Ivan and Nate walked me home after school. Apparently, they thought I wasn't safe. Well, it wasn't like someone would jump on me anyway.
"Why are we not talking?" I thought.
"We are," Ivan replied.
"No, I mean, talking talking," I said out loud this time.
"Because people will overhear us, Sam," Nate answered aloud as well.
"Won't the others with the ability hear us too?" I asked.
"Nah," Ivan said as he waved his hand in the air, dismissing my question. "We're tuning in to each other's brain waves, so we can only hear each other's thoughts."
"Yes, Ivan's right," Nate said, nodding his head. "We can only hear normal people's thoughts easily because they're not as powerful as us."
"So," Ivan continued as we turned to my street. "If we tune in even harder, we can hear another clique's thoughts."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. You're saying we're—" I gestured to Nate, Ivan and myself. "—a clique now?"
Ivan arched my eyebrow, and he started laughing, "Yes."
Nate shot him a glare, but nodded.
"Wow, I do hope you're kidding," I muttered.
"Nope!" Ivan smiled brightly.
"Ugh," I rolled my eyes. "I'm here anyway, thanks for um, walking me home."
Ivan's smile faded, but he tried to keep up with his facade. He had a smirk but his aura wasn't as bright as before. They were dark blue now, with flecks of pink. Nate's was still as grey as before but the emotions and feelings I got out of him were different. I just couldn't point out what it was.
"Bye Sam," both said simultaneously.
I opened the white oak doors into my house. I have been living here for more than ten years, yet I see it as my hostel. A place where I go back to after school.
I entered the house and the same, old, boring hallway greeted me. The wallpaper had yellowed over the years, but it was okay. A few family pictures were hung on the walls. I walked passed them and found myself at the kitchen. The walls were white, so naturally, the appliances in the kitchen naturally white. But the drawers and cupboards were mahogany, giving an elegant, classy feel to the place. There was an island in the center of the kitchen, surrounded by the drawers, cupboards and appliances of the kitchen. My mum and I always ate at the table located beside the kitchen. It was a round mahogany table with matching chairs.
My mum sat at the table, chopping carrots for dinner. "Hello, Sam," she greeted.
"Mum," I said monotonously before going for the stairs.
Ever since seven, I have never seen my dad once. My mum is a very beautiful woman, but she uses this trait to hook men. I was sure a man could have walked out of this house a few moments ago. I loved my mum, I know she does this to try to forget my dad. But it just feels so wrong, I don't agree to her doing this. But every time I tried to talk sense into her, she would brush me off. So I knew better than to confront her anymore.
I made my way up, and was standing in front of the hallway. We had 3 bedrooms in the house, the one at the end was my mum's bedroom, the one in the middle was mine, and the first was actually my nursery room. But it had been converted to a guest room, just in case one my mum's "friends" wants to stay over.
I crossed the hallway, towards my room. I was turning the doorknob when I heard the door open.
"Hey, Michael," I heard my mum greet. It must be one of her new play toy.
I quickly slid into my room, closing the door softly behind me. I locked it before putting my bag on the floor. I have always had a habit of locking the door, only because I was afraid my mum's "friends" would open the door to my room to have sex.
I got into the hot shower. When I got out, the coldness of my room hit me. I quickly went to shut the windows and close the curtains. Wouldn't want to be peeped at, would I?
I don my sweats and a baggy shirt. I wrapped my hair in my towel and started doing my homework. It was almost 8PM when I heard my stomach grumble. I ran down the stairs at high speed, hoping not to hear my mum moaning or something. I ate while watching television, and I just stayed there until 9PM.
It was when I was daydreaming when I heard Ivan and Nate's thoughts again.
"No, I'll do it today," Nate thought.
"It's okay, I'll do it!" Ivan insisted.
"What's the commotion all about?" I thought.
Suddenly the both of them shut up, I could still feel the tension, and they were scared and nervous. Really? What am I, a princess? I am perfectly fine!
"Noth-" Nate started.
"Oh, what's the use, Nate!" Ivan thought, exasperated. "We're going to have to protect you, so each of us are doing alternate nights."
"What do you mean by 'alternate' nights?"
"You'll see tonight," Ivan laughed. He directed a question to Nate, "So it'd be me, right?"
"Fine, go."
I started tuning out because the conversation sounded too military-like. And I was trying to figure out what Ivan meant. I heard mum giggle and I quickly ran up to my room to blast songs on my ipod.
It was times like these that made me miss my dad. Ever since the divorce, I have never seen him once. I couldn't even remember his face, since my mum kept all photos of him. Sometimes, I just want to leave this house to find my dad to live with him. My mum was just unbearable.
