Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set (41 page)

So, I waited on her couch, stared at my untouched water, and tried to think of a way to tell my dad his daughter was a freak.

****

Dad and I left the nurse’s office and walked to the parking lot in silence. Once behind the wheel, he turned the key and started his car as I climbed in. “We’ll pick up your car later. You’re not feeling well, kiddo?”

“Not at all.” I slid into my seat, staring at the tan school building with red trim. We pulled out of the parking lot, turned the corner and the high school disappeared from sight.

Tears blurred my vision. Surely, everyone was whispering about me. Probably saying things like:
“Kylie turned into a psycho”,“Did you see her unleash on Shawn this morning?”
, or
“I kinda thought she was cool, but she obsessed over mascara and screamed like a crazy person when I touched her hand in the cafeteria.”

Clearly, my only option was to go home, bury my head under the pillow, and never come out again.

Dad made a left turn. “Did the nurse take your temperature?”

“Yeah.” Not that it mattered. Nothing did. Not after the damage I’d caused today.

“And?”

“It was . . . normal.” Unlike me.

“Your stomach upset?”

“Sorta.” That, and my life was ruined.

Dad stopped at a red light and turned to me with that “I mean business” look of his. “Why don’t we stop playing twenty questions? You haven’t gone home sick since the seventh grade. What’s going on?”

I chewed on my lower lip as the tears threatened to spill over. “Something happened at school.”

Dad nodded. “Well, it must’ve been pretty upsetting for you to miss your afternoon classes.”

“You could say that.”

The light turned green and Dad stepped on the gas. “Maybe I can help.”

“I seriously doubt it.”

A minute later, Dad pulled into our carport and turned off the motor. “I’m sure whatever happened seems like the end of the world, but it can’t be as bad as you think.”

I gave him an ‘if you only knew the half of it’ look.

“Really, kiddo. You can tell me. I’ve lived through the teenage years myself. I also have a PhD and twelve years experience as a psychologist. Trust me, there’s nothing I haven’t seen or heard.”

“Oh, really?” I turned to him with a deadpan look. “Well, then. Get this. Your daughter can read people’s minds.”

Dad blinked. “Come again?”

“You know, people’s thoughts? I can see them. It comes to my mind as a slideshow, sometimes fuzzy, sometimes clear, and I watch it
all
.” I swiveled in my seat, suddenly angry. “Like this sales guy at the door this morning. He had been taking notes in his office while some brunette was bawling her eyes out. And there was a Chem sub in Mrs. T’s class who is gunning for her job.” And Joel stripped me naked under the bleachers, but I wasn’t gonna tell him that. “Has a patient confessed to mind reading before, Dad? Huh?”

“Not a sober one.” Dad laughed like it was all some kind of joke. “What’s really going on? I’m here for you. You can tell me anything and I’ll still love you just as much.”

My eyes narrowed. “You don’t believe me.”

Dad gave me a condescending look. “You’re telling me you’re serious?”

I crossed my arms. “Why would I make up something that horrible?”

“Okaaay. So, you’re telling me you can—what was it?—read minds?”

“Didn’t I just say that? Yes.”

Dad studied me. Then his smile dropped, he leaned forward, and smelled my breath. “Have you been drinking?”

“Of course not! I can’t believe you just asked me that.” I opened the door, got out, and slammed it as hard as I could. Some psychologist. It was a wonder his patients came back for a second session.

Dad hopped out of the car. “Wait a sec.”

“Why? So you can call me a liar some more? No thanks.” I stormed up the walkway of our apartment building.

Dad jogged up beside me. “I can see you’re upset. But, are you honestly expecting me to believe you have some kind of psychic power?”

“You know what? I’ve just had the worst day of my life. I don’t need to take this on top of it.” I stopped, reached out, and shook his hand. Buzzing fizzed up my arm, into my head, and a slideshow started—clear pictures this time, unlike the sub’s and Joel’s.

“Have you lost your mind?” Dad looked seriously worried now. “What are you doing?”

I let go of his hand and thrust my fists on my hips. “You had two appointments this morning. One with a guy and one with a woman. The man had a beard and the woman seemed to be flirting with you the entire session. Which is just . . . ew.” My nose crinkled in disgust. “You had your assistant reschedule your third appointment so you could pick me up from school. Then, you dropped your keys on the way out of the office.”

