I had just woken up, and even now my reflexes were fast. I was sitting at the table drinking my pulp-free orange juice, with honey on pancakes when I felt my reflexes kick in. A tennis ball was heading straight for me; I moved my hand up palm facing the ball and stopped it. I allowed it to hover in mid air for two seconds before I let it drop. It didn’t take much concentration to do simple things like that usually. But after being up for ten minutes, yeah it hurt my head a bit.
“Darn it!” Nathan said. He emerged from behind the door he was hiding from. He did this some mornings to see how good my reflexes are when I first wake up. “Why can’t I ever catch you off guard?” He was talking to himself, I assumed. I turned back around and continued to eat my breakfast. Nathan joined me.
“Maybe because it comes on its own, naturally. We went through this last week. Remember?”
“Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. But seriously! It would be nice to catch you off guard at least once in a while”
I sighed. I had finished my pancakes and juice. I had to concentrate now. I focused my energy onto the cup and moved it onto the plate slowly. I managed to get it standing upright, instead of on its side. Then I focused my energy onto the plate. Slowly it started to hover, and move across the kitchen. I was half way to the sink, when the sound of the door banging broke through my concentration. The plate fell fast. My instincts kicked in quick enough to stop the cup from smashing. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get the plate. It was an inch from the floor when I felt Nathan’s time ability kick in to make it smash in slow motion. Irritated, I quickly focused on a force field to go on the floor to stop it from smashing. I didn’t know if it was there or not, but it must have been. Because the plate hovered a centimetre from the floor, by now it should have smashed.
That is so not fair! I felt Nathan’s thoughts tug on my mind. I slowly pulled away the shield and made the plate to land softly on the floor, with a click. I hadn’t been able to get it to the kitchen sink, but I had been able to stop it from smashing. The cup, I realised was still floating in mid air. Without using as much concentration I brought the cup towards me. I reached out and as I grabbed the cup I felt my levitation on the cup disappear.
My success put me in a smug mood. I walked over to the plate, with the cup in my hand picked it up and placed it them the kitchen bench next to the sink.
Then I walked into my room, and got ready for school.
Nathan drove us to and from school, in his car. Which he treasure very much. I honestly had no idea what the fuss was about, but then again Nathan thought the same thing about fashion. It ten minutes we arrived at school.
The school wasn’t grand, but it wasn’t exactly poor looking. It was one of the best schools in the state. And I have been attending here ever since I started high school.
“See ya later, Nathan” I said goodbye, as I climbed out of the car. That was usually our parting note. But unlike most days Nathan didn’t say anything. I reached out to his mind, but I couldn’t feel anything specific enough to get an idea of what was going on. Confused, I opened up the car door and looked at my brother. “Nathan?” I looked around the parking lot, to notice with surprise everything had stopped. Unlike most people my shield abilities allow me to be move freely when Nathan messed with the time.
“Huh? Ah... Nothing. Sorry, I was concentrating”
“Uh-Huh. Well do you mind setting the time back to normal? You kind of pressed paused while you were concentrating” I often used words like ‘paused’ and ‘fast-forward’ when we were talking about his abilities. He reminded me of a DVD remote sometimes.
He looked over at me and smiled, and then just like that everybody was moving again. “Sure”
“Thank you. See you later, okay”
I walked away from the car, and I barely heard him call out behind me “Yep!” I was about three cars away from where we had parked when I heard my name being called.
“Aly-son!” It was Haley. She had red hair which, surprisingly worked in her favour. It was a dark shiny shade of red, and it did shine in the sun like the shampoo and conditioner ads. She was the same height as me, if not a little taller. And she loved her clothing, just like me. We were best friends ever since my first week starting out in high school.
“Hay-ley!” I called back. I walked back to her and just like as if we were sisters, we started laughing and hugged. We were the best definition for teenagers. Once our laughter stopped we started talking.
Not long after, the bell rang for school. All the kids started walking in the school building so we weren’t late. Nobody liked detention. We made it to our first class with minutes left over to waste on gossip. We made our way to the middle of the room and sat in our seats. Once class started I tuned out of the gossip and tried to focus on my school work and not turning invisible.
