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This is an unedited, unfinished rough draft

Prologue

There was a knock on the door. Doctor Walter Warren, though he was going by Dr. Nerran so if it all went wrong no one would know who he really was, put his glasses on as he walked down the hallway to open it. He was not expecting any visitors this late at night; he had already sent all of his staff home for the night. There was a young couple standing under

the pool of light on his old porch. Looking them up and down he sighed. Stepping back, he gestured for them to come into the house. Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, the young man said. I was not sure you would, but we have heard about what you can do and we have no where else we could go. The young woman who was with him took off the long tan coat she had been wearing. Her belly was just starting to swell enough for others to notice that she was with child. Her eyes were filled with longing and a hope that Dr. Warren did not want to crush. Glancing around at the neighboring houses, he closed the door, fearing that he was sealing his fate by letting them enter. ............................. The experiments began the following week. Walter had thought that he might have a few couples interested, but it turned out that he had so many that he had to turn some couples away. After hiring two more people, he thought that he had enough help, but he was still working most of the day and well into the night as well. He caught himself wearing the same outfit for several days in a row because he was just too busy or too exhausted to change. He would have people showing up at his house in the middle of the night still trying

to get in his program, as he had started calling it. It was hard to turn them down at first, but the more he had to the easier it got. When Dr. Warren first came up with his idea, he knew that he was doing this because he wanted to help people. The further he got into his experiments the less he saw his patients as people. He started seeing them as numbers and as results. He thought that it might be hard to lie to some of his patients, but as it turned out, it was quite easy. Once one lie was out of his mouth more seemed to flow out, almost effortlessly. He did not notice that he had changed, hut the women that he was treating did. Only some of them knew the real reason they were there. Others thought they knew why they were there and the rest of them were completely in the dark about everything. Knowing that a few people might be hurt during this process was always a possibility, but Dr. Warren had always shoved that idea back into the deepest part of his thoughts. When the first baby was born Dr. Warren knew that he could no longer pretend that no one was in danger. Even though it might take years for the results to show up it drove him crazy. But the fact that they were getting hurt gave him even more reasons to do more tests on them. It helped to think about all those who would be healed or even just helped from what

was being compiled from his work. All of the money that he was making did not hurt things either.

Chapter One

Gaylen looked at the school and sighed heavily and absent mindedly played with the bracelet she always wore. Over the past few years the size of her class shrank with the start of a new school year. Last year there were only twenty one juniors. Even though that was an unusually large class for a junior class, the junior class before them only had twelve

students in it, she still felt like a part of her was leaving at the beginning of school. So she walked up the steps and had at least a little bit of hope that there would be at least a few familiar faces waiting in homeroom for her. Opening the door she found that she was the first one to arrive. At least she got to pick whatever desk she wanted. Settling down in a desk that was in the middle of the room she waited. She hoped that she was not the only girl in the class. One year one of the classes had five of the most obnoxious boys and only one girl. She would be devastated if she was put in that situation. She knew that her best friend, Rebekka, would not be here because she tested out right at the start of summer as a level three. Gaylen was happy for her, but also a little sad for herself. Hating to admit it, she was also jealous. She remembered the conversation that they had right after it had happened. They said that nothing would change, that they would still be friends and talk all of the time and hang out together. That part was true, for the first week or so. Then Rebekka would be busy or gone whenever Gaylen would go over to her house or called her. The summer ended up being very long and lonely for her. Digging in her bag she grabbed a well worn paper back book that she was supposed to read over the summer break. She had started to reread it so that it would be fresh in her

mind, so she found the place where she had left off. A few minutes of reading the same sentence four times she closed it and sank down in the desk. The warning bell rang and she stared at the door. On one else had even come in to set their stuff down to claim a seat while they were catching up with others they had not seen all summer. With each passing second Gaylen could feel her nerves getting more excited. Looking at a wadded piece of paper she checked her schedule. Maybe she was just in the wrong room. Nope, Home room Rm. Five Oh Three, she was in the right place. The bell to start classes rang and still, no one else wandered into the room. Either this was a nightmare or she was the only one left in her class this year. She did not know whether she should cry or just leave the school and never come back. Maybe living in seclusion would not be so bad. Laying her head down on the desk she felt waves of humiliation wash over her. She knew her parents had such high hopes for her. With her sister testing out two years early and her younger brother five years early (one of the youngest students ever to do so) they thought that maybe she was just nervous and that was why she had not tested out yet. Being the last one in her class to test out was something that was not even considered.

She could hear the other classes staring through the walls. The sound of kids greeting those that they had not seen all summer almost brought tears to her eyes. She remembered her first day at this school. Some of her friends were surprised to see her here because of her siblings and most of her family had been early testers. She was worried, she actually enjoyed coming to school and learning. Being with her friends was a lot of fun, too. Watching her brother working at age eleven made her sad. He said that he did not mind, that he enjoyed what he did and if it meant helping other people he was going to do it. Hearing the door open, Gaylen brought her head up fast. She did not expect to see who was at the door. Principal Facet was standing in the doorway. She walked through, followed by a man Gaylen had never seen before. Miss. Nolana, please bring your stuff and join us in my office please, she said and then turned around on her heels and left. The man who had been standing behind her gave a quick nod of his head and then he left the room too. Gaylen who had only been in the principals office once because she had been a volunteer for one of the school dances, did not know what to make of Principal Facets tone or the look on her face. She did not look exactly happy, but she did not look like she was pissed off, either. She wondered what the guy with her had to do with anything. She had

never seen him before. Maybe he was some new tester they had brought in to test some of the older students who had not shown any sign of being ready when they were supposed to be. Maybe that was why there was no one else in the room. They were probably already in the office getting ready to take some sort of new test. Yeah, that was what it was Gaylen thought as she gathered up all of her stuff and headed to the office. It was strange to be walking in an empty hall on the first day of school. Her shoes echoed so loudly that she thought that everybody in each classroom that she passed could hear her. She knew that she was just being paranoid, but she tried to take quieter stepps, anyway. When she finally reached the office her heart was beating fast and she hoped she was not sweating through her shirt. Taking a deep breathe she pulled up the courage to knock on the door. The door opened and Gaylen stepped inside. Principal Facet was seated behind her desk in a high back leather chair that looked as if it were made just for her. She looked like she belonged there and she knew it. The man who was with her was on the other side of the desk in a less comfortable looking chair. He had a very expensive looking briefcase set by his feet. He had a passive look on his face, like he was used to waiting on people. The chair next to him was empty so she sat down in it.

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Gaylen, this is Doctor Warren. He runs a special school that specializes in students with, your condition. I will let him explain what he does in more detail. If you need me, I will be out in the main office. Your parents have been notified of this meeting. You are not in trouble, Miss. Nolana, it is just that we do not have the capability to deal with someone in your situation, she said, then stood up and left her office. Gaylen was not sure how she should react to what she just heard, so she sat in silence. Dr. Warren sat quietly beside her. After a few minutes he turned his chair so that he was directly facing her. I know that you probably have quite a few questions for me, so please, do not be afraid to ask me anything, he said. What did she mean by students in my situation? Gaylen asked. I think that she was referring to the fact that you have not tested out yet. It appears that you are the only one left in your class not to do so. She might have said it in a different way, but that is what it boils down to. I run a school that helps those who are not able to pass the test on their own. Now, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with you, and I can not say that I have had a complete one hundred percent success rate. But, I can tell you that my team and I will do our best to help you live up to your best potential. Now that I have

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given you my little spiel, do you have any other questions that you really want to ask? he said with a smile. I did not know that there was another school. Are you saying that there are other kids my age that have not tested out? I thought that because no one else showed up today that it meant that they all passed the test over the summer, Gaylen said, feeling very relieved that she was not the only one. Well, you are the only one from this school, but there are others like you from other areas. My school covers a very large area, so we get calls from all over. Because we do not have very many students it means that we can give you all more individual attention. I have sent some information to your parents so that you as a family can come to a decision that you can all feel better about. I do hope that you chose to come to our school because I believe that we can help you, but I will leave that choice up to you. I will let Mrs. Facet know that we are through here, he said, picking up his briefcase. Gaylen sat in her seat stunned at what she had heard. Obviously this school was away, because she had not even been aware of its existence. That would mean that she would have to move away from her family. She was not sure how she felt about that. She

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would miss her parents and brother. She wanted to say that she would miss her sister, too, but miss was not exactly the word that came to mind when she thought of Sabrina. Sabrina was her older sister and had always made her life a living hell, making fun of her and torturing her her whole life. But this was not your typical and regular sister rivalry, it was Sabrina being mean and spiteful and just plain hateful. Gaylen was never sure what she had done to have her sister treat her so badly. It had been like that for as long as she could remember. One time when Gaylen was twelve and a half Sabrina took all of her shoes and put them outside while it was raining. Two pairs of them were brand new, she had just gotten them for her birthday. They were her new school shoes made from thee softest leather she had ever felt. She recalled waking up and looking for her shoes and not being able to find them anywhere. Sabrina had a smile on her face that Gaylen would never forget. She looked like she had done something and knew that she would get away with it because no one would be able to prove it. After seeing Sabrina look out the window she raced over to the rain streaked window and felt sick to her stomach. There sitting in the middle of the yard completely filled with water were all of her shoes. Each and every pair she had, soaked through and through.

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To figure out at the age of ten that her sister hated her, truly hated her, had a huge impact on her. To have the knowledge that no matter what she did that her sister would never like her weighed heavy on her and she tried to stay out of Sabrinas way and not do anything to cause her to get mad her. The one good thing about Sabrina picking on her was that she pretty much ignored Gabe. Gaylen did her best to make sure that her brother and sister were never alone together. She would have friends stay over at their house instead of going over to theirs when she was younger. Gabe was three and a half years younger then her and she felt a great sense of responsibility to keep him safe. Her parents thought that their kids had typical fights that brothers and sisters had, they never saw the true animosity that was between their two daughters. Gaylen did spoil Gabe rotten; she did it because she never wanted him to feel like she did with Sabrina. She wanted to spare him of hating his sisters, so she never told anyone, even Gabe, what Sabrina was doing to her. Gabe just thought that Gaylen was an overprotective big sister. He never really had the chance to interact with Sabrina and Gaylen only felt a little guilty about being the cause of that. She would rather him be safe and happy then to have Sabrina take her anger and wrath out on him. Sabrina did not seem to care either way. If she wanted to hurt someone or see someone cry Gaylen would gladly

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throw herself in front of her little brother, he was not going to be hurt like she had. Sabrina was very smart and devious, a lethal combination in her case. Leaving the school Gaylen looked up at the massive building that she was so used to going to. If her parents decided to send her away to this new school she wondered if it would look anything like this place. Sure, it was old and falling apart a little bit more each year, but it was HER school. The bricks were faded and cracking, but it was sturdy and familiar. True, there were days that she hated having to come here, especially since her class started shrinking because it only helped to remind her that she had not tested out yet. But she was not sure she was ready to leave behind everyone and everything that she knew. Maybe her parents would decide to keep her at home and just hire a private tutor or something. As she walked home she tried to soak up all that she things that she normally took for granted. Gazing up at a tall, bare tree, she remembered the time she dared Gabe to climb all the way up to the top. He had only been seven or eight at the time and had made it half way up when he looked down. He stopped moving and refused to go up or to come down. Gaylen had thought that it was funny at first. After about ten minutes she pleaded with him to come down. She had been so worried that she would be the one to get in trouble, after all

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it had been her brilliant idea for him to climb the tree that she knew was too big for him. She told Gabe that she would be right back, that she was going to go and get their dad. He did not move, not even to shake his head to show that he understood. Grabbing one of the lower branches she could still feel how hard that one thin branch felt on her backside after her father had retrieved Gabe from the tree. Picking up her pace she hurried to get home. She did not even have to think about which way to walk, because it was like second nature. This was the first year that she had to walk it by herself, though. When she was little she would run the way, trying to catch up with Sabrina. Her sister would always try to find the longest, most confusing way hoping to get Gaylen lost. When Gabe started school, Gaylen would hold his hand all the way, and she always walked slow enough so that he kept up pretty easy. After Sabrina and Gabe had both tested out she walked with Addison. Walking with her always took the longest because they would goof off and talk. After this morning and now walking alone she realized how long and lonely the walk was all by herself. Seeing her house across the street she how much she was used to her life. She knew that she should not scared to move on, but for some reason she had a feeling of dread that she could not shake. It was probably just her nerves acting up, after all this morning had been

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pretty strange. To realize that she was the only one her age left without having her potential show to learning that she might have to go away to a special school. Her life had pretty much turned up side down

Chapter Two

Both of Gaylens parents were waiting for her on the couch when she opened the front door. She almost dropped her bag because she thought they would both be at their jobs and she would have the house to herself for at least a little while longer. Her mom was sitting calmly with her hands laid in her lap. She looked as if it was a normal day and she was just waiting for someone who needed her help. Her dad, on the other hand, looked as if he

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just rolled out of bed. His hair was all messed up looking, as if he had been running his fingers through it, like he did when he was nervous or upset. His tie had been loosened and was hanging uneven. He only had one sleeve rolled up, forgetting that the other one was still buttoned tightly around his wrist. Well, I guess either Principal Facet or Dr. Whats his name called you guys, huh? Gaylen said, sitting down in an empty chair beside the couch. Yes, your principal called your father at work. I really wish she would have called later today, but I guess we should have been expecting a call like this, her mom said. she explained how this school could help you. Youd also be around other kids you have, who are more like you. Your father and I were discussing how you might feel better and be willing to try a little bit harder if you did go to the school. Now, Mere, you do have a say in this, you know, her dad said, give a side look to his wife. When would I have to leave? Gaylen asked, looking down at her shoes. Maybe it would not be such an embarrassment to her family if she did leave and go to the school. They would probably send her back pretty quickly when they found out that she was messed up

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and could not be fixed. But she was willing to try it if it would make her parents happy. That was what she was supposed to do, right? Make her parents happy and proud of her. Um, they wanted you there as soon as we could get you there, the sooner, the better, is what we were told. I have permission to take a few days off so we can get you settled at the school. Its only a few hours away, so if you have any problems or if you want to come home we can come get you at any time, her dad said. I didnt realize that it would be so soon. If they wanted me there tomorrow why didnt they let us know before today? Its not like they dont know who hasnt tested out. Everybody knows they keep records on who can do what, how they can do it, and when they first could do it, Gaylen said quietly. It is not for us to question, they contacted us when they thought it was the right time. We should have assumed that something would be happening with you at your age and with what should have happened by now. We need to make the best of this situation and this Dr. Warren is a credible man. I have heard of him and I personally know that he has helped several families, her mom said.

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You mean that he helped some other families safe face when their kids did not measure up to what their parents wanted them to be like. Ill go start packing so we can leave whenever you want to, Gaylen said getting up. When Gaylen got up to her room she did not know where to start. What should she take? She did not even know how big her new room would be or how much stuff she could fit in it. Would she have to wear another uniform or would she be able to wear her down time clothes? How many students would be there and did they want to be there or were they there to make their parents happy like she would be? So many questions and fears were running around in her head she had to sit down. Floppy down on her bed she grabbed her pillow and curled up. She was wondering how long she would have to be at this school when she fell asleep. When Gaylen woke up her eyes felt all puffy and dry. She realized that she had fallen asleep while she was crying, or maybe she had cried in her sleep. Standing up and stretching she saw that someone, most likely her dad, had put a brand new set of luggage in her on the floor beside her bed. There were five pieces total, all a light golden brown with varying shades of aqua stripes running criss cross all over them. They were not childish

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looking, but not old fashioned, they were perfect. Just seeing them there made her feel a little bit better about having to leave. Grabbing the largest of the set she started packing some of her heavier clothing the hopefully she would not need for a few more months if the weather stayed how it was right now. A knock on the door startled her and she dropped the pair of dark green pants she held in her hands onto her unmade bed. You scared me, mom, she said, trying to catch her breath. I just wanted to check on you and see if you needed any help getting your things ready for your trip. Your father picked out the luggage, he said that it reminded him of you. If you do not like it there is a classic and functional set that I wanted to get you. We can always go and trade it in if you want to, her ever practical mother said, looking at the suitcases and frowning. No, I like this set, it makes me happy to look at it, she said, looking down. O. K., well, I guess Ill head back down stairs now. Call me if you need any help packing. I need you to be ready to leave within the next few hours. We are going to go and have dinner as a family before you leave. When I called your sister, she said she would not miss seeing you off for anything. I will never see why you two do not get along she obviously

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cares about you greatly. Shes willing to drop whatever she is doing to spend some time with you, so please dont make a scene tonight, she said shaking her head as she left the room. Her mom just did not see how bad Sabrina treated others, she closed her eyes and looked the other way. Maybe it was because Sabrina was the first born and would always be the little girl who could do no wrong. It did not matter now, Gaylen thought. She was leaving, going to some school that she had never heard of, where they specialized in treating and curing freaks like herself. Maybe they would help her test into something cool, like blowing things up, that would be pretty cool. At least then she would have fun every day destroying things. She hoped that it did not turn out to be something lame, she once heard about a boy who could only change the temperature of water three and three quarter degrees in either direction. Then she started to worry about not being able to test into anything at all. She did not think that it would be so bad, not being able to do anything, but people looked down one those who never tested into anything. They became the ones no one spoke about or even claimed belonged to their family. It would be devastating for her mother. She was always worrying about what the neighbors might think. She had always been that way, even when Gaylen was just a little girl. She always had to be in a nice and clean dress

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without any stains or holes in it. For someone who loved to be outside all of the time this was extremely hard and not to get dirty was nearly impossible. Of course though, mommys little perfect angel, Sabrina, always looked presentable and spotless. Whatever, Gaylen tought, I guess that I get to start over. She would not have to compare herself to Sabrina and try to live up to her unreachable expectations anymore. She could get to be Gaylen, who she was without apologies. She looked over her room trying to decide what all she needed to take with her. There was not much for her to choose from, her room looked sparse compared to other people she knew. She had a few pictures up on the wall, and to little figurines on top of her dresser. She did not need item or tons of pictures to remember events.(She is creative and messy, fix this later) Hearing a door slam, she looked out the window and muttered a few choice words, coming up the driveway was Sabrina. There went her last night at home down the drain. NEED MORE The drive with her parents seemed to last double what it should have had taken. Her mom kept talking about how going to this school was such a great opportunity for Gaylen. Her dad kept reminding her that it was not that far from home and that it would always be her home and open to her, no matter what. It was almost like watching a ping pong ball game. One parent would say something and the other one would say the exact opposite.

