Psychic Chapter Four: Confusion In the point of view of William So I was in love. No big deal, right? As long as she didn’t love me back, I didn’t have to feel the obligation to reveal my secret to her. My insides pouted as I ran around the track during my fifth hour class. What kind of life was I leading? Was I happy that April didn’t love me back? Something in my insides throbbed painfully. I winced. No. I wasn’t happy. But I took consolation in thinking of myself as a martyr. I was in love with her, but she couldn’t love me. I was so caught up in my thoughts; I almost forgot I was supposed to stop at ten laps. I skidded to a stop. Jackson looked worried. “You okay, dude? You haven’t said one word!” I looked up at him. “Oh, uh, no. Everything’s fine” I replied. He didn’t believe me. I didn’t blame him. After school, I went back to my locker to gather up my things. As I shut my locker, I saw April approaching me. “Hey, Will!” she said. “Hi!” I answered, a little too quickly. She pulled her purple pen out of her pocket. “I need to give you my phone number so that we can plan for the dance.” She said. She grabbed my hand and turned it over so that she could write on the back of it. A few seconds later, she finished. “There!” she said, smiling. “That one’s my home number and that one’s my cell.” I nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said to her. She waved and left. I looked at the purple numbers on the back of my hand. I pulled out my cell phone and added them in. then I shouldered my backpack and drove home. Of course, my mother asked why there were blood stains on my shirt, and why someone had written on my hand. So I explained to her what had happened. Although I was embarrassed so say that I had fallen in love with April just then, so I kept quiet about the last part, only saying that she was grateful I had saved her. My mother was surprised that I willingly let Flint take a punch at me so that the principal would do him justice. She sent me upstairs to put on a clean shirt. I found CJ in my room and filled him in on the story, this time sparing no details. He wagged his tail. I smiled sheepishly. “That’s what I wanted to do.” I admitted. I put on a new shirt and washed the blood out of my old one as best as I could. Too bad. It was a nice shirt, too. There were unmistakable stains embedded into the shirt. I tossed it into the dirty laundry hamper, hoping my mother would be able to rescue it. I decided I’d better start planning for homecoming. It was in three days. I decided to talk to Lindsey. She had been to dances before. I went up to her bedroom and knocked on her door. “Who is it?” Lindsey’s voice came from inside. “It’s me. William.” I answered. There was a silence. “Um, what do you want?” she asked. I sighed. “Can I talk to you?” This would be the first time Lindsey and I ever sat down and talked. Heck, this would be this first time I set foot in her room! “Uh, sure?” she said it like a question. I opened the door. Her room was decked out with colors and posters. She had pink everywhere. The walls, the carpet, everything. She was lying on her bed with magazines in front of her. I pulled up a chair from her makeup table and sat down. “What do you want to talk about?” she asked me. I swallowed. “What am I supposed to do?” I asked. I was confused. What was I doing? I sounded so stupid. She gave me a confused look as well. “About what?” she asked. “I mean, do I have to get a tux? When should I pick her up? Does the corsage have to match her dress?” I had ten zillion questions, but I didn’t know how to ask any of them. Everything I said came out sounding like gibberish. Lindsey’s face lit up as she realized I was talking about the homecoming dance. She sat up in her bed and folded her legs into a criss-cross position in front of her. “Will, you came to the right place. I’ll tell you everything I know.” I nodded. If I was going to survive Saturday night, I needed to learn quickly. She talked about being polite, about how the guys open the doors for the girls, and about not eating like an animal like I usually did. I made a face at that. I didn’t eat like an animal… Did I? She told me that dances are very special to girls, and everything the guys did mattered. She said that I should dance with my date when she wanted to dance. “Wait!” I said. She paused and looked at me. I sighed. “I don’t know how to dance.” I mumbled. She smiled and stood up. “Then let me show you!” she said. I