleasure awaited. I didn't even know what I was so angry
about as I let the anger go. Why I even cared about anything besides driving towards my Gift. Tyler’s dick
was amazing. Dick was amazing.

More.

More.

I was so close. A little more.

My orgasm blasted me apart like a supernova of pure euphoria.

Oh.

God.

Yes.

When my senses returned, I found myself clutching Tyler tightly. Breathing deep, I smelled the
overpowering musk of his cologne. He always did wear too much. My mouth hurt from the smile that
wouldn't go away.

Neither of us moved immediately as we came down from the euphoric high I’d taken us to.

Dismounting, my legs quivered as I stood and I nearly collapsed.

“That was…” he gasped, still lounging on the bench.

“Amazing,” we said at the same time.

I shook my head, my mind still returning. What the hell was I saying? Grabbing my panties, I quickly
pulled them on and checked the time.

Fuck.

The period started five minutes ago.

He hadn’t moved from his spot, still enjoying the blissful euphoria. His dick was still out, softening inside
the filled condom. I fought against my initial reaction of getting him hard again and hopping back on that
wonderful—

Anger. I dug at my emotions to find it in the lingering bliss in my mind. Finding it, I held tight, letting it
burn away the desire and lust that lingered. Without a word, I dug into his jacket and removed the wad
of cash he kept there. Jesus. The asshat must have had five grand rolled up. Probably nothing to a rich
prick like him.

Prick. My eyes went back to his dick and lingered. I could pull off the condom and give him a handjob
until—
Shaking my head, I pulled a hundred from the roll and stuffed it back into his jacket.

“Taking this,” I said as I smoothed out my skirt. I made sure there was nothing obvious there as I triple-
checked to make sure there wasn’t any evidence of what transpired. Not that it mattered. The whole
school knew who I was and what I did.

Spinning on my heels, I headed to the door as I took the cash out from my bra and counted. Six hundred
for fifteen minutes of work. It was fantastic money, but the hate and loathing that came with it made it
hard to live with myself.

Sitting down on the stairs, I looked at the money in hand. Five hundred. That’s what I’d sold myself for.
What Jake had seen me take. At least he didn’t see me lose myself in the process. As if that made this
any better.

The cosmic joke in all this is I would do it again in a heartbeat. Even now, I craved it. I fought against my
body’s desire to go up and have my way with that glorious dick. Or someone else’s. Didn’t matter if it
was Tyler’s or some random stranger. I just wanted a dick in me.

I thought of Jake's dick before the guilt and regret pushed against the euphoria that held me up.

Burying my head in my hands, I wanted to cry but no tears came. It was impossible. How could you shed
tears of pain and regret when you were so fucking happy?

I hated my Gift almost as much as I hated myself.

After School (Chloe PoV)

There was a reason why I tried to take care of business after school. I could go home and let my Gift
wind itself down naturally. Getting through five periods of bullshit when your body was wired on an
emotional high was almost painful. Mr. Braun’s class was especially painful. I was glad I sat at the front
of class so I didn’t have to look at Jake. I didn’t want to see how he looked at me. It seemed there was a
no-win situation there. Either I would look back and see disgust and disappointment, or I would see
nothing. I didn’t know which was worse. At least the disgust would show that he felt something towards
me. Had some nugget of care that I permanently ruined.

The bell rang and I darted out of class. I made it halfway to the next class before a shoulder-check sent
me careening into the locker. Looking at the offending shoulder, I found it attached to Evelyn. Course it
was her. The woman hated me.

“Watch it, slut.”

I smiled at her. Shit, why not? I felt great. The girl gave me a disgusted look. Muttering something to her
posse of bitches, they continued on. Giving up with only that? Today wasn’t so bad after all. I suppose
the irony of the situation was her boyfriend was one of my regulars. Wonder how she would have
reacted if she knew her boyfriend was dropping over twelve hundred a month to shove his dick in me.
She thought she was such hot shit because she was one of the hottest girls in school and I had her
boyfriend begging me to let him have more sessions.

Four was the hard limit a month. For one, way too much demand. Crazy how much these rich assholes
were willing to drop for a day or so of euphoria. The main part was that too much of a good thing was
bad. I had to be careful I wasn’t frying anyone’s pleasure centers. That included me. I had an innate
sense that my Gift wasn’t going to short any wires upstairs or anything but I wasn't going to test that.
The real threat came from losing myself. I could handle two or three guys in a short period, but it got
harder and harder to maintain control of myself the shorter the period. If I didn’t give myself some time
to come down from one euphoria bump, the next one would hit even higher and take longer to come
down from. The one after even higher.

I had some pep in my step as I continued off to my next class. It was only when I entered class that I
remembered I was supposed to be angry with myself.

God. I couldn’t even spiral into self-loathing properly.

I did my best to get angry at myself. Reminding myself that someone like Jake could never like me.
Nothing worked. I felt good and nothing was going to sour my mood until this euphoria balloon ran out
of air.

I suppose I could have paid attention to math, but I didn’t have the heart to. I had an A anyways.
Instead, I filled my thoughts with Jake. I wonder what he had been about to ask before Tyler ruined it. I
didn’t want to hope, but I was riding high. Was he asking me out? It certainly sounded like it. Imagine,
actually going on a date with a guy! One who didn’t treat you like a hit off a bong that was being traded
around the room to whoever wanted it.

Today ruined that. Fucking Tyler. God! I hated that I couldn’t even be mad at the guy. Not yet anyway. I
should blacklist him as punishment.

The bell rang and I gathered my stuff. I was about to head out when I heard my name. Looking over, I
found Mr. Herman beckoning me over.

“Yes?” I asked as I stood beside him.

He lowered his glasses to look at me. No idea why he wore the damn things if he was never going to use
them. “We have an exam coming up.”

Right. He said something about that in class. “I know.” His eyes lingered on me and I smiled. I couldn’t
help it and I knew a part of me was frustrated. Ignoring it was easy though. “When’s a good time for you
so we can…review?”

He gave me a smile that so many men did. The smile of a man who was getting what he wanted. “This is
a rather big exam… Very important.”

My smile faltered. Old fuck was trying to mooch a second session off me. If there was one thing that
could cut through the euphoria, it was greed. “I think I’ll get everything after one review, Mr. Herman.”

Leaning back, he sighed in disappointment. “Fine. Monday after school?”

I grinned. “It’s a date!” His eyes roamed over my body one last time before he waved me away. I knew I
should feel disgusted by the prospect of sleeping with a guy over twice my age, but that was a problem
for later me. The me that wasn’t high off a euphoria bump. Mr. Herman wasn’t the only adult abusing
his position. I rotated through the entire male admin team at least once every two months or so. It
sucked, but it was necessary. It was the only thing that kept me from getting expelled and them turning
a blind eye to my business venture.

What sickened me wasn’t that I let these old farts fuck me, it’s that I let them do it for free. The
economics teacher would call it the cost of doing business, and it sucked.

With school over, I headed for the infirmary. The nurse always left the moment the final bell rang so it
was a good place to set up shop. The maintenance guy gave me a key, so I could come and go whenever
I wanted. Oliver and Braylen were waiting for me. I was a bit confused seeing the two of them. Had I
booked two after school today? That was bad. I was supposed to meet Jake in the library after. Two
bumps were rough enough on their own, but the one from lunch was still going strong.

“Gentlemen,” I said with a smile as I passed. “Wait long?” I asked as I unlocked the door to let them in.

“I better be going first,” Oliver said as he went into the room.

“Fuck that. I’m going first.”

“Boys, boys, no need to argue,” I said with a giggle as I closed the door. Hilarious how these guys acted
so disgusted by me, yet clawed and clamored over each other to get a turn. Spinning on my heel, I could
feel my skirt rise as I turned to face them. It had the desired effect. Both pairs of eyes were down on my
legs. “Plenty of me to go around.”

“I’m not paying two-fifty to get some sloppy fucking pussy,” Oliver said as he crossed his arms.

My smile vanished as I looked at him. “You won’t get any pussy for two-fifty. Price is three hundred
now.”

“Fuck that!” I wasted no time gesturing to the door. He didn’t move as he pulled out his wallet. I almost
smiled at that, but managed to hold back. Oliver was only talking a big game because there was
someone else there. Oliver was the perfect customer, desperate and rich. I probably could have charged
him double or triple and he'd pay it in a heartbeat.

Braylen paid up and soon I had twelve hundred in my pocket. I glanced at the time. How long would Jake
wait for me? Even if I managed to get each one off in less than ten minutes, the euphoria bump was
going to knock me out of commission for at least thirty minutes. Maybe forty if the lunch one was
stronger than I expected.

My attention went back to the boys who were grumbling to themselves. I turned up the charm and gave
them a wide smile. “Say, would you two be interested in slashing the price to a hundred each?” It was
almost painful for me to say, but some things were more important than money.

Holy shit. I can't believe I seriously thought that.

Oliver looked interested, but Braylen was smart enough to know where this was going. “Aw, hell no! I’m
not doubling up with some pasty ass white boy.” The moment he said that Oliver realized what I was
saying and his face twisted in disgust. It was too late though. He was mimicking Braylen, that's all.

I figured I would get resistance, but I wasn’t going to give up that easily. Taking them both at once would
save time and only trigger my Gift once. Sure, they would only be getting half the result, but they didn't
need to know that. I needed to sweeten the pot.
“Not even if I let you do it raw?” That got Braylen’s attention. Oliver didn’t seem swayed, still going on
Braylen's old reaction. Fortunately, I knew what levers to pull for him. “I’ll even strip for this.” There was
a two hundred dollar fee for me to get naked. Between that, the discount, and the no-condom fee, I was
leaving a thousand dollars on the table.

That I felt in my chest.

Oliver looked over to Braylen, who shrugged. “Fine.”

“I’m down.”

I let out a breath. Giving them each two hundred back hurt. A deal was a deal. Probably wouldn’t have
been able to do it if not for the lingering effect of my Gift from lunch.

I clapped my hands together, a wide smile on my face as I looked from one to the other. “Now that
business is taken care of, shall we start?”

Customer Service (Chloe PoV)

Even with the lingering euphoria, letting the two strip me put me on edge. I hated it. Dealing with their
lustful gazes was bad enough when I had my clothes on. Letting them see me breached some intimacy
layer even my Gift couldn’t mask.

It was made worse by them being unable to keep their hands off me. I said nothing, eyes closed as I felt
their hands wander my body. They were too rough, grabbing and squeezing wherever they pleased. This
was for them, not me.

After a brief argument over who got what, I was pulled over to one of the cots. Oliver laid back on the
bed, practically drooling as he watched me straddle him. Taking a deep breath, I lowered myself onto
him. A coo of pleasure escaped my lips before I could stop it. Seemed like lunch’s euphoria was still
going strong.

A strong pair of hands pushed me forward. My chest pressed against Oliver who took advantage of the
situation to steal a kiss. I jolted backward, but the strong hands kept me in place. My fight with Oliver
didn’t last long as I felt Braylen’s dick against my ass.

“Oh fuck,” I groaned, eyes fluttering as he entered me as well. Here I thought Tyler’s dick had been
amazing. Truth was, I didn’t know what amazing was. What could one dick do when compared to two? I
was filled in a way one man could never achieve. Weakened by the euphoric state I was already in, my
mind gave in to my body’s demand.

Neither guy was gentle with me and I didn’t care. I panted. I moaned. I screamed. They were driving me
wild and I loved every second of it. I had a vague awareness of them taking advantage of my state but
was too caught in the moment to care.

Oliver held me close as he bucked his hips against me. I rubbed my body against him as I tried to rock my
waist against his, the friction giving just that little bit of extra pleasure.

I kissed him as we fucked. I would have made out with him the entire time if Braylen hadn’t pulled me
away from him. Running his arms under mine, he held me up as he hammered my ass with that
wonderful dick of his. Turning my head, I groaned before meeting his lips. Below, Oliver roughly grabbed
at my tits. The two seemed to be in a match over who could feel me up, teasing my hard nipples as
hands roamed over my chest.

As we grew closer to climax, they focused their attention on their thrusts. Gift or no, I was in Heaven.
This was the more I craved and it still wasn’t enough. Even two could barely satisfy the craving I had as
my Gift offered the promise of more.

I remembered screaming over and over as they pounded me. They couldn’t remain silent either,
grunting and groaning as I carried us upwards. Oliver was practically yelling as he thrust his hips up
against me. I lost control of my body as pleasure overtook me.

My senses slowly returned. The muscles on my face were sore from the smile I wore as I stretched out
across the infirmary cot. Holy shit did I feel good. My body felt like it was made of clouds and I couldn’t
stop smiling. It was hard to believe only two euphoria bumps got me into this state.

I glanced over at the window, confused by why the sun was so low. My head lulled around as I looked
the other way. The sight of the clock hands made my heart sink as I snapped up into a sitting position.

I was supposed to meet Jake three hours ago.

“What the fuck…” I looked down and found my answer. “Mother fuckers…” There was no way one load
would make that much mess. It seemed the boys had taken advantage of my state to get a few free
rounds while I was out of it. Bastards. Could this day get any fucking worse? First, Tyler interrupts
whatever Jake was going to ask me, then I practically beg for today’s clients to double-team me—even
going so far to give them discounts—and it all ends with me getting coma-fucked into oblivion.

Fuck.

I couldn’t even be properly mad. How could I when I felt so damn good? My body was wired and I was
over the Moon.

Rolling off the bed, I rushed around as I cleaned myself off as best I could. Assholes even wrote on me
with permanent marker, making nice slash marks on my inner thigh. I’m guessing one for each load they
emptied there. Shit. No wonder I was out for so long. Disregarding the ones that started it all, I had
three marks there. Back to back like that, it was a miracle I woke up this side of the day.

Cleaned up as best I could, I left the infirmary and immediately went for the bathroom. Looking at
myself in the mirror, I blew at a tendril of hair that crossed my face. God, I looked like a mess. There was
no mistaking the, ‘fucked silly’ state I was in. The worse part was the smile on my face. No amount of
self-hate was going to get rid of that. Not with the amount of euphoria bumps I'd had today.

Running a hand through my hair, I took in a deep breath of much needed air. I turned on the water as I
released it slowly.

Less than ten minutes later, I was rushing through the empty halls for the library. I knew he wasn’t going
to be there. What kind of idiot would wait over three hours for someone who was a no-show? I needed
to see it with my own eyes. The sight of the empty chair might knock some sense into me because it
made no sense that I still had a sliver of hope within me. That for some inexplicable reason, he waited
for me.
I chopped it up to the high I was riding on thanks to my Gift.

The library was still open because the admins liked to pretend that students actually made use of it. The
evening librarian gave me a smile as I passed. Me being here probably made her night. There was almost
a skip to my step as I made my way to the stairs. I still couldn’t get rid of my damn smile. I felt like I was
about to burst with happiness even though my mind knew nothing about it was natural.

