Authors: Heather Sunseri
And I knew.
I knew I’d never run. I wouldn’t turn
my back on my newfound identity, even if it went against everything I believed
in. Because turning my back on the monster that I was would be shutting out the
beautiful creature who held me now.
“Listen up.” Coach Williams paced
in front of the team after morning practice. “Dean Fisher has halted all
off-campus travel. No one is to leave Wellington without express permission
from a parent or guardian.”
Coach’s eyes traveled over my
teammates’ faces but stopped on mine. I shifted and crossed my arms. Water
dripped off the end of my nose. I was the reason my classmates and I had been confined
to campus until further notice.
“And furthermore, if I find out any
of my swimmers sneak out and break this curfew in any way, in addition to the
dean’s punishment, you will not swim in the state qualifying meet in two weeks.”
Why was he staring me down as he
said that? I glanced around the deck to see if my teammates noticed the guilt
written all over my face.
Kyle stood across from me smirking.
“Whatever,” he mouthed at me.
When Coach had completed his
lecture and stare down, the swimmers scattered toward the showers and Coach to
his office. I marched straight over to Kyle. “What’s up?” I asked, attempting a
level of indifference.
“I refuse to be held prisoner. You
and I are practically eighteen, we’ve raised ourselves as child geniuses, and
yet we’re held here like we’re in some sort of juvenile detention.”
“Aren’t you being a bit
melodramatic?” I chuckled. “It might be for our own safety.” That part was
definitely true. In my case anyway. “Can you get a waiver that lets you off
campus?”
“My uncle will sign one. But where
am I going to go if no one can go with me?”
My lips pressed into a thin line.
There wasn’t even a remote chance I would get off-campus privileges. Not even
with Jack.
“If I can get permission, I’ll go
off campus with you. Where would you want to go?”
A smile played at the corners of
Kyle’s mouth. “A movie? We deserve time away from here.”
Not quite what I had in mind. “Okay.
Will you take me by the nursing home, too?” I hadn’t seen my grandmother in
almost a week. With the recent attempts on my life, I was craving a little
family time.
He smiled. A hint of something I
didn’t understand hid just below the surface of his grin. “Sure.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll let you know.”
I left Kyle and padded off toward
the shower.
While the hot water rained down
over my tired muscles, I plotted how I would convince the dean to give me
permission to leave campus. Why have the ability to mindspeak if I couldn’t use
it to my advantage?
Jack kept telling me that our
abilities were bound by control. If we controlled our mind, we’d reach the
potential of what we were engineered to do. It still didn’t make sense to me,
but two weeks ago I would never have believed my geneticist dad had raised a
cloned human as his daughter.
For now, I’d practice my ability. I’d
start with gaining off-campus privileges while blocking Jack from knowing
anything about it.
~~~~
To beat the boredom the students
all swore they’d die from if the dean confined them to campus for long, the
school organized an outdoor movie showing on the multipurpose field for the
next night.
The school even allowed vendors in
to sell kettle corn, hot dogs, deep-fried Oreos and pickles. Only in Kentucky
could you get that gourmet cuisine.
Danielle and I surveyed the food
choices.
She crinkled her nose. “Are they
kidding with this stuff? My arteries are constricting just smelling the grease
coming from the fried Snickers stand.”
I laughed. “Yeah, they think we’re
at risk leaving Wellington, but they’ll feed us heart attack on a stick for
dinner.”
Where’ve you been?
Jack’s
voice prodded my mind.
Jack.
I did a three-sixty searching
for him among the sea of students who had already turned out for the movie.
Even in my head, his voice had a way of sending a shiver down my spine. I hoped
he couldn’t sense that.
I’d worked hard to keep him blocked
out the past few days. Mainly I was practicing for times when I needed to keep
him out of my head. I couldn’t have him hearing my every thought. Not to
mention Jack was convinced someone had discovered how to get inside my head and
make me “sleepwalk” right into dangerous situations, starting with the night
the fire alarm was set off in the dorm.