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They almost missed the school the first time because it did not look like a school, so they drove right past it. The building was fairly new and had an almost industrial look to it. The front of it was almost made up entirely of giant glass widows that reflected the trees that covered the front lawn. It looked very majestic, all green and gold. This building was not falling apart. She could see the back side of the school expanding well into the distance. With all of the shining metal and gleaming glass she wondered if the sun was bright enough if someone could go blind if they looked at it from the right angle. Gaylen could see a few students weaving their way in between the slender tree trunks. They were laughing and appeared to be having a good time. They did not look like they were being forced to be here against their wills or tortured every other night. They looked like normal students enjoying one of the first days of school, the ones here you really dont have any work to do. When you spend all the time reconnecting with your friends after spending summers apart. Would you look at that building, her mother said excitedly. There must be plenty of funding for them to be able to build a structure of that caliber. I wonder who they hired to design it?

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Im sure that we can ask Dr. Warren those questions after we help get Gaylen settled in, her dad said as he pulled their car into a parking spot. Yes, I am sure you are right. Speaking of getting Gaylen settled in, let me find the map that has her room and classes on it. I know that I have it here somewhere, her mom said digging in her sleek leather bag. Gaylen kept looking out the window as her parents debated over which way would be the quickest way to get from her third class period to her fourth class period. She was used to having them put their input in her life. She wondered how it was going to be when they left. Having to make a bunch of small choices for herself may not seem like such a big thing, but it would be a new experience for her. It seemed that they had her whole life planned out for her. She knew that they had her best interest in mind, but sometimes she felt like they were smothering her. Maybe being not normal was actually going to work in her favor this time. Finally, after exiting the car after her mom had mapped out the short routes to each of her classes and all other possible reasons that she would have to go anywhere, they made their way to the main building. Several of the students and people they assumed to be part of the faculty waved and smiled at them. Some of them offered to help them find the office, but Gaylens mother said that they had their map and that they wanted to see if they could

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navigate their way on their own. She thought that it was a good idea for Gaylen to get used to the campus from the very start. Sure enough, using the much highlighted copy of the map they made their way to the main office without any trouble. Behind one of the desks was a grandmotherly looking woman with a very large amount of brightly red colored hair. Her glasses hung on a very old looking chain around her neck. You must be the Nolana family. Dr. Warren wanted me to relay that he is very sorry, but he will be delayed for a little bit longer due to some unforeseen circumstances. If you want to make yourselves comfortable, I will let you know when he is available. I am Mrs. Ranhaun, by the way. I want you to know that we are very happy to have Gaylen joining us here at the school. I like to think of myself as a surrogate grandmother to all of the students here, she said, her glasses bouncing around the desk she was behind. Im glad to know that Gaylen will have someone she can go to if she needs to. Do you think that we have enough time to put her things in her room before Dr. Warren will be able to see us? her mother asked. Yeah, that was what Gaylen wanted, to tell all of her secrets and fears to a sixty five year old woman. Did her mom ever stop to think about how humiliating some of things that

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she said were? Thankfully there were no other students in the office to overhear this horrific conversation that was being held. The door opened and Gaylen looked over at who had just walked in. Oh no, she spoke too soon. In walked one of the most interesting looking guys she had ever seen. He was gorgeous in a conventional manner, he was too rough looking for anyone to say that about him. His looked like one of the cocky guys who was used to getting what he wanted whenever he wanted. She immediately did not like him and his smug walk. I suppose that you might have just enough time to drop her stuff off, if you hurry. It is an honnor Ill let him know where you are if he is finished before you are back. He likes to meet with the family together before a student starts classes, so that everyone is aware of what is expected. Because this is a special school there are some special rules of course, Mrs. Ranhaun said. Please have a seat Liam, Dr. Warren talk with you when he can, she said curtly to the boy who had entered the office. Gaylen cast a look back at him as they left and he smirked at her before she closed the door. Of course they found the room without any delay. It was what Gaylen had expected it to be. It was a moderate size, not too small, but just enough room for two beds, two dressers, and a small walk way between the two sides of the room. The walls were not stark white, but a pale shade of melted butter. Two of the walls each had an abstract print

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on them that were not too crazy, but not boring. One bed was already made with a thick bright orange and green comforter loosely thrown on it. Three mismatched shoes were peeking out from underneath the bed. Placing her bags on the unmade bed her dad looked around the room. I guess its not so bad. I hope you werent expecting a huge room and a bathroom all to yourself, he said trying to lighten the mood. No, its a nice room. Im sure that it will be fine. It wasnt like I was expecting a palace or anything, it is just a school after all, Gaylen said smiling at him. We should get back to the office, we do not want to keep your new principal waiting, now do we, her mom said walking to the door. Gaylen and her dad followed her out of the door. Her mother was nothing if not punctual and a rule follower. Sometimes she wondered how her parents got together. It wasnt that they really fought or anything, it was just they never showed anything of much to each other. It made her kind of sad, she thought that people should be in love and at least of a little bit of fun together. She hoped when she found who she was going to spend the rest of her life with that he was fun and supportive of her. She knew that they would not get

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along all of the time, but she hoped that they would not get stuck in such a rut that they just went through the motions. When they got back to the office Mrs. Ranhaun was just closing the massive wooden door that led to Dr. Warrens office. Perfect timing. Dr. Warren just finished what he was doing. Go ahead and go on in. Gaylen followed her parents into the dark room. The man behind the desk surprised her. He looked totally different here, sitting behind his desk, then he did when she met him at her school. Here he looked in control and like a man on a mission. He exuded an air of confidence that surprised her. But there was something almost sinister about him. She could not quite put her finger on it, but it was right there under the surface. She wondered if it was just because of the pressure he was put under. She did not think that she would want the responsibility of having all of these kids that he was enlisted to fix. Gaylen zoned out as her parents discussed all of the normal boring adult things with Dr. Warren. She did notice that her dad would look at him and then shake his head, like he was going to say something, but he never did. She could see her moms eyes get big and bright when the doctor went over the percentage of students who excelled here, rather than in the normal school setting. Gaylen hoped it was because of the students who were able to

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test out and not because she was sending her away from the normal school where everyone knew that there was something not quite right with her daughter and she was embarrassed. Maybe she was just relieved to know that there were other kids out there who had the same problems Gaylen did and that there might be a chance that she was not a broken as they originally thought. Her dad was now looking everywhere but at the doctor. It was as if he did not want to hear anything that the doctor was saying and if he did not hear it, then it was not true and not happening. Her dad had always been the one who always said that Gaylen fine the way she was, that she would test out when she was ready and that there was nothing wrong with that. He liked to say it was because she was so stubborn, like he was, but he always had a smile on his face when he said it. When Dr. Warren was done giving his little spiel, he offered to give them a tour of the campus. But Gaylens mom declined stating that they had already been to each of the classrooms as well as the gym and recreational room. How very efficient of you Mrs. Nolana, he said. I wonder if some of your skills have been passed down to your daughter Gaylen.

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Her mother laughed, Gaylen is the least organized of our children. I think that Sabrina, our eldest child, took most of that gene and whatever was left skipped Gaylen and found our son Gabe. But, her dad interrupted, Gaylen makes up for her lack of organization with how creative she is. She can come up with solutions that no one else would even consider and usually faster than anybody else too, he said with a proud smile. Being creative is a good thing to be also, we like it when students think outside of the box. One of the theories that we have come up with is that certain students are not testing out because they think in a different way than most other people, Dr. Warren said a little bit less enthusiastic then he had when he answered her mother just a second ago. Now, I know that you had planned on staying the night to help get Gaylen settled in, but I think that since classes have already began maybe it would be best to let her join the other student right away. I do not want her to feel awkward, you know how sensitive kids this age are and with, well, you know, their complications, it makes the situation a little more sensitive than most. I will leave it up to you as a family to decide, though, Dr. Warren said scouring the grounds around them.

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Gaylen looked around and saw that it was between classes now and a few of the students were milling around. Some of them kept looking their way and when they were caught staring quickly found something else to look at. Looking at both of her parents she made the choice for them. You guys can go if you want to. Ill be fine, she said. She wanted them to stay, at least for the night, but she knew that they should go. She did not want other students to label her a baby who needed mommy and daddy around to hold her hand because she was scared. It took her mom about three seconds to decide that it would probably be for the best if they went ahead and left, that she was a big girl and would not get lost on the campus by herself. After seeing her parents off, she walked back to her new room and set on her bed. She breathed a sigh of relief because she was all by herself. She was here with others who were like her. Now she would not stick out so much, she might be able to fly under the radar. She would not always be compared to so and so. She could be herself. People here would not know that her sister received one of the highest test out scores ever or that her brother was one of the youngest kids ever to test out. Here she could just be Gaylen who has not tested out. Plus if they did fix her here and she tested out, even with a low score, her mom

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would be so relieved and her dad would be so proud of her. Any score would be better than no score at this point, she would already be one of the oldest ones to do so. The door being forced opened interrupted Gaylens thoughts. Coming in the room was one of the most LATER girls she had ever seen. She had the hugest smiles on her face that Gaylen had ever seen. Hi, I m Donahue, and Im guessing that you are Gaylen Nolana. Age 17 and have not even tested out at a level one yet. Your older sister, Sabrina, is a level nine and your brother, Gabe, tested out at the age of eleven at a level seven. Though, some people think that he should test out again and then he would probably be a level nine or even a ten, she said all in one breath. Wow, I guess that saves me the problem of introducing myself. Looks like you know all about me already, Gaylen said. Well, is there anything else you would like to know about me? Or is there anything else that you would like to tell me about myself I should say? I think that Im going to like you. You are much more interesting than my last roommate. All she did was sit on her bed staring and moaning about what a failure she was because she could not test out. I have not seen her yet this year so hopefully she did this summer so I wont have to hear her bitch and moan all day every day. Hey, you dont mind

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loud music and people in the at all hours, do you? Donahue asked plopping herself on Gaylens bed. Um, was all Gaylen could come up with. You should see your face. Im just kidding. At least about having people in the room all of the time, Im not exactly a people person. I do like my music loud, but I am quite accommodating so I am sure we can work something out. Hey, that is a cool bracelet, where did you get it? she asked. My grandmother gave it to me the day she died. I remember she wore it all the time and never took it off. I used to play with it and try to take it off of her so I could wear it, but she never let me. She would tell me stories about each stone and while I was getting lost in them I would completely forget that I wanted to wear it, she said. Maybe when we have more time you can tell me some of those stories. Right now, though there is a mandatory dinner we need to get to. They really play it up for the new students. Do not get used to it, though, because tomorrow we come back down to reality to boring dinners and not so much flash. I ll introduce you to the people you need to know and also show you those you should stay away from. Be glad that you got me for a roomie, Ill help you survive this special school for us rejects, she said pulling Gaylen off of the bed

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Chapter

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The dinning hall was not what Gaylen thought it would be like. With what she had seen of the rest of the school, this was not very modern at all. It looked more like a throw back from an earlier era or somebodys grandparents had designed it. It had a feeling like it was supposed to be homey, but it felt forced. The chairs were a little bit too rustic looking and the tables were too new to be antique. She thought that all of the fake flowers were over doing it. The room was not quite full; maybe only about one hundred and seventy five to two hundred kids were in there. Gaylen was shocked to see so many, though. She did not think that so many would not have tested out. They must be from all over the country, because you did not hear about them, or at least people did not talk about them that much. It was as if they were swept under the rug because they were an embarrassment to their homes and families. It was noisier then she expected, she had pictured all of the quite, withdrawn kids with their heads down. Maybe a few of them would be laughing, but definitely not all of them. It

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made sense to her once she started to think about it, though. At home they were the outcast, the ones who were embarrassed about what they hadnt been able to do yet. Here, they were all alike. In a way they were free to be who they were. They had a sense of hope, a feeling that they might be able to find out what was wrong with them and get it fixed. Gaylen breathed and it was if a weight had been lifted off of her. She felt Donahue tug on her sleeve. Here, let me show you the people who suck the least here and are almost cool enough to hang out with, she said pulling Gaylen across the floor. She stopped when they came to a table with a girl and two guy seated at it. This is Ryse, she said nodding to the blonde girl. Yes, like the candy, but only I can call her Pieces. Seated next to her is Ryland, and if you cant tell, they are in fact twins. And the other guy there is Jaxon. If you include me these are the cool people, because anybody that hangs out with me becomes cool by association. Yeah, she is so full of coolness that she cannot contain it all so it spills forth onto us and we are just so lucky that she picks us for her leftovers, Jaxon said with a smirk. But I guess that we should be grateful that she chose us and not anyone else

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By anyone I think that he means Miss. Perfect over there, Donahue said tilting her head over to a table far across the room. There was always the it table at a school. Even Gaylen knew that the table across the room was that table and she had only been at the school for less than one day. It was the way the students held themselves, like they were better than everyone else and they knew that everyone knew it. This table is always the loudest and filled with laughing that is always louder than any other. Her eyes were drawn to a girl sitting down. She was smiling, but not laughing. Instantly Gaylen knew that this was the girl they were talking about. There was something about her that gave off power and energy. Who is that? The girl sitting over there? Gaylen asked. Thats Neesha, Miss. Perfect herself in all of her glory, Donahue said. Please tell us how you really feel about her, Jaxon said scooting over to make room for the two girls to sit down. She has no right to be all uppity. She is here for the same reason we all are, we are failures. She has her nose so far up in the air just because her parents are beyond rich. Just goes to show you that money cannot buy you everything you want. I heard that they spent a ton of money on private tutors when she was not the first one to test out of her class. Now

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she is trying to blame them for her not testing out. One time last year she said that she cant test out because the tutors filled her with so much knowledge that she cant decide on which one she wants. Now that is a load of malarkey if I ever heard one. She thinks shes so special she probably thinks she should show up to school riding on a pink unicorn, Donahue raved. Well, it must be an invisible pink unicorn, cause I sure dont see one and if I did I would shove its horn right up her- Jaxon said. Gross! I do not want visuals. Its bad enough that I have to look at her every day, now all I am going to see is her with a unicorn horn shoved in places I do not want to think about, Donahue shrieked. Maybe shes just embarrassed and thats her way of dealing with it. I bet shes not that bad once you get to know her, Ryse suggested. Ryse here is our positive thinker. She always wants to see the bright side of whatever is going on, Jaxon said. She just wants to believe that everybody has some good in them, Ryland interjected. Theres nothing wrong with that.

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I dont believe that everybody is evil, I just dont think that Neesha has any good in her. I discriminate on a person by person case, Donahue said. What time is dinner supposed to start? I am starving. Theyre supposed to start in about ten minutes. Theyre giving the newbies a chance to find the dining hall. You know how most of them keep getting lost the first few days. Youre lucky to be rooming with Donahue Gaylen. At least you have someone to show you the ropes, Jaxon said. Oh, she wouldnt get lost anyway. You should see the map her mom highlighted for her. I bet that there are at least twenty four ways for her to get to each class. It even includes estimated times on how long it will get her to get from where ever she is. Man, your mom must be a hoot to live with, Donahue said smiling. Shes not that bad. Maybe she is a little controlling, but she has my best interest at heart. Besides, my dad kind of evens it out. Hes a little more easy going. Hey, I will always know where I am supposed to be. At least I talked her out of making me a color coded calendar that would have taken up an entire wall, Gaylen said, trying to laugh it off. As much as her mom upset her, she was still her mom.

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Donahues just jealous because she never had a mom to take care of her. She practically had to raise all of her brothers and sisters. Thats why she takes people under her wing, she has always done it and she does not know how to stop, Ryse leaned over and whispered in Gaylens ear. Donahue isnt even her first name. Its her last name. No one knows her first name except Dr. Warren. Hey what are you guys whispering about? Didnt anyone ever tell you it was rude not to include everyone? Jaxon said. Oh, its just girl talk, Ryse said turning bright red. Look, here comes the food. Wow, they really out did themselves this year. It looks like they have a lot more than they did last year. Wonder who theyre trying to impress? Donahue muttered under her breath. I dont care who or why theyre doing, Im starving, so bring it on, Ryland said. This boy can eat everything in sight and he is still a sack of bones, Donahue said. Watch your plate because he has been known to steal stuff right off of other peoples plates without asking. I am not that bad, he replied looking down.

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Its O.K., I dont know if I am going to be able to eat that much anyway. Im kind of nervous, Gaylen said looking around at all of the new faces. Oh, you wont be saying that once you see all of the food they bring out. They have every thing that you can imagine and then some. Last year I swear that they cooked at least four or five whole cows and about six dozen chickens. And that was just the main course. And they desserts, well, I will just say heavenly and leave it at that, Donahue said. Once the servers started bringing out the food everybody in the room got quiet. Donahue was not kidding. The food just kept coming and coming. When it looked like there was enough food to feed at least three times the amount of people who were present they stopped bring the platters. Gaylens stomach grumbled at the smell and sights that were surrounding her. She closed her eyes for a moment and just enjoyed the aroma that filled her nose. Maybe she could eat a little bit, so she would not offend any of the cooks. She hated to hurt anyones feelings. Once the plates were filled the students resumed their conversations. The room became filled with oohs and ahhs over what people were eating and what they had done over the summer. Certain people were louder than others, but everyone at Gaylens table refused to look over at that table.

