Psychic Chapter Three: Flint In the point of view of William The drive home was a long one. I drove slowly. I needed time to think things through. So much had happened today. I grimaced. Lindsey was right. The first day was crucial. I had so many new opinions formed about me by others. This was so different than what I was used to. I had grown up thinking about myself and my family. My world was small, but comfortable. I liked it. Now, so many factors influenced my decisions. It suddenly mattered immensely what others thought about me. Especially April. Now this was new. I had seen many movies before, how the guy falls in love with the girl at first sight. Stupid, I had always thought. To simply give yourself away at first glance to someone you’ve never even met before. But was this even love? I didn’t think so. It didn’t feel anything like I thought it would. I was polite and kind to April because I felt sorry for her. I apologized to her because I would’ve felt guilty. I said sorry for me. Selfish. That wasn’t what love was. So I wasn’t in love with her. That was probably good. I shouldn’t be looking anyways. I would always feel guilty somehow if I was in love with April. What about Penny Bells? If I was willing to be polite and kind to April, why not Penny, too? I felt horrible for refusing her offer to eat lunch with me. She was just as nice as April, wasn’t she? Argh! Why did high school have to be so difficult? The schoolwork was easy. I knew Math, Science, English; I was fine academically. So why was it so confusing? I sighed. I was almost home. At home, I could forget this. It was like returning from an extremely long trip. I pulled into the driveway and walked into the house. I was greeted by a hurricane of golden-brown fur. I rubbed CJ’s head. “Sure. Just let me eat something first.” I walked into the kitchen. I was stressed. And what better way to deal with stress than eating? I ate the remaining waffles from breakfast, but I still wasn’t full. I searched the refrigerator for more food, but nothing else looked very appetizing. Suddenly, I heard my mother. “William! How was your first day of school?” I straightened. “It was good. I made some new friends.” She walked into the kitchen. “Really? That’s wonderful! I’m glad!” There was a pause as I turned back to the refrigerator. She watched me for a while. “Make sure you leave room for dinner.” She said as she walked away. “Okay." I answered. That was a silly thing for my mom to say. No matter how much I ate, I could always eat more. I finally gave up and turned to an impatiently waiting dog. “Go get your ball, CJ!” I said with animated excitement. CJ suddenly flew upstairs to get the red ball he loved. I could sense the excitement shoot through his little dog body like electricity. I laughed. He came stumbling down the stairs in his hurry to play outside, the red ball in his mouth. We ran outside. I would throw his ball and he’d go running after it, bringing it back for me to throw again. After a while of this, he got tired. We sat on the porch, talking. CJ asked me. I sighed. “Interesting. I made some new friends.” CJ stirred impatiently. I was silent for a while. I wasn’t sure I wanted to express my feelings so openly. But I could trust CJ. I talked to him whenever I had problems before, and he never thought a word of them to anyone. So I talked to him. I first described my friends to him. Jackson, Hannah, Emily, Isaac and Steven. Then I talked about my school schedule. I described my classes to him and told him what I had done that day. I mentioned Penny Bells and the note-passing in English, and the fact that Lindsey was in my second hour class. Then I talked about April. “In Geometry, there’s this girl I met named April that I don’t understand.” CJ cocked his head. he asked. “I can’t read her mind.” I answered. “It’s weird. I wonder what’s up? She’s really nice, though. And pretty.” CJ immediately perked up. he asked. I shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s nice and all, but I’d feel bad.” CJ stopped wagging his tail. he asked. I sighed. “Well, if I’m willing to like April when I don’t even know if she has any feelings for me whatsoever, then why am I not interested in Penny? I know she likes me because I read her mind.” CJ nodded. I turned to him. “What makes you say that?” I asked. CJ smiled. I thought about that. Did I not have the power to choose for myself? I frowned. But… if I had the power to choose, wouldn’t I have eventually chosen April anyways? I mean, she was the focus of my entire day today. I shook my head. It was only the first day. I couldn’t be thinking like this yet. I’d have to wait and see what happened. My stomach growled. It was almost dinnertime. “C’mon, CJ. Let’s go inside. I’m hungry.” CJ followed me as I walked into the kitchen. My mother was cooking spaghetti. She smiled when she saw me. “Don’t worry, Will. Dinner is almost ready." I smiled. She