Most immortals only specialised in one category, but me? I specialised in two. Some people could argue that it is three (Levitation and Force fields). But in the immortal world things are different. My force fields allowed me to create a shield so thick around me that people can’t actually see me. It also is similar in a way to my levitation. I remember this morning my shield allowing me to let the plate hover above the floor, instead of just using levitation. They were similar.
My other specialisation is in the mind. I can read a person’s mind from a distance. But that’s not all; I can search a person’s mind. Even though they don’t know that I am doing that. When I touch somebody, or get into close to somebody I can see everything they have ever seen, and know everything they know.
I am the only person in my family to specialise in two categories. My brother, Nathan specialises in time. My mum, have objects and sometimes when she concentrates enough have people do her bidding. My dad specialises in future. He can see the outcomes of the decision people make, but it can only come by force. Of course, because of my shield none of these things work on me.
I tried to get my mind to pay attention to the lecture we were being given, but nothing was grabbing my attention. Instead, I flipped to the back of my book so I was facing a clear page and started to draw anything that came to mind.
But the time our first break came, I had drawn a series of loops and swirls. Meaningless they were.
Haley and I walked out of our classroom. Haley was battering excitedly about some gossip one of the cheerleaders told her. Me, I was walking in a daze and completely unaware of my surroundings. I caught onto the conversation when I heard one sentence that caught my attention.
“What did you say?” I gasped.
Haley nodded as in an agreement. “Yeah. Jake and Kayla were in a post break-up situation and he went and slept with Chelsea. And mind you, Kayla and Chelsea are like best friends” We walked into the cafeteria and both of our gazes looked to where the cheerleaders sat. Sure enough Chelsea and Kayla were ignoring each other. But I was surprised to see they actually sat at the same table without attacking each other. Previous cheerleader fights have resulted badly..... and violently. “Well, they were best friends” finished Haley.
We made our way to the table we sat at where people were waiting for us. I sat down and was immediately aware that something was different today. Haley and Katie and the rest of the girls seemed completely unaware of anything. Or so I thought.
I didn’t like spying on my friends. But something told me that this was something I would want to know. So I let my natural, uncontrolled shield down, and listened as the voices filled my head. I hope he does it soon..... I feel so sorry for Kayla. I would be killing Chelsea....... finally here he comes! I felt some excitement spark as I listened to Natalie’s thoughts. Obviously something was going on. Oh well, I wouldn’t have to wait long. Whoever ‘he’ was, was arriving soon.
Here goes nothing, Thought Natalie. I noticed everybody’s attention in the group sifted to Natalie. I followed everybody’s eyes to see that Jack was coming this way. I was too confused to spy in my friends mind to figure out what was going on, so I decided to ask.
“What’s going on?” I asked Haley.
“Natalie is going to ask Jack out. But it’s going to be done differently. That’s as much as anybody knows.” She whispered to me.
I watched engrossed to see how asking out a guy was supposed to be done differently. “Jack. Come here” Natalie called out to him.
He seemed surprised, but willingly enough to come other. No surprises there. Natalie was one of those people who guys thought were hot, and Natalie knew.
She walked over halfway to meet him. And they ended up being in the centre of the cafeteria. He stopped, but she didn’t. She continued to walk up to him, and then lurched her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.
She didn’t let him go far. I instantly knew what she was doing; she was ‘planting the bait’ so to speak. Nobody could hear her. Or well nobody else could hear her. Being an immortal has not only given me abilities, but I also enhanced senses.
“Will you go out with me?” she asked Jack.
He hesitated. No guy has ever hesitated when Natalie asked them out, and everybody knew it. “I’m sorry Nat. It’s just that I have a long-term girlfriend. Who I really like-“As he was speaking Natalie stepped out of the embrace took one step back, and then lurched her hand across his face. She slapped him. He seemed dazed, but unsurprised. Everybody gasped. Including me, that was unexpected of Natalie.
I didn’t need to be able to read her mind to know that herself esteem had just taken a blow, or to know that she was upset. After slapping him, she walked around him and stalked out of the cafeteria. Everybody was quiet. The rest of lunch was done loudly as usually, but it was done quieter.