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So, Gaylen, tell me why you chose to come to our humble school? Jaxon asked wiping a stray piece of turkey off of his chin. Well, my parents that that it might be a good place for me to get the help that I need to be able to live up to my full potential, she replied. The old live up to your full potential line. Parents love to use that line when they do not know what to do with you anymore. I heard that one, too. But then I also got the being in a new surrounding might jump start the process. Like being shipped off half way across the country was going to trigger something that does not want to be triggered, even if it is there in the first place, Jaxon said with some animosity in his voice. At least it was only one of you, our parents had to ship two of us off. But we got the maybe if one of you start then the other one will. Nothing like a little bit of sibling riveraly to bring out the best in a person, Ryaland said. I think that I have all of you guys beat, my dad told me that if I did not leave that I would probably pass this genetic flaw down to my little brothers and sisters. He ran me off the moment I turned sixteen and did not test out. Luckily I found out about this place and they were willing to take a freak like me in. another plus is that I do not have to pay any sort of tutition because I am what they call a hard case. So, I am a nut case according to my

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father and a hard case according to the school. I do not know which one is worse, but if I get to eat food like this I do not care. Bring on what ever case they want to make me, she said and stuffed a gigantic bite of some sort of meat into her mouth. Everyone at the time kind of fell silent after that little tirade. Jaxon was consintrating so hard on cutting his meat up that Gaylen thought that he was trying to get each piece of meat exactly the same size. Ryland and Ryse kept glancing over at each other but not saying anything. She wondered if they had some sort of mental communication that you hear that only twins have. Then she saw that their mouths were barely moving, so they were just reading each others lips. Donahue was eating as if nothing had happened. She seemed to be enjoying her food. A bell sounded through out the room. Gaylen looked up and noticed that everyone was putting their hands in their laps and not eating anymore, exceopt of course Donahue, who she thought did not like to follow any rules and like to make up her own. I would like to welcome back all of our students, new and those who are returning to us. I hop that all of you had a nice and relaxing summer. I know that it may be hard for those of you who are joining us for the first time. I hope that you will all find friends and comrades in some of our returning students. They will be a guide for you. Let us all raise our glasses and

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toast to the start of a brand new year that will bring forth a new generation of young adults. Remember that even if you do not test out this year I hope that you will continue to grow and learn and push yourselves like you have never done before, Dr. Warren said raising his glass of sparkling drink. The room was filled with glasses clinking against each other and people saying what a wonderful year it was going to be. It was almost dream like Gaylen thought. Not hiding what you were, but almost celebrating. They were hopeful that they would change, but they were not ashamed of what they were. It was very surreal and she wondered when she was going to wake up.

Chapter

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Walking back from the dinning hall with Donahue was hard. Gaylen was so full that she thought that she was going to explode and the fact that her friend, at least she hoped that Donahue was her friend, kept making her laugh. She had not laughed this long and hard in such a long time. It felt good to just let go and let it come out. She did not realize how much she missed hanging out with other people her age that did not look down on her. Once Rebekka tested out it was as if she thought that Gaylen was less than her, that she was not worth anything. It hurt really bad at first, but then she thought what if she was the one who tested out first. Would she want to hang out with someone who had not et. She wanted to think that she would have been a better friend, not letting that come between them, but trying to look at the situation from an out side perspective she was not quite so sure. Here she wondered what happened to those who tested out. Did they get sent home immeadiatly or was there some sort of training cource to help them intergrate back into society. It was almost funny if you stepped back and looked at it. Here she was trying to get fixed for her parents, but she was not so sure she wanted it for herself. She did not know if she would like the person she might become. Would she turn out to be one of those women who were always whispering behind peoples backs, comparing levels and only wanting to be around those who had the same level? She hoped she would not be one of the ones who only

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wanted to be around higher levels, thinking that something might rub off onto them. Those ones were the worst ones in her eyes. She thought that people should be happy with who they were. Sure, there was nothing wrong with trying to improve yourself, but it should be done with hard work, not hanging around someone like a small sad, lost puppy dog. At least have a little respect for yourself. Donahue threw their door open. Home sweet home, she exclaimed launching herself onto her bed. I guess that I will have to be the one who helps you with all of the rules and regulations. There is no hand book, so you just kind of have to remember them. Someone tried to write it down, but it was confiscated. No one knows why or who did it, but when ever some new student tries to write them down so they do not forget them they disappear. Why dont they want the rules written down? Wouldnt it be easier to have them in a book so no one ever forgts? Gaylen asked. Who knows why they do what they do here. Parents dont complain because most of the time it gets results and that, my dear, is what this is all about, results. Parents pay big bucks, especially if they do not want people to know that their kids are here. There are rumors going around that certain students use alias, so that no one knows who they really are.

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How ridiculous is that, some teen age kid having to use a fake name so their parents can keep it a secret that they are here. I guess I can kind of understand why some parents want it kept a secret. What if the situation affected their job or something. Maybe they are trying to protect their kid. I know it was hard on me to not test out, Gaylen said. Maybe a few of the parents do actually have their kids in mind, but I bet that the majority are doing it for purely selfish reasons. I have met most of them when they are dropping their kids off. They are usually in a pretty big hurry to leave after dropping the kid off. Most do not even stay the night. My parents were going to stay, but Dr. Warren suggested that they might want to leave so that I could get adjusted without them here because classes had already started. I bet he did that with the other parents, trying to make the adjustment for the kids easier, so they would not be mortified at having to be seen with their parents in front of everybody, she said. Donahue just shook her head, Even if kids are dropped off in the middle of the summer and theres no one around and the parents and the kid wants them to stay he makes

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them leave. Now, granted that situation does not happen very often, but when it does it can be heart wrenching to watch. Why dont you tell me about these secret rules that I can never write down or Ill have my hand cut off and then put into a frame to remind me to follow the rule? Gaylen said trying to lighten the mood. Fine, but if you fall asleep in the middle of it I am not going to repeat them and then if you break any of them I will just let them feed you to the lions because you fell asleep on me, she said seeming to be in a better mood. Though Gaylen was up all night giggling with Donahue, she was still up at the crack of dawn. She was surprised that she wasnt more tired. Maybe it was the fact that she was in a new place and about to start a new school. She knew that she had a few classes and thankfully lunch with Donahue because they had compared their schedules while discussing which of the rules was the worst one. Gaylen had thought that it was not being able to tell anyone outside of the school what type of classes they were taking. Donahue digressed and said that it was they were never, ever, even under the most dire of situations, to leave the campus without one of the adult chaperons. What fun is there if you cant even sneak off of

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the campus for some torrid teen age fun? I mean how much fun can you have sneaking around if you have to bring a chaperon? Dragging herself out of bed, just because her mind was racing and going one hundred miles per minute did not mean that her body wanted to do the same, She pulled out a pair of pants and a favorite shirt. She tried to shake as many wrinkels out as she could, but it did not do much. She should have listened to her mom when she told her to unpack as soon as she got back to her room so that her clothes would have time to hang. She was always thinking that she should have done what her mother had said, but now it was going to be different because she did not have her mom around to tell her what to do any more. She needed to start doing things on her own and taking responsibility for her own actions. When did I get to be so old, she thought to herself. Could you make any more noise? Geez, you could wake sleeping beauty with as much as you make. I dont know if I told you this, but I am defiantly not a morning person. Heck, I dont become a person until after two in the afternoon. MORE HERE LATER

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When you are testing for your powers , it is crucial for you to have a clear mind and heart. How are you supposed to know what is really trying to come through if you are filled with thousands of thought and images floating around in your head? Become one with yourself and do not try and fight it. If you fight it the process becomes harder and then it will result in failure for the day. If you are having a bad day I can give you a few minutes to try and find a focus, but I will not do that every day, Miss. Lateme said, looking directly at Donahue.

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Donahue smiled and leaned over to whispered to Gaylen, Shes just mad because I never could find focus, it was not like I was doing it on purpose because this is such a lame ass class. Gaylen looked at Donahue and tried not to burst out laughing. She did not want to get in trouble in this class, it looked kind of neat, even if the teacher was a little too much into it. Now, class, I am going to give you some work to do tonight, so please do not blow it off. It will help you if you keep practicing, Miss. Lateme said with pleading eyes. Yeah, like Im going to spend my free time sitting around looking up at the sky and trying to keep a clean and pure mind. I do not think that it was ever clean to start with, Donahue said. Miss. Nolana, I would like to speak with you when the class is over, if you do not mind, Miss. Lateme said. Gaylen nodded and spent the next few minutes trying to keep her friend quiet. When class was over Gaylen waved by to Donahue and waited for her teacher to come and talk to her. Instead, she waved at Gaylen to come over and join her sitting in the overly green grass. Sitting down she tried ot to make any noise because it looked like her

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teacher had reached the point that she was trying to tell the students about. Her face looked so peaceful and still. Gaylen did a double take and realized that her teacher was floating just a few inches off of the ground. Just enough to see space between her and the grass, but not enough to notice if you were far away. I do hope that you are not going to let Miss. Donahue keep you from taking this class seriously. Maybe if she sees you trying, then that will motivate her to try as well. She has so much potential and I dont think that she sees it. It is such a waste. I hope that you have a wonderful day, and then her floating teacher was silent once more. Gaylen did not think that she would ever get used to this school. She should, though, because this is what it was like out in the world. Seeing people use their powers and knowing that she did not have any was something that she was going to have to get used to. Being one of the oldest here meant that she had missed the deadline for her to get help. That is what sucked about this whole thing, they waited for you to be a certain age before they started worrying about you and trying to come up with ways to fix you. But if they waited too long, then there was no hope for you and you either became a burden on you family or most of the time they just disappeared. Whether it was on their own or the doing of others, no one knows. They are just gone one day, never to be seen again.

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Shaking her head she told herself that she needed to get out of this way of thinking and start being more positive. Wow, she sounded like Miss. Lateme. Pulling out her map she recalled where her next class was and saw that she still had a few minutes, so she took her time getting there and sat down on one of the concrete benches. You know that the person who designed this building never manifested his powers. Dont you think that it is just a little ironic that a school for discovering powers was drawn by a person who never got his? I bet thats one little fact they do not put in the brochure, a smooth voice said from beside her. Looking over at the guy beside her she felt her heart skip a beat. Not in the Oh my goodness, hes so cute kind of way. It was more of the Holy crap he looks just like the guy from my nightmares, I need to get the hell out of here kind of skipping. Since she couldnt pick up her stuff and start running away she just shrugged her shoulders. Anyway, Im Corr, and I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am. Why would you be sorry for me? she asked. Well, if you have to come her to this school, then, well, the rest goes without saying, he said and then he shrugged his shoulders. Standing up he waved, See you around Gaylen.

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It took her a moment to realize that she had never told him her name. By the time she turned around to ask him how he knew her name he was gone. Now she was mad. Why did everybody here seem to already know everything about her. She was wishing to make a clean start, but how was she supposed to do that if they all knew everything about her. She thought it was odd that Donahue knew, but hey, she probably hacked into the system to find out information about her new roommate. It was actually not a bad idea to know something about the person you were going to be living with for a year. But now, some random guy who had sat beside her on a bench knew her name, that was just too much of a coincidence. What was going on here? Hearing the warning bell, it was an actual bell that was in the middle of the campus, she started to run, so that she would not be late to her next class. As she was sliding into her seat, she had started to calm down. That lasted all of five seconds. Looking around to see who else was in class she caught the boy from the bench, Corr, smirking at her. Even his name made her mad. Corr, what kind of name was that anyway? Why was he smiling at her, it was not as if he even knew her, well, he knew her name, but he did not know her, so he had no right to smile at her. She wondered where this was coming from. She never let herself get

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mad like this. What was this place doing to her? She needed to refocus and put all of her energy into testing out, so she could start her life. As the teacher, Mr. Blankman, called roll she listened for Corrs name so she could find out his last name so she could have Donahue dig up some information on him. She figured it was only fair, since he knew about her that she should find out about him. Turn about is fair game. Looking down she realized that she was playing with her bracelet again. She wondered if she did this as much at home and had just never noticed it or if she was just playing with it because she was in a new setting. She saw that Corr was watching her, well, he was watching her bracelet. She quickly covered it with her hand and then put them in her lap. Listening to the teacher she realized that he never called Corrs name. Had he lied about what his name was. He must have known that she would hear his name somewhere, so why would he lie about what it was? She bet that he was one of those rich kids Donahue was saying used an alibi here. Now she was really intrigued. But it would have to wait until after class, because Mr. Blankman was already starting to furiously scribble notes on the board. By the end of the class Gaylen thought that her hand was going to fall off. She did not think that she had ever taken so many notes in such a short amount of time. This was one

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class that she would have to pay attention in, Mr. Blankman mentioned that he was very fond of giving pop quizzes. At least it was an interesting class. She never knew that people used to be able to go to the Other Side whenever they wanted to. She was so used to there being rules and only certain people being able to go. She wondered what it was like over there, she had only heard stories about it. She did not know anybody who had gone over. She always pictured them in dark cloaks floating in the shadows to remain unseen. Maybe there were spies, sent by the government to keep tabs on what they were doing and stealing the technology that we loved to use, but was hard for us to create over here. Then this made her wonder if anyone from the O. S. had ever come over here to our side. Her sister used to tell her that if she ever told on her that men from the O. S. would come over here and take her away. She had never heard of any reports stated that there was ever any activity showing people crossing over onto our side. The tales of children being kidnapped by Other Siders was just to keep them scared so that they would behave. The rest of her day went by pretty quickly. Lunch was eventful, but that was because Donahue decided that she was going to show Gaylen exactly why she should not eat the mashed potatoes. After having been assigned cleaning duty after school for a week

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Donahue then had to stay when lunch was over and scrape mashed potatoes off of the ceiling. She said it was totally worth it if it prevented more students from the agony of trying to digest the potatoes. Because her roommate had her punishment after school Gaylen had about an hour and a half to be by herself in their room. She figured that she would get caught up on her homework, since she was a few days behind. Most of her school books were the same that she had at her old school, but there were two that she had never seen before. One was horribly thick, but the other one was surprisingly thin. She picked up that one first. How To Channel Your Inner Self. This was a real book? She flipped it over to see who wrote it, oh, by Doctor Remyin Warren. Thats why we have this book, the principal wrote it. The title sounds so cheesy, though. You would figure that a doctor could come up with a better title for the book that he wrote. Flipping through it she wasnt quite sure what to think. It talked about finding your true self by looking deep and accepting what you see. Not too bad, something that most people knew. Where it got weird was when it said to nurture it like it was a child and let it grow, that it had its own personality. If it was you, wasnt it your personality? Maybe she just did not understand all of the new age fru-fru stuff, as her grandmother used to say. If it

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worked for some people, whatever. She guessed it worked for some people because parents kept sending their kids here. She set the book down and tried to start on the rest of her homework but she just could not focus on anything. She went out into the hallway to use the phone to call her mom and dad. She got the answering machine and left a message telling her parents that she was doing fine, thanking her mom for the map, and that she would try to get ahold of them later on in the week. She was a little sad that she hadnt been able to talk to them but she knew that she would talk to them soon. She could hear laughter coming from a room down the hall. It sounded like there was a party going on. She found it a little strange, but then again she had never been at a boarding school, maybe this was an everyday occurrence. She watched as a guy opened the door just a crack, looked up and down the hallway and then ran out. She recognized that he was the guy who was in the office the day that her parents dropped her off. Gaylen remembered that one of the rules that Donahue had told her was that no boys on the girls floor and no girls on the boys floor. She was not surprised that this rule was being broken, they were teenagers, after all.

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Instead of going back to her room she decided to take a walk. Being out in the open helped her to feel better, it always had ever since she was a little girl. It wasnt like she would commune with nature, she just felt freer outside and not in a building. I was easier to breathe and to think. Her mom would always yell at her to come in when it was raining, but she did not want to. She would be soaking wet and her dad would come and scoop her up and tell her that she had been watered enough to grow another inch, so she should come in now or none of her clothes would fit her anymore. She would laugh and beg just for a few minutes more and he would say five more minutes meant another tenth of an inch, and that wouldnt make much of a difference. Her mom was always so made, but her dad would say that she was just a little wet and all that she needed was a towel. Can I join you? a voice interrupted her train of thought. Looking up she say that it was Liam, the boy from the office and the one she saw sneeking out of the room down the hall just a little while ago. Sure, she said. They walked for a while, neither one of them saying anything. It was kind of nice just to walk with someone else and not having to make idle chit chat. Im Liam, and you are? he asked.

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Wow, somebody here who did not know who she was yet, she was impressed. Im Gaylen, she said. Its not that I dont know you, I just did not know your name. We always try to find out all about the new kids. You know, things like how many times theyve been tested, family history, grades, likes, dislikes, favorite movies, music, you know all the usual. The only thing that I could not find out was what type of movies was your favorite. So will you tell me so that I can say that I have finally finished my research? he asked. Well, since it is for your research, I guess I could tell you. I love horrible cheesy movies. There is just something so bad that makes it good, if you know what I mean. What did you find out about my favorite type of music? she asked. If she was going to start a new school maybe she could be a little bit more of what she wanted to be, but was always afraid to be. There has been some debate about that. I probably wont make my final conclusion about that until I steal your music collection myself, he said smiling at her. Well, then Ill be sure not to put it in the top drawer of my desk, she said back.

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Ill be sure not to look there. Well, I have to go meet some people to study. I enjoyed our walk. Maybe Ill see you around sometime, Gaylen Nolana, he said turning around and walking back towards the school. Gaylen continued to walk further away from the school. It took her a while to catch what he said. She felt like a fool. He said he did not know her name, but she never told him her last name. Could this place get any more strange?

Chapter

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After classes the next day Gaylen decided to stick around and keep Donahue while she completed her cleaning of random school rooms. Today it was helping Mrs. Reisky clean out all of the animal cages in her room. She wasnt even a science teacher, she just felt that having all of the animal around helped the students relax and if they were relaxed then they would be able to absorb what she was teaching easier. It was weird, but Gaylen agreed with her on this. She wasnt sure if she liked the rats, snakes, or lizards the most. It was the bunnies that creeped her out, though. She just felt like there was something off about them and she did not know why. Hey, Mere, you wanna come over here and scoop some poop for me? Donahue asked holding out a bag. Um, no thanks? I will hold the bag for you though, how about that? she said with a smile. Yeah, that would be great, she said with less enthusiasim. Dont knock free help. If I get caught Ill probably end up with detention and then I wont be able to keep you company. And what fun would it be to scoop poopy by yourself? she asked.

