The school is closed for Spring Break.

It's time to relax and have fun until classes start.

Or at least, that was the intention.


DATE: APRIL 3, 2015, 1st DAY OF THE SPRING BREAK, NEW YORK


Boredom.

It's the only way to describe the current situation.

All employees of Shaw & Worthington real estate agency were busy preparing for next week. Their boss, Mr. Shaw, always gave a week off in April to commemorate the anniversary of the agency. Everyone was excited, except for one.

Lori Loud was sitting in her office, with a stack of forms in front of her. The girl was in a bad mood, and all she wanted was for her shift to be over soon. Usually, she would work with a smile on her face, proud to be battling for her independence and proving she does not need her parents' money.

Due to the fact that she had mental powers, she was required by law to work in the administrative part of the agency to avoid claims that clients were manipulated to buy or sell a property. Still, she did not let herself be shaken, and worked hard to take care of their responsibilities. Then, when a vacancy of Senior Supervisor appeared, it was obvious that she would be promoted.

Or at least, that's what she thought.

This morning, Mr. Shaw called her and other employees to say that the new Senior Supervisor would be Carol Pingrey. Although the others were slightly annoyed by the news, Lori was discontent, and went into her office to review some of the files.

"Why? How could he promote that pretentious? I am much more competent, and work as hard as she!"

Lori began to remember the many times Carol did better than she did. Whether it was winning her as homecoming queen or flirting on her boyfriend, Carol always seemed to be there to bother her. For a year, Lori was a trainee at the agency, and felt that she had found her place until one day, shortly after she was hired, Carol was also hired. Since that day, Lori swore she would not let Carol overcome her again. Unfortunately, Carol ended up getting it.

She grabbed a frame and stared at a photo of her and Bobby hugging each other on the beach.

"At least she will not steal you from me, Boo-Boo Bear."

"It's a challenge?"

Lori stared at the door, and there was Carol, smiling arrogantly at her. The girl was surprisingly similar to Lori, and even wore the same red suit. The only apparent difference was the hair, which was longer and had a headband, red like the suit.

"What do you want?" Lori said, narrowing her eyes.

"Hey, we do not need to exalt ourselves." Carol entered the room, this time smiling more sincerely, and sat down in the chair in front of Lori's desk. "I just came to talk. Apparently, we're going to work together for a little while, and I do not want to have bad blood between us."

"What do you mean by "little while"?" Lori took offense, thinking she was being threatened.

"I do not want to continue in this business. Let's just say that last year I met a very peculiar man, who made me an excellent proposal." Carol looked sideways, then whispered. "You could say that I'm managing a part of his business in my spare time. But do not worry, it has nothing to do with real estate."

"And why are you telling me this?" Lori was intrigued.

"Why do not you find out for yourself?" Carol crossed her arms, and looked at Lori smugly.

"You know full well that I do not do this, Carol."

"I know, and that's a pity." Carol looked sad, and looked Lori in the eye. "To be honest, I was envious of you at school. Doing your levitation tricks and guessing what the others were thinking. But then, I find out about your personal ethics and blah blah blah. Do you have any idea what I would do if I had your powers?"

"(Sigh) Carol, you're literally not the first person to tell me this, and it sure will not be the last." Lori crossed her arms, and looked seriously at Carol. "Yes, I can read people's minds, and if I wanted to, I could force them to do what I want. In fact, I did this to my siblings when I was younger, but I'd rather not. Want to know why?"

"Please, tell me the reason for your great humility."

"One day, when I was 11, my brother had a nightmare, and I woke up with him. At that time, we lived in a small house, and our parents slept on the floor below. I went in the room where he slept, and I saw that all my siblings were there. I was furious and woke them up, demanding to know what was going on. They looked at me in fear, and I lost my temper, and read their minds. You know what I found out? My own siblings were afraid of me. Afraid that I would turn them into puppets, afraid that I would discover all their secrets."

Carol started to feel bad. It was not that kind of conversation she wanted to have with Lori, and now she could not help but wonder how Lori should have felt at that moment.

"Can you imagine what this is like? Find out that your own family sees you as a monster? Ever since that day, I sworn that I would never go into someone's mind without permission. It took me years, but I managed to earn the trust of my family, and it is their trust that helps me keep my promise."

The girls remained silent, just looking at each other.

"Lori, I'm really sorry." Carol felt deeply ashamed. She thought she knew Lori, but eventually discovered that she knew nothing about her. "Look, I know we have not gotten along for... well, many years. But what I wanted to say is that I do not intend to stay here for long. It was meant to be a secret, but Mr. Shaw is my uncle. The only reason I was promoted is because he wants me here, and he thought promoting me would keep me here. At first, I thought you were just competing with me, but I saw that you really are an efficient person. You deserve this promotion, and I assure you that you can go even further."

Carol stood up and held out her hand to Lori. Lori smiled and also got up, and took Carol's hand in a friendly handshake.

"Thanks, Carol. I hope you succeed in this other career that you want to pursue."

They smiled at each other until Lori's phone started ringing. She took the phone and smiled when she saw who was calling.

"Oh, it's my boyfriend. I think he wants to confirm our dinner tonight."

"Well, I will not disrupt the lovebirds. See you later Loud."

Carol left the room, and went to her own.

Her stuff was inside a box, which she would take to her new room. As she prepared to leave, her cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"..."

"No, I'm alone in my room. Well, old room."

"..."

"I just talked to her. Hypocritical cynic."

"..."

"No. Actually, I even sympathized with her."

"..."

"No need to worry, I'll keep focused."

"..."

"I'll be careful. Besides, thanks to your gift, I am more than a match for her telepathy."

"..."

"Trust me, you will have no trouble with your White Queen. When the time comes, Lori Loud will be ready for the next step in our plans."

"..."

"Right. I'll send you the news as soon as I can. Good-bye, Mr. Garrett."