The bell went and I walked off to go to my next class. The rest of the day went in a blur and before I realised it we were back at the table in the cafeteria. I wished so desperately to be able to go home now. School was boring.
When lunch ended, Haley, Sarah and I walked off to our last class of the day. I was walking down our corridor when I saw somebody. He was tall, probably taller than me. He had short, scruffy brown hair that looked natural. He was my age, and he was handsome. You could tell that he was strong, maybe even brave, in the way he walked. I heard Haley and Sarah start giggling and whispering. But that wasn’t the reason why I couldn’t stop staring; it was because he looked so familiar. As if, impossible as it sounds, I should now him and where he has come from and every detail about him. As I walked past him I felt my arm brush against his and a thousand different images flooded through my mind. I was caught off guard, but was successfully able to continue walking as if nothing had happened.
We reached the door to our classroom and I paused before entering and looked back, he was gone. In a snap decision I decided to go find Nathan. I gave my teacher an excuse, and went to go find him. I had no idea if what I was doing was the right thing. If my fears were confirmed then what I was doing was my biggest mistake. But I knew that if I stayed in class, a worse outcome might happen. The boy who I had bumped into was one of the worst things that could happen to my family if he knew I was here. The images I had seen kept flooding through my mind and I was getting more and more panicked. I needed to find Nathan fast.
On my way to his class I passed my locker and an idea occurred to me of how we were going to get out of school unsuspicious from teachers. I grabbed my bag and made it look like I was going home, which was exactly what I was doing. I reached out into Nathan’s mind and found what class he was in. I shut my locker and practically ran to his classroom. I knocked on the door, and the teacher opened up. I had no idea who he was, and sure enough he didn’t know who I was.
“May I help you?” He asked
“I’m here to get my brother Nathan. We’re going home and I think he forgot” I made my voice sound confident and sure. It worked.
“Very well then, off you go, Mr Parker” Nathan was dismissed. As Nathan stepped out of the class room, I was already moving. Nathan was confused, so it took him a few seconds to act and catch up to me.
“What’s going on?”
I had no time for explanations. “Pause” Was all I said.
He immediately understood, and he did as I asked. “Okay. Now we have to get home quickly” I started running through the corridor to get outside as soon as possible.
“Alyson, what’s going on?”
“I will tell you when we get home. Now come on!” I was getting impatient.
We reached the car and drove home without saying anything. The only thing I did say was to start the time again when we get home. I was frightened and confused. What if it was a mistake? I thought back to his memories, and I instantly ruled that option out. We got home, and I was out of the car before it was turned off. I ran inside.
“Mum! Dad! I need you here now!” I yelled. They would hear me, and sure enough they did.
“Alyson what’s wrong?” It was mum. My sudden appearance made her worried.
“We have to leave. Now! There was this guy at the school and when my arm bumped into his as we walked past I saw his memories.”
“Dear, there’s no reason to get so frightened over somebody else’s memories.”
I groaned in annoyance loudly “No. You don’t understand. He’s an immortal. And I saw why he’s here. He’s here to find us”
Mum was the first to speak “Alyson, put your shield around us and when you say okay I want you Nathan, to stop the time. Understood?” We nodded.
I closed my eyes, and breathed in deeply. I concentrated on relaxing myself. Once done, I pulled the shield out and could feel their presence under it. “Okay” I said.
A moment later Nathan said: “Done”
I opened my eyes, and let the shield fall back. Mum and Dad started rushing off into different rooms. I looked at Nathan, but he looked just as confused as I felt.
“What are we going to do?” I asked.
Mum and Dad both paused. And they were both unsure how to answer my question. But I read it in their mind before any of them actually said anything.
“What? No! We can’t move. Not now anyway. What about school?”
I didn’t want to move, they knew that. And I knew we had to do this no matter what, even if what I thought was an immortal wasn’t an immortal.
“I’m sorry” Mum clicked her fingers and a pile of boxes appeared. “We have to do this. Both of you have boxes already in your room; I want you both to go start packing” She didn’t wait for a yes; she knew she didn’t have to.
I walked up the stairs, and into my room. Just like mum said there were boxes there, waiting for me to use them. I grabbed the first one, popped it out and began packing my belongings.