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Turning around Donahue stared at Gaylen with a very serious look on her face. Setting the bag down on the counter beside her she walked over to where Gaylen was standing and put her hands on her shoulders. I am only going to ask you this one time, so think very carefully about how you answer my question. Did you just seriously say poopy? Looking at her Gaylen was confused. Yes, she finally said. Donahue burst into laughter. Oh, my, god! You did not even realize it. You need to hang around be more often, Ill help you transition into an honest to goodness real seventeen year old girl who does not say words like poppy out in public. You are a danger to your reputation and I am the only one who can save you from yourself. Gaylen could not help but join in the laughter. I am not some goody two shoes. Well, Im not someone who goes around cursing up a storm, but when its called for I can make a drunken sailor blush. What does that even mean, make a drunken sailor blush? she barely got out. It was something that my grandmother would say. I thought that it was the funniest thing so I always remembered it, she said. Is this the same grandmother who gave you that cool bracelet? I would have loved to meet her, she sounds like she was a lot of fun. The only things that I remember about either

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of my grandmothers was that they always smelled like old ladies and that one of them could make me the best hot coco just by thinking about it. That was the coolest power you could have when you were a five year old, Donahue said. Yeah, that would be. I remember thinking that it was the neatest thing that anyone could do at the time. All my mom could do was calm angry people down. It never worked on me, I guess that was because I was her daughter, you know, part of her and all that stuff, Gaylen said shrugging a weird feeling off. My parents did the normal, accelerate molecules and stuff. Basically, they could make stuff move without you seeing it move. My brother could do the same, lets just say that he could clean his room a hell of a lot faster than I could. I once bribed him to do my room and all he did was mind shovel everything under my bed. I was grounded one week for not doing my job and another week for paying my brother to use his powers for non work related activities. What a waste of ten bucks, Donahue sighed. If I get a power, or should I say when, positive thinking and all that crap, I want to be able to accelerate stuff so quick that I can make it explode. I am so tired of not being able to do anything, that when I can I want to do something so big that everyone will notice what I can do, Gaylen said.

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I dont want to be able to do that. I want to be able to read people. What they are thinking, feeling, what they want. I dont care which it is, as long as I have power over their minds, she said waving her fingers in the air. See, I dont want anything to do with the mind, it freaks me out. I do not like the idea of anyone in my head and I do not even want to imagine what I might find digging around their mind. Plus, you never know what they might do if they found out I was in their head without them knowing it, Gaylen said. The government pays you good money, though. I have heard that some people even get to go to the Other Side and work from over there. My dad said that was how we got the designs for most of our cars and phones. I would not mind having a few people hate me if I got paid to go over there and work. Can you imagine what it is like there? I heard that one of the students here a couple of years ago found a way to cross over and he went back and forth at least a half a dozen times bringing stuff back before he got caught, Donahue said. I think that I would be too scared to do that. What would happen to you if you got caught? Is he in the prison, now? she asked. I am not sure. There are tons of things that supposedly happened to him, but I think that they just want us to be scared so that we do not try and go there. I dont know how you

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would, though. There are tons of security people all around the thresholds that lead over there. Besides, why would go there, you would not want to use your powers, God knows what they would do if they caught you over there. They would probably cut you open and dissect you to find out all about you. O. K. enough with the depressing talk, lets talk about something fun and not serious. Oh, I know, tell me about how much you love Corr, she said with a grin. I do not love Corr. He infuriates me. Yes, he may be kind of cute and is very funny, but he is such a pain in the ass. He thinks that he is Gods gift to females, Gaylen said turning red. No, you dont like him at all, she said still grinning. Well, Ive seen the way you look at Ryland. Dont tell me that hes just a friend. You give him a hard time, but I know what a crush looks like when I see one, Gaylen said returning the grin. Ryland! There is no way that I would even think about liking him. Even though Ryse is quiet, I have a feeling that she would kill me in my sleep or something if I even thought about him in that way. Besides, hes just so, so, Ryland, she said.

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So the only thing stopping you from going after Ryland is a five foot nothing girl, who is quiet as a mouse? Gaylen said surprised. Its the quiet ones that you have to look out for. They are the ones who either poison you or hack you up into teeny tiny little pieces while you are asleep in your bed, she said shivering. Sounds like you have put a lot of thought into how Ryse would off you if you were to go out with and hurt Ryland, Gaylen said teasing her. Oh, I think about a lot of things. I dont sleep that much, so I have a lot of time to think about random stuff that most people dont, she answered. Trying to change the subject she said, I have something to show you, but you cant tell anybody about it, What is it? Gaylen asked. First you have to promise not to say anything, she said. Fine, I promise that I wont say anything to anybody. Donahue looked around double checking to make sure that nobody had come through the door with in the last five seconds. Slowly she rolled up her sleeve. Starting on her shoulder and scrolling down her arm was one of the most elaborate tattoos that Gaylen had ever seen. At first there did not seem to be a pattern, but the more she looked at it the

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more she could see in it. The swirls melted and turned into one another, so you could not tell when one stopped and the other started. It was slightly raised, as if there was something in the ink to make it stand out. If you dont have your powers why do you have that? I thought you were only allowed to get one done after you had proved what you could do. How did you get it, wont the person who did it get in trouble? I asked. Well, if the person who did it knew I did not have my powers yet, then yeah, I suppose that they would get in trouble, she said with a smirk. I probably do not want to know how you did it then, do I. Pulling her sleeve back down to cover her arm she answered, Lets just say that some things are better left to the imagination, shall we. No one else has ever noticed it? I asked amazed that no one had seen it, it was amazing, something I had never seen before. Most of the marks were simple, to the point, not so elaborate and breathe taking. Come on, Gaylen, lets go and get some food, all this talk is making me hungry, Donahue said getting up.

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I could not stop thinking about how much I wanted my mark to look like hers, not exactly like hers, but one that would tell a story and not be so blunt. I could see the shape of it taking form in my mind. I wanted more than one color, blending into each other. A cascading of symbols, almost like my grandmothers bracelet for some reason, I knew it would have a special meaning and that it would be powerful. Over the next few days all I could think about were tattoos. I studied the marks that our teachers had on their wrists. They were on the inside, so that you could only catch a glimpse every so often, just enough to know that they were there without being to noticeable. The generations before us wanted to note their power, but not throw it in everyones face. I had noticed that younger people were getting them in places that were more easily seen, but it was still new. Some people had them on the tops of their hands and I had seen a few that were on the side of the neck. They were still on the small side, but usually with a little bit more flare. Not anything that had come close to Donahues, but with a little more design and edge then what had been seen in the past. Whats wrong with you? Youve been kind of spacey these past few days, Ryse asked one day while we were eating lunch.

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I dont know, I guess I just have a bunch of stuff on my mind, I said. It must have been bad if Ryse asked me what was wrong. She was always afraid to hurt peoples feelings that she never brought stuff up. Shes undoubtedly spending all of her time thinking about Corr. I can see a sort of longing in her eyes, a longing to be with her one true love. Oh, my dear sweet Corr, where are you? Jaxon said, pretending to swoon. I reached over to give him a small smack, but he jumped out of the way, laughing. His laughter was contagious and soon we were all laughing. It was odd to think that just a few weeks ago I was worried that I would not fit in here and how scared I was. Now I had friends and they were teasing her about a boy that she liked, not that she would admit it to them. Looking at my watch I saw that it was almost time for me to go and meet with Dr. Warren. Hey, I gotta go, or Ill be late. Ill catch you guys later. It was kind of nice to walk through the grounds by self lost in thought. It had been a while since I had been by myself. I caught myself wondering how my family was doing. They always said that they were fine when I talked to them on the phone, but I also knew that my mom wanted everyone to think that we were the perfect family. I hoped that Gabe really was doing O. K.

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The office was empty when I arrived. I had thought that Mrs. Ranhaun would be behind her desk or bustling around. It was almost eerie how silent the room was. Walking to the frosted glass door that separated Dr. Warrens office from the outer one I gently rapped on it. Come in, a muffled voice answered. Upon entering the room, I found Dr. Warren almost completely hidden behind stacks of paperwork. I stood unsure of what to do and whether I should stay standing or sit down while he kept sorting through his papers. I shifted from one foot to the other glancing around his office. There were degrees in glass frames from places that I had never heard of. The writing was very fancy, so they must have been from some pretty important schools. I had counted eight before I was interrupted by Dr. Warren clearing his throat. I am sorry, where are my manners? Please of a seat, Galyn. I am sorry I am running a little behind today. It seems as if the work keeps piling up and time never slows down so I can get caught up, Dr. Warren said pushing some piles over, so that I had a clear view of him. The bags under his eyes and rumpled shirt showed that he had been working for a long time. No problem, I can not imagine how much work it would take to run a school like yours, I said sitting down.

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It can be a lot of work, but it does not help that I want to make sure that it is all correct so I choose to do it myself. I bring most of my troubles on myself. Anyway, I digress. I have asked you here so that we could start some testing to see why you have not yet shown any signs of progressing in your abilities. We would start with the standard ones, of course. I have done these on all of our students and I assure you that they are all safe and noninvasive. Now, I knew that they would want to do some testing, but it still made me nervous for some reason. I tried to shake the feeling I had, he would probably start out with some of the same ones that they had given us at my old school when we entered the upper grades and not shown an affinity for anything. Lots of boring and repetitive questions and staring at pictures. Yes, I said. I figured that there would be some sorting of testing. Are we starting with the written part or the pictures? I have the results from your tests at your other school, so no, I do not need to duplicate those. Besides, I feel that those tests show nothing that we do not already know. Obviously, students here are special and I have found that if we approach your situation with different questions we get different results. I do want to warn you that sometimes we will have

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to try many tests before we even get the slightest result, but that is my job, to do the worrying and stressing. Your job is to do your best to be honest and give the best answers that you can, he said. I nodded and set farther bake in the seat, a little less nervous. At least I would not have to redo those stupid tests again. How bad could some test be?

Chapter

Galyn walked to her room when they were done in the dark. The walk there did not seem that long, but walking back seemed to take a while. Was it because it was dark and there was no one else around or was it because I was tired? I thought that at least a few

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students would be out and about. I could hear voices, but I did not see anyone. Hurrying up I started to walk faster so I could get back to my room sooner. Why are you in such a hurry? a voice startled me. Do you always sneek up on people, or is it just me? I asked after catching my breath. I think that it is just you. Most people hear me before I can scare them, Liam said. I guess I was just so focused on walking I turned off my hearing Liam super powers, I said sarcastically. Thats why I like you, Galyn; you always speak your mind. I give you crap and you give it right back. Most people wouldnt even think of talking like that to me. Its kind of refreshing if I can be honest, he said. What do you mean that most people wouldnt talk to you like that? I asked. You really dont know, do you? I figured that Donahue would have been the first one to tell you all about me. I guess this is almost worst because now I have to tell you about it myself. Do you know who Walter Pomputer is? he asked. Did I know who Walter Pomputer was? Everyone knew who he was. He was one of the men who helped to write all of the rules that we follow. He is always making speeches to help endorse his ideas and is genuinely liked by most people. I would hear my mom talk about

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how nice it was to have someone finally looking out for the everyday people. My father on the other hand said that he always had an alterive motive when he was making his laws. My father said he just did not trust him, he was too smooth. Of course I know who he is. Everybody knows who he is, I said. You dont sound too impressed, he said casually. Thats because Im not. Hes just some guy who wrote a some laws and a few of them are questionable if you ask me, I replied. See, thats what I am talking about. The answer I hear the most is that he is one of the best men that they have the privilege to know or would love to know. Then when I tell them that I am his son, they are usually speechless, he said looking at me. Well, I guess I am speechless, too. I dont know what I could say that wouldnt hurt your feelings, so Im not going to say anything, I said, expecting him to turn red and start yelling. Instead, he surprised me by laughing. That was definitely not the response that I was expecting. God, I love that you just say what you want and you do not hold back, he said still smiling. Well, were at your dorm house, so this is where I leave. I want to thank you for such an interesting conversation. I want you to promise me that once you find your power that you

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will stay you. Dont let them change you. Ive seen what having power, any kind of power, can do to a person, he said and then turned and let before Galyn could say anything back. I walked into the dorm shaking my head. I could not figure out some of the people here. Donahue went by her last name, no one even knew what her first name was. I overheard some of the teachers say that it was odd that they were not even allowed to know her name. She never let anyone really know who she was and not knowing her name was just part of it. Then there were the twins, Ryse and Ryland. They were both so quiet, but in different ways. Ryse seemed so timid, but when the time came, she knew exactly what to say and how to say it. She was willing to do what she felt was right, even if she was scarred to do it. Even I did not know if I could ever be that brave. Ryland was like a [insert quiet strong animal here]. He did not say much, but he was fiercely protective, especially of his sister. I would not want to be on the wrong side of his anger. He did intrigue me, I had to admit, with his few and brief moments of humor, he could be very funny, which was not something you would expect when you first saw him. There was Liam. He was still a mystery to me. Now finding out who his father was just made me more curious. I could not figure him out, at first I thought he was just picking on me because I was the new kid. Then he would just sort of show up and have these brief and

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cryptic conversations with me and I thought maybe he was interested in me. And tonight he basically said he was amused by me because I did not treat him like all of the others. So I still do not know where I stand with him and I did not think that I ever would. Finally there was Corr. He was happy, lively, and felt like a good guy to me. He was smart and funny. I could not think of anything negative about him. I liked him and I wanted him to like me, too. I needed to refocus and not get into all the drama crap that usually encompassed teens when they were, well, being teens. I could hear voices before I turned down the hallway. The desperate pleading sounded uncharacteristic coming from a voice I recognized. I stopped, so that I would not run into Neesha. The only things that I had gotten from her since my arrival was either snide comments or completely ignoring that I even existed. Even though I could tell that she disliked me, I did not want to impose on her when it sounded like she was having a problem. I couldnt really make out what she was saying, but I could absolutely tell that it would embarrass her if I walked by her right now. Even I could have compassion for someone when they needed it. Standing in the hallway the seconds seemed slowly dripped and seemed to stop, as if frozen in time. Shifting from foot to foot I concentrated on trying not to make any sound. I

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was about to turn around and go back outside when I heard the phone slam against the wall. Three more thumps followed and I was not sure if she was hitting the wall, kicking the wall, or slamming the phone down over and over again. Whatever it was, I was glad that I was leaving and not going to be in the middle of her breakdown. I sprinted down the hallway and then turned around like I had just walked through the doors. It took a few more seconds before I ran into Neesha. Her eyes were red and puffy and there were streaks of black running down her face. Her face was all pinched and she looked like she was on a warpath. I just hoped that tonight was a night she chose to completely ignore me. It was not my lucky night.

Chapter

The first words out of her mouth were, What are you staring at? I know she just had a horrible phone call, but did she have to take it out on me? I had never done anything to her so I was just going to let it go. Then she decided to push me as she stormed past me. Nobody put their hands on me like that. I learned a long time ago that if you let them do it

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one time that they thought that they could do it whenever they wanted to. I was not going to live like that again. Do not ever put your hands on me like that again. Do you understand? I said getting in her face. It was better to take a hit then it was to back down. Neeshas eyes went from shock to pure hatred in a fraction of a second. You have a lot of balls for someone who is such a loser. You just should have walked away. She drew back her arm and swung. ................................................ What happened to you? Are you O. K.? Donahue asked as I walked through the door. Yeah, I just walked into Neeshas fist is all, I said slamming the door behind me. What! she exclaimed. I had a run in with Neesha. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time I guess. I was in the hallway and I ran into her after she had a phone call. She pushed me out of the way and I told her never to touch me and then this happened. Can we get some ice? My face kinda hurts here, I said trying to smile.

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Im going to kill her. She pushes everyone around and thinks that she can get away with it just because her parents are rich. Its not even like she likes them, she just uses their money to dangle over peoples heads so that theyll do what she says when she says it. Boy, I bet shes super pissed that you didnt take her crap. Well done my child, she said giving me a hug. I dont like being pushed around. My sister did it to me my whole life and Ive had enough. If I didnt stand up to her then she would have thought that Id be a push over, I said to her as much as to myself. We should go and tell Dr. Warren in the morning. She needs to get in trouble and this is something she cant talk her way out of or pay her way out either, Donahue said. No, Im going to deal with her myself. If I went and tattled it would only make thing worse. Were just going to tell people that I tripped over something and hit my face on the bed or something if they ask. Dont worry, well take care of her ourselves, I said. That night I dreamed I was floating down a river on a raft. The sun was shining and the wind was strong, but not overpowering. I could see fishes break the surface every now and then. I let my fingers dangle, letting the water drag between them. I floated for what felt like forever. I didnt mind because it was so relaxing to just lay there letting the sun warm my

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face. When one fish jumped out of the water I laughed. The water sprayed all over me cooling me off. A moment later a saw another one. Then there were three more, then ten more, then twenty more. One landed on the raft with me. I didnt mind, there was plenty of room on here for me and a fish. When more started to join it though, the raft started to get crowded. I scooted over and sat up, so that there would be more room for the fishes. Soon the fish were covering the raft in more than one layer. I held the first fish that had joined me in my lap and petted it. The other fish saw the attention it was getting and started to throw themselves at me. There were so many fish that they started to push me off of the raft. I started to panic because I couldnt remember if I knew how to swim or not. As soon as I hit the water I woke up. That was one of the strangest dreams that I had had in a while. I wasnt scared, but had a worried feeling. It felt like there was something right in front of me, but I could not see it or touch it. I knew I should reach out and get it, but I did not want to. In my dream I started out helping one and as the number increased I couldnt handle the pressure. My dream was probably about all of the stress I had about wanting to be what my parents and teachers wanted me to be. It made me want to crawl under by blankets and hide there forever. Instead I threw them back and walked to the bathroom.

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I tried to avoid the mirror as I got ready for the morning. I did not want to see how bad my face had swelled up overnight. It was not as bad as I had believed it would be. My left eye was smaller because the whole area around it was slightly swollen. I did have to admit that the redness did bring out the green it. This was one of the times that I wished I had a power, then I could just zap myself and everything would be fine. I wouldnt have to avoid questions all day about what happened to my face. I covered it up as best as I could, which wasnt very good. I tried to arrange some of my bangs to cover it up, but looking through my hair all day would drive me nuts so I pushed them back out of the way. I would show Neesha that I could take what she dished out and that I was not going to be some little punching bag that would cower in the corner. At least the ice last night helped a little. Classes during the day brought all of the questions that I had prepared myself for. After the first three hours the questions started to die down. Once they thought that I was just clumsy it was not as interesting as they thought that the story would be. I kept waiting for Neesha to come up to me, though. She seemed like the type of girl who would gloat and liked to rub stuff in peoples faces. I only saw her once in the hall in between class and she

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just gave me an evil look. She could give me all of the evil looks she wanted to, but I was not going to back down from her no matter what. Donahue thought that we should tell Ryse, Ryland, and Jaxson what really happened, but I did not want anyone else to know. The more people who knew the greater chance that someone might tell Dr. Warren and I did not want him to find out, it would just make things worse. I just do not like lying to them, she said. Think of more like protecting them. If Neesha found out that they knew what really happened she would just take it out on them. She has two classes with Ryse, does not she? I asked. Yeah, and one with Jaxon, she admitted. She would torment them and that is something I dont want. Well take care of this ourselves, I said looking at her. Fine. But at least tell me if she tries something else I am permitted to beat the ever living crap out of her. Ive been waiting for an excuse to do it anyway and this one would actually be a legit one, she asked. I wont stop you, I promise, I said with a smile.