knew me well. Whenever I came into the kitchen, it was because I was hungry. Soon, my father came home from work, and my sister returned from her after school programs. She was a cheerleader. They spent hours after school working on routines. My father was a chemistry professor at a nearby university. The family sat down at the dining room table to eat dinner. Once again, I was asked, “So how was your first day, William?” my father looked up at me. I played with my fork. “It was good. I made some friends, and my classes are interesting.” He nodded. Lindsey kept most of the dinner conversation alive by talking about the homecoming dance. A boy at school had asked her to it today. My mother and she talked about it all throughout the meal. I quietly ate my dinner, putting seconds and thirds on my plate when it got empty. After dinner, my dad and I went to the basement to watch baseball. Usually, I’d be very active when I watched it. Jumping up and yelling at the TV that the opposing team had made a foul. My dad was the same way. But tonight, he was the only one. I was distracted. I only occasionally looked up at the TV screen. My dad noticed. “What’s wrong, William? You seem to be really out of it.” I shook my head. “I’m just really tired. I’m going to bed.” I stood up. My dad shrugged. “Alright. See you tomorrow.” I waved and tromped upstairs to my room. CJ was on my bed, waiting for me. I changed into my pajamas and flopped onto my bed. I stared up at the ceiling. I looked up at the plastic glow-in-the- dark stars I glued there when I was younger. My head swam as I reflected on what had happened today. I wanted to sleep. To forget everything and rest. It took hours, but I finally closed my eyes and was able to sleep. The next few days went on in a similar fashion. Mrs. Taylor still hadn't been able to get me into the computer class for fourth hour. There wasn't any room in the class. This was fine by me. I was able to finish all of my homework and forget about in for the rest of the day. I had gotten into the habit of paying extremely close attention to April when I was around her. If I couldn't read her thoughts, I could at least try and guess. She soon became the reason I went to school every day. She had sparked my interest. The fact that I couldn't read her thoughts was what made her so interesting. As time went on, I made better friends with her. She was suddenly not the shy little girl that hid behind her hair any more. She was fun! She smiled a lot and teased Jackson like they were brother and sister. The school changed, too. It became more and more decorated as the homecoming dance approached. Giant posters lined the hallways, and more students were pairing up every day. One day, during lunch, Jackson elbowed me. "If you're planning on going to the homecoming dance with a date, you'd better hurry and ask someone before there's nobody left!" He whispered to me. I sighed. My eyes flicked to April. Jackson smiled. I knew what he was thinking. Was I? I wasn't sure being in love was such a good idea. If I really did love her, I wouldn't want to keep any secrets from her, right? Including my psychic powers, and I couldn't afford to betray my family's trust like that. No. it couldn't happen. I wrestled with my insides. A part of me wanted to just fling away all this doubt, and let myself fall in love. The other part, my more sensible part, resisted. There was no possible way to become so attached to her without revealing myself. I would eventually slip. How would I explain? I wouldn't want to feed her lies. That wasn't love. I suddenly felt upset. My hands clenched into fists. Why did my life have to be so difficult? Lindsey didn't seem to have these problems. I spent seven years of my life in isolation, wishing I didn't have to be locked up like I was. But now that I was out in the real world, I wanted nothing more that to be alone again. I looked up. The bright colors on the walls advertizing the homecoming dance seemed to surround me. What the heck? I could ask her to homecoming, couldn't I? That didn't mean I had to love her and tell her all my secrets. I turned to Jackson, who had been watching my inward argument with some confusion. "Has April been asked to the dance yet?" I asked quietly. Jackson grinned. "Nope." "Right. Okay. Meet me at my pickup after school today. You aren't busy this afternoon, are you?" I raised an eyebrow. Jackson, still smiling, shook his head. I allowed a small smile, too. "Alright. See you then." It was like the end of the school day rushed forward to meet me. I wished every day went by this fast. I went out to the parking lot to see Jackson leaning against my truck waiting for me. I walked up to him. "So," I said. "Tell me what I need to know." Jackson gave me a confused look. "About what?" he asked. "About asking a girl to a dance!" I answered. Jackson smiled. He nodded towards my car. "Get in." he said. We both