Dad stared at me, wide-eyed under his glasses.

“And you really need to lay off the coffee, Dad. You had two cups at home. Black. And a venti from Starbucks that your assistant fetched for you. I’ll bet she has a crush on you, too.”

His mouth dropped open.

“I’ll be inside when you’re ready to apologize.” I walked off, but Dad didn’t follow. I’d probably shocked him too much. Whatever. That’s what he got for doubting me.

****

Leaving my dad outside, I unlocked our front door and went to my room, skipping my usual routine of watching
The Count of Monte Cristo
. What would Edmond think if he found out his girlfriend could read minds? Not that he really existed, but still.

It was hard to believe, but impossible to deny. Four for four. I could definitely read minds. Literally peek into someone’s head with the shake of a hand. Incredible. And scary.

There was a knock on my bedroom door.

“Go away.” I flipped onto my stomach, squeezed my eyes shut, and pulled the pillow over my head.

“We need to talk.” Dad sounded serious.

“I don’t want to.” What good would it do? It couldn’t erase the freaky things I could see or the mess I’d made at school today.

The door creaked open and the mattress shifted as he sat on the bed. “Everything’s going to be okay.” He rubbed my back, like he did when I was little. It actually felt kinda good. “You’re not going through this by yourself. We’re a team, kiddo.”

“Great, the freak team.”

Dad’s hand rested on my arm. “Tell me exactly what happened. When did this start?”

I opened my mouth to tell him everything. That’s when the dam broke. I shoved the pillow aside, threw my arms around him, and started bawling. “Oh, Daddy. I screamed in class and everyone thinks I’m a loser now. My life’s ruined.”

“We’ll work this out together.” Dad sounded sad. “It’s my fault. I should’ve known something like this could happen. I should’ve warned you.”

My breath caught on a sob. “W-what?”

His hand froze on my back. “I’m sorry I never prepared you for this. I should’ve told you the whole story.”

Was he saying what I think he was?

I pushed away from him, off the bed, and onto my wobbly feet. “You mean you knew this would happen to me? That I could dip into people’s heads?”

The guilt on my dad’s face was enough of an answer. After all our years together, just him and me, he’d known and had kept it from me.

“How could you keep something like this from me?” My heart ripped in my chest, but my tears had suddenly dried up. The one person I trusted most in the world had turned out to be the biggest liar.

Dad looked away, unable to meet my eyes. “Why don’t we go make ourselves some coffee and have a serious heart to heart?”

“I don’t drink coffee,” I snapped. “You knew this would happen?”

Dad pushed his index fingers under his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I can’t believe we’re talking about this.”

I frowned. “You haven’t talked about jack yet.”

“I’m sorry it didn’t occur to me straight off. It’s been a long time since I’ve dealt with the paranormal.”

Tingles slid up my spine. The word
paranormal
sounded so creepy.

He pulled off his glasses and wiped the lenses with his shirt, like he did when he was thinking hard. “I don’t quite know how to tell you, so I suppose I’ll just say it.” He pushed his glasses back on his nose and took a deep breath. “Your mother had certain, special . . . abilities.”

My eyes grew wide. I’d been four when she died, but the few memories I had were happy. Normal. Was she a freaky mind reader, too? Had she had outbursts in school and lived to tell about it? “You mean Mom could see people’s thoughts?”

“No, nothing like that.” He shook his head. “But she could . . . it seems so silly to talk about her unusual talent now when she’s been gone twelve years.”

Talent sounded better than paranormal. “Don’t you think you’ve kept this from me long enough? Spill it.”

“You’re right.” He reached for my hand but I moved away before he could touch me. “I may have kept this secret, but I always have your best interests at heart.”

What a bunch of bull. “Lying is lying, Dad. You’re the one who taught me that.”

He nodded, then took a deep breath. “To put it plainly, Mom had the power of telekinesis.”

My brows crinkled. “Tele-ki-what?”

“Telekinesis.” His voice went into lecture tone like he was leading a seminar on the subject. “It’s the power to move objects without physical contact.”

I shook my head. “That’s impossible.”