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The rest of the day went by smoother than I had hoped it would. Most of my teachers believed that I had tripped in my room. Miss. Lateme nodded when I told her, but her eyes didnt tell the same story. She kept looking at me throughout the class, but I kept the smile on my face. By the end of the day I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. But, unfortunately my roommate had a different plan for me. Come one, its just a little get together. After the week we have had we need to blow off some steam. We deserve to have a little fun. We only have a half day tomorrow, so it wont be too bad if we are a little tired. I also heard a rumor that Liam is going to be there, just in case you were wondering, she said bumping my shoulder with hers. Fine, I will go, but only for a while. It has been a long day, I think that my cheeks are going to fall off from smiling so much so no one would think anything was wrong. Crap! I totally forgot that I was supposed to meet with Dr. Warren after school today. Ill catch up with you later, I said running to the door. Running towards the office I berated myself for forgetting about my appointment. I never forgot things like this. My mom would be having a hissy fit if she found out that I was forgetting meetings with my principal. She would be throwing her highlights right at my head. Heck, she would probably keep the lids, so that my face would look like one of her famous

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colored maps. That thought made me smile and then I picked up my pace, so I wouldnt be any later than I already was. Entering the office I apologized to Mrs. Ranhaul who was sitting there with her bag in her lap. Dont worry, most students forget that they have an appointment with the doctor at least a few times. I wont tell your mother, she winked and then she left the office, shutting the door behind her. I heard about last nights accident. How are you feeling? Dr. Warren asked. I feel pretty stupid, to tell you the truth, I said, hoping that I sounded convincing. If there was anything going on I would hope that you feel comfortable coming to me, he said looking directly at me. I guess that I was not that convincing, but I was going to stick with my story. We better get started. I thought that we would try something a little different tonight. Im going to try and push some of my power into you and then see if you can push it back out at me. If you cannot do it, dont worry, some students can do it the first time, others take a while to be able to do it. The first thing that I want you to do is to clear your mind and

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just relax. You might feel some pressure in your head, but dont worry, that is normal, he said. I could feel something , it was like someone was trying to push on my head, but could not quite push hard enough on it. My scalp started to itch and then slowly it started to turn into a light burning feeling. Not like my head was on fire, but more like there I was sitting next to a fire a little too closely. Uncomfortable, but not unpleasant. I could see confusion cross Dr. Warrens face, then almost an angry look for a second. I tried to open up more because I thought I was doing something wrong. I kept waiting for some kind of force in my head, but nothing came. Little beads of sweat formed on Dr. Warrens forehead. He quickly wiped them off and his face became more focused. I could see the muscles clenching all over his body, I thought that he was going to pop a blood vessel or something. Suddenly his whole body relaxed and he slumped back into his chair. Dr. Warren? Dr. Warren are you O. K.? I asked going over to him. He just looked at me with questioning eyes. I do not know. I cannot explain it. The best analogy that I can come up with is that I have never come across such a strong barrier before. Usually it feels like a students mind

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has a brick or stone wall around it. Yours, on the other hand, felt like I was trying to punch and kick through a steel wall that was twenty feet thick. I do not think I even made a dent in it. I am at a loss of what to do next, he said. I did not say anything, because I did not know what to say. The way he had explained why we did not have powers was because we had either put up a block or were born with one that prevented them from coming out on their own. Very few people had this problem, but they, I have no idea who they are, have been seeing an increase of blocked kids in the past few years. On my way to the party I felt weird that I had a block around my brain. And that it was a thick steel block that Dr. Warren had never seen, made me feel more of a freak than usual. My sister Sabrina would say that she always knew I was a freak and that this just proved it even more. Gabe would think that it was cool and then try to find a way to fix it. I could hear the party before I even saw the dorm. The music was pounding so hard that I could feel it all the way down to my bones. The bass was pulsing and I could hear people laughing and screaming. A small get together, yeah right. It sounded like there was about one hundred people if not more. I should have known that Donahue would not be able to put together a small party, she always thought that more was more.

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I had to squeeze through a wall of people to get through the door. I dont think I recognized any of them. I did not realize that so many kids came to this school. Some kids said hey to me, and I nodded back because I didnt think that I could yell loud enough for them to hear me. Fighting my way, I finally found Ryse. She was standing in a corner fidgeting with her hands. She looked very uncomfortable, like she was out of her element and she knew it. When she saw me she gave a tight lipped smile and a small wave. Are you having fun? I yelled into her ear. Yeah, she yelled back. Have you seen Donahue? She said that this was going to be a few people. What happened, why are there so many people here? I asked. Oh, you know, once word starts spreading that theres a party people show up. There are a lot of kids from town here. They love any excuse to come here because theyre curious about us. Once one of the girls asked me if she were to touch me would she lose her powers too, she shouted. Nice, now were a free freak show, I said to myself. What did you say? I cant hear you, she said loudly. Nothing, I shouted back.

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Shes out in the back somewhere. Here, Ill take you, she said grabbing my arm so that we would not get separated. It took us almost five minutes to make our way through the crowd. I swear that I almost smacked three different guys for grabbing my ass. Ryse just kept her eyes straight ahead and kept walking. She stopped for a second, but then kept walking. A noticed a guy following her with his eyes, but then I couldnt see him anymore through the crowd. When we finally made it outside, I asked her who the guy was. Just some jerk. I think thats Donahue over there, she said pointing to a girl who was bending over the bushes. Is she puking? I asked. I dont know, Ryse said. Walking over slowly I got closer to Donahue. She wasnt puking, but looking for something in the bushes. What are you looking for, I asked. Somebody, and I am not naming names Ryland, she shouted over her shoulder, threw my music player into the bushes so that I would not be able to use my playlist for the party. Will you help me find it? All my good music is on it.

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Why on earth would he throw your music player in the bushes? I asked as I moved branches aside. Oh, he says that my taste in music sucks and that it would ruin the party, thats all, she said. He just doesnt appreciate good music. Hell, he wouldnt know good music if it came up and bit him in the butt. I would like to see that happen, I said, trying not to laugh. How bad is your taste in music, anyway? I found it! The night is saved. Ill let you judge for yourself how great my taste in music is, she said as she tossed her music player at me. Glancing through the list of music I did not think it was too bad, maybe not exactly party music, but not bad. Why dont you just let them have their music tonight. Boys just dont appreciate good music when they see it. Well let them think that they won tonight, but we know better, I said. I guess, she said thinking about it. Are you enjoying the party? More people showed up than I thought would, but that just means that its rocking.

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I just got here, but yeah, there are a lot of people here. Ive seen Ryse and I guess Ryland is here, but I havent seen anybody else I recognize, I said as we started to head back to where the majority of people were. Dont worry, I saw your dream man earlier. Well find him and then you can stand there and stare at him. And Ill be a good friend and wipe the drool from your face, she said smiling. Turning red I chose not to say anything and walked silently beside her. The music was still pounding and the number of people appeared to have doubled, if not tripled, during the time that I was gone. It was harder to make our way to the center of the room. The crowd seemed to part for Donahue and she sailed straight through. I had to squeeze my way through and push past everyone. By the time I caught up with Donahue I was sweaty and pissed off. There were at least three or four different drinks on my pants and shoes. I smelled worse than a bar. I was hoping that I did not run into Liam by the time I found the edge of a chair to sit on. Wow, you like youve been drug around the yard a couple of times, Liam said behind me.

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This is just what I needed, to have him see, and smell, me this way. I thought that I would try something new. So, is it working? I said trying to smile, so he couldnt tell that I wanted to burst into tears right now. Well, I can say that most girls could not pull off, but on you, no, sorry, you cant pull it off, either. But you almost make it look good and thats saying something, right? he said. Well, since I almost pull it off, then youre almost saying something, I said trying to still pull off that it wasnt bothering me. Touch. Well, time to change the subject, then. How are you Want to go outside so we can hear each other? he asked. I nodded and then stood up. I saw his mouth start to twitch and I looked down. It looked like I had peed myself. Yeah, not embarrassing at all. There was nothing I could do but keep walking. Once we got outside I felt like I could breathe again. It was quieter and without all the other people surrounding us we could talk and hear each other. You know, I have control over my bladder, some jerk just spilt his drink all over me. I didnt think that this many people would be here tonight, I said.

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Someone might have mentioned it to some people who could have told more people.. Donahue really wanted you to be impressed and not think that we were a boring school. You know she is not as bad as I first thought she was. Shes kind of loud and brash, but she has a good heart. I thought that I would help her out tonight. Plus, its so crowded in there that I got to bring you outside to spend some time with you. I was not sure how to respond to that so I didnt say anything. A loud crash interrupted what I was going to say. Liam turned and ran back towards the dorm. Screams were erupting as I made my way to the dorm. All I could think of was finding Donahue, Ryse, and Ryland. Kids were pouring out of the door and running. One girl tripped and was run over by several people by the time I got to her. I quickly pulled her up and asked her if she was O. K. Her cheek was bleeding, but she answered that she was fine. I pointed to the street and told her to go wait there. I turned and ran so I could go find my friends. I had lost Liam in all of the commotion, but somehow I knew that he would be fine. I found Ryse and Ryland standing inside of the front door. Neither one of them knew was Donahue was, so I went to go find her. By then most of the kids were out of the house, so it was not as crowded. Donahue was in the kitchen sitting on the ground holding someone

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in her lap. All I could see was short dark hair and closed eyes. Donahue was saying something to the girl, but I could not make out what it was. All of the lights in the room started to flicker. I need somebody to go and get Dr. Warren. Now! Donahue shouted as she slowly stroked the girls hair. Some boy that I had seen in one or two of my classes ran out of the house, the door bouncing against the frame. The banging was the only noise in the house for a while. No one wanted to say anything or even really move. Donahue was the only one who was moving. About ten minutes later Dr. Warren came bursting through the door. What happened? I need to know everything. Please do not worry about getting in trouble. I need to know all of the tiniest details, nothing is too small, he said kneeling down next to Donahue and the girl in her lap. We were having a party. Some of the kids were drinking, but I do not know if Pandan was drinking anything. It was crowded here and hot. I remember she said that she was getting and wanted to go outside so she could cool off. She did not make it to the door. She grabbed her head and let out an earsplitting scream. I thought that someone had stabbed her or something, Donahue said, her body shaking.

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Miss. Donahue, what was happening around her while this was going on? I need to know if you could feel anything in the air? he asked, trying to distract Donahue from the emotions that were starting to show on her face. It felt like the air was still, it was almost thick, and then, I dont know. I know this sounds crazy, but it felt like the air exploded, she said quickly, like she could not wait to get it out of her. I wondered if that was the explosion that Liam and I had heard and felt when we were out in the yard. Dr. Warren was checking Pandans eyes with a tiny little flashlight. He had taken her pulse and checked her breathing, and those things seemed to be just fine. I think that her being unconscious had to do with what had happened to the air in the room. Either Pandan came into her power tonight or somebody else did and she is just very sensitive, or she got in the way, Dr. Warren said. So, shes going to be O. K., right Doc? Donahue asked. Yes, she should be fine. Ill take her to the nurse and we will keep an eye on her. She should be better in a few days, so there is no need to worry. We will contact her parents and they will decide what they want to do, Dr. Warren said as he was carrying Pandan out of the

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dorm. Donahue tried to follow them but Dr. Warren sent her back, stating that Pandan needed all of the rest that she could get. Insert words written 11-15-11

When I got back to the room Donahue was awake. She did not look like her happy self. Swollen eyes and no smile made her look like a totally different person. She was sitting up in her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. She was so still, I do not think I have ever seen her not move. Even when she was sleeping, she moved like a cat on fire. It was like a shell of Donahue was sitting there. I wanted to run up to and give her a giant hug, but I was not sure if she would even notice. I knelt over and shook Ryses shoulder. Wake up sleepy. Hey, Ryse, its time to get up. I think that Donahue needs some food. Ill go get some and bring it back to the room while you help get her ready for the day. Ryse sat up and rubbed her face and nodded. I slipped back out the door Insert note book page 11-17-11 [Jello]

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When Liam brought the food, he suggested that they have an impromptu picnic. I was not sure that it was proper etiquette considering, but he said it would give Donahue, Ryse, and Ryland some more time together, so I agreed. We ended up deep in the woods. It was quiet and nice to be able to get away. We talked about nothing and everything in between bites. It was easy to talk with Liam. I did not feel like I had to pretend to be who he wanted me to be. He made me laugh, with him, about him, and about me, too. It wasnt all fluff that we talked about, though. He told me how hard it was for him when he did not get his powers at the typical age. His mom tried to be supportive, but with who is father was it was hard for her to be torn between her husband and her son. His father was always pushing him to try harder and show everyone that he was normal. The look on his face as he told her about it, made her hurt for him. She told him about how difficult things were between her and her sister. She also told him about how people were always expecting her to live up to the standards that her brother and sister had set. She admitted that when she first came her she was doing it to make her family proud of her, but now she was having second thoughts about why she was

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here. She could live with the fact that she was who she was and she wondered why it was so hard for others to do the same. It might be hard for people to admit that are not comfortable with themselves, so they want to make other people feel bad about themselves, so that they can feel better, he said. Its getting late, maybe we should start to head back. I want to check on the others. I may not know exactly how they feel, but I do know what it is like to lose someone who you are close to, I said standing up. Liam packed up all of the stuff we brought and then we headed back to the dorm. The walk back felt like it took longer than the walk to the woods. I heard some animal noises that I did not recognize, but I did not feel scared. The sun was starting to sink lower in the sky, so I knew that we better hurry and get out of the woods before it got much darker. That was one of the first things that my grandmother had taught me. Never be in the dark in a place where you cant see everything around you. You never know what is out there, Galyn, she would say. I never realized just how much she had to teach me until she was gone. A lot of her sayings could be taken more than one way and they had helped me out of some sticky situations.

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Out of nowhere a high pitched shriek filled the air around us. I had never heard anything like it in my life. If I had to describe it again, I do not think that I could even come close to it. It was not the sound of something in pain, it was more like something that was horrified. I jumped when I heard it, but Liam stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned and scanned the area around us. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard, holding his other hand up to his mouth, motioning to me to not make a sound. I was so scared that I did not think I could make a sound if I had to. Standing completely still for what seemed forever, Liam pulled my hand and we started to move slowly forward. We creeped inch by inch trying to make as little noise as possible. I held my breath and tried not to step on anything that would give us away. My heart pounded faster with every twig snap or rustling leaves that I heard. The creature that attacked us was big. That was the first thing that came to my mind. It looked like a bear on steroids. Its claws could have crushed my skull in one effortless swipe. It would not have to bend down either, as it was seven to seven and a half feet tall. It was so dark that it easily blended into the woods and all of the shadows around us. The smell it gave off was putrid. It smelled of death and decay. I almost threw up all over the place.

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My feet were cemented into the ground. I admit it I was a terrified shaking mess. I always thought of myself as a brave and self reliant and tough. Right now, all I wanted to do was curl up in a tight ball and cry. I was a scared little baby. My mouth was so dry that I could not scream for help even if I wanted to. I could feel its hot, rancid breath on my face and all I could do was think of how I was going to be ripped to shreds and die out here in the woods. Just as I was preparing to take my last breath, everything went dark. I could not feel anything, see anything, or hear anything. It was an odd feeling; I did not think that dying would feel like this. I had also expected to see my life flash before my eyes. There was nothing. No pain, no agony, just confusion. As I was coming to terms that I would just be floating along in the nothingness I felt my body jar. There was a popping in my ears as air rushed into them. Slowly my vision corrected itself and I could see blurry shadows moving above me. It sounded like someone was calling my name from under water. Galyn, Liam was saying as he shook my shoulder. It hurt and I did not want to move, I just wanted to lay there so I wouldnt hurt when I moved. He kept shaking me and talking to me, though. I finally tried to mutter something and sit up just so he would leave me alone. That was a huge mistake.

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I said, dont move. If you try and sit up now you are just going to hurt worse, he said catching me before I fell back to the ground. What happened? Are we dead? I asked when I could speak again. Do you think you would feel so crappy if you were dead? he asked. I hope not. If this is what it feels like to be dead I dont ever want to die again. Did you kill that thing? I asked. That thing that attacked us? No, I , uh, I found another way to save us, he stammered and looked away. What do you mean you found another way? I asked. Ill tell you more later, after we get you somewhere else. We shouldnt be out in the open right now, he said helping me to stand up slowly. Standing I shaky legs I turned and looked around. We were not in the woods anymore, but it did not look too bad. I could not help but wonder why we could not be out in the open. It was getting dark but we shouldnt get in too much trouble, curfew was not until ten thirty tonight. He was probably worried that the creature would come after us, so we needed to find a safe place to hide. It was difficult for me to walk and I couldnt think of why.

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Maybe I was so scared that I passed out and hit my head. How embarrassing, on a first date, well, I thought of it as a date, to faint in front of him. Here, theres a little house just up the road that we can go to, he said. I must have hit my head pretty hard. Thanks for saving me, I said turning bright red. I bet that this will cheer Donahue up when she hears about this. Liam just bobbed his head and kept walking. He was walking like he was on a mission. He kept moving, even I asked to sit down to rest for a little while. He said that it would be harder to get started again and that I could rest when we got to where we were going. The house was farther then what I thought it would be. I guess our version of a little bit away was different Finally, I saw a small house up around the bend of the road. I forced myself to keep pace with Liam, but I was glad that it was not too much farther, I did not know if I could go much longer. When we reached the front door Liam looked around before he turned the doorknob a few times. It did not open. He cursed under his breath and turned it harder this time. The door flew open and he practically pushed me through the doorway and shut the door after he was in. I sat down in the first chair that I saw. It was worn, but comfy. Dust

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went everywhere but I did not care, I was sitting down and resting. I wanted to get back to my room and just sleep for the next few days. Trying not to fall asleep I saw Liam grab a small black item off of a counter and open it up. It was nothing that I recognized and I found it strange when he pushed a few buttons and then closed it again. About a minute later it started to vibrate and light up. He picked it up and opened it again. He stared at it, almost as if he was reading it. What is that thing and what are you doing? I asked. Nothing, he said closing it and shoving it in his pants pocket. Maybe it was because my head was pounding harder now, I dropped it. He might have something that he did not want to be caught with and as long as I didnt have anything to do with it I was not going to worry about it. He went to the kitchen area and started rummaging around in the cabinets. He found two glasses and got us each a glass of water. The cool water felt so refreshing I gulped it down before he had even drank half of his glass. Setting the cup down on a small wooden table beside the chair I stood up. Should we start walking back to the school? If we go slow Ill be fine, I said. Why dont we wait just a little bit longer? You might have a concussion and if you do, then you should not be moving around that much, he said.