I wondered if it went back further
than that, like the night Dad died, and someone chased me at Jack’s farm but
then disappeared. Maybe I didn’t have to be fully asleep, just vulnerable.
“Who’re you looking for?” Dani had
pulled a snack-pack of rice cakes from her backpack.
“Jack. Pretty sure he’s already
here.”
Cold
.
I turned my head to the right. Everything
was a game to him.
Colder
.
“Wish you could see the goofy grin
on your face.” Dani laughed. “Don’t think for a second you’re deserting me. I
don’t mind being a third wheel.”
I put my arm around her and steered
her around in the opposite direction from where I was looking. “I would never
desert you. You’re no third wheel.”
Oooh. Warm.
Warmer.
I spotted him on the other side of
a soccer goal carrying a blanket. I tried to suppress the glow that spread
across my face.
Dani rolled her eyes.
“Oh, stop. You’re the one who
wished for this,” I whispered.
“I know, but…” She elbowed me
playfully. “You know I’m kidding. I’ve just never seen you fall for anyone.”
“I know.” It frightened me.
When we reached Jack, he leaned
down and whispered in my ear. “Would you like to go to the movies?”
I pulled back and lifted a brow.
He shrugged.
After last weekend,
I hoped to make this an official date. To make up for that disaster.
So much happened that night and in
the days after. Jack’s face turned serious, and I realized I hadn’t answered
the question.
I nodded.
Of course
.
He smiled.
“Oh, my-gee-whiz.” Witnessing our
unspoken exchange, Dani threw her hands in the air. “I’m going to find Kyle and
Bree.” And she skipped off.
“Was it something I said?” Jack
laughed. He reached down and grabbed my hand and led me through parts of the
crowd and over to a quiet spot on the edge.
“Can we see from here?”
“Oh. You want to see the movie?” he
asked.
I punched him in the arm, and he
feigned like it hurt.
He spread the blanket. “Yes, you’ll
be able to see the movie.”
I’ll be watching you and trying to figure out
what you’re thinking. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve intentionally
shut me out.
I batted my eyelashes at him.
“Hi, you two,” Briana said as Kyle
fell beside me on the blanket.
Why is she always around?
Be nice.
“Hey guys,” Jack
said. “Danielle’s looking for you.”
“We just saw her.” Kyle pointed his
finger out into the crowd. “She was with you.” He redirected his finger at me. “I
thought it was you, anyway.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She was talking to someone who I
thought was you.” He shrugged. “Must have been wrong.”
“How long ago?”
My eyes met Jack’s.
You don’t think… Sandra…
No. No way.
Jack sounded
sure.
“A couple minutes. Enough time for
us to make a small circle, then spot the two of you.”
My heart raced faster than it did
after a fifty-yard sprint.
You said no one knew where she was. She has to look
like an old lady compared to me, right?
Don’t panic, Lex.
In one
smooth motion, Jack jumped to his feet. “I’ll find her.” He kept his tone
light.
Stay here. Okay?
I’ll go with you.
Stay,
he ordered.
He
headed off into the crowd, back toward the vendors.
I refused to be treated like some
dog he could order around. “You two mind watching our spot?”
Bree and Kyle exchanged looks and
after a shrug, Kyle said, “You mean lounge on this blanket and watch the movie?
Sure.”
I moved in the opposite direction from
Jack, careful to keep my thoughts to myself. Everything seemed normal. Kids
from seventh grade through twelfth settled in, waiting for the movie to start.
The sun had disappeared and darkness fell over the campus.
I heard a girl squeal over my right
shoulder. I whipped around to see a sophomore lacrosse player carrying a
freshman girl like a sack of potatoes. She was playfully beating his backside.
I tried to relax, but the weight of
a thousand bricks pushed hard on my chest.
Where are you, Dani
?
Lexi! You didn’t stay put, did
you?
Jack asked.
Why don’t you ever listen
?
I just don’t. Find her?
No.
“Hi, Lexi.”