Taking the steps two at a time I got to the top. My head swiveled over to the spot we had unofficially
claimed as our own. My heart was racing, hope surging inside me.

There he sat, nose in a book with his notebook open beside him. The only difference was the coffee cup
from the awful library cafe.

He was there.

He waited for me.

Waiting (Jake PoV)

Edward Greene. Nineteen years old. After struggling with his class-two Gift for nearly four years, he
inadvertently unleashed it in a subway station when it was triggered. Thirty-eight people were killed in
the ensuing panic. Most of them died when they jumped in front of the incoming subway train trying to
flee from some invisible horror.

Naomi Pooles. Thirty-eight years old. She didn’t even know she was Gifted until an unusual event
triggered it. Three people died after throwing themselves out of windows and falling four stories.

Name after name of people who had the terror Gift. The vast majority hadn’t even known they had a gift
until it was too late. Terror was one of the more dangerous sides of the Gift. It wasn’t like fear. Powerful
fear tended to paralyze a person like a prey animal froze in the presence of a predator. Terror was
different. Everything fell away except for one overriding desire: flee. Rational thought seemed to leave
as instinct took over. It led to people inflicting physical harm on themselves to escape as quickly as
possible. Jumping from buildings, through windows, into oncoming traffic, the list went on.

Our project was nearing completion. A few more tweaks and it would be ready for presentation. I could
probably complete it myself but I was waiting for Chloe to give the final okay. She was my partner after
all and had a say.

With the inevitable end of our work together, it put me in an interesting situation. Technically, we had
no more reason to meet. Even our lunch meetings had a false pretext of talking about our project. She
always used the project as an excuse to start a conversation with me even if it quickly veered in other
directions. Without this, I was curious if she would continue to speak with me.

Searching around my thoughts, it seemed like I would have liked this to continue. It was nice having a
friend at school—if she was a friend. It was difficult to tell. I enjoyed listening to her talk about things.
She always seemed to have something to talk about, even if I didn’t say much in response. My stoic
nature and silence didn’t seem to bother her and her noise didn’t grate at me as most did.

I glanced down at my phone. She was late. This wasn’t like her. There had been a few times she ran late,
but it was nearly an hour after we normally met. I debated sending her a text but didn’t want to disturb
her. I wish we hadn’t been interrupted at lunch. I’d been about to ask if she wanted to go to the charity
event this weekend.

My attention back on the book, I pressed on. I didn’t make it far before I was checking my phone for the
time. Five minutes passed. Twenty. Another hour. I couldn’t explain why I was constantly checking my
phone or why my leg had been bouncing up and down for the past hour. My body was jittery and I
couldn’t explain why.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I focused inward. I hated fighting against my Gift. It was like
tearing at a piece of skin knowing the wound was only going to get bigger and more painful the more I
did it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to do it for long. One of the strong emotions my Gift was keeping at bay
was concern. There was a restless worry that was eating at the walls of my mental fortifications.

With my eyes back open, I was back in the library with a fresh perspective. So I was worried about Chloe.
The discomfort my body was showing made sense now. Another odd quirk of my situation. While my
emotions seemed numb to my conscious state, they could still impact my physical body under the right
conditions. Strong or particularly intense ones could manifest reactions just like anyone else.

Fascinating.

Paying attention to my emotions wasn’t something I normally did. Only my aunt could elicit emotions
strong enough to get my attention—or at least had been. The number of people had gone up.

The book had lost its hold of me as I turned inward as I reflected on my physical reactions and tried to
pull at the emotions that lingered just outside of reach. How long was I supposed to wait for her? I
debated texting her if only to see if she was okay. That was acceptable, was it not? I didn’t want to step
beyond the boundaries of our relationship. In the end, I decided against it. I would wait until I needed to
leave for the last bus. Until then, I would continue reading.

Her noise reached me before anything else. It was so powerful it was like a pressure on my mind. Her
euphoria was overwhelming to the point it blinded me to all her other emotions. Never before had I
seen someone’s noise so consumed by a single emotion. The intensity of it ground against my mind to
the point where I could feel a faint resonance inside me. It wasn’t like the burst I had experienced on the
rooftop, but this was a continual force that was more than the numb presence I was used to.

“You’re here,” she said with a wide smile as she took her seat across from me. “I honestly expected you
to leave.”

I closed the book and set it on the table, giving it a pat. “The book is quite fascinating.” I shifted in place
as my body reacted to some invisible string of emotion. I think it was discomfort. The situation was off.
Looking at Chloe, I found I was woefully out of my depth. Her noise was an unreadable wall of euphoria.
There was no way for me to know what she was thinking or feeling and I didn’t know how to respond or
act around that. Ever since my Gift had awakened, I’d had the noise to guide me. Without it, I was lost.

Her smile faded slightly as her head dipped. “Really sorry. I totally didn’t mean to do this to you. These
two assholes—” Catching herself, she glanced away as her smile completely died. For the briefest of
moments, other emotions were powerful enough to push against the euphoric bliss she was radiating.
Still wasn’t enough to give me a hint on what she was feeling or thinking.
“Did something happen?”

“I—it’s not important,” she muttered still not making eye contact. Her face lit up as she scooted closer
to the table and leaned forward. “You added more people to the list! This person wasn’t…”

She was trying hard to avoid the topic. I gracefully followed her lead, letting it drop as I walked her
through my revisions. She approved them all and we spent the next hour putting the finishing touches
on the project. By the end, it was clear that she was stalling. We were done and we both knew that, yet
she nitpicked over every little thing.

“We need to get going if we are going to make the last bus,” I finally said, interrupting her idea to add in
a little more about the class three terror Gifted.

She took a deep breath and nodded. As we gathered our things and cleaned up our area, I found my
attention returning to her. The most fascinating thing was happening to her noise. Disappointment and
a few other sad-adjacent emotions were pushing against her euphoria. Each time they spiked, they were
near-instantly crushed. Her Gift was mercilessly crushing her true emotions and keeping her in an
inflated joyous state. That kind of power was astounding. No wonder guys paid her handsomely to
experience it. Not only did it linger, it actively suppressed negative emotions.

“Something wrong?” she asked with the smile that had been lighting up her face nearly the entire time
we had been together. At the same time, she brushed at her hair. A few emotions fluttered through her
noise faster than I could identify them. I still couldn’t get over how encompassing it was. It was like
having someone endlessly scream in your ear while you were trying to hear a conversation with the
other.

Without the ability to see her emotions, I was on a ship without a destination and no rudder. I was
fortunate to be numb to my emotions or the panic beating against my mind would have paralyzed me.
“No, nothing,” I said as I looked down and quickly finished packing up. “Ready?” She nodded and
together we walked out of the library.

I set a leisurely pace. There was still some time before we needed to catch the bus and my normal pace
was a bit too fast for Chloe. She was considerably shorter and my steps seemed giant in comparison to
hers. I did shove my hands in my pockets as we walked. It was a cool night, but nothing bothersome. The
silence was new. Chloe was usually a font of conversation. So much, I barely got a word in. Since leaving
the library, she hadn’t said a thing.

Glancing over at her gave me nothing. Her noise was still uniform and her body language was a perfect
mirror to her internal state. Her walk had a pep to it. A strut that suggested she was the happiest girl on
the planet. That smile too.

“It must be painful.”

My words surprised both of us—at least I think I was surprised. She certainly was as it spiked her noise.

“Painful?”

“The smile.”
She blinked a few times. “A-ah.” I think she tried to force herself to stop, but the effort exhausted her.
She sighed. “It’s not painful so much as exhausting. Going to be a few hours before I wind down enough
to start feeling normal again.”

“Your Gift?” She nodded. “I see.”

“You aren’t going to ask?”

“Not my place.”

Her giggle was bubbly. “It’s no secret. Everyone knows what mine is.”

“I don’t.”

Her mouth made a cute ‘O’ as she looked up at me. “Really? Rare to find someone at the school who
doesn’t know about me.” A few seconds of silence passed. “You aren’t curious?”

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t. You are a fascinating person.”

The way she looked at me was confusing. It was frustrating I couldn’t read her noise. I didn’t know how
to process what I was seeing.

“You mean that?”

“Indeed. I have been interested in you since our first meeting.”

“First…?” The sadness and disappointment were powerful enough to split her noise. Enough that it
shook my mental defenses and stripped the smile from her face. “Oh. Right.” She let out a breath and
looked forward. “Well, my Gift is euphoria and I’m a level two. Never officially tested, but I’d put myself
up there in terms of strength. When my trigger condition is met, my Gift splits and a portion can transfer
to another individual in physical contact with me. Results vary from person to person, but the average is
a nice happy buzz for two or three days and general pleasantness for the remainder of the week.” She
looked back at me, making sure she was making eye contact before finishing. “If you haven’t guessed
yet, my trigger condition is having an orgasm—which can be triggered by someone else’s orgasm,
though the overall effect is weaker that way. Gives the other person incentive to get me off, so at least I
have that going for me.”

Her gaze lingered as she searched for my reaction. Not knowing how I was supposed to react, I kept my
face in its usual passive state. “So that’s how that works. Interesting.”

Chloe’s eyebrow quirked. “‘Interesting?’ That…uh…isn’t the reaction I get from most guys.” Her face
went through several emotions and seeing them made me realize how much I relied on the person’s
noise rather than what they were expressing through physical means. “I usually get either disgust or
interest of another variety.”

“Since I met you, I have been wondering how your Gift works considering it is powerful enough to linger
in others for some time. It is the first time seeing such a powerful and long-lasting Gift.”

“So when you said you were interested in me since we first met…” I tilted my head, not knowing what
she was asking. “You were talking about my Gift?” she finally asked.
“Indeed. What else would there be?”

A light blush formed as embarrassment warred with her euphoria. “You saw me with Adam.”

The silence stretched as I processed what she was implying. “Ah,” I said suddenly without inflection.
“The sex.”

“The sex,” she repeated with a nod.

“No. That wasn’t on my mind. I said as much.” Crushing swirls of emotion were all but swallowed by her
euphoria as she looked away.

“I thought you were being shy,” she muttered.

I didn’t need to read her noise to know this wasn’t going well. Something about this was upsetting her.
Even if she wasn’t feeling it like she normally would, it was there.

We didn’t speak again until we got to the bus stop. We were the only ones there waiting and I took a
seat on the bench. She took a seat beside me, hands pressed against the bench as she leaned forward
slightly.

“Jake?” I made eye contact. “What were you going to ask me at lunch? Before…”

“Ah.” With everything that happened, I’d forgotten about that. “This Saturday there is a charity event
happening and I was curious if you would come with me.” Her eyes widened as she took a breath. “Of
course, I’ll be more than willing to pay you for your time.”

“Pay?” The question came with her expression freezing on her face.

I nodded. “I can’t pay you much, but I will do my best to compensate you for your time.”

“You don’t need to pay me,” she said looking at me with an expression I couldn’t quite understand. This
wasn’t fair. I couldn’t read her noise when I most needed to.

“You are doing me a huge favor and I know I am inconveniencing you.”

“It’s really not—”

“Would two thousand work?”

She said nothing. Her expression had gone stiff. Had I insulted her with a low offer?

“I can probably do three but over that—”

A long breath left her as her shoulders sank. “You are really…” The silence dragged on as she looked
away. Her answer was soft enough that I barely heard her. “Two is fine.”

I had known it would be on the low side. Was she really okay with that? “Really? If that’s too little—”

“Stop,” she said, holding up her hand. “Really, Jake. Stop.” She smiled. “I’m going to believe this is you
trying to be nice your own, weird way and misunderstanding the whole situation. But really. Stop.”

I nodded, deciding it best to keep my mouth shut. “Um…”

“Yes?”

“It has a bit of a dress code I feel I should mention.”

“I have something I can wear. Don’t worry.”

I smiled, wondering why she was acting awkward. I was glad she agreed to come. Two thousand was a
bit steep, but it would be worth it to put Sophie’s mind at ease. Not to mention the event would be a
thousand times better with Chloe there to talk to.

The problem was Chloe. She had a smile on her face as she happily sat beside me, but I couldn’t help but
feel I’d done something wrong. I just wished I knew what it was.

Late Night Return

I came home to Alexis sprawled out on my couch. She was breathing heavily, the light from the TV
flickering as the animations on screen played on repeat. The controller had fallen to the floor near
where her hand was hanging off the couch.

Setting my bag down, I walked over to stand next to her and looked down. Her loose halter top didn’t
cover much and she wasn’t wearing a bra. My eyes did a slow once over before I bumped her arm.

“Go home, Alexis.” She could pretend all she wanted, but her noise never lied.

Her right eye popped open as a smile appeared. “You looked.” I said nothing, walking away as I heard
her sit up behind me. “You totally looked!”

“Home, Alexis,” I repeated as I went to my room. I closed and locked it before she could follow me in.

“You’re late,” she called out through the door. “It’s been sooo boring waiting for you!”

I went through my usual routine of removing my uniform.

“Then don’t.”

“Don’t be like that! Come on, why so late? It’s not like you.” I said nothing as I changed. After hanging
my uniform, I headed back to the door. “Don’t tell me it was a girl,” she said in a teasing voice as I
opened the door. She was leaning against the wall, arms crossed in a way that accentuated her breasts.
After spending so much time with Chloe tonight, it was refreshing to be able to read someone’s noise. I
knew she wanted me to look, so I did. My efforts were rewarded by a tickling of pride and happiness
dancing through her noise. One thing I’d learned early was that Alexis liked when guys looked at her—
especially if she found them attractive.

“It was,” I said as I moved past her. I didn’t need to be looking at her to see the turmoil in her noise. She
hadn’t expected that, which is why I didn’t elaborate and left it vague. What I didn’t expect was the
cascade of numerous emotions those two words started.

“Oh-ho?” she said in a forced voice. She fluttered after me as I went to the kitchen. “She hot?”

“Yeah.”
“Hotter than me?” I paused to glance over my shoulder. She had her butt against the table, a knowing
smile on her face. I thought for a moment.

“About the same?”

“Chickenshit.”

“What?”

“Such a chickenshit answer. ‘’Bout the same,’” she said in a deeper voice that was meant to mock mine.
“I’m a big girl. I can handle other girls being hotter than me.”

“Telling the truth. You both have your charms.”

“Hmm.” Walking over to me, I faced her as she reached out to rest her arms against my shoulders.
Tilting her head back slightly to look me in the eye, she had a sultry smile on her face. “I put out
though,” she whispered with a wink.

I didn’t answer right away as I examined her noise. I didn’t know what to make of it. She was enjoying
teasing me, and there was plenty of sexual desire and lust floating around. That was only about half of it.
Insecurity, concern, worry, and more took up the other half.

My response was to place my hands on her hips and pull her against me. She gave me a defiant look,
daring me to do it. Her noise on the other hand…

Sighing, I released her.

“What?”

“I’m not in the mood,” I lied as I turned back to get something to eat. It was technically the truth in the
sense I wasn’t aroused like normal people were. Mostly it was to give her an out to save face.