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What is going on? We cant be that far away and when we get back Ill go and see the nurse. Shell know what to do if I do have a concussion. Im getting hungry anyway, I said. Someone is coming to meet us and help us get back to the school, he said, not looking at me. Are you saying that we are lost? I asked getting worried. Not lost, exactly, but we are kind of farther away than you think, was all that he would say. Before I could say anything else there was a knock on the door. Liam went and opened the door. He stood there for a moment talking to the person who was on the porch. I couldnt make out what was being said, but Liam looked anxious. My wrist started to itch, so I looked down. A gasp of shock escaped my lips. The skin under my bracelet was all red and irritated. I almost looked like a burn, and the more I rubbed it the more it itched. I had never had an allergic reaction like this before. It was only on my one wrist, almost as if something had been under the bracelet. Maybe it was from something in the woods, but the rash was not anywhere else. It was beginning to really hurt, so I took off my bracelet, figuring that if I washed it off, I would wash off what was irritating my skin. Almost immediately, my arm stopped itching and

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my headache went away. I could understand why my arm stopped itching, take away the poison and you take away most of the problem. My headache on the other hand had no reason to stop at that moment. Unless the headache was because of the pain and that was why it stopped. Here I was in some strange house and all I could think of was itching and pain, how big of a baby could I be? By the time I was done arguing with myself Liam was letting the person finally enter the house. Behind him walked in this beautiful tall girl. Everything about her was as perfect as perfect could be. My hands went to my hair to try to smooth it back into place. I was horrified to feel what I hoped were twigs and leaves all tangled up in it. Well, there was nothing I could do now, but sit there and feel like a messy child next to this girl, hoping that she had a horrible personality or her favorite past time was kicking puppies. I was being vindictive, she was here to help us and all I could do was think the meanest things about her. What was wrong with me? I have never been mean to someone without a very good reason. I tried to look at the best in a person and give them the benefit of doubt before I judged them. Ill blame it on hitting my head. Didnt peoples personality change if they had a concussion? Well get back to the school, Ill see the nurse, shell patch me up, and then Ill be back to my usual nice self.

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Galyn, this is Willow. Shes going to help us and maybe even help us get some of the answers that we are looking for, he said. Willow nodded and smiled. She stretched out her arm to shake my hand. I started to give her my right hand, but then I remembered about the rash, so I quickly substituted my left hand, which made shaking hands awkward. I noticed Liam giving me a weird look, but I smiled at Willow. Hi, Im Galyn, as Liam said. Its good to meet you, I said to her. Willow just shook my hand and kept smiling at me, saying nothing. I let go of her hand and looked over at Liam. Willow doesnt talk, was all he said. He did not say Willow cant talk or Willow doesnt speak the same language as us, just that she didnt talk. What was I supposed to do with that? Why did he have to be so vague? Willow had gone over and sat down on the couch, I guess she had enough of standing around and having me gawk at her. Im going to get another glass of water, does anyone else need one? I asked, looking over at Willow. She nodded; I watched her for a moment before finding one more glass, so I could refill mine and get hers. She had one of those small rectangle boxes that Liam had, but hers was a bright green and did not open or close. She

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kept glancing at it, but never pushed any of the buttons. I took her the glass of water and she smiled a thank you at me. It was odd not to have someone talk to me, it almost felt like she was snubbing me, but then I reminded myself that she did not talk to anybody. Liam came back into the room a looked at Willow. He called, was all that he said. He sat down without saying anything to me. What the hell was going on? Maybe I was being paranoid, but why was no one telling me anything. I guess I should be asking why Liam was not telling me anything; because Willow could not, or would not, say anything to me. Somehow they both knew what was going on, the least that they could do was let me in on a little bit of it. This whole day was sucky, in general, my friends were hurting, my outing with Liam went south, I have this disgusting rash on my arm, and just to top it off, a strange girl I do not know knows more about what is going on than I do and she does not even talk. If I do not get some answers soon I am going to lose it.

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Chapter
I must have fallen asleep while Liam and Willow had their one sided conversation, because the next thing that I knew was Willow was shaking me on the shoulder and motioning me with her hand to get up. I stood up and she indicated for me to follow her. Still groggy from being woke up I stumbled along behind her. She had led me into a room that appeared to have been a bedroom at some point in the past. An old bed with half of a headboard and a holey bedspread on it took up one corner of the room. A dresser with none of the drawers in it was covered in a layer of dust. There was one old tennis shoe left in the closest that had no door. Why did she lead me into this room? There was nothing in it. I felt a tap on my right shoulder and spun around to face her. She was doing something with her hands that I had no idea what it meant.

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Im sorry, but I have no clue what you are doing. Can you write it down maybe? Do you have a pen and paper in your pocket? I thought that if she did not talk maybe she wrote everything down, at least I know I would carry some paper and a pen, so I could. She pulled out her green rectangle and started to punch the buttons in a hurry. I noticed that she squinted when she was concentrating. Her fingers were going so fast that watching her made my hands hurt. She finally pushed the thing in my face. I was surprised to see that there were words on it. It was like a mini computer, a computer that you could carry around in your pocket. It took me a few seconds to be able to focus on the small print. At first, I thought that she might be showing me the wrong thing because what she had written made no sense. It said something about crossing over at a certain place at a certain time. What was she talking about, why would they have to cross over, it wasnt like they were on the Other Side and they could not go to the Other side without having permission. She also written something about the rash on my wrist. Why would she even what to know about that? Just thinking about it made me itch even worse. I started to rub my arm on the side of my leg. Willow reached out and grabbed my arm pulling it to her face. She ran her fingertips over the bumps that were starting to become less red. I tried to wrench my arm back, but she

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was stronger than she looked and she kept a tight grip on it. She held out her other hand. I did not know what she wanted. Let go of my arm, I said. She just kept holding her hand out and would not let go of me. I figured that she wanted her green thing back so I dropped it in her hand, but she still would not let go of me. What in the world did this girl want? I watched in amazement as she punched the buttons with one hand as fast as she had with both of them. She was good, I had to admit. She was strong and could write on her little box and still keep ahold of me. I stopped trying to pull away from her and just stood still and waited. She dropped her device back into my hand. What did you have on your wrist. Do you still have it on you? Where is it now? Do not get it yourself, tell me where it is and I will get it. It is important that you do not touch it with your skin. We need it now. I had a bracelet that my grandmother gave me. Its in my pocket, I said. Almost immediately she let go of my arm and reached into my pocket to get the bracelet. Her eyes got very wide as she looked at what she had in her hands. She turned

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and rushed out of the room. I was so surprised at her reaction that I just stood there for a second and then I ran out of the room and went to the living room. She had set it down on the small wooden table by the chair I had been sitting in. She was pointing at it and doing the strange things with her hands again. Her hands were making motions and gestures so fast that they almost seemed a blur. Liam started to do some pointing and other actions with his hands. They were having a conversation without saying a word. It was fascinating to watch them. I was going to demand to know what was going on, but I could not bring myself to interrupt them, so I just stood there watching them. It was not like I was eavesdropping, because I had no idea what they were saying to each other. When did your grandmother give you this? Liam said turning towards me. I was eight, it was just before she died, why? Did she say anything when she gave it to you? I dont remember, I was eight years old and my grandmother was dying. Why would I remember that? I asked. Are you sure that you cant think of any part of what she said to you? She must have said something, Liam asked walking closer to me.

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O. K., you are starting to make me nervous. You need to back up and give me some space, I said, which was kind of sad considering that I had wanted him much closer less than a day ago, now I wanted him to just get away from me. Why is it so important that I remember what my dying grandmother said nine years ago? Its not like its going to save the world or anything. Maybe not the world, but it might just save our lives right now, he muttered as he turned away from me. Heres the deal, you tell me what is going on right now. I want to know everything, down to the tiniest detail. I dont care if you think that it is not important, it is to me. There is something going on and you keep asking me all of these cryptic questions, bring me to an abandoned old house, introduce me to a girl who will not talk, and now you want to know all about what my grandmother told me when I was eight years old. Before I answer any more of your questions you are going to answer mine, do you understand? I said all in one breath. My hands were clenched into balls and I bet that my face was as red as a tomato, because it usually got that way when I was mad and right now I was beyond mad, I was livid. Liam started backing up with his arms in the air. He ended up tripping over a leg of the small table in the middle of the room, and falling on to his bottom. Serves him right I

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thought. Willow was laughing when Liam fell and then she wrote something on her little green box and showed it to Liam. He turned even red then I think I had been and shook his head at her. Willow kept shoving her little communicator in his face, but he kept shaking his head. She started to write something new and Liam seemed to be waiting to read it. When she was done she moved over and then she sprinted so that she could show me what she had written and not Liam. I swear that I saw him jump higher than I had ever seen a person jump before, but he was too late. Willow had almost made it over to me and propelled it over in my general direction. I managed to catch it and drop it. After what I read I really wanted to throw it down and smash it though. Liam Likes Galyn. . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn. . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn. . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn. . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn. . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn. . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn. . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn . . . Liam Likes Galyn. . . Liam Likes Galyn . . .

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Seeing that completely covering the screen, I lost it. I wanted to be mad, to be furious at Willow, but instead of me yelling at her I laughed. Not some little giggle, but a full on belly laugh that you can feel in your whole body. I think that I was just relieved to do something other than being scared. It was either laugh or cry. Now I was laughing so hard that I had enormous tears just rolling down my cheeks. I didnt care anymore. Liam and Willow were just staring at me and then Willow snickered. She tried to fight it, to not laugh, but she couldnt do it either. Soon it was Liam standing there watching two girls laugh, and he probably thought that it was all about him. But it wasnt. It might have started out kind of about him, but everything just came to a halt when I read that message. Here I thought that this girl was so worldly and knew more than I did about everything and here she was writing a note that was like something a ten year old would write. It was utterly ridiculous. But it was just the thing that I needed. Willow crawled across the floor to get her thing, which made me laugh even harder. She flipped over and sat down and wrote something else. I crawled over to her so that I could read it because somehow I knew that it was for me to read. She handed it over and

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then she wiped the tears from her face. This ended up smearing dirt and grime from the house across her face, but she did not seem to care. This message was shorter and more serious than the previous one had been. This one was only a few sentences.

We need to know about the bracelet. I would not ask if it was not vital to what we need to know. It could help us figure out why more people do not have access to their powers. Why would my bracelet answer questions about missing powers. This stuff was more than I could understand. Could they really believe this? Maybe they had heard some story sometime by somebody and they really believe that it was true and now I had the special thing that they are looking for. I didnt think that they were crazy, but I guess you cannot tell just by looking at a person. Willow started shaking her head fast. Putting out her hand palm side up I instantly knew that she wanted it back, so I put it there. She did her thing for a few seconds and then she put it right back into my hand. I am not crazy. This stuff is true, scary, but true. You dont have to believe it, but believe in me and that will be enough,

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for now. How could this girl I had just met be asking me to trust her? The crazy thing was that I almost did. Almost was the key word here. I wanted to hate her, but I could not bring myself to do so. I was not sure if I trusted her, but wanting to might be the best thing in this situation. Looking at Liam I saw that he was sitting with his head in his hands. He looked so lost and tired. He looked how I felt. I wonder what I looked like, I had fallen in the woods and knocked myself out, trekked through the woods, and now am in a filthy old house. I am sure that I have seen better days. I will try to remember what she told me, will that help? I asked. Willow nodded, smiled, and then jumped up and gave me a giant hug. I was taken aback and then I awkwardly hugged her back. I heard a peculiar noise from across the room. I was not sure if it was a sob or a chuckle. I pulled away from Willows death grip and looked at Liam. He was trying to keep from laughing. What? I demanded. That has got to be the worlds worst hug. You guys looked like you were giving each other the Heimlich maneuver or something, he said still trying not to laugh.

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Willow grabbed one of the dusty pillows off of the long chair and threw it at him. The cloud of dust made him start coughing. Between the coughing and laughing I thought that he was going to throw up. Throwing his hands up in the air, I give up, I give up. You guys win, please do not throw anything else at me. I wont throw anything else if you promise to tell me what is going on. Deal? I said. Well tell you what you need to know, deal? he said. I guess I will have to settle for what I can get. Right now, I think we should find something to eat and then get some rest before I start. It is kind of a long story, you will need all of the strength you can get, he said. Willow got up, wrote something on her minicomp (short for mini computer), that is what I have decided to call her little green box thing, and showed it to Liam. He read it and nodded. Willow said that she knows where to get some food. Shell go and get it and shell grab you some clean clothes, but that I am stuck wearing what I have, Liam said to me. When Willow left I went to the bathroom to try and clean up the best I could. Wiping as much grime off of the mirror as I could, I thought that I should have left it on so that I did

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not see what I looked like. My face was caked in dirt and I dont even want to know what else. Obviously, I did not get all of the sticks and leaves out of my hair because they look permanently embedded in it. It would take a serious amount of soap and shampoo to get me clean. Plus, all of the little cuts, scrapes, and nicks all over my face, neck, and arms. It looked like I had been through a war and I had not been on the winning side. Sighing, I turned on the faucet and all it did was moan and groan at me. I turned the knobs on and off and eventually I got a small consistent trickle of water. It was better than nothing and I began dabbing at my face. It took forever, but I was able to scrub myself clean. It felt refreshing, even though all there had been was cold water, but I was going to take whatever I got. The thought that I was going to get some clean clothes made me even happier. My clothes were all stained and tore up. At least I had worn a pair of my older tennis shoes, so they did not look worse for wear. I know it was petty of me to be worried about how I looked, but I could not help it. I had wanted to look good for Liam, and well, considering how the day had gone, I was not doing a good job at it. I was not sure he was still interested in me anyway. The way him and Willow were around each other made me think that maybe he was just being nice to the new

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girl. He was a nice guy and would probably be a good friend to have. He did not leave me there for that bear thing to eat me, so at least that was a good thing. Leaving the bathroom I looked more presentable. My face and arms were clean and my hair was has good as it was going to get. I had picked out as much brush as I could, but I bet that there was some still hiding in there. The ponytail I put it in hopefully hid the leftovers. I let Liam know that the bathroom was all his and then I sat down in the chair. My arms and legs were sore, so I stretched out as much as I could. I was still trying to get comfortable when Willow came through the front door carrying two bags. Whatever food was in the bag smelled so good that my stomach growled pretty loudly. I guess I must be hungrier than I thought, I said turning red. She dropped one bag in my lap and one at my feet. The one in my lap was warm and where the smell was coming from. Opening it up I inhaled deeply and then pulled out a hamburger that was wrapped tightly in white paper. I dont think that I have ever eaten anything so fast in my life. I hardly tasted the first few bites. I slowed down and started enjoying the taste. The flavor was full and a little bit sweet. I was sad when I finished it, but when Willow reached into the bag and handed me another one I squealed with delight. She smiled and pulled one form the bag for herself. We ate in silence because, well, because it

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would have been a one sided conversation anyway. Besides, I still had manners and did not want to talk with my mouth full of food. By the time that Liam joined us, I was on my third hamburger and I was not going to apologize for it. It had been a stressful two days and I cant remember when I ate last. Thanks for saving me some, Liam said eyeballing the pile of trash next to me. I was tempted to throw one of the wrappers at him, but that would mean that I would have to set my hamburger down and there was no way that I was going to do that. So I just kept eating and ignored him. Did you get what else we needed? Liam asked Willow in between bites. Willow nodded and pointed at the door. Cant we eat without cryptic messages? I get it, you two know more than I do, but can you at least let me eat and then go change so you two can have your little chat, I said standing up, grabbing the bag by my feet, and let the room.

Chapter

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Putting on the clothes made me feel even better. There was even a brush in the bottom of the bag. Thank God, that Willow was a girl; she knew just what I needed. I was starting to like that girl more and more. I could hear Liam talking, so I stayed out of their way until there was a long enough lull in the talking that I thought that they were done talking. I was wrong. Liam was reading the minicomp when I joined them. So, are you guys ready to let me in on what is going on? We have ate, rested, and cleaned up, so there are no more excuses not to tell me. I never thought that I would say this, but I am ready to get back to school, I said standing in the middle of the room with my arms crossed. I was not going to back down this time. Sit down, Liam started out. We are a lot farther then you think we are from the school. Now, promise me that you will not freak out. I just stared at him, saying nothing. I am not going to tell you anything until you promise me, he said again.

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I am the one who wanted him to tell me what was going on, so I was going to have to take it. Fine, I promise. You also have to promise not to interrupt me. What I have to say, what we, have to say, he said glancing towards Willow, may seem strange, but trust me, O. K.? I nodded, because I did not know what to say. There have more and more people who are not showing any signs of having powers recently. I did not realize how bad it was until I found and read a file my father left on his desk one night. I could not figure it out, it was a bunch of facts and boring statistics, but the main thing was that the percentage of kids getting powers earlier was going up, but also the number of people showing either low range, we are talking about level one or two powers was also on the rise. But, the one that was increasing at an alarming rate it said was no powers. It was three and a half times bigger than the other areas on the graph, he stopped to take a drink. It was a couple of more days before I could get into my fathers office again, but I was able to find some old records and about eighteen years ago some doctor was preforming experiments on pregnant women. Apparently the government thought that they could improve peoples powers with some kind of drug.