hesitated. I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of my sister, or she’d never let me live it down. “Come on, Will! It’s not hard!” she grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the chair. Reluctantly, I learned how to dance. Well, at least the basics. An hour and a half later, Lindsey had finished. “And remember: Your job is to make sure she has fun and stays safe. She’s the most important thing that night.” I nodded. Wow. my sister really did know what she was talking about! I thanked her for her help. She smiled. After dinner, I went to my room and pulled out my cell phone. I really needed to start making plans now. I stared at April’s number. What should I say? I accidentally clicked ‘call’. Oh, no! “Hello?” came April’s voice. I put the phone to my ear. “Uh, hi! It’s me, William!” “Oh! Hi, Will! What’s up?” “Um, not much. Listen, you want to start making plans now? I mean for homecoming?” “Sure! Oh! My dress is blue and white. My mom and I picked it out today.” “Okay, blue and white, got it!” I said. She giggled. I smiled. “So what would you like to do for dinner?” I asked. She was silent for a while. “Um, I don't know. I'm fine with whatever.” “My mother is an excellent cook. She’d be happy to help!” I offered. “Deal.” She said. I grinned. April was adorable. “Should I pick you up at eight and have you back by midnight, or when?” “Midnight would be great.” “Then how about this: I pick you up for dinner at 6:00, drop you back off at you’re your house at 7:00 so you can get ready, and take you to the dance at eight!” “Sounds perfect.” “Excellent. I’ll see you at school tomorrow, then?” “Definitely.” “All right. Bye.” “Bye.” I hung up. Wow. That was easy. I set the phone down on my desk and changed into my pajamas. Then I laid there in my bed, waiting for sleep to come. It came easier than usual. I drifted off slowly, thinking about this coming Saturday. My alarm clock made it’s usual, unhappy scream in the morning, jolting me out of my much needed sleep. Groan. School. Suddenly, I perked up. April was going to be there! I got ready, ate, and was at school in what seemed like no time at all. Jackson and Steve were at a table in the cafeteria laughing at something on Jackson’s phone. I sat down next to them. Steve, gasping for breath, turned to me. “Jackson! Jackson! Let William see it!” “See what?” I asked. They both snickered. Jackson handed me his phone and laughed. “This is what we did last night!” he played the video clip. They had bought a bunch of street fireworks, emptied the gun powder into an empty soda bottle, lit the fuse and ran away. A couple seconds later, there was a loud bang as the soda bottle launched into the sky. There were exclamations of awe and amazement. Then the soda bottle landed a few feet further away. Steven ran to pick it up. He held it above his head and yelled. Suddenly the bottle caught on fire and Steven screamed and dropped it. Jackson laughed. “The look on your face was priceless, Steven!” I mock-punched Jackson in the shoulder. “You blew something up last night and you didn’t invite me?” Jackson stopped laughing long enough to answer. “We tried to call you, but your phone was busy.” “Oh, yeah.” I remembered my conversation with April last night. I smiled. I realized that I would’ve rather talked to April than blow up a soda bottle any day. Suddenly Jackson turned to me. “Oh yeah! We heard what you did yesterday, Will! That was very cool. Everyone is talking about it!” I stopped. “What did I do?” I asked. Jackson grinned. “How you saved April by taking a punch from Flint Yonni and getting him suspended!” I blinked in surprise. “He got suspended?” I asked. Jackson nodded vigorously. “Everyone hated Flint! He was a jerk to so many people! Everybody knows who you are now!” What? My brain screeched to a halt. My sister was going to kill me! I was allowed to come to school on the condition that I keep a low profile. We couldn’t afford letting anything get out! I faked a smile. “Sweet.” I said. Suddenly, I got a telepathic message. It was Lindsey. She must’ve been in the room and saw me try to contain my alarm. I relaxed. At least I was known as ‘the kid who got Flint Yonni suspended’, and not ‘the kid who has psychic powers’. Other than the occasional thumbs up, or pat on the back from people I didn’t know, everything went on fairly normal. I got some more dirty looks and disturbing fantasies from Penny, I completed all of my homework in my free hour, and Jackson and I spent gym