“Coward,” she whispered.

“What?” I asked, turning back around. I’d heard her, but I still didn’t believe it.

“You’re a fucking coward, Jake.”

“What do you want?”

She stared at me. “You seriously don’t know?”

“No, I don’t.”

“I know you aren’t that dense, asshole.”

“Alexis…” I started, taking a step towards her.

“You know what? Why do I even bother?” she asked as she matched my step backward. She looked me
in the eye as her noise roiled around us. “You know what I’ve been wanting? I’ve wanted you
to fuck me. There. That clear enough for you?”
I think she expected me to fire back at her. Her words did the equivalent of splatting against the Earth
from ten stories—and I was the Earth. My face remained as passive as ever and it was throwing her off.
Her hot anger was dissipating against cold steel.

“Do you?”

Those two words caused her noise to flair. “You dense mother fucker. You can’t seriously—”

“No, I understand,” I said with my calm and measured voice. “Your actions and innuendos have always
been clear to me.”

This wasn’t going in the direction she expected as her anger was mixed with confusion. “So then why—”

“Because your actions and words say one thing, but your eyes tell me otherwise.” I didn’t tell her the
real reason was because I saw it in her noise. Maybe in her mind, she convinced herself it was what she
wanted but her emotions didn’t lie. There was something holding her back and if she wasn’t a hundred
percent behind it, I wasn’t going to push it. I wanted to believe it was some noble action on my part, but
I had a feeling a large part had to deal with the lack of drive. Sex was something I wanted to experience
and Alexis was someone I would be comfortable experiencing it with, but I didn’t have the normal
emotional impulses to kick my body into action. She was the closest one to ever get me going, but that
was because she had no issues getting physical.

She shook her head. “That makes no sense.”

“Then shall we put it to the test?” I asked as I walked up to her. She said nothing, head tilting back to
look up at me. “My room is right there,” I said with a nod in the right direction. “If you want, we can go
back there right now and we can piss off your sister while she tries to sleep.” In a way, it would be
revenge for the times she did it—though Alexis was the worst offender by far.

I held her gaze, letting her know how serious I was. She quickly realized that the ball was in her court.
Suddenly, she was faced with the real possibility of having sex with me. I was curious where this was
going to go. This was what she said she wanted after all.

Her hands pressed against my chest as I felt her push me away. “You ruined the mood,” she said,
storming off towards the balcony. I said nothing as I watched her go. Even if her words had an angry bite
to them, I saw what dominated her noise. Fear.

The door slammed and I was alone.

For the life of me, I couldn’t understand what she was so frightened of.

Conversation with Chloe

It seemed whatever awkward flub I had done the other day had worked itself out. Chloe was still visiting
me on the roof during lunch, though we no longer met after school. The single period was better than
nothing. This was easily my favorite moment of the day. Chloe would share whatever she brought for
lunch and we would sit and talk about whatever the conversation brought.

She giggled, covering her mouth as she tried to finish chewing. “No way! I love that movie.”

“I have a feeling you would get along great with Natalie.”

Chloe continued to smile, but I felt the life fade from it as her noise shifted to show the same feeling
wasn’t behind it. “Natalie?”

“My neighbor. She loves bad movies like that.”

“You watch them often?”

“Not as often as we used to, but we try to squeeze in a movie night a few times a month when she isn’t
over at her boyfriend’s place or him over at hers.”

“Ah. She has a boyfriend. He nice?”

I shrugged. “Next time we have a movie night, want to come?”

“Really? I’d love that!” she said with a beaming smile. “I haven’t had a movie night in…” There was a
darkness in her noise. It was cold, like a great void. “Well… a while,” she finished flatly.

I didn’t know what that was, but when she looked back at me the feeling faded.

“Ah! Before I forget,” she said, quickly changing the topic. “What’s the plan for Saturday?” By the way
she was bouncing with energy, she was excited. A big improvement since when I asked her.

“It starts at six, so how about I pick you up around five?”

“You have a car?” I nodded. “And you take the bus? Why?” she asked with a wrinkled nose.

“I don’t like driving.”

“Still, the bus sucks. I hate it.” She blew at a piece of hair before giving up and brushing it aside. “The
amount of times some guy has ‘accidentally’ brushed my ass when it’s crowded…”

An idea popped into my mind. “Maybe I can start driving you home?”

I liked the way my body felt as I saw the happiness and excitement dance through her noise. It didn’t last
long as the joy faded from her face and the sparkle vanished from her eyes. “As much as I would like
that…”

“What?” I asked when she didn’t finish.

She gave me a smile as embarrassment rushed through her noise and showed on her face. “It won’t
work.”

“I don’t understand.”

Chloe didn’t meet my gaze as she looked down at her lap. “I have things to do after school.”

“I can wait.”

“You can’t be serious.”

I shrugged. “It’s not any different from waiting for you in the library.”

“Yeah but…” She didn’t finish as she looked at me. “You’re okay with that?”
“I don’t do much after school anyways. Hanging out with you is fun and it will give me a reason to use
the car.”

She gave me a smile that caused my body to react strangely. Something was intense enough to cause a
physical reaction but I couldn’t focus on that because she was already talking. “If you want… I’d like
that.”

I smiled. “It’s settled then. I guess we’ll find out if I remember how to drive tomorrow.”

The sound of her laughter was worth it.

College Life (Alexis PoV)

Death was approaching. I could feel it creeping closer with each passing second as I watched the second
hand tick slowly around the clock.

Oh.

My.

God.

End it already. End my suffering. I welcomed the sweet embrace of Death.

“Okay. That about wraps it up for the day. Remember your report on—”

I was already gone. I bet I set the world record for fastest time from the third row to the door.
God damn his lectures were boring. I don’t know why I let Natalie push me into this whole college thing.
She was so much better at this stuff than I was. Her money was wasted on me. Literally nothing about
college was good—

Hello there. I spun around as I walked backward, watching as the hot guy passed. My lower lip rolled
into my mouth as I checked out his ass. What I wouldn’t do to get that between my legs—

Focus, Alexis. Jesus.

Truth was, I was a mess. The disastrous conversation with Jake the other night still had me reeling. The
guy was a hard nut to crack. It’s what drew me to him at first. Wait, no. That was his looks. Definitely his
looks. A bit on the thin side and had a ‘nerd’ atmosphere that I would normally hard pass on, but that
face more than made up for any flaws. A face like that and I’d forgive him for having a tiny cock. I mean,
within reason of course.

I shook my head. Really, Alexis. Focus.

Jake was hard to get a read on. It was fun teasing him. He was the ultimate challenge. One of these days
I was going to get him to crack that stoic expression of his. I think I was getting to him. He pretended to
be annoyed by my antics, but I saw the way he looked at me when I flaunted my goods his way. There
was interest. I mean, who wouldn’t be? I had a killer body.

Really thought he was one of those passive nerd-types. That ended the first time he flipped a one-eighty
and reversed my mojo back on me. It got me completely flustered. Still did to an extent considering I
never knew when he was going to flip into his suave player form. Didn’t happen with other guys because
they acted within a range of expectation. An interested guy would act on it when I flirted with him. Jake
was all over the place. He could be a brick wall before suddenly being right in my face with his arms
around me promising all I wanted from him.

Yet he never followed through.

I needed to fuck him already and get this out of my system. Why the hell was it so hard to drag him back
into his room and have my way with him? Jake was just another hot guy to add to my ever-increasing
belt notches. Just another guy. No problem.

So what was the problem?

Even now his words ate at me. What did I want? I wanted the same thing as every other hot guy to cross
my path: fuck him. If he was good, I’d keep him around for when I was in the mood. Otherwise it was off
to find the next hot guy to repeat the process with. That’s what I wanted. It’s what I’ve always wanted.

I remembered the way he looked at me. There was something frightening there. It wasn’t the look of an
eighteen-year-old kid. He was seeing something I certainly wasn’t. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why
I was so attracted to him. He was only a few years younger than I was but he carried himself with a
maturity far exceeding even the college seniors.

Ugh. No guy should be dominating my thoughts like this. I was spending way too much time thinking
about a guy I wasn’t even fucking.

“Freedom!” Grinning, I spun to find Victoria coming up to me. My eyes gave her a once over that was
followed by an approving nod. Victoria was one of those girls that made everyone look worse standing
next to her. I knew I was an attractive woman, but next to her I was plain as could be. Everything about
her was perfectly proportioned and near flawless. Even her simple outfit of jeans and graphic tee made
her seem like a model heading for the runway. She certainly walked like one. The way she dominated
the attention of those around her made me envious, but it was something I was used to by now.

“I came this close to death,” I complained as I held my thumb and index finger close together.

“Coffee?” the sexy blond asked, hooking her arm in mine.

“Liquor would be better.”

She rolled her eyes and dragged me off after her. “Still coming tonight?”

I didn’t answer right away. Jake’s question echoed in my mind.

Jake.

Fuck Jake.

Seriously. What the fuck? He was just one guy. Way too much brainpower was being spent on him
recently. Needed to turn that off before things started to overheat upstairs.

“Yeah.”

“Woot! That’s my girl.”

I grinned as I settled into her pace. “Still a plus one required sort of party?”

“That going to be a problem?”

Names rolled through my mind. In seconds, I had a small list. “Nah.”

“’Course not.” We shared a laugh.

We talked shit about our classes as we headed to the one decent coffee place on campus. It felt good
being with Victoria. Everything fell away. Didn’t have to worry about Natalie’s constant nagging. The
pressure she was putting on me. I certainly didn’t have to worry about a frustrating neighbor boy.

Victoria left to go grab our orders. I took the opportunity to dial up the first on my internal list.

“Hey, Liam!” I giggled at his stupid joke while rolling my eyes. “Say, I was wondering if you were free
tonight. There’s a party happening and I need a plus one…”

Party Time (Alexis PoV)

A light-brown hand slowly trailed over my exposed skin. A moment later, a pair of lips pressed against
my shoulder.

“You okay?”

“Of course,” I said, not moving. The lips pressed against my shoulder again, working closer to my neck.
The hand continued on, running itself along my stomach.

“You just seem out of it tonight. I’m worried.”

There was a long exhale as the hand continued to move over my body. The lips pressed against my
shoulder and back again and again. The more air left me, the more deflated I felt.

“Got some stuff on my mind,” I said.

“That doesn’t sound like you.”

I pursed my lips. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, finally turning to look at the man beside me.
Ezra was a handsome man. Not in a, ‘need to change my panties’ sort of way, but a, ‘take him home and
meet the parents.’ He was also Victoria’s boyfriend. She might have taken issue with how he was using
his mouth and hand at the moment if she wasn’t busy bouncing atop some no-named dude’s cock
across the room. It wasn’t just him either. She was sucking off the guy who was going to replace him
when he inevitably fell short of her insane sex drive.

Ezra smiled, which did a lot to help his position here. Already I could feel my irritation towards him fade.
Fuck. Was I really that easy?

“Nothing bad. It’s just you usually are more… single-minded…at these parties.” I frowned at him and he
continued. “You’ve spent the last fifteen minutes cuddling with me instead of stalking your next target.”

“We aren’t cuddling.” He quirked his eyebrow as I realized how close we were. “Okay, so maybe we are.
A little bit.”

“So what’s wrong?”

“As much as I appreciate this, I don’t think an orgy is a proper place to have a heart-to-heart.”

He smiled and I felt that damn fluttering in my stomach and that itch between my legs. God damn it,
Alexis. Really?

“Well, what do you have in mind then?”

Twisting, I reached over and grabbed one of the condoms overflowing from the basket. Facing Ezra
again, I pressed it against my lips as I raised my eyebrow in a silent question.

He wasn’t going to say no to that. No sane man would.

Sex was always great with Ezra. This was no different. I lost myself in the moment. Flat on my back, I
wrapped my legs around him as he thrust against me. Each one hit something inside me that sent a
spike of pleasure through my body. Without thinking, I felt my mind reach out as my Gift bridged the
gap between us.

He didn’t pull away from the connection, leaning into it as he pressed his lips against mine. My pleasure
doubled in intensity as we shared the mutual pleasure through the connection. It wasn’t just pleasure,
but surface thoughts as well.

Another joy of having a deviant Gift. I was fortunate I had control over it or I'd be in an asylum.

“Alexis,” he whispered, breath heavy on my lips.

“Ezra.”

He whispered my name again as our eyes met. He felt what I wanted through our connection and sped
up. He said my name again as my legs tightened against him. Again. Over and over he said my name.
That’s all he needed to say. No other words were required. I felt everything he did and my thoughts
directed his actions.

But while he said my name, while he thrust his cock inside me, his true thoughts were on another.
Victoria. It was the reason why I was so comfortable using my Gift on him—and why he allowed me to
use it. We shared this moment of mutual pleasure together, but his heart belonged to my best friend.

If it was any consolation, I was a distant second. He cared about me, but not in the same way. His earlier
concern for me was genuine and even now he was doing everything he could to meet my expectations
and desires.

He fell short, but it didn’t matter. While I didn’t get my orgasm, I certainly felt his and it was a wonderful
consolation prize.

Laying against me, we panted for breath as we enjoyed the blissful afterglow of the male orgasm. I felt
bad for women who had to rely on their partners to get off. It didn’t hit the same as when I orgasmed,
but experiencing the male version was better than nothing.

With a deep breath, I released the connection.

Chuckling softly, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome rolled off me.

“Don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

“Weird, isn’t it?”

He shook his head before brushing some clumps of hair stuck to my sweaty forehead. “Nah. Just
different. In a good way.” He smiled. “Feeling better?”

“Mm. A bit,” I admitted. My eyes shifted as I watched a naked man stroll past. The cock on that guy…
When I looked back, I found him with a different sort of smile. “What?”

“That’s the Alexis I know.” I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. Leaving him to his laughter, I chased
after Mr. Big Cock.

“Excuse me,” I said, tapping on his shoulder. He turned and gave me a once over. I knew that look.
Didn’t need much bait to attract him. “Got a moment?”

“For you? Always.”

I gave him a smile.

Less than a minute later, I had him on his back next to the man Victoria was riding. It was the second guy
though. As expected, the first guy had popped too soon to sate her.

She looked over at me as I swung my leg over the man, straddling him. “Oh wow,” she said in her
breathy moan. “Want to switch?” she joked. The way she was riding her partner, there was no way she
was going to give it up.

“Stop being greedy.” I closed my eyes, enjoying the filling sensation of the man’s hard cock. Fuck, I liked
thick ones like this. They really hit all the right places.

“Says the woman who’s been hogging my boyfriend all night.” Her breaths came heavy, almost panting
as she got her workout.

Opening my eyes, I stuck my tongue out. Then we were off. Pleasure shot through my body as I worked
the man’s cock in and out of me. I let my mind go blank as I focused on the pleasure. It was all I cared
about and all I needed.

