Hey, Misty36 here, back with another chapter of The Lost Prodigy! From the time I posted the Preface to now, I only got 3 reviews, one of was from me because I forgot to apply what I said to the actual chapter. They were both from guests:
KOTLC 1 Fan: Thanks! I plan on doing more, and I'm flattered you already want to F&F me! This is only my first story. Why don't you make a profile? Unless you need permission, it's simple to make. Anyway, thanks for your support and I hope to see your name frequently in the reviews!
Guest: Thanks!
This part is when Carmen runs into someone who tells her all the information she's wanted to know. Enjoy!
Carmen sat with her eyes closed, listening to her music, while also listening to her lesson at the same time. Her high school class was at the Las Cruces History Museum, learning about the age of the dinosaurs. She was at the back of the room they were currently in, a worker at the museum giving them a lecture on the brontosaurus.
"Miss Woods." Carmen's eyes popped open. Mr. Robinson pulled out her earbuds by the cord, glaring at her, obviously disappointed that she wasn't listening. "What are you doing with earbuds in? Just because you are a young prodigy doesn't mean you get to disregard the lesson altogether. You are being very disrespectful to Miss Greenery." He held her earbuds so that they dangled from his hand. "You will get these back at the end of the trip, but I don't want you to be doing anything else on your phone. Unless you want me to take that device away from you too."
Carmen shook her head softly, already having a headache from the people around her. There were so many bits of jumbled thoughts that filled her head.
She knew she wasn't normal.
The fact that she could hear what others were thinking and not being able to block it out annoyed Carmen to no end. She'd tried enough times to ignore the thoughts, to block them out of her head. Nothing she tried worked. Plus, her photographic memory wasn't helping her feel any better about her special abilities.
"Good. Now, because you think you're already smart enough to know all of this. shall we see what you really know about the subject?" Mr. Robinson turned back to the worker. "Sorry for the interruption, but, perhaps, you could let Carmen take over the rest of the lesson? To see what my student has learned?"
Miss Greenery looked at Carmen in surprise, despite having read the newspapers from a few days ago. It was obvious that she was shocked by the size of Carmen, and how young she looked. She nodded, walking down towards where Carmen sat, and kept her eyes on the girl about to proceed with the lecture.
Her photographic memory flashed Carmen an image of the label at the front of the statue from the front of the museum, with every recorded detail about the creature. She recited every word from the description, and when she was done, she could hear bitter, jealous thoughts coming from the older students. Carmen always wanted to stay in the back, but at times like this, there was no avoiding the sour remarks her classmates would get in trouble for saying out loud. That was what she got in return for being a 12 year old prodigy in high school.
Mr. Robinson grumbled under his breath, Carmen unable to hear what he had said. Probably something like "know-it-all."
"Thanks for showing off, Smart One," someone called from the group of students, some laughing or nodding in response. Carmen rolled her eyes. She always tried to ignore what her classmates actually say, because sometimes it hurt more when they said it out loud.
Carmen shuffled back to her seat, so that Miss Greenery could direct them to another room that another worker, and a different lesson, would be held. They followed Miss Greenery out the large double doors, and the statue that greeted them was another dinosaur standing on two legs.
But the dinosaur wasn't what caught Carmen's attention. A dark haired boy was on the other side, holding the newspaper from a few days ago... with an embarrassing photo of her on the front. She cringed a little. The newspaper had heard about Carmen, insisting on doing a column on her. No, not a column. A whole page. And Carmen didn't like the attention.
She tried to walk fast, so that the boy wouldn't have the chance of seeing or talking to her. But she wasn't fast enough. He looked up, then back down at the paper, then looked back at her. When she caught his gaze, her feet stopped, her body not letting her move. The boy slowly walked up to her.
"Is this you?"
Carmen nodded, her voice not working. Her gaze shifted to the nearest window. There were many fires burning throughout the city, and no one knew how or why they were around. The unnaturally, completely navy blue flames sparked yellow-white flakes, sometimes causing more flames to start up. Even the firefighters didn't know how to put them out. Everything they tried didn't work.