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They hired several doctors at different places to do this. I doubt that the doctors knew what they were in for. Some of the women did not even know they were being given the drugs. This was before my dad worked for the company, but he is hiding these records. They were marked to be destroyed, but for some reason he brought them home. I think that he is trying to track down either the doctors or the babies that were part of this. Most of the babies that were born would be about our age now, I think that is why he is so invested in this. Maybe he thinks it is part of the reason I do not have any powers. I saw Willow give him a look. I did not know quite what the look meant, but it caught my attention. It was a strange look, maybe I would ask her about it later. Anyway, as I was saying, my father had many files on this and in my illegal search of it I found some papers with strange places named in them. It turns out that they are places in the Other Side. Now that was something that made me sit up and give him all of my attention. What in the world were places on the Other Side doing in reports of experiments done here? What does any of this have to do with me? I did not have any powers because that was the way it was. It happens in families from time to time. Yes it was embarrassing and it sucked, but there was nothing that I could do about it. It stood to reason, by parents had two children who

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were beyond average in their power ability, so it was not so bad that I turned out to be the family dud. It would be great if Dr. Warren could find a way to help me reach deep down and find my power, but if he could not, then I would deal with it. I know now that it will not make me Galyn, I was already me, it would just be a part of me. I wanted to ask some questions, but I had promised Liam that I would not interrupt him and I was trying my hardest to keep that promise. It was hard, though, with knowing he had all of this information. I was also wondering what he knew about the Other Side. He seemed to be bringing it up an awful lot. What if there was a conspiracy and they were sending over some kind of sickness to prevent us from having powers. That was ridiculous though because they did not know we existed. That was one of the reasons you had to get special permission to cross over, so that certain precautions could be taken to prevent detection. I talked to my uncle, Willows dad, and he said that my dad had been doing research on not having powers long before

Come back to Later

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I drug myself to the door of my room at the dorm. It was late enough that there was no one in the hall at this time of night. I was hoping that Donahue would be asleep, so that I could just climb into bed and sleep forever. Cracking the door slowly so that it would not make any noise I tiptoed into the room. To my surprise Donahue was sitting up on her bed. The little lamp beside her lit up her face. She looked surprised to see that it was me opening the door. Where have you been? I have just been through the worst two days ever and you choose those two days to disappear? I needed my friends with me and you just left, I guess I was wrong about you. I thought that we were friends, that you cared about me, I was wrong, she said getting out of bed and slamming the door shut. Turning around she just glared at me. I could see her eyes were dry, but that they had not been for very long. It looked like she had not brushed her hair or changed her clothes the whole time that I was gone. I wanted to rush up to her and give her a great big hug, but I could

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tell that she did not want that from me. The look in her eyes told me that she would either hit me or worse. Hopefully she would understand when I told where I had been and what Liam, Willow, and I had discovered. I would have to explain Willow first, wow, it was going to be a long conversation, if she would even hear me out. I know you think I am a horrible person, but let me tell you what happened first and then you can hit me or throw me out or do whatever you want to do to me. All I am asking for is a chance to explain what happened, I said. Why should I even give you one second of my time? You sobviously did not think that I deserved your time, you just up and left and disappeared without telling anyone you were leaving. Neesha told everybody that you and Liam went on a picnic, a picnic for goodness sake, she said sitting down on the edge of her bed, looking defeated. She is kind of right, I started out. On the morning you found out about your friend, Pandan, Liam did take me on a picnic. But it was only because we wanted to give you, Ryse, and Ryland some time alone together. You guys needed each other I just thought that I would be in the way. We were only supposed to be gone for a few hours. We were attacked by some kind of bear creature and I passed out. When I came to I thought that

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Liam had carried me somewhere safe. It turned out that we had crossed over, you know, to the Other Side. I met his cousin, Willow. She reminds me of a silent you, by the way. Anyway, it took us a day to figure out how to get back. Then we ran into a little bit of trouble. I thought that you would be asleep by the time I got to the room tonight. Liam and I were going to tell you guys what we found out tomorrow, but if you are awake do you think that Ryse and Ryland are, too? Ill go get Liam and Ryland, if youll go and get Ryse. There is some crazy stuff going on that you guys need to hear. I ran across the dark lawn of the school. Every noise I heard I thought it was either that creature coming to finish me off or a teacher to yell at me about being out after cerfew and to drag me to Dr. Warren. By the time I made it to the boys dorm I was sweating from fear and my heart was going so fast that I thought it could be heard from miles away. I went to Liams door first. No one was on the first floor and I took the stairs, because I did not want to chance getting caught on the elevator. Making it to his room I hoped that his roommate, whos name I had forgotten, was asleep and Liam answered the door himself. I did not want to have to deal with him. Last time he talked to me he was very rude. As I was going to knock I could hear some voices, so of course I tried to hear what they were saying.

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The other voice I heard did not sound like his roommate. Trying to make out what they were saying was harder than I thought it would be. Pressing my ear to the door I felt sick. It was a girls voice that was talking. To make matters worse it was Neeshas. I wanted to walk away right then and there, but I found myself straining harder to hear what they were saying. All I could make out was Neesha yelling at him that if he did not say something that she would. Walking back down the hallway I was looking for somewhere I could still see his door, but not be seen by anybody. Why didnt they have any fake plants here in this dorm like they did in ours? At least I could mostly hide behind it. Crouching beside the table that held the phone and stuff would have to do. At least the hall was semi dark and I would not be that easy to spot at first. My legs were starting to cramp when Neesha finally opened the door and looked up and down the hall before she left. I was a little bit more than mad as I stood up. Maybe I had no right to be mad, Liam had never said anything about being together, but I figured after what we had just been through we were more than friends. Making sure I could walk after standing up I collected myself. I had to remind myself that I was not here just because I liked Liam. I needed him to tell Donahue, Ryse, and Ryland what was happening. I tapped lightly on the door. There was no response from the

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other side of the door. I did not want to knock to hard, but I needed Liam. Tapping a little bit harder I heard footsteps coming to the door. Liams roommate was on the other side of it. Wow, two in one night. I need to get your secret buddy, he said turning inside of the room. Liam came to the door and looked surprised to see that it was me standing there waiting for him. Galyn, I thought that you would be crashed out by now. What are you doing here? Looking over at his roommate, his name was something like Gunner or Steal or something to do with weapons; he pulled me into the room and shut the door. That was not exactly the hello I was expecting. We need to talk, I said looking at whats his face. While Liam was getting rid of him I decided to focus on what the more important thing was and just leave the whole Neesha thing alone. There were more imperative things than him having a girl in his room tonight that wasnt me. When he came back alone I filled him in on what I wanted to do. He was going to go and get Ryland while I went back to the dorm and get Donahue and Ryse. We were going to meet at the bench. Thinking about how we

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talked at that bench just a few days ago about nothing briefly crossed my mind before I could push it away. Making it back to my room was a lot less stressful because I was trying not to think about different things I did not have the chance to think about getting caught. Ryse was waiting for me in the room with Donahue when I arrived. They were both pacing around the room. Ryse looked like she had not ate or slept the entire time I was gone. Her usually perfect hair was pulled back in a messy bun and looked like she hadnt even bothered to brush it first. I think she was even wearing two different socks, she did not look like the same girl I had known for the past few weeks. Well, where are the guys. You make me go and get Ryse and they are not even with you, Donahue said, not mincing her words. Were supposed to meet them at the bench in front of the main building. I figure it would be better than being in the room, I said. We walked in silence to meet the guys. I did not think that they would be so mad at me. In a way it was good, it meant that they did think that we were good friends. It was nice to think that I had friends, but it sucked to know that they were mad at me. Hopefully when they

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heard what Liam and I had to tell them they would understand. It was either that or they would think that we were both totally crazy. I was surprised to see that there were three people waiting for us there, rather than just the two that I was expecting. Tonight was just getting better and better. Liam had brought his roommate. What was he thinking? I guess I had not realized that they were such good friends and that Liam thought it was important for him to know what we knew as well. Hey guys, this is Sterling, my roommate, Liam said, looking at everybody, but not at me. Hey, Sterling said giving a half wave. You better start talking because I am even angrier with you than I am with Galyn, so I am O. K. with pummeling you, Donahue said with her hands on her hips and flames coming out of her eyes. If you will just listen for five minutes I think that you will understand. It might even give you some of the answers that you have been looking for, Liam said directly at Donahue. Five minutes, Donahue said. I think, I mean we, Galyn and I, have figured out why more of us do not have powers. There were experiments and testing done to women while they were pregnant. There were

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different results, some kids ended up with super powers or got them early. Others, like us, do not have any powers. We think that Dr. Warren knows about what happened and he is hiding whatever he knows. He does these little tests and counseling sessions with us, but what is he really doing? Why arent there more doctors here? Some of the classes they teach us are not exactly normal classes. Most of us are from families with other children who excelled in their powers in some way, but we do not have any. How could nobody not notice this and start asking questions? Well, I am asking questions, now. I hope that you guys will ask your own questions too, he said. I was curious as to why he did not say anything about going over to the Other Side. I was going to say something about it but he caught my eyes and I could see that he was holding it back for some reason. I would give him a few minutes and then if he did not say anything I would. He was probably letting what he had just said sink in. I guess he was right, they might not be able to handle all of the information all at once. We had two days to absorb all of it, they have had a few minutes. Do you have any proof of all this? Ryland asked.

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I do have some files from my fathers office, but most of it is speculation. This is why we wanted you guys to know. If more people know about this we can keep our eyes open and find some more tangible proof that could be of some help to us, Liam said. When you say tangible proof, what do you mean by that? Sterling asked. What we need are more documents, things that people in authority will take serious. If we went to them now with our thoughts and suspicions they would just laugh at us and throw us out of their offices, Liam answered. How can we get any? Its not like we can just go in Dr. Warrens office and ask him for them and hell just hand them over, Ryse said. Well, there is more, but I was going to wait, but I guess now is as good of time as any. Galyn and I were not hiding out in the woods the past two days. We were farther away, we were on the Other Side. I can almost believe what you are saying about there being some kind of conspiracy, but that you two were able to go over there, by yourselves, without getting caught, and then getting back without anyone noticing is a little hard for me to swallow, Donahue said. I believe you, Ryland said.

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We all turned and looked at him. Out of all the people here, he was the last one I pictured that would believe us about any of this. He seemed so rational, with his head on his shoulders and serious all of the time. The one person here who I could see believing us would be Sterling, he just seemed like the kind of guy who would believe anything. Ryse looked at her brother and nodded. I believe you, too. Pulling a handful of grass up with his hands and tossing it back on the ground Sterling stood up and wiped off the back of his pants. I am good at distracting people. I can talk about nothing for hours and people feel compelled to listen. They think that I will sic my older brother on them or something. We all just looked at him. My brother is Jeremiah. The Jeremiah. The one who can make you spill all of your deep dark secrets and then make you thank him for doing it. Seriously, none of you knew he was my brother? Shaking his head Liam said, I just thought that your parents had loads of money and that was why all of the teachers put up with the way you act. Well, there is that, too, he said smiling. What was it like on the Other Side? Donahue asked turning to me.

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It was just like it is here. They have some different things, but it looks the same. Liam will have to tell you about it more. I did not get to explore it, we spent most of the time there in an old house with his cousin Willow, I said. You have a cousin that lives over there? Why havent you ever said anything about that? How did she get over there? How has she managed not to get caught? I thought that they had security systems everywhere and alarms go off if someone crosses over without permission. Did you guys get shot at? I heard that every person, even the little kids, own guns and will shoot someone they do not know on sight, Donahue rambled on. Its not that different from here and my cousin has been living over there for about three years now. There were circumstances that made it more dangerous to live here than it was to go over there, he said. What do you mean it was more dangerous over here? Why would she be in danger here? Shes some sort of criminal isnt she? No, she is a spy and her being in danger is just her cover story so that people would not worry when she left. She is collecting information for the government because they have some dirt on her and this is her way of getting them to destroy all of her records, Donahue continued on.

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I hate to break up this party, but I think that we should all go and get some sleep, we do have class in the morning, well this morning, Ryland said. We can meet up later after school and talk about this some more. Hes right. It has been a long weekend and most of us need some could really use some sleep, Liam said. I agree, I dont know how much longer I can stay awake. Can we talk some more at lunch? I asked. Do you really think this is something that we should be discussing in public? Most people think Im crazy already, so it would not bother me, but do you want people to start thinking that you guys are crazy too? Sterling said. He had a good point; we should be talking about this when no one else is around. Why dont we meet in the library after school? There is hardly anyone there; all the students want a break after spending all day in classes. There are even rooms in the back that you can reserve for studying in, if any of you are still afraid of being overheard, I said. Who knew that people would want to lock themselves in a room in the back of the library? Sterling said.

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Fine, we will all meet at the library after school tomorrow. Now I am going to go and sleep. I want to stay awake in class tomorrow, unlike some other people, who shall remain nameless, Donahue said looking directly at Sterling. He shrugged at her and then turned around and started walking towards the dorms without waiting for anyone else. Donahue turned to Liam. How on earth are you friends with him? He is such a slacker. He never takes anything seriously, look at how he acted tonight. You just told us that we may not have powers because someone did experiments on us before we were even born and he acted like you just told him that the cafeteria is switching their menu. Is he really that thick headed? He is not that bad once you get to know him. He holds a lot of stuff in, he is so used to it maybe he just does not know how not to be an ass, Liam said. I couldnt have said it better myself. With that, I am stealing the ladies and we are leaving. Until tomorrow, Donahue said. The walk back was silent. I was not sure what to say, so I did not say anything. Ryse and Donahue were whispering back and forth the whole way back. Seeing how they were together made me miss Willow. We did not whisper and giggle, but it had been nice to share a

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look or rolling our eyes at Liam together. I felt left out and it hurt. Donahue, Ryse and I had gotten pretty close I thought. Now they were excluding me, it felt like the first day of school all over again. Right before we snuck back into the dorm Donahue turned and held her hand out to stop me. O. K., Ryse and I have been talking. We have decided that it was not your fault that you were not here this weekend. It is kind of sweet that Liam kidnapped you so that he could have you all to himself, she said. He did not kidnap me, we ended up- If I say he kidnapped you, then he kidnapped you. Please, just let me have that image of you being swept away for a secluded weekend in the woods with a cute guy. Anyway, back to what I was saying, it was not your fault, so we have no right to be mad at you. You just have to promise us that next time he kidnaps you, - let it go you have to tell me he has to let us, me and Ryse, know in advance. Knowing that I was in a losing battle, I nodded my head. Fine, next time I know beforehand that I am going to be taken captive I will insist that the perpetrator must let you guys know, so that you do not have to worry. I am sure that making sure I have permission to be held against my will, will be the first thing I think about, I said smiling. I was glad that they

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were over being mad. I would have been fine if it lasted longer, but it was a relief to have it over and done with. I do not remember dreaming that night. I was probably so tired that I fell asleep and was too tired to dream. Waking up in my own bed was nice. Stretching I did not want to get out of bed and go to school. Knowing that we would be getting together later made it a little easier, but not by much. I did not manage to hide all of my yawns in my classes, but at least I did not fall asleep and drool on my desk, which I was informed that Sterling did during the class he shared with Donahue. She sure did talk about him a lot for thinking he was such a jerk. If I didnt think that Donahue would beat the ever living snot out of me I would tease her about liking him. Besides, Liam did it enough for all of us. At lunch he ended up leaving with some of his salad still in his hair. He took it all in stride, of course. He was perfect, a little too perfect I was noticing. He was always nice to everybody, not that it was bad, but there wasnt someone he did not like? He always knew what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. It was like it was programed in to him. Maybe I was just sabotaging my feelings for him. The whole I am not worthy teen age girl crap. Whatever, I was allowed to feel this way, Ill just blame it on the hormones.

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The rest of the afternoon dragged on forever. Each minute felt like ten and every teacher seemed to be explaining things we already knew in extremely long needless details. Instead of writing down notes I was writing questions that I wanted to find answers to. Not the best idea, but it helped to keep me awake and not keep looking at the clock every five seconds. When the final bell rang I was out of the class room before it had even finished ringing. On my way to the library I was so focused on getting there I was not looking where I was going. Turning a corner I ran straight into Dr. Warren. Great, this is so not what I needed right now. I am so sorry, Dr. Warren. I was not watching where I was walking, I stammered. Thats fine, Miss. Nolana, no one was seriously injured. Where are you off to in such a hurry? he asked. Oh, I am meeting some friends to study at the library, I said. Im glad that you are taking your studies serious. That shows a lot of incentive and I like to see students do that. Remember if you work hard, you will succeed, he said as he stepped aside to let me pass. Ill keep that in mind, thanks Dr. Warren, I said and continued my way to the library.

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I was the last one there which surprised me. I had figured that I would at least beat Sterling, if he even bothered to show up at all. Donahue looked ready to jump out of her skin, Ryse looked like she was ready to get down to business, Ryland look determined like he always did, Liam looked comfortable and at ease, while I was not sure if Sterling was asleep or awake. They all watched me as I walked in. I jumped one mile straight up in the air when Sterling kicked his foot up and shut the door. Good, now that we are all here we can start. First I want to know is how long have you, Liam, known that people can go over to the Other Side without being detected. And, how in the world did you two get over there? I, for one, do not believe that you just happened to stumbled along a way there by accident, Donahue said. Liam took a deep breath and was quiet. Im not sure. I guess it started with my Aunt Karin, Uncle Wallen, and cousin Willow. About four and a half years ago they started to notice that there was something different with Willow. They took her to doctor after doctor hoping to find answers. All they found were more questions. Three years ago they came one night to somebody already in their house. Willow was behind them, that was what saved her. She saw her parents shot in front of her. She does not remember all of what happened after that, she woke up in the forest alone with blood over her.

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She walked to my house. She was in shock and could not speak. In fact, she has not said a word sense then. My father looked for the shooter but they never found a trace of anybody. There was no evidence that another person was ever in the house. Some people even thought that Willow killed her own parents and was just making up a story about an intruder. I always believed her but then one day she was just gone. She did not leave a note or anything telling us where she went. I found a note shoved underneath my bedroom door. It was from Willow. She wrote that she trusted me and that she needed to let me know what was going on. To make a long story short she was the one who got me started going through my fathers files which led to me finding out about all of the different doctors and what they were doing to people. The rest of why Willow is over on the Other Side is not mine to tell, he said. We all let the information sink in for a minute. My left hand automatically went to my left wrist to touch my bracelet, I forgot that it was still in my top drawer where I had put the night I got back. The rash was almost gone, but there was this feeling that I had that I should not put it back on just yet. For some reason I felt that it was in the spot where it was supposed to be right now.