Somewhere along the way, I started making out with Victoria. Neither of us were doing our wild cowgirl
bucking anymore. Instead, we rapidly rocked forward and back atop our partners. As wonderful as the
guy’s cock was, my attention was on Victoria. There was a hungry passion to our kisses as our tongues
met and dueled for dominance. I could feel her hands run over my body. She cupped my breasts, teased
my nipples. She knew exactly what to do, knowing all the things to drive me wild—just like how I knew
all her buttons and levers.

The men finished. We didn’t. Even after the men we were with left, we continued our passionate play.
She rested atop me, kissing me as my arms held her close.

“Alexis,” she whispered, pulling away. She stared at me for a moment before giving me a gentle kiss.
“Time for the thing.”

I groaned, closing my eyes.

“Come on. Your good deed for the week.”

She took my silence as acceptance. Maybe it was. Ezra had been right. Something about tonight was off,
but I couldn’t figure it out.

There was a teasing smile on her face when I opened my eyes again. She flagged down a passing guy and
guided him over to me. I shot her a look. The fucking bitch. She had a Cheshire grin that told me she
knew exactly what she was doing. The guy she’d picked was not my type.

At all.

He was like… four of me. His face… Well. It wasn’t working for me.

I kept my legs closed as they approached.

“Alexis.”

“Vicky.”

She shot me a look, eyes flicking down to my legs before meeting my eyes again. With a groan, I spread
my legs. I heard her give a squeal of victory before busting out into laughter. Fucking sadistic bitch. She
always made me fuck one of the ugly guys at the orgy. As for the guy, he seemed over the moon.

Well, he better well fucking be.

His cock was the equivalent of a wet fucking noodle inside me. Beside me, Victoria was having her fun
watching me try to be polite to the poor guy. At least he seemed to be having fun and enjoying it. I
certainly wasn’t. Not even her masterful play on my tits could save this fuck.

A smile crept over my face as I watched her take pleasure in my misery. Well, two could play that game.

Reaching out with my Gift, my mind connected with hers. Her expression immediately shifted when the
connection stabilized. Now, she was feeling exactly what I was.

“Bitch!” she gasped before leaning forward, sucking in a breath.

I laughed, feeling her emotions and thoughts mix with mine. The amusement faded as we stared at each
other. I knew she was worried about me. Apparently, she had noticed I was off too and this was her
attempt to prod me back to my normal self. My eyes never left hers as my body rocked with each of the
man’s thrusts. The pleasure was negligible as I felt her hand grip mine. With a deep breath, I felt myself
open. Not fully. Never fully. But enough. I let her in as she did the same. She was the only one I ever
opened up to like this—besides Natalie of course. Victoria was one of the few people on the planet I
trusted.

I let her feel my experience with Ezra. Letting her know how grateful I was for sharing him with me. The
feeling of pride and happiness and love she felt for both him and me. So lost in my connection with her
that I didn’t even realize the guy had finished and moved on until another guy saw my spread legs and
took it as an open invitation.

He got no resistance as I let him pleasure himself with me. My mind was elsewhere. A safe place where I
knew love and respect. My strong connection with her was transferring the pleasure I felt to her, causing
her to moan and cry out just as much as I did. The guy seemed confused at first, but Gifted sex was
always weird and he continued with what he was doing.
Vicky and I came at the same time, linked together by my Gift. The bliss hitting twice as hard. A
wonderful experience that left us gasping and spent. I was lucky the guy finished soon after I did. Even
better that he didn’t linger. Hated when guys did that.

“Amazing,” Victoria said, gasping for breath as she laid beside me. I could still feel her fingers entwined
with mine. “God it is so weird to have an orgasm without any…friction.”

I chuckled, closing my eyes and allowing myself to bask in the afterglow. That was probably the last guy
for the night. I was getting a bit sore and didn’t want to overdo it.

“So,” I heard her say, hand tightening against mine. “Who’s Jake?” My eyes shot open as I rose to a half-
sitting position. She had a wide grin, enjoying my reaction. “Oh my. That’s quite a reaction.”

“How?” I froze, realizing the answer immediately after asking.

Fuck.

“It was all I could hear in there,” she said, tapping my forehead. “Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake.”

“Please stop,” I groaned.

“He the one getting your wires crossed?”

“It’s not like that.” Her eyebrows rose. “It’s not.”

“You lying skank. He’s all you were thinking about the entire time. Been in your head plenty of times and
seen plenty of guys in there, but nothing like that.”

I groaned, running a hand over my face. “Just a crush.”

“If that’s a crush, Ezra and I are ‘just friends.’ Come on. Jump on it. Never seen you so afraid of bedding a
guy before.”

“This really isn’t the place—”

She huffed. “Fine. You don’t want to talk about it yet? I can wait.”

“Thanks.”

Leaning over, she gave me a kiss on the lips. Then another.

Then another.

I pulled her towards me, going with the flow of things.

After all, I said I was done with guys for the night.

Charity Event (Jake PoV)

I stood by the front of my car, adjusting my bow tie. This was the second time I’d stood here before this
particular apartment building. The last time had been Friday when I’d dropped Chloe off after school. It
had been a surprisingly quiet ride. I think she was embarrassed I was waiting for her. It was a topic she
liked to dance around as if mentioning it would cause me to keep my distance. I guess it made sense. If
my emotions weren’t numbed, would I still be able to maintain this level of contact with her? I didn’t
know.

It didn’t help that on some level, I was attracted to Chloe. It was hard not to be. Beyond her physical
presence, her noise was something I enjoyed. Perhaps it was because it was always bolstered by that bit
of euphoria from her Gift. It seemed to have a soothing effect on her emotions. She spiked and shifted
like all people did as they reacted to the world around them, but there was a baseline to her that I could
latch onto. The only other person I experienced this with was Sophie.

I was under strict orders to stay outside the building and text when I arrived. I didn’t mind. For some
reason I kept fidgeting with my bow tie. I think I was nervous, which didn’t make much sense
considering I had seen Chloe a good amount by now. We were going to an event and dressing up, but
this should have been no different than any other time we hung out together.

The moment I saw her step out from the doors leading into the building, my hands dropped away from
the cloth around my neck. My body unconsciously straightened and for a brief second, my lungs
remained still.

I didn’t need my emotions to admire the stunning beauty before me. Chloe had completely transformed.
Her hair was styled in a complex way and her makeup was flawless. The black slit dress she wore
sparkled as it caught the fading sun. Her heels clicked against the pavement as she approached. Each
move forward teased the white leg beneath. That grace she always had when she walked had evolved
into a sultry sway.

This wasn’t the Chloe I knew. The hint of euphoria that always accompanied her was non-existent. She
carried herself with dignified confidence, and the smile she wore was free of the shame,
embarrassment, and guilt that normally accompanied her. There was a purity to it now that it was no
longer tainted by the euphoria of her Gift. Seeing it now, her noise resonated with me in a way I never
experienced before. It had me at a loss. It was as if it had wrapped around the walls of my mind and
filled in the cracks. It didn’t squeeze or force its way inside. It made no demands, only existing in a
welcoming presence that softened the more demanding things that constantly assaulted my mind.

“You wait long?” I said nothing, still trying to process what was happening inside my mind and body. She
smiled as her noise rippled pleasantly. “Seems I achieved the reaction I was going for—even if you aren’t
showing it.”

A few rapid blinks as my mind reset was the only thing that happened. “Sorry. You are simply stunning.”
A blush ran over her cheeks, reflecting her noise.

“Shall we go?” I opened the door, helping her inside before going around to my side.

“I hope my dress won’t embarrass me tonight. It’s not designer brand.”

“No one will be looking at your dress,” I said, starting the car. “Not when the one wearing it steals all the
attention.”

She looked away, face red. I had meant that earnestly but was worried by the reaction in her noise. I
saw the expected. She was a tad embarrassed by my cheesy line, but I could tell she enjoyed the
compliment.
But it was marred by emotions I had not intended to cause. Guilt, shame, disgust, and loathing. It was
directed inward at herself. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why my truthful comment had made
her react that way. This wasn’t the first time either. It seemed whenever I complimented her, it dug out
unintended negatives.

We made small talk on the way to the event. I could tell she was nervous and I did my best to soothe her
nerves. Arriving at our destination, she was surprised when we didn’t go to the front where the other
guests were arriving.

“Even though we are guests and allowed in, we are here only because my uncle helped organize all this,”
I explained as I helped her out of the car. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine! I actually prefer it like this. Less attention, the better.”

“I promise you, you’ll have plenty of attention tonight.” Once more, her noise was a flare of emotions
and I found I didn’t like how my complements were making her feel. They were supposed to make her
happy, not this mixed reaction of positive and negative emotions.

Offering her my arm, I was pleased to get only good things from her as she took it. I’d noticed it in the
car, but walking next to her made her perfume more obvious. It was stronger than what I was used to
and reinforced the notion that this wasn’t the normal Chloe. Gone was the sweetness and flowery scent
I associated with her. This had an exotic spice. An intoxicating blend that invoked ideas of maturity,
sexuality, and excitement. In addition to the warmth of her body against my arm and her noise wrapping
around my mind, my body reacted to emotions I didn’t feel. It was a challenge to keep a steady pace.

Inside, Chloe was in awe. I enjoyed the look on her face as she took in the sights. The decor, the people,
she was overwhelmed in a good way. I was smiling, my body moving on its own. The instant I realized it,
the moment faded but not the memory of it. I hadn’t meant to smile there. It had been a natural smile.
Fascinating. I didn’t know those could still happen.

If that was the case, I was enjoying Chloe’s presence here far more than I believed.

She hadn’t seen it, but she whipped around, eyes wide. “Oh my god. Is that Ayden Ruiz?” I looked past
her to where she had been looking. Sure enough, the so-called teenage heartthrob was chatting happily
with a few other people without a care in the world.

“It is.”

“I’ve never been so close to a famous person before! Let alone someone like Ayden.” She was dazzling.
Her excitement was dancing in her noise.

“There are going to be a lot of famous people here. Come on. We need to find my aunt.”

Chloe made no effort to stop me from guiding her away from the talking celebrity, but her head did
glance back several times as we walked away. I don’t know why I was in such a rush to find my aunt.
Was I jealous? That didn’t make sense. I didn’t feel jealous. Didn’t feel much of anything. We wandered
the venue, Chloe gasping and gaping at numerous celebrities and otherwise famous people. Only twenty
minutes in and she was having the time of her life. The most interesting thing was the chaotic noise
rolling off all the people here didn’t bother me. It had been so muted, I only realized now that I didn’t
have a headache or suffer from exhaustion. My mind was filled with only one noise: the radiating girl
beside me.

“Jake! There you are.” I stopped at the familiar voice. It was strange how she had spotted me before I
did. Usually I could pick out her noise long before I saw her, yet Sophie had completely bypassed
detection. Beside her was her husband, Daniel. A little shorter than I was, he was carrying a bit of extra
weight around his waist and less hair atop his head. There was a happy energy about him though. A
charm that made you want to smile when you were with him.

Beyond the nerves regarding this event, his noise was dominated by warm and pleasant thoughts
toward Sophie.

“You made it!” he said, slapping me on the arm. I gave him a casual smile.

“Thank you for putting us on the list.”

“Eh, with so many people here, what’s one or two more?”

“And who is this with you?” Sophie could barely contain her excitement as she looked over at Chloe.

“Chloe, this is my aunt Sophie and her husband Daniel. This is Chloe.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Chloe said, her voice softer and more withdrawn than usual. I could see she was
surprised. Thinking back, I forgot to mention my aunt was rather young.

“So nice to meet you. When Jake said he made a friend, I knew I just had to meet you. Thank
you so much.” I could tell she was a bit overwhelmed by the outpouring of emotion from my aunt. Even
I was shocked that my aunt was tearing up. “And such a gorgeous friend at that!”

She was blushing, holding my arm tightly. “T-thank you. But it’s me who should be thankful. Jake here
has really saved me.”

“Come,” Sophie said, face lighting up. “I want to know everything about you! I’ll even share all the
embarrassing stories about Jake!” Before either of us could say anything, she had swept up Chloe and
the two were moving off toward one of the many tables set up. Daniel and I stood watching the two
women walk away. Chloe looked back over her shoulder, eyes wide as she was carried off.

“She’s been talking about this all day,” he said with a chuckle. He looked over at me. “She’s quite
beautiful.” I nodded as he grinned at me.

“What?”

“Have to admit, this is one hell of a first date.”

“We aren’t dating. I am p—” I cut myself off before I could incriminate myself. If I told Daniel I was
compensating Chloe for her time, that would inevitably make its way to Sophie. My mistake had him
interested as he quirked an eyebrow at me. “It’s not like what you think,” I finally said hoping it would
throw him off the scent.

“But you’re interested, right? Sophie mentioned she was single.”

My mouth opened to respond but the words didn’t immediately come. Shutting my mouth, I took a
second to think as I gazed over at where Chloe and Sophie were sitting. They seemed to be having a
good time. Chloe laughing was a sight I didn’t see much. If there was one fatal weakness of mine, it was
humor. I had zero talent or timing.

It was true that I enjoyed her company, but Daniel’s words weighed on my mind. I never considered that
route before. I wasn’t even sure we could be considered friends yet. Close acquaintances, yes, but
friends? What exactly did friendship look like?

Beyond that, what would dating look like?

A booming laugh sounded as Daniel clapped me on the shoulder. “I’m just teasing you a bit, Jake. No
need to look so serious.” I forced a smile, knowing he was going for a joke. My face hadn’t moved, so my
serious look didn’t differ from any other of my looks. “Come on. Let’s join them before Sophie spills all
the juicy stories.”

Dancing

Chloe’s face was flushed, her breathing rough as her body moved before me. The music pulsed loudly
around us. The dance floor was dominated by the young. Older people stuck to the outside, watching or
engaged in their own private conversations. Seeing her dance in front of me was mesmerizing. It was
beyond the physical beauty she radiated, but the way her noise danced with her. So pure and free as
positive emotions pulsed and dazzled around her. This wasn’t on the level of her euphoria, but there
was something natural about this that made her noise sing. Her Gift might have made her feel on top of
the world, but it was artificial. Here, her noise organically shifted as she reacted to the music and people
around her.

For the first time since I met her, I saw her. The real her.

Arms in the air, her body swayed. We’d both worked up a sweat, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t take my
eyes off her. I wasn’t the only one either. As I predicted, she drew stares from those around us. My close
presence and the way she smiled at me kept others at bay.

When the song shifted to something slower, I wasted no time stepping close and pulling her towards
me. Her eyes widened before she gained control over her expression. Breathing hard, I felt my heart
rate begin to slow as we swayed in time with the new song. She said nothing as she rested her head
against my chest, arms wrapping around me.

I blinked, realizing the smile was there again. Once more, the second I realized it was there was the
moment it vanished. It felt weird having no control over my body. It made me feel like there was
something else inside me controlling aspects of my body that I had no say in. It was not a pleasant
experience.