I was starting to feel tired, so I changed the songs to a slow beat but I still kept the volume up. Just as when I was about to dream, I heard a loud knock. It couldn't have been the front door because it was too far, and we have a doorbell. It's also not from my door because my mum never really cared enough to check on me. So I came to a conclusion it was from the window. I started to think that it was probably birds pecking on the window, though it was quite unrealistic. Then I heard the knock again. I started to get up, when I walked towards the window, I was shocked at what I saw.
Ivan was smiling up at me, his smile wide. His hair was ruffled, but he still looked just as attractive as before. I gave him a look, but he pointed to the window's lock, asking me to open the window for him. Totally forgetting our abilities at the moment, I threw up my hands and sighed. I reached for the window and unlocked it. I took a step back to let him get in. And he did it so gracefully, I almost forgot he was actually climbing through my window.
"What are you doing here?" I hissed, knowing my mum would never hear our conversation because of my ipod.
"Told you, you'll see!" Ivan grinned. "I'm going to have to take care of you tonight, like a baby." He winked.
"Oh, shut up! But seriously, why?" I rolled my eyes and he laughed.
"A...hmmm, how do I put this. It's a command? A favour?"
"From who?"
"That, I really can't say," Ivan said, ending the conversation.
I sighed and went to sit on my bed as Ivan looked around the room, amazed by the things he found in my room. I have to admit, I was never really a girl at heart, I have never liked make-up, or dresses. I liked sports, however, and jeans. No wonder I was an outcast, huh?
"Are you going to invite me to sit or what?" Ivan said.
"Feel free," I turned to lay on my bed.
"Is that your dad?" Ivan asked, almost terrified, as he sat at the edge of my bed.
"My dad?" My heart thumped against my chest, I must have missed him more than I know.
"Yeah, the man in the room next to yours. I can hear his thoughts."
"Oh, no. His my mum's, um, sex partner," I said, waving my hand in the air, dismissing the question.
"Sorry," Ivan said softly.
"It's okay," I smiled a small smile as I get up my elbows so I could see him better.
"You need to stop doing that, Sam."
"Doing what?"
"This!" He gestured to my position.
"Why?" I asked, amused. This had nothing to do with him.
"It's so seductive," Ivan winked.
I groaned, but I stopped doing it. I didn't want him, or anyone else, to think I'm seducing him. I tried thinking of unicorns and rainbows, and I asked, "Can you read my mind, Ivan?"
"Occasionally. Sometimes, I can't hear yours. Or Nate's. Like now, you're thinking of," he furrowed his brows and gave a disgusted look. "Unicorns and rainbows?"
I laughed. It was probably contradicting because I've never liked any girly things yet I was thinking of unicorns and rainbows. "There's school tomorrow! You're not going home to get some rest?" I asked, suddenly thinking of it.
"It's okay, I can survive."
"You can sleep on the floor," I grinned.
"You can't be THAT cruel, can you?" He asked, trying to hide a smile behind his frown.
"I'm already offering you to sleep on the floor, I'm not saying you shouldn't sleep!" I retorted.
"Thanks!" He said sarcastically. He sat on the floor beside my bed, his back towards the bed.
"How are you going to school tomorrow?" I asked, as I turned to look at him.
"I'm going to go home first to get my stuff, then Nate and I are going to escort you to school," he said, turning his head to fix his caramel brown eyes on me. "What time do you leave house anyway?"
"Escorting me? I can make it perfectly fine to school alone!" I snapped, forgetting to answer the second part of the question.
"You've just figured your abilities, Sam. You don't know how dangerous it is for you."
I sighed and turned my back on him. I wanted to stay mad at him but eventually, I fell asleep. It was about 1AM when I woke up to check on Ivan. He was hugging himself, teeth chattering. I must have forgotten to shut the window.
"Ivan," I said as I shook him.
"Hmm?" He managed.
"Come lie with me, you're freezing!" I said as I scooted over to make space for him.
He crawled onto my bed willingly, hiding under my blanket. I touched him and his skin felt so cold to my touch. I moved closer to him, hoping to transfer my body heat to him. He must have felt my body heat because he thought a thank you. We fell asleep like this.
It was 3AM when I woke up again. Ivan had his right arm around my waist and his forehead rested on my shoulder. I knew he wasn't cold anymore, but I just let him stay like this. I'm not trying to deny the fact that I really liked the feeling. I stared at his arm, hypnotised by his pulsing royal blue aura. And I went back to sleep.