class in the weight room. When I got home from school, I got a surprise from my mother. She opened a giant black bag and held the tuxedo up to me. “I hope I got the right size. Why don’t you go try it on?” I took it up to my room. CJ looked at me in confusion. he asked. I laughed. “This is my tuxedo for homecoming!” I said. I quickly changed into it. As I put on the suit jacket, I wished I had a mirror in my room. I attempted to calm down my messy hair as I walked back down the stairs to show my mother. She smiled when she saw me. “You look wonderful, William! Like a real gentleman!” she patted my cheeks. I smiled. She led me to a big mirror so I could see myself. I had to say, I didn’t look half bad! “Oh! Wait!” my mother said, coming forward to tie my bowtie. “There! The finishing touch!” I grinned. “Mother?” I asked, feeling that this was the perfect time to do so. “April and I were wondering if we could have dinner here. I’m sure you’d like to meet her!” she smiled. “Of course I would! Oh! I have the perfect idea for dinner! You leave it to me!” I grinned. Bingo. I knew that’s all I needed to say, and I wouldn’t have to give dinner another thought. I changed back into my normal clothes and my mother put the tuxedo back in the black bag. That night, I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t know why. I was relaxed, but I just couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about April. There was something wrong about all this. I felt like I was missing something totally obvious. It still bothered me that I couldn’t read her mind. I could read everyone’s but hers. There was something about her eyes, her face, the way she smiled that just pulled me to her like a magnet. But this was so dangerous. If I continued to let myself get pulled in, soon, I wouldn’t be able to stop. I’d eventually tell her everything. What would she think? Would she believe me? Of course not! She’d think I was crazy. I flipped over on my bed. I frowned. How long had I lying here thinking about this? I looked at my watch. 12:57. Wow. I got up, ate some chocolate cake I found in the refrigerator, and went back to bed. I laid there, waiting. When would I fall asleep? It seemed like this was the longest night ever. Like I was waiting for eternity to end. Hour after hour I waited. 2:00. 3:00. 4:00. It was hopeless. This was just great. My exhausted body refused to rest. Finally, I screwed my eyes shut and pretended like I was sleeping. I let my thoughts wander. It was almost like I was actually dreaming. I thought of what life would’ve been like if my family didn’t have psychic powers. I would’ve been going to school for years. I could’ve loved April with no resistance in the back of my mind. I could’ve been just like everyone else. But then I thought. I kind of did like having my psychic powers. I could hear things people were thinking. It helped me when I fought Flint. And what about CJ? I thought about my best friend. I would’ve never known he understood what I said. I would’ve never been able to open up to him the way I had. I realized I would’ve missed him terribly if I suddenly wasn’t able to read minds anymore. I put my hand on his head. It was warm and furry. I smiled. I jumped up in surprise when my alarm clock went off. I opened my eyes. My room was lighter with the sunlight coming in through the window. It was six o’ clock. Those two hours went by quickly. I groaned. Now that it was daytime, my body wanted to sleep. I dragged myself onto my feet, and forced myself to school. I met Jackson and Steve in the cafeteria. They both saw me and waved. Then Jackson frowned. “You look terrible!” he said. I laughed briefly. “Thank you.” I said. Jackson shook his head. “Oh, sorry. I just meant you look like you got no sleep last night.” I smiled. “I didn’t.” I replied. Jackson looked up at me. “Really? None?” he asked. I nodded. “Not a bit.” I answered. Jackson stood up. “I know just what you need.” He said. He started down a hallway. “Follow me.” I did. He led me to the vending machines. He pulled out a dollar and pushed it into one of the machines. Then he typed in a number and a tall can of soda came out. He handed it to me. I held the cold can if soda in my hand. “What’s this?” I asked. “That,” Jackson said. “is an energy drink.” He took it from me and opened it. Then he handed it back. I suddenly felt uneasy. Jackson smiled. “How are you with caffeine?” he asked. I shrugged. “Never had it before.” I brought the can to my lips. I