The song ended too soon as she pulled away. “I’m thirsty,” she said. Nodding, I took her hand and she
led me out of the dancing crowd. We found refreshments and spent the next few minutes silently
recouping our energy.

“Haven’t been this exhausted in a long time,” she said happily, tossing her head back and fanning her
neck. My eyes trailed down, following the sweat on her neck to the exposed skin of her chest where it
met the gentle swell of her breasts. It was only a blip, but I’d felt it. A jolt through my body as an unused
system sparked to life before falling silent again.

Looking up, she met my eye shortly after. She hadn’t caught me staring, but seeing me looking at her
caused her to smile. Nothing but good blossomed in her noise.

Chloe was special. There was nothing else I could say about it. In the brief time I’d known her, I’d
experienced so many odd occurrences within me. I’d thought that her Gift might be able to help me, but
it seemed I was wrong. It was Chloe herself.

“Something wrong?” she asked, still winded.

I shook my head and gave her a smile. “Nothing at all.”

She smiled back as I offered her my hand. Together, we headed back to the dance floor.

Night's End

Sophie had been right to have me invite Chloe. Tonight would have been another mess of garbled noise
and painful headaches without her. The entire night, my attention had never wavered from her. In a
blink, the night was over and we were sitting in front of her apartment building. I could tell that the way
we sat in silence that neither one of us wanted the night to end.

She broke the silence first. “I had a lot of fun,” she said softly. “Tonight was… Well… It was unbelievable.
Never thought I would actually get to meet famous people.” Her expression grew serious as she met my
gaze. “And it’s all thanks to you.”

I forced a smile, trying to put all I could muster behind it. “Believe me, you saved me from a lot of
suffering. These things are usually insufferable. Tonight though? Passed way too quickly.”

Opening the door, I felt her noise turn to sadness and acceptance as I moved around to her side. It was
the official end of our night. Helping her out of the car, we had another silent moment. I felt the
awkwardness radiating through her noise.

Oh right. Of course.

Digging into my pocket, I felt her confusion before I pulled out the money. “Two thousand. As agreed.”

She stared at the money and I could feel a flurry of emotions flow through her. The ones that settled
were negative as she slowly reached out and took it. I knew something was wrong because the joyous
comfort of her noise had soured. When she looked up at me, her smile was betrayed by the sadness in
her noise. She started to say something but stopped. The sadness deepened as more negative emotions
further sullied her noise.

The smile she gave me no longer reached her eyes and was cold. “You know, there is a hotel around the
block,” she said with a fake cheer in her voice. “I feel a bit guilty taking so much when it seemed like I
was having all the fun. I’ll pay for the room if you want to get your money’s worth out of me.”

“Chloe…”

Fear spiked as she stepped back, casting her gaze away. “Or not. That’s fine too.”
“Chloe,” I said in a firm voice, reaching out and resting my hands on her arms before she could flee. I felt
it in her noise. She was ashamed and her sadness was growing. I said nothing until she had the courage
to meet my gaze. “I’m… not good at these things. If I’ve done something to offend or upset you, I’m
sorry. Please tell me.”

“Why are you so nice to me?”

“What?”

Tears were starting to form. “I don’t understand you at all! You say and do all these nice things, but
why? Why me?”

“Because we are friends.” I scratched at my cheek. “Unless… we aren’t?”

Her eyes were wide as she stared up at me. “Friends?” I nodded and she looked at the money in her
hands. “Then why pay me if you weren’t going to sleep with me?”

“I thought—” Her noise was all over the place as she held onto my every word. “I thought you wouldn’t
go with me if I didn’t pay you. I’m sorry if I misunderstood something or caused a misunderstanding. I
was never paying for your body. I was paying for you. Your time. Company.”

Her jaw went slack. “Are you an idiot?”

I pressed my lips together. “Not the first time I’ve heard that recently.”

She pressed the money against my chest. “I can’t accept this.” Even as she said that I could feel the torn
nature of her thoughts. She cared a lot about money, and there was almost a physical aversion to giving
it back. She was pushing through it, trying to suppress the greed and desire inside her.

“Keep it,” I said as I gently pushed her hand away.

“No. You really need to take it back. I can’t keep this. Please.”

Taking her hand, I closed her hand tighter around the money before gently pushing it back towards her. I
said nothing else, just holding it there until I saw her surrender. When I removed my hand, she didn’t try
to give me the money back.

“Friends,” she said softly, a sad smile on her face. Her noise held a bittersweet sadness there mixed with
acceptance and a little happiness. “I suppose I can live with that.” Lifting out of her heels, she pressed
her hands against my chest before kissing me on the cheek. With one last somber look, she turned and
walked towards the door.

I watched her walk away, my heart racing from the invisible emotions that failed to touch my mind. My
hand pressed against the cheek where she had kissed me. I could still smell the new and exciting scent
she had chosen for tonight. The memories of the wonderful new experiences and quirks that had
happened over the long night. This wonderful and fun Chloe I’d never met before.

There was no fear holding me back. No doubt or uncertainty that would cause another man to hesitate. I
was sure of my path as I took a step after her.
“Chloe.” Hearing her name, she stopped and turned around to face me. “We don’t have to be friends.
Not if you don’t want to.”

Confusion danced around her noise.

“I’m happy with a friendship—”

“I’m talking about something more.” Her eyes widened as she realized what I was asking. “I can’t—I
can’t be normal. My Gift it… It makes it hard for me to connect to people. To feel things. But with you…”
I struggled with the words. It was hard to think with the powerful rush of emotions pouring from her.
“It’s different. It makes me want to try. So if it’s okay with you—”

I didn’t get much farther than that before she closed the distance to leap against me. In my arms, she
crushed herself against me. Lips pressed against mine, I felt her. Felt her.

And I’d never felt better.

With the Boyfriend (Natalie PoV)

I loved my boyfriend. He was sweet, kind, and caring. Smart too. It was what initially attracted me to
him. There were plenty of interested guys chasing after me, but he stood out from the rest. Humor,
intellect, and looks. The complete package. For two years we’d built a strong relationship to stand on.
Once he graduated and found a job, I would follow him wherever. I fully expected us to get married in a
few years. I had responsibilities to Alexis, but he understood.

I love Tommy with all my heart, but god damn if he couldn’t piss me off. I’d driven over an hour to spend
time with him and his idea of ‘hanging out’ was partying with his friends. I understood. Really, I did. He
was under a lot of stress and worked hard during the week. But this was the first time in three weeks
that we were together for more than a roll in the sack.

His friends were terrible influences on him. Ever since he started rooming with them, he’d changed.
What happened to the man who enjoyed spending a quiet night alone watching TV and snuggling? Now
it was just party, party, party. Yes, he was working off the stress from the week, but so was I. I didn’t
need to party my entire free time away—especially when I had limited time to spend with those I loved.
I knew all too well the appeal of the party life.

So we spent the first weekend in three weeks playing stupid drinking games and wasting time than
spending it with each other. The party was fun and all, but I had come all this way to spend time
with him, not get smashed, answer embarrassing questions about my sex life, and flash my breasts
when I inevitably lost in some stupid drinking game.

And I hated how he kept telling me to loosen up. I knew how to have fun and I enjoyed doing stupid
stuff as much as everyone else, but this wasn’t the weekend for that and he should have known better.

So I might have drank a bit too much. I knew I was knocking them back too quickly, but my anger
clouded my judgment. Anger and alcohol never mixed well. Alcohol and I didn’t mix well, especially
when I went at it like a super heavyweight champion when the reality was I was a featherweight.

It’s how I ended up fucking Tommy right there in the living room of his shared house. My memory was
spotty, but I remembered enough. How I fell under Tommy’s smooth prodding. How my horny ass
sucked him off while his friends hollered and cheered. How I climbed atop his dick and rode him with all
I had while they watched. How Tommy removed my shirt and bra to expose me to all his friends. The
way he encouraged me to say filthy things. The cheering as he finished inside me despite knowing we
used condoms because I wasn’t on the pill.

Waking up with those memories made me sick. I’m sure the alcohol played the lion's share of why I
spent my waking morning kneeling before the toilet as I emptied my stomach until there was nothing
left. Thinking of how everyone watched me drunk-fuck Tommy certainly didn’t make my morning any
brighter. I felt humiliated and angry. What the fuck had he been thinking? Friends or not, no one had
any business witnessing what should have been an intimate moment between us. The old Tommy would
have never even considered something like that.

And when I really thought about it, I wasn’t all that mad about the act itself, but how he made it a
spectacle. The things I did… Said… The way he encouraged them all to watch…

Hands shaking, I splashed cold water on my face and looked up at the mirror. I looked as I felt—like shit.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to be. My mind wandered to last week. I hadn’t meant to spend
the night at Jake’s apartment. Or drink enough to make poor decisions. I remembered waking to find
myself with a blanket over me and a pillow under my head. Dejected from Tommy blowing off another
weekend together, I suffered a moment of weakness. I had only meant to check on Jake, but seeing his
sleeping face… I don’t know what I was thinking when I climbed into bed with him—or why I undressed
before doing so.

“Fuck,” I whispered to my reflection. What the fuck was I doing? Jake was five years younger than me.
He hadn’t even graduated high school yet for Christ’s sake. I had Tommy. The love of my life. The man I
was going to marry. Jake was just a friend of the family and nothing more.

But he wasn’t just a family friend, was he? Despite his age, there was a mental maturity I never
expected. He’d been like that ever since Alexis and I met him for the first time. Jake was always calm and
collected and thought things over before acting. Beyond everything, he listened. It wasn’t just listening
either, but there was insight there. He had an emotional intelligence that was honestly shocking. It was
like he knew what those around him were feeling. I suppose it had something to do with his Gift. He’d
never explained what it was, but that wasn’t a surprise. The only reason why I knew he had one was
because he went to that expensive preppy Gifted school rich people sent their kids to.

One of his many little mysteries that made up Jake. Why was a kid his age so damn mature? I
remembered what I was doing at eighteen. Why was he living in a dump apartment like ours when he
clearly had some money available to him? What kind of Gift did he have?

Why did he have to be so damn good-looking?

I splashed more water on my face before leaning forward against the sink. Water ran down my face
before falling towards the drain. “Fuck, Natalie.” That last thought came out of nowhere. At least
I pretended it was out of nowhere. It was a thought that shouldn’t exist. Objectively, he was attractive—
for being five years younger. I needed to remind myself of that. I knew it wasn’t some taboo age gap,
but we were in different life stages. I’d convinced myself it was because he reminded me of Tommy
when we had first started dating. Quiet and thoughtful. Jake was more intense with his perfect
emotional control, but once you spent the time to get to know him it was something you didn't notice
much.

Last week I’d fucked up, yet Jake never took advantage of me in that moment of weakness. He didn’t
even make a big deal about it. No judgment or teasing, just a silent acknowledgment that it happened
and we were moving on. Like actual adults. Moments like that were like a breath of fresh air. Around
him, things seemed to slow down. My life was spent in a rush. It felt like I needed to constantly be doing
something or things would fall apart. Alexis needed prodding or she’d lie around all day. Work needed
doing. Bills needed paid. With Jake, he pulled me into his world and slowed me to his pace. Only then
could I take a breath and simply breathe.

Something Tommy did.

Does. Tommy does.

Deep breath, I looked up again. I should have never started drinking. I always did stupid shit when I
started drinking. It didn’t take much for me to lose control, and I’d had a lot last night. Tommy should
have stopped me. Physically stopped me, not his half-ass warnings. He knew how I got when alcohol was
involved. I’d worked hard to distance myself and redefine who I was. This wasn’t who I was anymore.

I dabbed off my face with my shirt. No way I was going to touch those towels. Feeling a bit more
collected, I opened the door and nearly ran into Lucas, one of Tommy’s roommates.

“Rough morning?” he asked with a slimy smile. I hated it. Hated how he looked at me. His eyes drifted
down and I was glad I’d been in my right mind to grab a shirt before running to the bathroom. My arms
automatically crossed themselves, covering my chest. It’s where his eyes lingered.

“Fine,” I croaked before clearing my throat.

“That you are.”

Ugh. What did Tommy see in these immature clowns?

I didn’t grace him with a response. Stepping aside, I moved to pass him only to have him block my path.
Frowning, I tried again only for him to once more block me. Eyes narrowing, I gave him a death glare
until he relented, letting me pass. Tightening my arms around my chest, I was forced to brush past him
—the asshole was purposefully taking up most of the hall. Glancing over my shoulder, I found him
staring at my ass so I reached back to pull my shirt down. Even if it was covering everything before, I
needed to make a point of it.

Inside Tommy’s room, I shut the door and closed my eyes. Lucas had seen me naked. They’d all seen me
naked. When I dug in deeper to the feelings of disgust and shame, it wasn’t the nakedness that tore at
me. It was them seeing a side of me I’d walked away from. That wasn’t me. I was a respectable woman. I
had a career and had responsibilities. That woman they saw wasn’t me, yet it was all they could see
now. It was all they would ever see me as.

“You okay?” Tommy asked as he got off the bed. “Heard you were having a rough morning.”

I glared at him, causing him to stop about halfway to me.

“What?”
Unbelievable. He seriously had no idea? I continued to glare, waiting for him to break and apologize. It
took a few good long seconds for me to realize he was being serious. My god. He didn’t even know he
fucked up.

“Are you serious?”

“What?” he asked, oblivious.

“Last night?”

He grinned. “Things did get a bit out of hand—”

“A bit? A bit? Tommy, you fucked me in front of all your friends!” Closing the distance, he tried to hug
me but I brushed him off. “Don’t.”

“Come on, Babe. It’s no big deal—”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? No big deal?”

“Like they haven’t heard you—”

“Christ, Tommy. Hearing and having front row seats are two very different things.”

“You didn’t stop me!”

“Don’t turn this back around on me! You know how I am when I drink.”

“And who was the one drinking? I told you to stop. You were the one who kept going. You always keep
going.” I winced. I did remember him warning me. My anger kept me going.

“And you elevated things farther. For what? So you could impress all your Bros? Show off the nice piece
of ass you have on tap?”

He frowned. “You know that’s not true.”

“Do I?”

“We were drunk. Things happen.”

I shook my head. It was hard to think with how livid I was. He was treating this all like it was no big deal
when I was standing right in front of him telling him it was. I felt like I was arguing to a fucking brick wall.

Reaching out, he ran his hands along my arms. “Don’t touch me.”

“Babe…” I said nothing as I went for my clothes. “Natalie,” he said, finally saying my name in a voice I
was familiar with. “I know I fucked up—”

“Do you?”

Letting out a long breath, he rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re right. I could have stopped it—should
have stopped it. I won’t lie and say that showing you off wasn’t why I pushed for it. It was stupid,
childish, and most of all it was selfish. I didn’t consider how you would feel.” That apology might have
worked. It wasn’t enough to extinguish my anger, but it cooled it enough for me to think.
The old Tommy would have stopped there.