He nodded too. "Thought so." Carmen's gaze shot back to the boy as he answered. The boy seemed to be about 14, and by far the cutest boy Carmen had seen. Why was he talking to her?
He looked back down to the paper, concentrating on the picture on the page. "Huh." He looked back at Carmen, just gazing at her face.
"Umm... Why are you staring at me?" Carmen asked, becoming a little more cautious of the boy.
"I couldn't tell your eyes were green."
Now this confused Carmen. Why did he care about the color of her eyes? "Yeah. Why?"
"Oh. No reason. It was just hard to tell."
"Yeah-huh." Carmen just looked at the teen, her eyes eventually landing on his. She hadn't realized how pretty the color of his eyes were. A soft, oceanic blue. "I'm gonna go now."
She turned towards the direction of the next lesson, when a kindergarten class shoved by her before she could move. The loudness of their screams was enough to take Carmen back a few steps, but their mental voices were on a whole different level. It felt like little needles, hundreds of them, stabbing at her brain repeatedly.
Her hands instinctively went to her head, her fingers rubbing her temples to ease the pain, eyes shut tightly.
Then she remembered she wasn't alone.
Carmen opened her eyes, her sight darting to the teen, whose face had the same pained expression she assumed she'd just had.
When he opened his eyes again, he blinked a couple times before he looked back at Carmen, who was still wincing in agony.
"Did you just... hear that?"
He couldn't possibly mean... No. He had to be talking about the loud, screaming voices of the kids.
Wait.
Voices.
She couldn't hear his thoughts. Carmen couldn't hear his voice unless he was talking. She didn't know that was possible.
"You did, didn't you?" He looked at her in surprise. He leaned in as so to be sure that only Carmen could hear him. "Are you a Telepath?" he whispered.
Carmen flinched at the word, and her reaction gave her away immediately. So much for being discreet.
"You are! I can't believe it," he said, his voice still hushed.
"Who- you? I- What do- Can you- voices?" Carmen's words started to jumble up. The boy looked at her, obviously concerned, then put his hands on her shoulders. "Whoa. Just stop talking for a second."
Carmen stopped. She tilted her head down, her dirty blonde hair falling forward, covering her face.
"Calm down. I'm here to help you."
Carmen did as she was told, taking deep breaths to regain her composure. "Would you mind explaining to me why you think I'm a Telepath?" she asked once her words worked.
"You didn't leave as soon as those kids left. You also seemed cautious enough to have left right away. But you didn't. Something must have made you stop."
He had a point there. But one question still rang in Carmen's mind: "Who are you?"
"My name is Jist."
Carmen tried to hold back the laugh in her throat. What kind of name was Jist?
"We've been looking for you for a long time, Carmen."
"How long?" she asked, her voice quiet like she was afraid to ask.
"12 years," he simply stated, "He wouldn't stop looking for you when no one else believed. So determined her dragged me into it. I guess he was right after all." Jist was talking to himself as much as he was her, but he continued, "Then again, when has he ever been wrong?"
Someone? Determined? To find her? None of this was making any sense. Who was looking for her? The world started spinning.
Air.
She needed air.
Carmen sprinted away, Jist calling after her. "Carmen! Wait!"
Carmen pushed open the two front doors with all the strength her arms could muster.
The fires of Las Cruces burned a bright navy blue, the yellow-white sparks radiating off them landing on her skin, leaving a faint sting. She ran across the street realizing only too late that she hadn't looked both ways. A car swerved, struggling to avoid hitting her.
Her legs refused to let her move, gluing her to the street. When the driver was able to regain control of the car, avoiding her, his car turned straight onto the lamppost. The post disconnected from its base, starting to fall so that its ending path would end up right on Carmen.
Ooh... What'll happen next? Sorry, but you're just going to have to wait and see. Hehe. I know. Cliffhangers are cruel things. which is why I'm not a fan of them either. Especially the one at the end of KotLC Neverseen. Leave it to authors to ruin your day!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I also hope to see any of your names in the reviews frequently!
~ Misty36