took a couple gulps. It tasted good. Suddenly, I understood why it was called an energy drink. All my tiredness disappeared. Jackson smiled. “You probably better save the rest of that for later.” He said, taking the can from me. “Why?” I asked, slightly disappointed that I couldn’t finish it. Jackson laughed. “If a few gulps can wake you up from an entire night of no sleep, just think of what an entire can will do to you!” I thought. Oh. “Jackson!” came a voice. Excitement rushed through me. Or maybe it was the caffeine. April walked forward. I grinned at her. She smiled and shook her head. “Jackson, you’re not getting poor William addicted to caffeine, are you?” “No.” Jackson and I both said. She smiled and took the can from Jackson. “You two are going to be crazy by lunchtime.” Jackson held up his hands. “Hey, I didn’t have any!” he said. April raised an eyebrow. “Ah! No wonder it’s still heavy!” she said. I laughed. Steve walked up then. “Hey, guys! What’s up? Ooh! Energy drink!” he took the can from April and guzzled the whole thing down. April and I exchanged glances. Jackson laughed. “Don’t worry.” He said to me. “He’s immune to the stuff.” I nodded. Then the bell rang. Time for school. Geometry class. My favorite class of the day. Not that I particularly loved the subject, but that April Palmer sat next to me in that class. It almost didn’t matter that Lindsey was there, watching me. I slid smoothly into my desk with a grin. April would walk in any moment. She did. Beautiful. I smiled at her. She came and sat beside me. Lindsey was laughing at me telepathically. I ignored her. The magnet that pulled me towards April was doing its best to justify itself to the weakening resistance in the back of my mind. The resistance was slowly losing the debate. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my hand. I looked up. A little, folded-up piece of paper lay beside my hand. I picked it up. 'Guess what?' I grinned. It was from April. 'What?' 'I know this really good ice cream place that has a discount for students!' Hm. This sounded like an invitation. 'Really? Sounds good!' 'Yes! It is!' 'Nice.' I handed her back the note. I already knew what she was going to say. I was so proud of myself. I couldn’t even read her mind! 'Lunchtime. You and me.' My insides celebrated. I was dizzy with happiness. 'Just one thing.' I wrote. 'Yes?' 'I’ll drive.' 'You got it.' The bell rang. I quickly put the note in my pocket. This was definitely a keeper. English class seemed to last as long as last night did. ETERNITY! Penny still hated me. It turned out that since she turned David down, nobody else had asked her for fear that they’d get turned down as well. Penny’s mind told me that if she could do that all over again, she would’ve said yes to David. Maybe I’d talk to him. I didn’t know him very well, but perhaps I could do this for Penny. I felt guilty for refusing her and accepting April. Maybe this would clear my conscience. He was in my gym class. I’d see what could be done. I endured her rather odd fantasies and pretended like I was paying attention to the teacher. The bell rang for lunch. Finally! I bolted out the door. I was the first one at my locker this time. I waited impatiently for April to get there. Jackson and Hannah showed up. Then Steve, Isaac and Emily. I turned to her. “Is April coming?” I asked her anxiously. She smiled knowingly. “She’s coming. Don’t worry.” I grinned. Jackson looked at me in confusion. “What are you and April doing?” “Going out for ice cream.” I said simply, not taking my eyes away from the hallway where she usually appeared. A few seconds later, she rounded the corner. I smiled at her. She approached me and smiled too. “Hi, Will! Let’s go!” I nodded. She turned to her friends. “We’ll see you guys later!” they waved. As we walked out to the parking lot, April looked around. “So which one’s your car?” I smiled and clicked the ‘unlock’ button on my car keys. My blue pickup with yellow stripes on the sides chirped. She looked at it in awe. “It’s beautiful!” she said. I grinned. “It was my birthday present.” I answered. I brought her around to the passenger side and opened the door for her. Then I offered her my hand. With a smile, she accepted it and slid into the seat. When I got into the driver’s seat, I revved the engine. “Lead the way.” I said. April gave me directions to the ice cream parlor. It was called ‘Sammy's’. When she walked inside, the person at the cashier smiled excitedly. "April!" she squeaked excitedly. April grinned happily. "Hi, Kim! I decided to come here for lunch! I brought a friend!" April grabbed my hand (which sent a delightful shock of electricity through my body) and pulled me forward. "Kim, this is William Duncan. Will, this is my older sister, Kimberly!" Kimberly looked at me and smiled. Her thoughts flowed into my head. 