“It’s just the guys have all done it in some way and I… I guess I just wanted to fit in.”

Zipping up my jeans, I turned to face him. He genuinely looked regretful and reflecting on his actions.

If he had only stopped while he was ahead.

Moving over to him, he looked down to meet my eyes. “Do you see the problem there, Thomas?” He
didn’t answer me, eyes suddenly avoiding mine. “You treated me like some party slut to get your cock
wet. Is that what I am?” His silence and avoiding all attempts for me to make eye contact only served to
feed my anger. “Answer me, Thomas.”

He shook his head.

“Then don’t fucking treat me like one. You didn’t even use a condom. Now I have to go and buy a
morning-after pill.” I let out a long breath, hoping to let out some of the hotness building inside me. At
the same time, I ran a hand over my face. I felt like shit. My head was pounding, my throat hurt, my abs
were sore.

“All I wanted was to spend time with you,” I muttered, fighting off tears.

“Natalie…” he called out as I left. I passed the guys hanging out in the kitchen. No idea if they heard our
conversation or not. Ultimately I didn’t care. I just wanted to get away before I lost it. I didn’t stop until I
made it to my car. Hopping inside, I took off.

This wasn’t how this weekend was supposed to go. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go.

It was a long and lonely journey home.

Dating Chloe (Jake PoV)

It was a day like any other school day, only it wasn’t. Today, I had a girlfriend. Her text on Sunday asking
if the previous night had been a dream had kicked off a conversation that confirmed it. Chloe was my
girlfriend.

I could feel the emotions outside my mental fortress in a swirl at the thought. There was an expectation
that I would feel different now that I had an established and clear relationship, but today was feeling like
any other.

She was waiting for me on the roof. That was surprising considering I always beat her. I looked into her
noise as I approached. It still lacked the euphoria from her Gift, but I could see the swirls of negative
emotions that resided there. Seeing me brightened her noise slightly as she smiled at me, but she
couldn’t hide her sadness from my Gift. This wasn’t what I expected on our first meeting since I dropped
her off at her house.

“Morning,” she said with false cheer.

“Good morning,” I said as I stood next to her. She was looking out at the people below, pretending to be
interested in what they were doing. “Something wrong?” I asked after a few moments of silence.
She paused before turning to me, avoiding my eyes. “This isn’t going to work.” Saying nothing, I waited
for her to continue. It was a rush as her words poured from her. “It’s not you, it’s me. When you asked
me to be your girlfriend, I was overjoyed but—”

“You’re going to continue your after-school activities.”

She winced, her noise turning dark. Straightening up, she summoned the courage to meet my steady
gaze. “I am. I’m sorry. I should have declined when you asked. I was caught up in the moment and—”

“It’s fine.” My two words completely derailed her train of thought. Her emotions were a jumble, with
shock being the dominant one in her noise.

“W-what?”

“Quitting was never a condition for us dating and I never expected you to do so.”

Her noise roiled as her emotions played out on her face. She seemed unable to decide if she should be
happy, angry, sad, or any combination of them. “I don’t know whether to be insulted you thought I
would continue sleeping with other guys while dating you, or pissed you are okay with it.” She rolled her
lower lip into her mouth and bit on it as she thought. “Or are you into that sort of thing? I mean, I know
some guys here who are so I’m totally not judging you or anything—”

I held up a hand, stopping her. “No, I’m not.” I stopped myself, thinking for a moment. I felt nothing out
of the ordinary when I thought of it. “At least, I don’t think I am. I haven’t thought much about sexual
kinks so I don’t know what I’m into or not.” She was giving me an odd look, confusion in her noise. I took
a breath and gestured towards the bench. “Perhaps we should talk before making a decision.”

Her noise was all over the place making it hard to read her. Sitting on the bench, she turned towards me
and took a deep breath as she brushed her hair from her face.

There was a brief silence as I put my thoughts in order. “Chloe, before we continue this you need to
understand that my Gift suppresses my emotions.” I watched as her eyes widened slightly.

“So that’s why…” She didn’t finish the thought, instead circling her hand over her face quickly.

“Why I don’t emote? Yes. I worked with a therapist and my aunt put me in acting classes to at least
mimic some of the basic ones.” To prove it, I smiled at her before shifting to anger and finishing on
sadness. She watched in silence, eyes wider than normal. “This doesn’t mean I’m some emotionless
machine. I am aware of emotions and strong ones can manifest limited reactions. Overall though, I am
emotionally distant from those around me and I tend to act differently than others would in situations.”

“I never knew something like that existed. I just thought you were some stoic badass in control of your
emotions.” She let out a breath, leaning against the back of the bench. “I’ve never seen you as
emotionally distant though. If anything, you have been the most empathetic person I’ve met.”

“My Gift helps with that. I’m sorry, but I’m not comfortable discussing it any farther yet,” I added when I
saw the curiosity in her noise and face.

“Hey, I understand.” She smiled sweetly. “They call it The Gift, but sometimes… not so much.” I nodded
as I watched the guilt gradually infest her noise.
“I feel it is only fair that I let you know this ahead of time. There are times where I may not be able to
give you the support you need or seem distant. It isn’t because I do not care, but because I physically
cannot understand what you are going through. Shared emotional experiences are something I don’t
think I will be able to give you. For example, if you tell me something that upsets you expecting me to
get upset as well as a shared experience, I can’t do that.” She listened silently, hands folded in her lap.
“That said, I do care about you in my own way. It’s because of that I still want to give this a try.”

“Why me?” she asked softly. “There are so many better girls out there.”

I took a moment to think. As I did, I took in her noise. It was a stormy place at the moment, but it wasn’t
always like that. Under normal conditions, it was a calm sea I could immerse myself in. Even if the
emotions were distant, they were still there. When I was with her, I simply felt better. Her being near me
had a positive impact on her noise too, which reinforced my desire to be around her. Yes, there was still
the aspect of how her Gift might be able to help me, but that was no longer the primary drive. It was no
longer a secondary or tertiary goal. It all boiled down to one simple thing.

“Because it’s you.”

She huffed. “That’s it?”

“Yes.” I could see in her noise that my answer wasn’t having the impact I desired. “I could say things like
I enjoy seeing you smile. That your laugh makes my body feel lighter. That being with you, even if we
aren’t saying anything, makes the world a little easier to handle. That you are a presence I cannot ignore
and don’t want to ignore. I can go on and on with reasons why, but in the end, it all comes down to the
simple explanation that Chloe is Chloe. You are you, and that is why I want to continue to be with you.”

There was a positive swelling of emotion in her noise, but the tears in her eyes wasn’t what I expected.

“You mean that?”

“Of course.”

Taking a deep breath, she turned away to wipe her eyes. She faced me when she had collected herself.

“You know, I would have accepted, ‘Because you have a rockin body,’” she said with a grin. “But that
works too.”

I forced a smile. “You caught me. Everything I said before was a lie.”

She giggled. “Too late. No take-backs.” The smile faded as she stared up at me, expression growing
serious. “You don’t have to pretend though.” Before I could ask what she meant, she pointed to her lips.
Ah. I’d forgotten to let my face relax and had been smiling entirely too long. “Now that I know, it feels
weird.”

“Sorry.”

She shook her head, looking down at her lap. “You really okay with dating a whore like me?”

Reaching out, I rested my hand on her shoulder. “Don’t. You’re not a whore.”

“I take money for sex. Pretty sure that’s in the definition of what a whore is.”
She was putting herself down and I could see the negative emotions making gains in her noise. Simply
telling her wasn’t going to help her because it was something she had internalized. No amount of me
telling her otherwise would budge the way she saw herself.

“I see you as an entrepreneur.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“You own a profitable and successful business. How is that not being an entrepreneur?” She was about
to interrupt as I pushed on. “And you are not selling sex, you are monetizing your Gift. Plenty of people
do that. It is no different than anyone else who takes money for use of their Gift. Companies hire Gifted
people to artificially boost employee morale and productivity all the time. How is this any different?”

“Pretty sure those people aren’t going around blowing and sexing people up at work.”

“You don’t control how your Gift works any more than anyone else does. You are working hard to
achieve what you want and it harms no one.”

She gave a bitter laugh. “Good luck explaining that one to the relationship rubble I’ve left in my wake.”

“Purely self-inflicted. You offer a service. It was their choice to purchase it and the consequences are
their own. It is no different than a bartender serving an alcoholic.”

Sighing, she leaned forward, hands pressing down on the seat on either side of her. “Wish other people
thought the way you did.”

“Fuck them.” She looked over at me, surprised. “You owe them nothing.”

“And you? If we are dating, I suppose you’ll be expecting freebies?” I said nothing, trying to determine
the best thing to say. Until now, I never considered the sex aspect of the relationship. The resulting
silence dragged on a touch too long. A smile broke out on her face as she chuckled. “You know, teasing
you is going to be really fucking hard with that poker face of yours.”

“Sorry.”

She took a deep breath, looking up. “Just another thing I’ll have to get used to.” I said nothing as I
watched her noise. She was building up to something. I could see her determination forming, growing
into actionable levels. “For the sake of being honest, I can’t promise you I can separate my feelings…
when uh… when I’m with another guy.” She looked down at her lap, shoulders slouching. “My Gift
doesn’t allow it. There is a windup before it fires off. I’ve tried to fight it. Hold a piece of myself while it
builds. I can’t. I lose myself in it every time. Doesn’t matter if I hate the person I’m with or not. By the
end… I’ll do anything to get off. With anyone.” Rubbing at her arm, she continued to focus downward as
her noise grew cold and lonely. “I can’t even properly feel the regret after. I know, rationally, I didn’t like
it. I hated it. Myself. Everything. But I can’t feel that. All I can feel is happiness, and it makes me hate
myself more because the happiness ends eventually. So to prevent that, I do it again so I don’t have to
deal with the consequences. Over and over…”

“A dealer addicted to their own product,” I said softly.

“What?”
“Just thinking aloud,” I said with a shake of my head.

She chuckled dryly. “No, that fits perfectly.”

Reaching over, I rested a hand on her arm. She looked down at my hand before looking up at me. “It’s
okay if you don’t want to tell me, but may I ask why you are doing this in the first place?”

“Money,” she answered immediately. “This school is filled with people who have so much money
tossing a few hundred around means nothing.”

There was something else there. I didn’t need to see her noise to see there was a drive there. Money
might have been the fuel, but it wasn’t the reason for what drove her. I debated on whether to push it
or not when she continued on her own accord.

“I needed the money for a fresh start. Away from… here.” There was a dark void in her noise. An
emotion so powerful it stuck itself in her noise and didn’t let go as it consumed all around it. I didn’t
recognize it, but I knew my words couldn’t describe how negative it was. I watched as it consumed her,
pulling her deeper into its embrace. Running my hand down her arm, I grabbed her hand and squeezed
it. The physical touch was enough to pull her back from the edge. As quickly as it appeared, the emotion
faded into the background and disappeared. She smiled at me, though I could see the emotion had
shaken her.

“I technically have enough. Had enough since the end of sophomore year. Never had a reason to stop
though. I mean, where else is a girl like me going to make two or three hundred dollars for ten minutes
of work? Maybe fifteen or twenty depending on the guy. On a good week, I can clear over two grand.
The longer I’ve been doing this and as word spread, the more guys are willing to pay. Now the goal is to
extract as much money from these rich bastards as I can before graduating. The euphoria bump also
helps.” She winced as regret and guilt colored her noise. “Ugh. This is probably the last thing you want
to hear from me.”

“I don’t mind,” I said. It was the truth too. Maybe if I could feel things as she did, this would be difficult
to hear. I don’t think most guys would enjoy listening to the girl they liked talk about all the sexual
partners she had or that she would continue doing it into the future. Maybe there was a part of me who
disliked it too. If it was there, I didn’t sense it and I certainly didn’t go looking for it.

“Maybe not, but it is still uncomfortable for me talking about it with the guy I like.” She cast a few looks
my way, trying to find a reaction that wasn’t there. Her discomfort grew before I realized what she had
done. She confirmed that she had feelings for me. I already had a sense of that with what I saw in her
noise, but she was admitting them. It might not have seemed like much, but intent was everything.
When you could sense everything a person was feeling, it was important to remember that they had no
control over that. Feeling wasn’t a choice. Acting on and expressing it was, and even then there were
limits to how effective the control was.

I was about to smile when I remembered her previous comment. Keeping my face natural, I gave her
hand a slight squeeze. “I like you too.”

This time, her smile was genuine before she turned away. Her noise was all over the place, a swirl of
positive and negative. She was happy, but also apprehensive.
“Even after all I’ve said, you still want to go out with me?”

“I do.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

I let her noise surround me as she leaned in and kissed me. The sensation of her lips against mine was a
pleasant experience. It wasn’t just the physical touch, but the collection of many small details. The swell
of her noise and the warm emotions that flowed through it. The sweet floral scent filled my lungs. The
press of her hand against my chest. This combination of sensations all came together to paint a new
experience. I didn’t need to feel the emotions she did to appreciate the moment. This was a unique
moment for the two of us, and I appreciated every second of it.

Pulling away, she had rolled her lower lip into her mouth as she gave me a shy look. She was happy, but
there was something else there.

“What?”

“N-nothing.”

“Chloe…”

“Don’t… uh… take this the wrong way,” she said with a pained expression. “You are a pretty terrible
kisser.”

“I see.” My flat voice caused a spike of fear to move about her noise.

“Not that I didn’t enjoy it! I did! I just—”

As I leaned in, she fell silent. Reaching up, I tipped her head back so she was forced to look into my eyes.
“That means we have a lot of practice ahead of us.”

The burst of noise filled the gaps of my mind once again as peace settled around me. She had a
mischievous grin on her face. “Yeah. I suppose it does.”

Alexis' Day (Alexis PoV)

I woke up to a heavy weight pressing against me. The initial panic faded as my mind finally kicked into
gear and remembered the events leading to this moment. Natalie had been in a foul mood since she
came back from her boyfriend’s house. It made her worse than usual, always nagging and snippy over
every little thing. So I bounced to give her space. I was going to chill with Victoria and Ezra, but met this
fine piece of meat and had spent the past three days getting my pussy absolutely destroyed. Even now, I
was still sore from the marathon he put me through last night—which hadn’t fully recovered from the
marathon before that.

Not only was the guy built in all the right places, but the man rocked my world and sent me to Heaven. A
dangerous combination.

Too bad he snored like a chainsaw and had the bad habit of being overly rough. I was a lady who
enjoyed being absolutely smashed by a well-hung buff guy, but I drew the line when he was slapping my
tits and cheeks raw. Waking up today, cinched it for me. The throbbing pussy may have been a point of
pride, but having tits that matched my hair color? No thanks.