climbed into my pickup. I started the car. Jackson turned to me. "Okay." He said, looking at me seriously. "There's one thing I know that girls love. Flowers." I threw the car in reverse and drove backward out of the parking lot. Then I put it in forward and revved the engine. "Which way?" I asked. Jackson gave me directions to the flower shop. We decided that a dozen violet roses ought to do the job. I put it in a vase with water and tied a purple ribbon around it. Then I put a little tag on in that said: April, would you please go to the dance with me? -William Duncan I tried making my handwriting look as nice as possible. Then I turned to Jackson. "What do I do now?" I asked. He shrugged. "Keep them alive until tomorrow, put them in the office, or in her locker, and wait for her to say yes." Suddenly, a nervous feeling went from my head, down my spine, to my feet. "What if she says no?" I asked. Jackson smiled. "She won't." he said, patting me on the back. I thanked him for his help and drove him back to the school parking lot so he could drive his car home. I held the vase in between my knees as I drove home because I didn't trust it not to tip over anywhere else. I made it home and walked in the front door. My mother was upstairs. "William?" she called. "Is that you?" "Yeah, it's me." I answered. I heard her come down the stairs. "Where were you? You came home later than usual-" she cut herself off when she saw me with the vase of violet roses in my hands. She looked at me in confusion. "William, what are you-" Suddenly her face changed to excitement. "Are you asking someone to homecoming?" she asked. I nodded. Suddenly, Lindsey appeared. They started chattering to each other about how exciting it was that I was going to my first dance. "Um, Mom?" I asked. The chattering stopped and she turned to me. "Yes, honey?" she answered. I held out the vase full of roses. "Any idea where to put this to keep the roses alive?" my mother smiled and led me to the kitchen. She took the vase and put it in the window sill so it was in the sun. "There! Beautiful!" she said. Then she saw the tag. "So who's April?" she asked me, smiling. I shrugged. "A girl." I said. "A friend of mine." She nodded. "Right." She walked off, still smiling. I wished many times to read the thoughts of my mother, but this time, I wished harder than ever. I hoped she didn't suspect anything. People always assumed too much. That night, I told CJ my plan. I wanted to put the roses in the office the next morning, and then at lunch, I'd get her answer. He agreed that it was a good plan. I woke up the next morning to my alarm clock. CJ moaned lazily for me to turn it off. I smacked it and it instantly became silent. I got ready for the day and went downstairs. My mother was cooking breakfast again. I quickly ate and grabbed the vase of roses on my way out the door. When I got to school, I went straight to the office. I wanted as few people to see me with a handful of roses as possible. Mrs. Taylor was sitting behind the desk. She saw me and smiled. "Good morning, Mr. Duncan! What can I do for you?" I set the vase carefully on the counter. "Could you make sure April Palmer gets this for me?" I asked. Mrs. Taylor glanced at the vase. "Of course!" she answered. I smiled. "Thank you." I said, turning to leave. "Wait!" she called. I turned back around. She shrugged her shoulders. "It appears that you now have a free hour fourth period. I talked to the principal and he said that it would be best." I nodded and left. When first hour started, Jackson whispered to me: "So did you take care of those roses?" I nodded. Jackson grinned. "April will say yes. I'm positive." He said. I smiled. I doodled on my notebook the whole period. I had already learned the whole lesson by reading Mr. Hill's mind. Second period came slowly. I stepped into the classroom just as the bell rang. I had trouble remembering Jackson's locker combination. I sat down in my desk and realized that April was missing. Uh-oh! Was she absent today? Just my luck! I slumped down in my seat and absorbed today's lesson from Mrs. Blunk's head. Twenty minutes into the lesson, April walked in with a green piece of paper in one hand, and her Geometry stuff in the other, she handed the green note to Mrs. Blunk and sat down next to me, smiling. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. Mrs. Blunk's mind told me that April was tardy because she had been in the office. So she had already received my roses? April took out a piece of paper from her notebook and wrote on it with her purple pen. Then she slid it over to me. I felt dizzy with joy. I picked up the piece of paper and read it. Yes! I silently rejoiced. Lindsey, who was sitting at the front of the class, shot me a telepathic message. she asked. I grinned hugely. Lindsey smiled. She said. Whoa. My sister had complimented me! I folded up the little piece of paper and put it in my wallet. I didn't know why I did that, I just felt like I should. The class ended too soon. Then it was English. Penny looked terribly upset. Her mind fumed with anger. I cautiously took my seat behind her. She didn't look up at me. I listened to her thoughts. her mind growled. I stirred uncomfortably as I listened to the plans Penny was conjuring in her mind about how she was going to make me ditch April for her at the dance. I watched her fantasies about me discovering my "true feelings" for her and things like that. I sighed. It was weird seeing myself do these things, even if they were someone else's imagination. I felt myself getting upset as well. She had already said no to someone else? I sighed and tried ignoring Penny's vivid imagination as it ran wild. By the time the period was over, I was reluctantly watching myself kiss Penny in the middle of the dance floor. I shuddered. I practically ran out of the classroom when the bell rang. I wanted to escape her presence as fast as possible. I met Jackson at our locker. "What's wrong, Will?" he asked me. "It looks like you were watching a horror movie last hour!" I breathed a laugh. "You're not far off!" I muttered. Soon, everyone but April was present. "I wonder where she is!" Emily said. "I saw her just a few minutes ago in Spanish!" the minutes rolled by. I began to worry. What was taking her so long? Jackson finally sighed. "Let's just go. She can meet us at the spot." Reluctantly, I followed. We got our lunches and walked outside. As we walked to the parking lot, I heard a familiar voice. "Then say no to him!" It was a guy's voice. I searched for who had spoken. Then I heard a girl's voice. "No! I've already yes to him! I wouldn't go to the dance with you if you were the last person on Earth!" my ears pricked. That sounded like April. I handed Jackson my lunch tray. "Hang on. I'm going to go check it out." I said. He nodded. I jogged in the direction of the voices. I rounded a corner and gasped. Flint Yonni had April pinned to the school wall. She was struggling to free herself, but Flint was stronger. "Let me go!" April demanded. "C'mon, baby, let's talk about this!" Flint said soothingly. Anger burbled inside of me like boiling water. I stepped forward. "Let her go!" I said in such a commanding voice I surprised even myself. April and Flint froze. Then Flint said: "Who's going to make me? You?" I stood before him. Was that a question? I was almost twice his size! He released April and turned to me. April watched unsteadily. Flint beckoned me forward. "C'mon, then, let’s fight!" Fight? I had never fought before. Suddenly, an image flashed through my mind. It was Flint swinging a punch at my face. I instinctively ducked. Then I realized that just then, he actually did try to punch me. With a flourish of excitement, I realized that I could forsee everything Flint was going to do by reading his mind. He swung again. I stepped out of the way and kicked him off balance. He fell face flat in the ground. Just then, I heard another mind approaching. It was the principal. If he saw us fighting, it would mean suspension for both of us. I didn't want to have to explain that to my mother. I put my hands down and let Flint take a hit at my face, just as the principal rounded the corner. BAM! I had underestimated Flint's strength. It wasn't anywhere near as painful as if I had punched him, but it still hurt. I heard a cry from April. "Flint! How could you?" she said angrily. "What's going on here?" boomed the principal in a voice that demanded respect. He looked at Flint, his fist still in the air, he looked at poor April, then he looked at me and my bleeding lip. "Flint, see me in my office. Now." He said. Flint protested. "But-" "Now, Yonni!" Flint obeyed. I stood up, brushing myself off. Great. I got blood on my shirt. How was I going to explain this to my parents? April threw her arms around my neck and uttered a few sobs, mumbling incoherently. I was dazed. Was she hugging me? Suddenly, something snapped inside of me. I think it was my resistance. Because then, I was hugging her back, whispering in her ear in a soothing voice to try and calm her down. Finally, she started speaking English. "Th-thank you, Will! Who knows what h-he would have done if y-you hadn't sh-shown up! I'm so s-sorry! You're bleeding and it's all m-my fault!" "It's just a scratch, April. I'm fine. Don't worry." I waited patiently for her to calm down. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it. I was standing there, holding this tiny, beautiful person in my arms. When she pulled her head away from my shoulder, her cheeks were red. "Oh." She said quietly. "Your shirt... it's wet." I smiled. "It'll dry. Don't worry." I said softly. She looked up at me; her grey eyes gleamed at me with a look of gratitude. I straightened slowly. "Come on, April. Let’s go eat some lunch.” She nodded wordlessly and followed me to the cafeteria.