Open Minds (5 page)

“Kira?” My mom’s voice startled me so badly that I nearly tumbled over my weak ankle. I hadn’t heard her come up the stairs, but she hovered in the kitchen doorway, her white shirt rumpled and her face harried, as though she had rushed back to make sure I wasn’t home alone.

Except that it was safer for everyone if I
was
alone.

“You’re home early.” She had that bomb-squad look again, like she thought I might blow with the slightest jostle. Only this time, it made me shiver.
Think good thoughts.
I couldn’t let my brain malfunction again.

“Yeah. I skipped band practice.” I edged along the counter away from her. Just in case.

She held still, poised in the doorway. “Why?”

I grabbed a box of cheese crackers to keep my hands from shaking. “Well, um, Raf fell and hit his head and had to go to the hospital.”

A strange mixture of relief and concern warred on her face. “That’s awful.” She seemed to decide it was safe to enter the room. The refrigerator panel sprung open at her mental command.

“Is he okay?” She pulled out a container of milk.

“I think so. His mom came to school and got him. I asked him to scrit me when he gets done with all the tests.”

“Good.” She poured the milk into a glass. “I dropped your father off at the base. He said to say goodbye, and that you could call him if you needed anything.”

A nervous giggle threatened to escape me, and I clamped my teeth tight. Normally, my dad was incommunicado during his deployments. If he was giving me phone privileges, he must really be worried about me starting school as a confirmed zero. If he only knew. Being a zero was the least of my problems now.

My mom stared, still holding the glass of milk. It was probably meant for me, but I didn’t want her coming any closer. I stuffed a handful of stale crackers in my mouth.

“I’m going to the doctor’s office later to look at the hearing aids.” She eyed me, then took a sip of the milk.

“Great,” I said too quickly, glad I had already told her yesterday to go without me. The last thing I needed was a doctor prodding me. I swallowed the dry crackers and scooted along the periphery of the room.

I escaped the kitchen and scurried up the stairs before Mom could question my bizarre behavior. My room looked as though an angry fairy princess had ransacked it to reclaim her things. I curled under the rosy comforter, the only spot of girly left behind. It was only last night that I had decided to be tough, a warrior that no one would mess with. Now it seemed like I was a weapon that might go off at any moment.

It creeped me out.

Returning to school tomorrow seemed like a tragically bad idea. Who knew what might happen? What if Shark Boy found me alone in the hall? Would I strike him down in flash of fear? Mom was running out to get the hearing aid tonight. What if the
small minds of heavenly wrath
decided to hassle me about it, and I slew the whole lot of them in a fit of anger?

A picture sprung up in my mind—students slumped over their desks in Mr. Chance’s class, staring but unseeing. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think of something else, anything else. I had to believe I wasn’t going to kill everyone simply by going to school. After all, I hadn’t mowed down the nurse or Mama Santos or my mom. It had taken the near epic event of Raf almost kissing me to bring on this brain catastrophe, so an ordinary day at school couldn’t be too hazardous.

Could it?

The trembling of my hand wasn’t very reassuring.

chapter SEVEN

It was after lunch, and no one had died yet, so I took that as a good sign.

Raf was absent from Mr. Chance’s class, but he would be back soon. With Mama Santos clucking over him, he wouldn’t stay home any longer than necessary. His scrit from the hospital verified he would live:
Head as thick as it seems. Doing ok.

It was just as well he wasn’t in school. I didn’t need to worry about him while I was concentrating on not knocking out people with my scary mind powers.

My teachers whispered through the new mini-mics that came with my hearing aid, which eased the ringing silence of school. Some could barely whisper and think at the same time, but Mr. Barkley was completely mesh about it in math. He took the mic patch and stuck it smoothly on the back of his ear in one quick motion. Maybe he had another zero in a previous class.

We tried it out as the other students drifted in and took their seats.

“Testing… testing…,” he whispered as he stood by the board a dozen feet away. I smiled to show that it worked fine. “I’m glad you got this, Kira.” His lips barely moved, and I only heard him through the mic. “I expect you to do even better on the exams this year.” The other students were all in range to hear his thoughts, even if they couldn’t hear his whisper. My cheeks ran hot, but if Mr. Barkley whispered everything he was thinking during class, I
would
finally have an equal footing and might actually pass his class.

The glow of Mr. Barkley’s praise carried me down the aisle. The class had filled, and the only open seat was directly in front of Simon Zagan. His brooding eyes captured me in their tractor beams again.
Think good thoughts.
Simon didn’t deserve to be the next victim of my uncontrollable brain surges, even if he and Shark Boy could start a Creep Club together.

As I willed my legs to move toward him, his face pinched in. He probably wondered why I wasn’t returning his glare. When I dropped into my seat, his stare burned a hot spot on the back of my head.

Mr. Barkley’s voice whispered in my ear, and once the class got under way, I forgot about the looming force of antagonism behind me. I had missed a lot the past two days and gave silent thanks for Mom and her eagerness. The tiny bud was barely visible once tucked in my ear, although the entire class had to know the zero had a new crutch. Those concerns were buried under my preoccupation with catching up and keeping everyone safe from my thoughts.