It was a good thing he was a deep sleeper. He was still snoring away after I managed to wiggle out from
under him. Stretching, I took a deep breath and released it slowly. It was a bit of a game to collect all my
clothes. Bra? Check. Panties? Uh… Where had those gone? Fuck it. Jeans were near his desk and my shirt
was hanging off his TV. One of my socks was missing. Probably hanging out with my panties somewhere.
I had to spend a few minutes finding my other shoe. Losing that would have been embarrassing and the
trip home a pain.

Haphazardly dressed, I took one last look at ground zero. The covers were all over the place as the guy
slept on his side. My eyes ran over him, burning it all into memory. His chiseled face, broad shoulders,
thick biceps, ripped abs, and the grand finale—eight and a half inches of Grade-A cock. He didn’t just
have length either. Staring at that poked at the smoldering embers inside me and I hesitated on the
thought of leaving without saying goodbye. Sore as I was…

No. Stop, Alexis. Soreness aside, my poor tits weren’t going to survive another session with him. Just
them resting in my bra caused them to ache. Besides, as great as the sex had been, I had no interest in
extending this. Three days was already pushing it. Guys tended to get attached if I started to stick
around and I didn’t want to deal with him trying to get my number or anything like that. Best to keep
the memories I had and up and leave.

But that cock…

One last sweep of the room to find my missing panties and sock came up with nothing. I did notice the
number of used condoms lying around. Wow. No wonder I was so sore. Not only did the guy have size,
but he was a fucking machine. Super glad I wasn’t going to clean any of this up.

Turning, I headed for the door before I could talk myself out of leaving. I probably looked like a mess and
smelled like a crusty sock. I didn’t care as I proudly walked my way to the bus stop. My phone was super
dead and I knew I was going to hear it from Natalie when I got home. Of everything, that was the worst.
Not people giving me amused or disgusted looks. It was the idea of Natalie seeing me like this. The look
of disappointment was always there. I deserved it too. I hated that I was such a fuck-up. She had been
more of a mother to me than our mother ever was, and here I was… scrambling home after running the
moment things got a little tough at home.

I didn’t know what happened, but she had been hurting. Instead of being the good sister, I ran. I left her
to deal with it alone while I forgot all about… well… everything. It seemed like I went through this every
time. I’d hook up with some good-looking guy, enjoy myself in the moment, then spend the ride home
regretting how my sister would look at me. Didn’t stop me from repeating the same damn thing again
and again. It wasn’t just this either. The orgies didn’t help. Even normal parties ended with me a bit tipsy
and taking a few boys upstairs to have fun with. The only remotely ‘healthy’ relationship I had was the
one I shared with Victoria and Ezra. I think the only thing that helped me there was that I knew I was a
welcome guest. Sleeping with other people aside, they were emotionally invested in each other in a way
I would never have a part in—not that I wanted that anyway. Attachments were complicated and only
brought pain.

Jake.
There he was again, constantly creeping in when he was the last person I wanted to think about. Victoria
was right. My mind was filled with him. A parasite that wouldn’t leave me alone. Invasive and ever-
present. Even as my latest conquest destroyed my pussy with his amazing cock, it was Jake I was
thinking about. Now, I’ve fantasized about plenty of guys while with another guy, but nothing on this
level.

My head thumped against the bus window as I stared blankly at the passing decor of the city. “Just fuck
him already,” I mumbled to myself. The sooner I did that, the sooner I could shake him off.

Sitting here on the bus was dangerous. Alone, it gave me time to think. To reflect on what the hell I was
doing. Jake’s question still sat there in my mind. What did I want?

Food would be a good start.

I was running again. Jumping at the first thought that allowed me to ignore the problems I faced. Like
how my initial attempts to seduce Jake failed, leading me to form an actual friendship with him. A
friendship with actual feelings and emotions involved. I was never all that serious about Jake when we
first met. He was just a fun puzzle to try and get a reaction from. Now? Now I cared about him and
wanted to fuck him. A combination that was a disaster waiting to happen. Without thinking, I’d caught
myself in a web of my own making.

Victoria had been right. I was scared of the idea of sleeping with Jake. With other guys, it didn’t matter if
things went well or not. Sex was sex and after it was done I simply moved on. With Jake though? I
actually cared about what he thought of me. What if things didn’t go well? I was a hell of a good lay and
I knew what I was doing so I wasn’t worried about rocking his world. My worries stemmed from
something deeper. What if a good lay wasn’t what he was looking for? Or the most terrifying thought of
all: What if I was looking for something more than a quick lay?

Unlike Natalie, I was proud of my body count. I didn’t care if most people would call me a slut or cum
dump or whatever derogatory thing that made them feel better because deep down, they were jealous
they could never get the kind of action I was. I had zero qualms rolling out from under a spent guy at a
party and hopping on the dick of his friend. If I was lucky, they’d be the type of guys who were perfectly
fine doubling up on a girl. A rare treat I would never turn down.

So when a guy didn’t ‘click’ with me or got bored and tossed me aside, I didn’t care one bit. I was going
to do the same. With Jake though, things were different. He wasn’t some dude I’d play with before
moving on without a word. I had investments in place. A foundation for something beyond sex. Jake was
a rock I could cling to. No matter how rough the storm, no matter how dumb I was acting, he was always
there. Yeah, he didn’t express his feelings… at all. Yet I never once got the feeling that he didn’t care.
Without intending for it, Jake had become an important fixture in my life. Someone who could be relied
on to be there. He knew what I was like, what I did in my free time and he still accepted me. There were
times when he flirted back, so there was interest there… right?

And I was terrified. Terrified because I always fucked things up given enough time. There was no reason
to believe it would be any different with Jake.

Tension (Jake PoV)

The doorbell ringing was unexpected. Finding a disheveled Alexis was even more unexpected—and
concerning. I hadn’t seen her in this state in some time. Her red hair was a mess, clumped against her
face with a twisted nest of loose strands tied together atop her head. Her cheeks were rosy and there
were bags under her eyes. The t-shirt was wrinkled as it hung loosely from her body and even from here
I could smell… something.

The last time I’d seen her in such a state, I got her to confess she’d been at a day-long orgy. It was a
secret I kept from Natalie at her insistence.

“Hey,” she said with a small smile. Her noise was a mix of embarrassment and resignation.

Stepping back, I held open the door so she could enter. Shuffling past me, I quickly closed the door
behind her. “Your sister has been worried sick about you.”

“Eh. This isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last.”

I followed after her. “I was worried too.” Stopping, she turned around to look at me. “Natalie mentioned
you were missing yesterday. Told me to text her if you decided to come home.”

“Why were you worried?”

“You are an important friend. Why wouldn’t I be concerned when you disappear without telling
anyone?”

It was hard to get a read on her noise because it seemed she didn’t know what she was feeling either.
“‘Friend,’ huh…” She sighed as she leaned against my table. Her wince didn’t go unnoticed.

Moving over to stand in front of her, her noise spiked with anticipation as her eyes met mine. Reaching
up, I brushed the hair from her face before she looked away. “These look bruised,” I said running my
fingertips over her left cheek. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

She looked my way again and said nothing for several seconds before shrugging her shoulders. “The guy
was a bit rougher than most. Nothing to worry about.”

“He didn’t—”

“No! It was all consensual.” There was a shift in her noise. I didn’t have time to examine it fully as took a
negative tilt. “Sometimes I like it rough, ya know? It’s why I hung around for so long. The things he did to
me... I’m surprised I still have my voice considering all the screaming I did. Haven’t been fucked like that
in—”

“Stop.”

Smirking, she leaned back, propping herself up with her arms. “Why? Jealous?”

“Do you want me to be?” That smug smile she wore vanished. “I don’t understand. Are you using your
sexual experiences with other men to create distance between us? Have I done something to upset
you?”

She straightened, looking serious. “No! I—”

“It won’t work.” Falling silent, she stared at me as I moved in closer. She was lucky the bruising wasn’t
bad. Maybe a bit red, but I didn’t think it would turn purple or anything. Natalie was going to panic
though. Our eyes met and I realized I was closer than I thought. “I’d never hate you for something like
that.”

Her nervousness wrapped around me as her eyes held mine. The hesitation was gone. I didn’t need to
see her noise to know what she wanted from me. A little bit more and our lips would meet. There would
be no stopping after that—even in the state she was. For the first time, it was entirely on me to make
the final move.

I pulled away.

“Jake.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t.” The emotional pain was there as she looked away. The rejection hung heavy on her
noise. “As much as I would love to continue, circumstances have changed.”

“You don’t need to make excuses,” she said as she hopped up from the table. “No guy likes sloppy
seconds.” The way she said it made it obvious that had been a dig at me. Like she had taken my earlier
words and was using them against me.

My hand found her arm before she could walk away. There was anger in her noise as she turned to face
me. “You misunderstand—”

“Nothing to misunderstand. I get it, Jake. Really. I do.” It looked like she was going to stop there, but the
pain in her noise surged. “I wasn’t expecting us to hop into bed. I’m a mess in more ways than one, but a
kiss? Am I that disgusting you can’t even—”

“I have a girlfriend.” That got her to stop, surprise and shock finding unity on her face and noise. “So
whatever you are thinking right now, it’s wrong. I’m not rejecting you because of what you’ve done, but
because I have responsibilities to another. I wish circumstances were different. I really do. I never lied
when I said you were important to me.”

“Girlfriend…” She looked stunned. None of my other words reaching her beyond that one.

I nodded. “We just started going out.”

She was silent. I tried to get a read on her noise, but it was moving too fast as layer after layer of
emotion flashed by. “So it’s really because of her?” I nodded. “If she wasn’t in the picture…”

“I would say something about rocking your world, but I considering your state, a softer touch might be
the better way to go.”

She chuckled, shaking her head. “A guy like you? I could take it.”

“I know.”

Tossing her head back, she ran her hands through her hair. “Fuuuck,” she groaned. “Here I thought I
would be the one to pop your cherry. I feel like the damn rabbit, taking a nap while the turtle trots past
to get the prize.” Turning, she headed towards my room. “Going to borrow your shower, okay?”
“Sure.”

Pausing by my doorway, she glanced back my way. “Want to help me clean up?”

“I don’t trust myself to keep my hands from wandering.”

“Kinda hoping they do.”

“Which is why I’m going to say no.”

She let out a dramatic sigh. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

I watched her sad noise disappear into my room. She kept the door open, but I didn’t follow or peek.
While it was fresh in my mind, I reflected on what emotions floated around me. Disappointment was a
major one. After all this time, she was finally ready for us to take the final step only I wasn’t able to take
it. If Chloe and I hadn’t agreed to give the dating thing a try, I would be with Alexis right now.

I don’t know what had happened to make her ready, but beyond the disappointment, I saw concern.
This was an important moment for Alexis and I had let her down. She wasn’t in a great place and I had
the power to improve her mental and emotional state. Alexis wasn’t like Chloe in the sense that
empathy and communication brought an inner strength and sense of wellbeing. She was physical in
nature. Telling Alexis something wasn’t nearly as effective as showing her with action. That had never
been an issue until now.

Being in a relationship was going to be a greater challenge than I expected.

I wanted to help Alexis, but besides having sex with her, I didn’t know how. She seemed to crave
connection, but paradoxically pushed others away. I had no doubt she enjoyed sex, but after so long of
seeing her noise and how she wielded it against me, I think she used it as an excuse to keep people
away. Her simultaneous desire to be both closer and more distant to me was confusing.

I didn’t know how this new information was going to change our relationship. Alexis was one of the few
friends I had and I didn’t want to lose that relationship. I only hoped she felt the same way.

Alexis (Natalie PoV)

Trying my best to work the anger out of my system on the way home was mixed at best. I was livid.
Three days without so much as a word to me. I thought we were past this, but apparently we were still
in the same god damn dance we always were. Here I was busting my ass to keep us afloat and she goes
off and does god-knows-what with god-knows-who.

When I got home, I burst through the door like a righteous thunderstorm ready to rain down holy
vengeance. That all evaporated once I laid eyes on her.

“Alexis,” I breathed as I rushed to her as everything I was carrying fell to the floor. “Are you okay?”

“No,” she said. It was all my fears happening at once, my stomach dropping off into the void. What had
happened to her when she was away? Who hurt her? How? I didn’t care who he was. I was going to find
him and feed him his balls. “Jake has a girlfriend.”
The words hit me in a weird way. For one, I didn’t understand why that information made it seem like
her world was collapsing. Two, why did I care?

“What does that—”

I caught myself. Alexis had been flirting with Jake since we first met him. Recently, the playful nature of
it had shifted. I don’t even think she noticed—until now. She was experiencing a moment when she
discovered the world didn’t revolve around her. That people lived their own lives outside of hers. She
had taken Jake’s presence for granted. How many guys had she brought over these past few years? I had
tried to nudge her in the right direction, but she refused to listen and was now suffering the
consequences.

Even though this was a situation of her own creation, I felt for her. How could I not? She was my sister.
After surviving our personal hell together, I swore to myself that I would always do my best to protect
her. No matter what.

Wrapping her in a hug, she lost it shortly after. I ran my hand through her hair as I made soothing sounds
to cover the sounds of her sobs. As I let the emotions bleed from her, I found my thoughts turning
inward. My heart was heavy, and while Alexis was a major cause of that it wasn’t the entire story. The
news of Jake’s girlfriend made me uncomfortable. I should feel nothing. Jake was a good friend, so him
getting a girlfriend was a good thing.

Right?

I pushed those thoughts away as I focused on Alexis. She was the priority now.

We ended up in my bed. We shared the same bedroom with most of the available space taken up by the
two beds. It was the problem of living in an apartment designed for single people, but it was all I could
reasonably afford.

I stroked at her hair, arms wrapped around her. She’d stopped crying some time ago but I knew she was
still suffering in her own way. I wanted to help her, but I was at a loss. There was a time where I stood in
her position, distracted by simple pleasures. I knew all too well the consequences that could come from
the lifestyle. The only thing that saved me from that dark place was Alexis.

Sadly, it seemed my efforts didn’t have the intended results. Alexis was still locked in the wanton life full
of sex and parties. A selfish part of me hoped this would be the moment she realized how destructive
her lifestyle choices were. They were unsustainable. What she was experiencing now could be the
moment I had years back that corrected my life course. If so, I was glad that it had been something
minor like this and not something far worse.

Or it could tip her farther into the lifestyle she was in. Something that terrified me and I fought against
every day. What hurt the most was how little control I had over the situation. I wanted to help her, but
she was ultimately the only one who could make that choice.

I just hoped she chose correctly.

Adam's Warning (Jake PoV)

The days settled into a routine of sorts. Chloe and I presented our project with a final grade in the upper
A range. Mr. Braun’s noise showed he was somewhat upset while he watched us present. I think he had
been counting on Chloe’s usual way of passing classes.