“Just like mind reading is?” Dad raised his eyebrows. “I know it sounds crazy. We didn’t tell anyone about it. But, she did have that ability. I witnessed it.”

I crossed my arms. “How come you never told me?”

He raised his hands. “What would be the point?”

“Honesty, for starters.” I dropped back on my pillow and stared at the ceiling. “So, you’re telling me psychic powers run in the family? That I have super genes or something?”

“It would appear so. Others in your mom’s family had similar powers, but your mom wasn’t comfortable with it, so we just left it at that.” He adjusted his glasses. “The person’s visions only transfer when you shake their hand?”

“I think so.” My body felt numb as I processed the super gene factor.

“And this is the reason you wanted to come home?”

“Sort of.” I thought of the sub. Joel Templeton. Yelling. Everyone looking at me like I’d gone postal. “Seeing people’s thoughts actually kinda freaked me out. I screamed. In front of half the student body.” I covered my eyes with my hands. “Now, I can never show my face at school again.”

“Everything will be fine. You’ll see.” He patted my shoulder. “Like I told you, your mother had the power of telekinesis, but she didn’t use it. It made her nervous for some reason. Maybe she’d had outbursts at school, too.”

I dropped my hands to my sides. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

Dad chuckled. “Oh, sweetheart. Things like this happen.”

I gave him a look.

“Maybe not exactly the same, but my point is you’ll get through it. Your friends at school will forget about your outburst in a day or two and that’ll be the end of it.”

“So, I’m supposed to just forget I can read minds?”

He put a hand on my arm. “Why not? It shouldn’t be too hard. You can control who you shake hands with, right?” He smiled, trying to be encouraging.

“Maybe.” How many people did I usually shake hands with? Very few. So, I’d just avoid those rare times. Get on with my life. Be normal again. I liked the sound of that. “I’ll just ignore it and blend in like I used to.”

“Absolutely.”

The phone rang, then.

“If that’s Julie, do me a favor and tell her I’ll call her later.” I pulled the covers up to my chin. “I just want to go to sleep and forget this entire day ever happened.”

Dad patted my arm. “Will do.”

I watched him get up, head to the door, and then turn to face me. “Kylie?”

“Yeah?”

“You know you’re the most important thing in the world to me.” His eyes searched mine.

I was too exhausted to be angry anymore. “Lying is lying, Dad.”

Not that I was going to let him off the hook.

“You’re right.” He looked like a vulnerable boy for a moment. “It’s still you and me, kiddo. Always.”

He made it so hard to stay mad at him. “I know.”

He nodded and turned to leave.

“Dad?”

“Yeah?”

I stared at him as my eyes filled with tears. “Will it really be okay?”

“I promise.” He smiled and shut the door behind him.

I turned on my side and snuggled into my pillow. All I had to do was forget about mind reading. Forget that my mom had the power of tele-whatever. Shouldn’t be too hard. Not like I’d known about any of it before today anyway.

Joel and his friend Shawn would forget about my freak screaming and move on to bigger and better. I’ll make up an explanation for Julie, somehow. And keep my peeping brain power a secret—just like I’d never had it in the first place.

Only, one issue was still nagging my brain. The timing. I flipped onto my back and stared at the ceiling. I’d shaken people’s hands for years without anything happening. Why could I suddenly read minds now?

Chapter Three

Thursday, 7:08 a.m.

Dear Mom,

Yesterday was a complete nightmare. Thanks a lot for not telling me I was a super freak. I know you died when I was four, but that’s no excuse. I could walk and talk, so you should’ve clued me in.

Now I’m supposed to go to class today and pretend I didn’t freak out in the Chem Lab and the cafeteria. Like anyone’s gonna just forget that overnight. How did you deal with this when you were my age?

I so do NOT want to go to school. Seriously, I’d pay a million dollars (if we were rich) not to go.

Maybe Dad would buy that I’m sick and let me stay home. He’s not dumb, but how can he prove I didn’t get hit with a virus last night? It’s worth a try.

I just have to muster an “I feel like crap” look. Shouldn’t be hard to do under the circumstances. So pathetic what my life has come down to. Faking sick to ditch school. And I don’t even care if it lowers my GPA.

I’m really mad at you, Mom. You should’ve told me.

Love,

Kylie (the social screamer/class cutter/fake illness girl)