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Hey, wheres your rock bracelet? You havent ever taken it off since youve been here, Donahue asked. Put my hand behind my back quickly I shrugged. I didnt feel like wearing it. It did not match my outfit today. It doesnt match anything you wear. Whatever, I was just curious. Has Dr. Warren asked any of you to increase your sessions with him? Ryse asked the group. We all looked at each other. We all nodded. He wants me to see him three times a week now. Before he only wanted to see me like once every other week, if that. I thought that it was because I was getting closer to leaving. That maybe he wanted to see if he could fix me before I left so that he did not ruin his reputation. What good is this school if it does not work after all, Sterling said. He has not even seen me this week, in fact he canceled the last appointment I was supposed to have with him, I said. Thats because you just got here, he has more time to work his voodoo on you. Ive been here for almost a year and a half. I know my parents thought that I would be cured by

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now. Maybe he is only trying to please our parents, after all they are the ones who are paying for this, Donahue said. That may not be the only reason he is doing this. The money I mean, Ryland said. Last year I heard some kids talking about how he had a son who did not have his powers. He tried everything, but nothing worked. His son disappeared one day and no one has seen or heard from him in the past ten years. Like I said, I heard this, but it does not mean it is true. It is probably just some rumor that some kids started. I dont think that I can picture Dr. Warren as a father. He just doesnt seem the type, he seems more like the uncle you have that has never been married and never will be, Donahue said. I dont think hes that bad. He is so nice to me. He never pushes me and never makes me feel bad because I cant do what other people can do, Ryse said. He seems phony to me. He tells everyone what they want to hear. Sometimes people need to hear things that they dont want to, Ryland said. Donahue was flipping through one of the books in front of her. Ouch! I got a paper cut, see I told you that studying was dangerous.

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Donahue looked so serious that I started to laugh. Once I started I could not stop. Here we were about to plan ways to figure out if we were tested on before we were born, contemplating about breaking into offices and trying not to get caught and she was complaining about how it was dangerous to read a book because of a paper cut. I wonder what will happen to us if we are caught. The worst thing they could do was expel us, right? I hope she did not get too much blood on the book. It was bleeding an awful lot for just a little paper cut. I did not have any bandages on me, who carries those with them at all time except mothers and teachers? Donahue wiped her finger on her pants and then went to suck on it some more. Hey, my cuts gone. See, it was not that bad, it was probably so little you cant see it, Ryse said. No, there was a gash there just a minute ago, I saw it. It wasnt like it needed a healer or anything, but it was there and now its not. I dont know whats going on, but if someone here is playing a joke it is not funny, she said scanning the room. None of here have powers genius, Sterling shot back. Well, then how do you explain how my paper cut just disappear? A much needed pair of eye glasses would explain it perfectly, Sterling said.

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O. K. you two, if you are done fighting like two year olds we can get back to business. How are we going to get a look at the files and stuff in Dr. Warrens office if someone is always there and when they are gone, I believe that there is an alarm system set? Liam said. I can take care of the alarm system, Ryse said quietly. What? I asked. I am good with electronic stuff. If I see it I can fix it, or in this case, destroy it. Ive always been able to do it, I dont remember not being able to. Wow, you learn something new every day. Hey, is that why my music player starting working again after I dropped it in the toilet? I thought that it was done for and you put it in a bowl of something and by the next morning it was working again? Donahue asked. Yeah, that only took me a few minutes, but I did not want to look like I fixed it so fast, so I had you put it there overnight so it would look the other stuff dried it out. Its just something I like to so, Ryse said. O. K., so Ryse is on electronics. What is everyone else good at? We might not have powers, but we can put our talents to work. I can sweet talk almost anyone I meet. I have Mrs.

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Rahaun wrapped around my little finger. She thinks that I am the sweetest thing since sugar. She told me so last week, Liam said. Ryland thought for a minute and then said, I am good at cleaning things up. I know that sounds lame, but, I can make it look like nothing was messed with. I can remember where everything was and put it all back exactly where it was. Lets just say that I was never in trouble for not cleaning my room when I was little. And, I was never caught snooping around. So laugh all you want, but I can find out anything about anybody and they will never know. Sterling, what are you good at, sleeping? Donahue asked smacking the table right next to him. Im awake duchess. I guess you might say that I am good at being invisible. I tend to blend in and no one notices me. I have worked hard at this my whole life. I was tired of being compared to my brother, so I decided to fly under the radar as low as I could go. One year in my old school I showed up to take my final and the teacher asked me what I was doing. He had no idea that I had been in class the whole year. Here I thought I was so awesome that I was unforgettable, but it turns out if I want to I can be very forgettable. Maybe it can come in handy in a situation like this. I can be all stealth like without even trying, how cool is that? he said.

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I am not really good at anything. I break more things then I fix. I am to nervous when I talk to people to I have too much of an attitude to have people like me or forget me. I cant help it what ever comes to my mind comes out of my mouth. Yeah, and technology and I do not get along. My mom had to highlight my map for me and here it is, what six weeks later, and I still have to look at it to figure out where I am going sometimes. I suppose that I am good at supporting. I can cheer you all on if you start feeling like you cant do it. I would always cheer my little brother up when he was sad. Yeah, I have the best talent here, definitely, I said. I felt so like me. I was O. K. with the fact that I was fine at a lot of things and not great at one thing. Growing up with my sister had made me deal with this at a young age, so I had plenty of time to get used to it. Yeah, I wish I was really good at something, but what good does it do to waste all of my time on wishing for something that was not going to happen? I was better off being happy with what I could do. Now that we have an idea what we each can bring to this next time we meet we can start planning what we are going to do. I can not meet tomorrow, because I have my wonderful session with the Doctor, when does everyone have a free day that we can get down to business? Liam asked.

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We eventually figured out that the next time that we could all meet without distractions would not be for another week. We would have to do what we could. The next week flew by, the only thing that was different was when I met with Dr. Warren. He had our meeting outside, which was different. We walked around the property just discussing little things. He did not ask the usual questions, this time he asked about my family. He wanted to know what I felt growing up in my home. He kept asking if it was hard being compared to my brother and sister. He asked about my relation with my mother, father, sister, brother, and my grandparents. I did not know how all of this was relevant. It might have been to see how adjusted of a person I was. Wasnt your relationship with your family growing up supposed to show what kind of a person you would be when you were older? It just felt like he kept asking the same questions over and over and I tried to remember what I answered before, so I could keep the answers the same. For some reason I wanted to please him. It was nice to be outside and enjoy the fresh air. The leaves were starting to change to deeper colors and some were already falling on the ground. The air was crisp and I could almost feel the energy crackling all around me. Being out here it felt like I was awake after being asleep all week. I still felt awkward being around Dr. Warren, knowing what we were planning. I thought that any moment he was going to turn to me and say that he knew what we

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were planning and that we were all kicked out and going to jail. I know that it was just my imagination, but I still could not shake that feeling. By the time we got back to the office my nerves were a wreck. I felt like I had drank about fifty five cup of coffee. I was wide awake, but every nerve in my body was screaming at me. My face hurt from smiling and nodding so much. I was sure that Dr. Warren thought I was some dumb air head who would never do anything, with powers or no powers. Maybe that would work to our advantage. If he thought I could not manage to tie my shoes without help, then there was no way he could think that I was helping to plan on breaking into his office to dig through his files. Sitting on my bed I was finally able to relax a little bit. It was nice to be alone and not have to think about anything in particular. I had plenty of thought racing through my mind, but I did not have to come up with an answer right away. Maybe it I took a nap I would feel better. Tossing and turning I did not have a restful sleep. My dreams were bits and pieces of fractured thoughts that I had been avoiding. I saw my sister standing over me sneering and mouthing something that I could not decipher. My little brother was sitting in a corner rocking back and forth mumbling to himself. He did not look scared, but determined. The strangest

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thing was that he held my bracelet in his hands and it was glowing so bright that I thought it would burn his hands. Then I was running in some woods that I did not recognize. There was ice covering all of the branches. I could feel the coldness seeping into my bones so much that I thought they would shatter if I took one wrong step. I could hear the wind whispering through the ice; it was calling to me, begging me to follow it wherever it went. The faster I tried to run the slower I seemed to go. I could see the edge of the trees and on the other side was a green field with a crystal clear lake right in the center of it. It looked like a painting; it was too beautiful to be real. I was fighting to take even the smallest steps when a loud shatter behind made me jump. Looking back I could see the trees exploding into millions and millions of tiny ice shards. They were raining down and it looked spectacularly gorgeous. The sun that could peak through the trees were catching the broken ice and reflecting everywhere. It was so bright and intense that I had to close my eyes. I was mesmerized and wanted to stand there and just watch this perilous rain of broken glass. I knew I should move, but I felt hypnotized. Somewhere I could hear someone calling me. I tried to ignore the voice, but it would not go away. It was getting louder and louder but I still tried to push the voice out of my head.

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I was not going anywhere; this is where I needed to be, where I wanted to be. When the ice started its spray When I felt the first spray of ice on my skin I knew that I should run, but a few seconds could not do any harm. As the first few slivers of ice hit my skin, I did not panic. But, as more and more cascaded down it began to feel like my arm was on fire. I did not move, though, because even though it burned, it was thawing my frozen insides. Looking at the clearing, I was torn between staying and going. Which one should I pick? Which spot would make me the happiest? I was not thinking about which one would make other people happy, but for once, I was thinking about how my decision would affect me and only me. I felt like I was being selfish, but right now that did not matter. Did I want to feel the burning and know that I was truly alive, or did I want to go to the beautiful place that was waiting for me, where I could feel safe and comfortable? I woke up confused and shaken. It was not a bad dream, just a disturbing one. Why did it start out with my brother and sister and then go to a forest? Who was calling me and what did they want. My friend, Rebekka, used to put a lot of stock into dreams. She would write every single one down and then try to put a meaning to why she dreamed it. It had gotten to the point where I would make up dreams just to see what she could come up with for me. I had her believing that I was secretly wanting to be a One of them involved a monkey,

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rainbow, and a dead rat. She took days to interpret that one. I do not think that she ever figured out that I was making them up, or at least she never said anything to me. I wonder what she would have made of this one. It was times like this that I missed my old life. I do not know if I would want to go back to it, but I still miss it. A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. When I opened the door I was shocked at who it was. Neesha was standing there and she did not look too happy. There is a phone call for you. Just to let you know I do not take phone messages for people, think of this as your one freebie, she said and then took off down the empty hallway before I even had a chance to thank her. Why did she have such a chip on her shoulder? I would not want to be that mean to people, didnt her parents tell her that if she didnt have anything nice to say then she should just keep her mouth shut? Hello? I asked after picking up the phone. Galyn, its Gabe. Can you talk for a minute? Sure, how are you, is everything O. K. at home? I asked. For the most part. I have a question for you, please tell me the truth. No one here will tell me anything and I know you will tell me, even if its not what I want to hear, he said sounding very anxious.

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I was used to calming him down. Whenever he was scared or unsure of something he used to come to me when I was at home. Take a deep breath and ask me. I promise to tell you if I know anything, I said. I heard some stuff at work today that did not make sense. They said that you were at a school that was going to dissect you so that they could find out what was wrong with you. They said that you would end up brainless and drooling in a bed for the rest of your life. They laughed after they said it, but I caught them giving me all of these sad and strange looks the rest of the day. Please tell me that it is not true, he cried. It was hard to see him as a thirteen year old boy, he had been working for the past two years after all. If I ever ran into any of those people who were telling him this stuff, I would hurt them, seriously hurt them and make them wish that they had never opened their mouths. Do not listen to them. Do you really that mom and dad would send me here if that was what they were going to do to me? I am learning how to open myself up and see what is blocking my abilities. There is no torture or poking my brain with a needle. They talk a lot here that is about all we do. I might die from boredom, but I will definitely not end up drooling, dead, but not drooling, I said trying to lighten the mood.

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O. K. If they start wanting to cut you up you have to call me. Ill come and break you out of there, he said. Hey, Sabrinas not picking on you or anything is she? If she is, then I will came and break you out of there, I said. No, she is mostly ignoring me and I am fine with that. She is a lot meaner now that you are gone, but I stay out of her way and she usually forgets that I am even here. Mom and dad are gone a lot, so I spend a lot of time in my room. It is fine, I built a little refrigerator and I bought a microwave that I have hidden in a drawer. Nobody knows about that, so please dont say anything, he said. Dont worry, your secret is safe with me, I said. We chatted for a little longer about some unimportant stuff. Hanging up the phone made me realize just how much I missed being at home was mostly because of him. Sure I missed my parents and my room and my friends, but being the one who looked out for Gabe was what I missed the most. Even though he was four years younger than me I felt the closest to him. To know that he was worried about me made me smile. Now he was the one who was looking out for me, huh. He was such a good kid.

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Who were you talking to on the phone? I havent seen you smile like that in a while. Do you have a secret boyfriend that you have not told me about? Donahue asked as she sat down on my bed next to me. Oh, yeah, I have six or seven of them all over the place. Didnt I tell you that? I said. Liam is going to be really jealous when I let him know, she said. With my face heating up I swatted at her. Shut up. He does not like me like that. We are just friends. Besides, I think he is the one with the secret girlfriend he is not telling anyone about. I proceeded to tell her about how I had found Neesha in his room that night I went to go get him to meet us. She laughed when I mentioned how I had hid beside the phone table. How could he have that, that horrible girl in his room? She would be the last person I would ever expect him to keep on the side. If he was going to have a secret girlfriend, at least he could have the decency to have someone who is nice. Neesha is just such a word that I will not say, because it would insult the rest of them, she said. You always know just the right thing to say, thanks, I said. That is why they pay me the big bucks, she said. FINISH LATER

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When were you going to tell me that you have had your powers? I feel like such an idiot! Were you laughing behind our backs this whole time? I asked. I was so angry that I could not even get out all of the questions that I really wanted to ask him. I felt like such a fool. I wanted to, believe me. If I did, though, I thought that Dr. Warren might find out somehow and then he would kick me out before I was able to get some answers. I have been searching for too long to stop now. I wanted to help my sister, but I was too late, so I was doing it for others so that they would not have to go through what I went through, he said sitting down clenching his fists. His face was twisted somewhere between anger and grief. Even though I was pissed at him I wanted to go and hold him and let him know that everything would be all right. How could I be mad at someone who had put his life on hold so that he could figure out what had been wrong with his sister? I was still mad at him, but I could understand why he did it, but it still hurt that he had lied to me, to all of us. He was just going to have to deal with us being mad at him. You have to tell everyone else. And you have to do it tonight. When you do it I would stand as far away from Donahue as you can, I think that she can hit pretty hard, I said.

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Noted, thanks for not being too hard on me, he said. Oh, you are not totally forgiven. I have been lied to for too much of my life. You are going to have to prove yourself, buddy, and it might take quite a long time, I said with my arms folded across my front. At least you are still talking to me, that is a good sign, isnt it? he asked with a slight smile. Its not a bad sign, but I am going to warn you, you are in for a bumpy ride. I can handle it. For what it is worth, I really am sorry. So, what exactly is your power? I have a feeling that I only saw a little bit of what you can do, I said, figuring that if I was going to be mad at him I might as well know exactly what he had been hiding from us. Im not sure, he said quietly. What do mean you are not sure? How can you not know what your power is? You are the one who is using it, I said surprised. Twisting his hands together, he sat thinking for a few minutes. I guess I should say Im not sure what it can do. Think about how when you look at a lake and the water changes

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color based on what is being reflected into it. You know that it is not really the color of the water that is changing, but it looks like it, right? he asked. I nodded. Anyway, I am not sure if I can actually change stuff, or just shift how it looks, based on what is around me. It is not just how it looks either, taste, texture, smell, sounds, everything about it. I once focused on making something disappear. I am not sure if it really disappeared or if it just absorbed what was around it and it was still there or not. I did do such a good job that I could not find it again and change it, or bring it, back, he said. So you are a Moll, and a what, level four or five? Why arent you working? I am sure that some company would be willing to pay you really well for what you can do. I do not want to be stuck working at one place and besides, money isnt everything to me. I do not want to be told how and when I can use it. I have seen firsthand what it can do to a person. Watching my family fall apart is what made me keep it to myself. My mother has not been the same since my sister passed. I do not blame her for what she did, but the effect it has had cannot be repaired. My father just works harder and longer and does not even acknowledge what happened. It is like the harder he works the more he can forget it. My

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brother, well, it did not change him at all. Nothing ever affects him, but if the death of his own sister does nothing, then he has always been heartless, he said not looking at me. Wow, there was nothing I could say after hearing that. I knew of his family, but I did not know that his sister had died and the way he talked about it, it did not sound like she had died from an illness or an accident. I had thought that my sister was mean and cruel, but his brother just sounded evil. Maybe he had just put up a thicker wall than most people, but there was something in Liams eyes when he spoke of his brother that made me doubt that. I could see the hurt and the disappointment written all over his face. I will be with you when you tell them. They might be mad, but they will get over it. We need to be able to work together if we want to find out what is wrong with us -, I stopped, because now he was not part of that us anymore. My head was spinning with what I had heard tonight and I was still not sure of how this was going to work. You do still want to so this with us right? Yes, I have to do it for my sister, was all that he said. It hurt that he did not add that he wanted to help us, too. Maybe talking about his sister tonight was all that he could think about. I do not know what I would do if I lost my brother. Just thinking about made me sad.

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We did not say anything as we walked back to the room. Walking in silence was something that I was getting used to. My friendships at home had not been this complicated, but then again, these people knew what I was going through. I also thought that they wouldnt forget about me if I went away for a while. I had tried to call Rebekka several times since arriving here, but she was always busy or not there. She had never returned any of the phone calls. When Liam told the rest of the group it went better than I had thought it would go. Donahue only hit him three times. Ryse cried and Ryland gave him a stormy look that could freeze even boiling water. Sterling wanted to see what he could do, but then recanted his offer when Donahue hit him. I was not sure how long it was going to be before Ryland was going to be able to talk to Liam. He was the one who looked the most devastated. Ryse would get over it soon, because she did not like people to be mad at her. Donahue would be fine after she popped him a couple of more times, her anger reduced with each punch. Sterling could care less, I think he was used to people lying to him, so it did not faze him that much. Things got interesting after everyone left our room. How could he lie to us like that? He is lower than

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