I knew that voice behind me. I
immediately closed off my mind to Jack. “Seth. What are you doing here?”
“Looking for someone,” he said.
“Oh, yeah? At Wellington? Seems
strange.” My eyes darted left, then right, still searching for Danielle. And
now for Jack. How did Seth get through the Wellington gates?
“Yeah, maybe you can help me.” He
held something in his hand. A picture of some sort. “Does this remind you of
anyone?”
He flipped the picture around, but
it was too dark. “I can’t really see it.”
“Let’s move into the light.” Seth’s
fingers circled around my forearm, and he led me away from the crowd and behind
one of the vendors. Lights were strung overhead. Warning bells blared inside my
head.
I examined the picture. It couldn’t
be. Well, it kind of looked like Briana, but not totally. The hair wasn’t
right. The girl in the picture had straight, jet black hair, whereas Briana’s
was red and curly. The girl in the picture had a large gap between her two
front teeth. Briana’s teeth were perfectly straight and bleached super white.
The girl in the picture was
definitely not Bree. Nevertheless, the resemblance was staggering.
“You recognize this person?” Seth’s
voice was calm, yet his eyes darted in several directions in the span of a
second.
“No.” I handed the picture back to
him. “Good to see you Seth, but Jack will be missing me. I need to get back to
my friends.”
“Not so fast.” He reached out and
grabbed my arm again, stopping my forward motion.
“I think you do recognize the girl
in this picture.”
“Why would I tell you if I did?”
He smiled. “I’m not your enemy,
Lexi.”
“Oh, yeah?” I was not convinced. “What
do you want from me, Seth?”
“Shouldn’t you really be asking, ‘What
does Jack want from you?’” His smirk slid through my veins like a venomous
snake.
Okay, I’ll bite. “What does Jack
want from me?” Besides hopefully, my adoration, and something beyond sisterly
fondness. My lips quirked at that last thought.
“Why don’t you take a ride with me?”
“What? You’re crazy. I’m not going
anywhere with you.” I tucked my shaking hands into my armpits and looked over
his shoulder. “Besides, we’re on lockdown.” Which is why I was shocked Seth was
allowed in.
“You will if you want to know what
you were engineered to do. And why Jack spent a year spying on you inside this
school.”
Seth left me in a sea of scents
from funnel cake to cotton candy, right after I promised to meet him in the
parking lot at ten p.m. He promised he could show me what I was designed to do.
Not even Jack could do that.
Now, how would I break away from
Jack without him knowing where I was going? I smoothed my hands over my jeans
before I circled to the front of the vendors to look for him.
Where the hell are you
? Jack
growled inside my head.
I found him standing beside the
blanket. Dani sat in the lotus between Bree and Kyle, who tipped back a bottle
of water. I let out a relieved breath.
“Where were you?” he practically
barked.
I ran my fingers across his lips
and then manually tipped the corners upward. “Turn that frown upside down,” I
said. “I’m fine.” Except now I wondered why he’d spied on me for an entire year
before he enrolled in Wellington. That would have to wait. First I’d let Seth
show me what my father had kept from me about my genetic design.
He cupped my cheek. “You scared me.”
I’m sorry.
I just couldn’t
stand the thought of something happening to Dani
.
Did you see anything
strange?
He shook his head.
I’m pretty
sure it was nothing. Kyle had probably seen you and just misjudged how much
time had passed.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer.
You owe me a
date
.
We both looked down at his blanket
at the same time. Three bodies took up the entire blanket.
Wanna make out under the
bleachers
? Jack wiggled an eyebrow at me.
Heat crept up my back and flushed
my cheeks. Squeezing his hand, I led him over to the bleachers. “Not under.
That sounds… I don’t know. Sleazy or something.”
He leaned close to my ear. “I like
it when you blush.”
“I don’t blush.”
“Oh, you do, Miss Matthews. And it’s
beautiful.”
My heart sang at his words. I was a
giddy teenager celebrating her first teen crush.
We sat just as the opening credits
started for
Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets
. Safe choice given the age
range of the students.