Near the end of class, the tap of a warm fingertip seeped through my t-shirt. It had to come from Simon. I seriously debated ignoring him, but then his breath fell on my ear. “I have something to show you.” A shiver ran down my back. Before I thought of something not-hostile to say, he was out of his seat and halfway to the door.

A piece of paper had appeared on my desk. As I unfolded the note, the chill settled into my stomach. In messy handprinting it said:
Meet me in the chem lab next period
.

I didn’t know what Simon was thinking, but there was
no way
I was meeting him in the empty chem lab. How did he know I had a free period anyway? Maybe he was stalking me. Maybe he was like Shark Boy and wanted to get me alone in a dark, empty classroom. Well, I might be coming unhinged in thinking I had strange mind powers, but I wasn’t stupid. Simon could find someone else to play with.

I spent my free period in the library, studying the copious notes I had taken through the day. When the workpod with the manual interface was free, I pulled down some research articles for a paper in history. The silence didn’t bother me nearly as much when I had work to do. How could I be a week behind when school had only been in session for three days?

When the final bell sounded, students flowed through the hallway toward the school entrance and their release for the day. I clung to the edges, fighting the current to reach my locker. At least I had survived the day and hadn’t injured anyone. And I had a real chance of doing well this year.

I dug around in my locker and decided to leave my running gear behind, since I needed to bring home my e-slate and all my scribepads. Satisfied I had everything, I slammed the locker door closed. My heart lurched when I saw Simon only a foot away, leaning against the wall of grated metal doors.

I let out an awkward sound.

“Did I scare you?” He seemed to be struggling to keep his face straight.

“No.” It sounded unconvincing, even to me. “You just startled me.” There were no sounds around us, no hints of anyone nearby. The other students must have cleared out while I had been fussing with my locker.

He dipped his head and peered at me through his lashes, which were deep black like his hair. “I was hoping you’d come to the chem lab.” A smile curled up one side of his face.

Spasms roiled through my stomach. “I… I need to get home, so I’ll just be on my way, all right?” I turned slowly, determined not to run. I would simply walk at a measured pace along the shortest possible route to somewhere safe. Somewhere he wouldn’t terrify me into doing something awful. Before I took a step, he grabbed my elbow.

“Let go!” I twisted out of his grasp and restrained the urge to smack him.

He threw up his hands. “Okay!” That he would openly touch my bare arm confirmed my worst thoughts. Maybe I could outrun him, at least to the office. But a strange look of concern on his face overrode any common-sense thoughts I had of running fast and hard.

“I understand why you’re nervous.” He dropped his voice. “Why you’re afraid.”

 “I… I’m not a-afraid.” I cursed inwardly and wished I had said nothing at all. I wasn’t sure if I was more afraid of Simon or of what my brain might do to him.

“I know you are.” He leaned closer and whispered. “Because I’m the same as you, Kira. And I remember how it felt.”

 His words shocked me out of my trance of terror.

“What are you saying?” I glared up and down at his
Cantos Syn
t-shirt and
nove
-fiber jeans. He was toying with me. “Did you suddenly turn into a zero?” The acid in my voice was enough to give him third-degree burns.

His lips drew into a thin line that was not quite a grimace. “I’ve always been one.”

I blinked and took a step back. The words fell out of my mouth, “You can’t be. Why would you say that?” Simon wasn’t popular like Raf, but he had a crew of friends and plenty of girls who liked his brand of gritty. It wasn’t possible for him to be a zero.

He searched my face, for what I didn’t know. When he found it, the taut lines of his face softened. “Come with me.” He tilted his head toward the back door of the school. “I’ll show you what I mean.” He clasped his hands behind his back and waited for my answer.

If I ran, I could see he wouldn’t grab me again. Somehow that made a difference. I had to be demens to go anywhere with Simon Zagan, but curiosity burned in me, and the choice dangled like an elixir sparkling in his dark, intense eyes.

“Okay.”

chapter EIGHT

Simon held the door as I slipped out into the soul-crushing heat.

We crossed the parking lot in silence and crunched across the dead, scraggly grass toward the bleachers. Simon kept casting glances at me, as if we were on a secret mission. His mischievous looks made him seem younger, not a nearly eighteen-year-old senior, just a boy about to break the rules and confident he could get away with it.

My sandals and shorts left my skin exposed to the waves of scorching, metallic heat coming from the bleachers. Clusters of students either watched the soccer players practice in the blazing dampness or mindtalked amongst themselves. I quickly scanned the field for Raf, but couldn’t find him in the blur of jerseys skillfully dashing in and out of range of each other.

Of course, no one on the bleachers noticed me. But Simon usually had the same vacuum effect as Raf, sucking in all the female attention in reading range. Yet today we were both invisible as we snuck up the bleachers. Did Simon’s zero status flip on and off? How did that work?

When we reached the top, he motioned for me to sit to his right. Two students sat several rows below us, within thought range, but ignoring us. The girl was reading one of Mr. Chance’s ancient paper books, and the boy pretended to watch the soccer scrimmage, while stealing peeks at her.

Simon scooted close, his lean, bare legs nearly touching mine. He rested his arm on the railing behind us and whispered, “Do you see that couple down there?” I nodded my assent, eyes glued to them, because Simon was entirely too close.

“He likes her, but she’s not very interested. She’s thinking about someone else, although she’s trying not to. She knows it annoys him.”