Those days were coming to an end. Part of our routine revolved around the library. It was the perfect
place to pass the time while I waited for her to finish for the day. Once she arrived, we spent our time
together going over homework and talking. She was smarter than she gave herself credit for. With my
help, she was gradually catching up. I guessed she would be caught up by the end of the month. The
problem had always been her lack of motivation, picking the easy route instead of pushing herself to do
that work. With me nudging her along, motivation was no longer the issue and she jumped into
schoolwork with a vengeance.

Since I started dating Chloe, things were changing. The closer I got to Chloe, the more distant my
relationship with the Parker sisters seemed to be. It had been two weeks since Alexis had invited herself
into my apartment. Instead, she spent her time with others and seemed hellbent on making sure I heard
everything she was getting herself into.

Natalie wasn’t taking Alexis’ behavior well. She was coming home later and later. First to avoid whatever
trouble her sister had brought home, though that had begun to morph into her coming home in a more
inebriated state. That habit had only started recently, though I suspected it had something to do with
why she had stayed home over the weekend instead of visiting her boyfriend.

Things were spiraling next door. I could see the melancholy emotions taking root in their noise. It fed
into their behavior, dragging them deeper into its embrace. My relationship with them seemed to be
collapsing, but my efforts to reach out seemed doomed to fail. Alexis always brushed me off before
ushering her latest conquest into her apartment smiling at me before chasing them inside. Natalie never
seemed to be sober outside of work. The rapid decline and collapse of what had taken two years to
build was unexpected and I felt powerless to stop it.

Even on the Chloe front, things were starting to take a negative turn. Her spending time with me hadn’t
gone unnoticed, and people were beginning to talk. Rumors spread and it wasn’t long before whispers
of our relationship made it to the ears of her loyal patrons.

Their snide comments meant nothing to me, which seemed more upsetting to them than anything I
could say back. None of their comments, jeers, or remarks made any impact. The problem was I was
getting noticed. People seemed to seek me out for all the wrong reasons, which brought their noise and
all the negative emotions tied with it. It was exhausting.

Guys seemed to fall into two camps. The first was the Chloe fan club. These usually made up the less-
popular crowd. For one reason or another, they all seemed to have some sort of emotional attachment
to my girlfriend. They weren't buying Chloe's Gift so much as her attention, however brief that attention
was. Chloe seemed to like them, mentioning once that they like to bring her little gifts or tipped for her
services. They saw me as a threat and regarded me with jealousy and anger. I wasn’t sure if it was a
mistaken belief that I would take away their access to her, or that they wished to be in my position.
Either way, they were the larger of the groups and usually limited their hate and disdain to a distance,
not wanting or unable to confront me directly. Instead, they did their best to make my life miserable
indirectly by spreading rumors or other petty things.
The smaller but more dangerous group were the giants and titans who had grown used to Chloe’s Gift.
They saw my presence as a threat to their supply. They moved in the shadows, plotting and
manipulating the other group into doing their bidding. Overall, they didn’t care about me or Chloe, only
that they had unfettered access to her Gift. So far, this group remained relatively quiet but if Chloe ever
talked about quitting...

“So, this is where you hang out. Clever. For something so obvious, not many think to come up here.” I
didn’t need to look to know who it was. His noise had been obvious since he was walking up the stairs.
Adam moved up to stand beside me. Only then did I glance over. His noise betrayed his calm demeanor.
I was glad Chloe wasn’t up here at the moment. She had just left to go get our lunch, so it would be
several minutes before she returned.

“What do you want, Adam?” His charisma was probing at my defenses. A subtle application that was
completely useless. That didn’t mean I enjoyed him doing it. The guy was trying to manipulate me into
looking at him in a friendly light.

My flat tone must have seemed hostile to him because his annoyance flared in his noise. “So you know
me.”

“Not many in the school who don’t.”

He smiled. I could see why people liked him. Good looks and charm went a long way on their own. Add
in his Gift and he was a force of nature. “Good. Then this should be a short conversation.”

His Gift pressed harder against my defenses. Pathetic. Chloe’s noise put more pressure on my mind than
his Gift did. I think he was waiting for me to say something, but I remained silent. This annoyed him
more though his facial expression and body language was nothing but warm and welcoming. He was an
excellent actor.

“Rumor has it Chloe has taken a liking to you.”

“I should hope so. She’s my girlfriend.”

Irritation flared in his noise but also something else. Amusement? Curiosity? “So it’s true. You two are
actually dating.”

“Usually what the girlfriend title implies.”

His smile remained friendly despite there being no warmth in his eyes. “Perhaps you can help me then,”
he said cheerfully as he threw his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in. “See, I ran into a bit of a
problem yesterday.”

“Oh?”

He nodded. “I purchased the services of your girlfriend for a mid-week pick-me-up.” He was studying my
reaction after putting some emphasis on the girlfriend part. Disappointment flared as he didn’t get the
sort of reaction he expected. Adam continued without missing a beat. “Normally she has a grand old
time milking my cock dry as I fill her with what she craves. Yesterday, however, she forced me to wear a
condom. Worse, I was no longer able to give that slut her rightful reward—a nice creampie finish.”
He was trying to elicit a reaction from me and was getting nothing. His unease increased as he watched
me. “And?” The single word threw him off.

“I’m not paying five hundred so I can drop my load in a shitty ass condom. I can do that for free with my
girlfriend.”

Interesting. She raised her prices again or Adam was paying more to cut in line. “Then do that.”

His arm resting over my shoulders began to tighten. His friendly mask slipped off as his expression
turned cold. “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying here, so let me spell it out for you. I don’t
give a shit that you two started dating. You want to date the school bicycle? Go for it. Her adding
another cock to her roster doesn’t change anything. Or at least, it shouldn’t…” He trailed off, letting that
word hang in the silence that followed.

“So what exactly do you want from me?”

“From you? Nothing. Chloe on the other hand…” He let out a breath. Releasing me, he smoothed out the
wrinkles on my jacket. “Listen, James—”

“Jake.”

He waved it aside. “Next week, I’m going to fuck Chloe again and I want two things to happen. One, I
want her to tell me to take my condom off. Two, I want her to beg me to cum inside her.”

“Want me to tell her to enjoy it too?”

He grinned. It wasn’t a happy one and held sinister implications. “Oh, enjoyment is never a problem.”

I took a deep breath. “Well, I would love to help you, but I don’t see—”

The explosion of pain blossomed in my stomach as his fist slammed home. For a moment, I forgot how
to breathe as I bent over double. There wasn’t much chance to recover as I felt my knees buckle as his
leg slammed into the back of them. Concrete met my knees, adding more pain. Adrenaline surged
through me, but my mind was clear. The surprise, shock, and fear were absent from the sudden blow,
held at bay by my Gift. A felt a hand run along the top of my head, fingers scratching at the scalp as
Adam took a fistful of hair and yanked my head back.

There was a wildness in Adam’s eyes as the mask was removed completely. It was a look that finally
matched his noise. Eyes wide with the thrill of violence, he grinned at me as he pulled back on my hair.
More pain as my head went in the direction he commanded.

“You forget who you are talking to.” His voice was calm considering the expression he wore. “I can make
your last year here a miserable one. My reach doesn’t stop here. I can make everyone you know and
care about suffer. So I want you to ask yourself one little question: Is that little whore Chloe worth it?”

He released me. Huffing, he went about smoothing out his uniform jacket and putting his hair back in
order. The mask was back on, his smile friendly. “I do abhor violence, but I understand it has a purpose.
A slight application really drives home a message or sends a message on its own.” He was adjusting the
cuffs of his jacket before he stopped, looking down at me. “So tell me, Jake. Do you understand what I’m
asking?”
I nodded.

“Good!” he said cheerfully as he lightly tapped my cheek. “After all, I would hate for something to
happen to Chloe.” My eyes immediately moved to meet his. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. It won’t
be bad. She has her uses after all. I’m just reminding you that failure to heed my words will result
in… consequences.”

One last adjustment of his uniform and he took a step back. “Nice chat, Jake. Looking forward to
speaking with you more.”

He casually sauntered over to the door and left without a single glance back. I got to my feet, brushing
myself off as I went about putting my uniform and hair back in order. I knew the implication of his
words. I was on his radar now and it seemed I wasn’t on his good side.

Walking with Chloe

I managed to recover and brush myself off by the time Chloe returned. She knew something was off
since she saw Adam come down, but didn’t press when I told her it was nothing. That hung over our
lunch together and ruined the mood. I spent the rest of the school day thinking. It wasn’t just about
Adam’s warning, but about my relationship with Chloe in general. Since we started going out, my life
was in flux. Routines were uprooted and everything was changing. This was generally a good thing and
expected considering the importance relationships have in someone’s life, but I never expected so many
things to happen all at once and to change so quickly.

The Parker sisters were an issue I had no answer for. I cared about both of them, and they were growing
more distant. Their noise was degrading as well, turning more melancholy and negative in nature. It was
something I needed to prioritize as the longer this went on, the harder it would be to correct.

Then there was Chloe. I always knew dating her would be a challenge. Beyond the unique challenges
Gifts brought to relationships, her business was always going to be a cloud hanging over us. It was only a
matter of time before trouble started bleeding into our relationship. I had to tell her about Adam and
what happened on the roof today and I planned to, but it wasn’t something she needed to have hanging
over her during classes. I would tell her when we met after school.

Sitting in the library, I paged through a book while I waited for Chloe to finish so we could go home. My
book of choice was a romance novel. Maybe it was a poor and ultimate pointless decision on my part,
but I wanted to read about the emotions involved. How certain things made the characters feel. I
absorbed it all, connecting with none of the events happening in the book. While it was all exaggerated
for effect, I hoped it would provide at least an idea of what Chloe should be experiencing when we were
together. Just because emotions were not important to me did not mean she was the same way.
Romance was important, and I wanted to provide that for her.

Her noise alerted me to her presence as I closed the book and slid it into my bag. Looking over, I stood
as she did her happy walk over. The euphoria was rather tame today.

“You’re earlier than usual,” I said before giving her a quick kiss.

She gave me a funny look. “Why do you make it sound like a bad thing?”
“Not my intention.” She hooked her arm through mine, leaning against me as we walked. I took it a step
farther, seeking out her hand and holding it. She smiled, noise washing pleasantly around me.

We walked in silence out of the library. Halfway to the parking lot where my car waited, she broke the
silence. “What are you thinking about?” I glanced down at her. She turned her head to look up at me.
“You are always so quiet. What do you think about when we are walking like this?” I didn’t answer right
away, thinking about the best answer. She giggled, pulling my attention back to her. “Don’t overthink it.
Just… right now. What were you thinking about?”

“You.”

She smiled. “Something good I hope.”

“Indeed.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, but her smile never left her face. “Care to elaborate?”

“I was thinking about how you finished early.”

The smile faded as she looked forward. “O-oh.” Sadness was creeping into her noise, fighting with her
euphoria.

Realizing the negative implications of my words, I continued. “And since we have a little more time than
we usually do, I was thinking we could go on a date.”

Her eyes lit up at the same time as her noise. “Yeah?”

I nodded. “I realized that we haven’t gone on a proper date since we started our relationship.”

I saw the joy and other positive emotions swirl in her noise before fading as darker emotions crept in.
“I’m…uh…not really dressed for the occasion.”

My eyes ran over her. “You’re perfect as you are.”

“Thanks, but uh… I’d rather take a shower first.” By the end, I could barely hear her. She didn’t make eye
contact with me as we walked. I noticed she had taken a step away from me and was no longer pressed
against me.

My hand tightened around hers. “You don’t need to feel guilty.”

“But I do. I know I’m asking a lot from you and it’s unfair.”

“I don’t see it that way.”

“Just because you can’t feel it, doesn’t make it okay.” She let out a sigh as her attention went forward. “I
know I’m being selfish here. You are offering me something I’ve only dreamed about—a real relationship
with someone who cares about me. At the same time, by continuing selling my… Gift… it cheapens that.”

Seeing an opportunity to bring up the subject, I took it. “Is that why you stopped offering the no-
condom perk?”

Her eyes widened as surprise filled her noise. She stopped and faced me. “How do you—” Another shift
in her noise as her eyes narrowed. “Adam,” she said, making the connection. “That was why he was on
the roof, wasn’t he? What did he say? What did he do?” Anger was building, bleeding from her noise
into her expression.

I needed to calm her down as she pulled her hand from mine. “Chloe, it was nothing—”

“Don’t lie to me. I know Adam. He doesn’t just pop in for a friendly chat with strangers unless he wants
or needs something from them. Jake. Tell me what he said.” I read the fury in her noise. Not even the
euphoria could stop it.

Stepping forward, I forced myself closer to her as I gently ran my hands over her arms. “I will tell you,” I
said, holding her gaze. “But I need you to calm down first.”

“Just—”

“Chloe.” The single word seemed to break through. It took some time and a lot of huffing and puffing on
her part, but her anger was broken and faded into her noise. I waited until there was only impatience
and annoyance floating around. “Anger doesn’t help us in this situation, so I need you to maintain your
calm.”

“Something tells me that is going to be hard to do,” she muttered. Meeting my eye, she nodded. “Fine.”

So I told her. The more I spoke, the greater the impact. I could see the anger flare-up in her noise,
though her expression remained somewhat passive. By the time I finished, she was a seething volcano
underneath a serene landscape.

“If he thinks he’ll get his way—”

“Chloe—”

“Don’t,” she warned, pointing a finger at me. “Don’t you even think about telling me to go along with
this. You might be okay with this, but I am not.”

I hesitated. I’d been about to do that exact thing. I took a moment to shift my thinking. My focus had
been on my reaction—or lack of reaction—to this whole situation. I failed to look at it from her
perspective.

“I apologize. In trying to think of a solution I failed to take into account your desires.” I glanced at the
ground. “I am beginning to realize the simplest of solutions does not necessarily make it the correct
one.”

Taking a deep breath, she released it slowly. “It’s… fine. I know you look at things differently than
everyone else.”

“That isn’t a good excuse. I am no longer in a position to think about only myself. Being in a relationship,
my thinking must change for this new situation. My reference frame should be in what is best for us
together, not just individual components of a larger function.”

She stared at me a second before a snort sounded. She looked at me like I was weird. “God, maybe
you are a robot,” she said with a laugh. Mimicking robotic movement, she deepened her voice slightly as
she spoke in monotone. “Must think beyond individual components of a larger function. Error. Error.”
I said nothing as she continued her robot voice. I knew she was mocking me, but there was no ill intent
there. If anything, it was boosting her mood considerably. The rage she had been feeling was fading
quickly and more positive emotions were replacing it.

“Now that you know my secret, I’m going to have to eliminate you.” Before she could react, my hand
shot out to attack her sides. Her laughter cut through the air as she playfully fought me off. Dancing out
of my reach, she booked it for the car lot with me hot on her trail. Chasing her laughing form, I once
more found myself smiling. As it happened before, the smile ended immediately after I noticed it. It was
enough distraction for her to get some distance.

I pushed all my thoughts aside. There was enough time to worry about problems later. Right now, I only
wanted to enjoy my time with Chloe.