Chapter 10:
I walk down the street and listen to the music. The music I've got turned up so high I'm practically blasting my eardrums out. It's the only thing that can drown out my mess of a life.
I can't believe Lash and Warren. I thought they were my friends. Warren has basically been avoiding me, but Lash keeps pestering me. But I ignore him. You can't just go along like that, pretending that I'm your puppet, just under your control.
The bus pulls up and the door opens. Ron gives me a half hearted smile, but I just stare blankly at him. I make my way to the back and plop myself down on the seat. While I ignore the dissonance coming from the kids on the bus, I think about Cordelia's deal.
'"What do I have to do?" Cordelia had smiled, her thin, red lips spreading across her pearly white teeth. "Oh, nothing much. But, on homecoming, I want you to take this." She pulled out a device. "And stick it in the gym." I looked at the thing in her hand. "What is it going to do?" Her grin deepened. "Oh, you'll see. But, no matter what you do, make sure you are out of the gym by 10 o'clock. Got it?"
"Got it. 10 o'clock. I have to be out of the gym." Cordelia smiled again. "Good. I'll see you at homecoming little sis." And then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone, leaving the device.'
I pull myself out of my flashback. The device is still in my back pack. '10 o'clock. Why then? She's got something planned, I know, but she still won't tell me what it is. Does she not trust me? Is it because I hesitated before taking up her offer? Why wouldn't my own sister trust me?'
The bus launches and I quickly reach for my gum. But we hit an air pocket and the device falls out of my backpack. A boy from the opposite isle picks it up and looks at me. "Hey, I think you dropped this."
Panic overwhelms me. 'God, I hope he isn't a techno path.' "Uh...yeah. Thanks." I try hard not to snatch it away from him. Once I have it with myself, I exhale silently and put the device back in my bag.
The bus lands and I get up and leave. I can swear that boy from the bus is following me...maybe I'm just being paranoid. He follows me to my locker. Nope. Not being paranoid.
I try to ignore him, but he just keeps following me. Finally, I get tired of the hole that he's burning into the back of my neck. "What do you want?"
"I want to know why you're carrying a gas bomb in your backpack." 'Shit. He was a techno path.' "Gas bomb?" I try to sound innocent and clueless. "I just found it on the side of the sidewalk."
The boy scoffs. "Yeah right. That was a high grade, remote control gas bomb. I hardly believe that someone would just leave it on the sidewalk. Why do you have it?"
'Shit. This is bad.' I'm beginning to feel cornered. The boy begins to get annoyed with my silence. "Fine. If you won't tell me, I'll just ask Principal Powers."
He turns around and starts to head towards her office. Not thinking rationally, I focus my powers on his cardiovascular system. The boy stops in his tracks. His breath hitches and he begins to clutch at his chest.
People start to stare as he cries out in agony. Finally, he collapses. A girl shrieks and the hallway full of students begins to crowd around him.
I slip out of the crowd and almost run to the bathroom. Entering the nearest stall, I close the door and sink down to the floor and hug my knees.
'I had killed him. I had taken a life. I had killed a human being. What have I done?'