'Wow! Good work, April! This guy is good-looking!' I smiled sheepishly. "Pleased to meet you." I said, shaking her hand. She quickly recovered. "So, what can I get you two?" "I'll have French vanilla with my special." April said with a smile. Kimberly winked. "You got it, April! And how about you, hun?" she looked at me. I looked up at the list. "I'll have 'death by chocolate'." I answered. Kim smiled. "Okay! I'll bring you guys your orders when they're ready." I nodded. April smiled up at me. "Here, I'll show you my favorite spot to sit!" she led me to a table for two beside a window. She sat down and patted the seat next to her. I smiled and sat down next to her. Suddenly, something in my head clicked. Kimberly was April's sister. And yet, I could read Kim's mind, but not April's? Something was really wrong. But what was it? I stared down at the table in confusion. Maybe April was adopted? No, they looked too much alike. April put a hand in my wrist, suddenly distracting me from any thought whatsoever. Her hand was warm against my skin. "Will? Is something wrong?" at those words, my discomfort and confusion melted. I looked up at her and smiled. "No, nothing's wrong." I said. April stared at me, a look on her face I couldn't read. Then she smiled and reached up to gently brush away some of my brown hair that almost covered my eyes. I held my breath. A tingling sensation started in my insides. This felt so good. Suddenly, her hand disappeared. Kim approached the table holding two bowls of ice cream. I heard her thoughts. I smiled. Kim laid our bowls out in front of us. "Okay, here's 'death by chocolate' for you, and here's April's French vanilla special." I pulled out my wallet. Kim smiled. "It's on the house." She said. I thanked her and she left. I turned to April. "Wow. What a discount!" I said. April smiled. After a while, I asked, "So what's the 'special' in French vanilla special?" she looked up at me. Her face turned pink. Then she held up her spoon for me to see. "Gummy Bears." She said shyly. I grinned. How adorable! We ate for the rest of the time in conversation. She asked me about my life at home. I told her about my mom, how funny and nice she was, I talked about how my dad and I would watch baseball every night and get really into it, I told her about CJ, but I only said that I'd go out and play with him in my backyard and that he slept on my feet every night. "What kind of dog is he?" April asked. "He's a golden retriever." I replied. April smiled. "I have a Australian shepherd. Her name is Nikki." I smiled. April opened her purse and pulled out a picture and handed it to me. April was sitting on the grass hugging a beautiful dog with brown and white fur. I looked at the date on the photograph. It had only been taken a few months ago. I smiled. "I like that picture." I said, handing it back to her. Then I pulled out my wallet and showed her a picture of CJ and me. It was an old picture. CJ was just a little puppy, and I was about 11. She giggled and pointed to me in the picture. "Is that you?" she asked. I nodded. "Six years ago!" I added. She smiled. "How cute!" she squeaked. I was holding a much smaller CJ in my arms excitedly. It was my birthday and my parents had given me CJ as a present. "He's a lot bigger than that now." I said. She smiled. I put my wallet back in my pocket. We finished our ice cream. I glanced at my watch. "We'd better start heading back so you can get to choir on time." I said. She frowned. "Well, okay." She said. I smiled. She didn't want to leave. She was enjoying this as much as I was. Maybe she had feelings for me too…? No. It was stupid to think so. What could April possibly see in me? I simply had to ignore my affections. I stood up. April stood as well. I smiled and offered her my arm. She smiled back and accepted. We walked out to my car. As we drove away, April asked me, "So what did you think? Nice place, huh?" I laughed. "Yes. Your sister is very nice. And the ice cream's good, too!" April smiled and then looked out her window. She seemed to be lost in thought. I let her think. I wished I knew what she was thinking.