The Boy Who Read Minds

by Veronica Soliman

  "Look Ty… I don't care, high school relationships never last anyway. I think you should wait until college. Maybe you’ll meet a nice girl who won’t stress you out this much. Speaking of college, I should be heading off. See you in three months, little bro." Chase announced. He stood up and stretched, grabbing his simple suitcase from beside the chair and walking out my door. I heard him say his goodbyes downstairs as my sister, Jessica, started telling him about things that she wanted him to buy her from his university. I heard the front door shut and watched him and my parents place the suitcase in the trunk. They hugged, then he drove away. He left me absolutely befuddled as I turned to look at the TV in my dark room.

  I’d remember to get him a mug with the words “least helpful advice giver” for Christmas when he came home. Or better yet “worst listener.”

  I jumped on my bed, staring at the ceiling with one person on my mind. The thing is, Amy doesn't ignore me or anything, there are actually times when she gives me her full undivided attention, but other times she is so cold to me that I have to figure out ways to talk to her. So today, I found the courage to talk to her after school, in public for the first time since the summer. I saw her talking to her friends, greeting everyone and giving them hugs.

  "Amy," she and her friends glanced at me when I spoke, "can I borrow her for a second?" I asked their permission as they exchanged looks and nodded.

  "Go for it." One of them said and Amy reluctantly turned to look at me with her sovereign blue eyes. I was at a loss for words.

  "Hi Amy." I greeted her as she continued to study me skeptically, she crossed her arms over her chest and casually licked her lips before speaking.

  "Is there a reason you had to pull me away from my friends, Tyler?" She said, her voice cold, but a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. I knew she loved persistence.

  "I had a question." I felt the sweat trickle down my forehead noticeably, my palms grew sweaty as I stood in front of her. I glanced at her and smiled.

  "Go on…" She uncrossed her arms and smiled now.

  "I really like you Amy. Maybe even more than a friend. And I was wondering if you would be interested in having lunch with me sometime." I was nervous, looking at her big, blue eyes as she stared at me.

  It didn't even take her a second before a reply flew out of her mouth, "no, I have to go."

  "Wait Amy," I called as she skidded away and rushed toward the parking lot. I knew Aaron was waiting for her as he had done for the past year or so, and I also knew that he would leave if she took too long. Maybe I could drive her home instead.

  "Tyler, I like you too, but I am sort of in a relationship." She muttered, putting her hand on her opposite arm and hugging herself.

  Hearing that made me excited, yet giddy and I knew Aaron was to blame for her shyness. He always did that to girls. He acted like he knew them and took what he wanted, then he'd just leave them behind when they least expected. I didn’t believe that Aaron was in a relationship, he was a player and that’s all he was. Aaron was a master manipulator. But I had never heard of one of his leftovers complaining about him. He wasn't bad to them, but somehow, I just knew he must have let them down easy.

  "Aaron isn't really a relationship kind of guy…” I muttered as her eyes widened, I hoped she didn’t think I was questioning her integrity. But it wasn’t like she didn't know, the entire school knew he would play around and dump his girls, but somehow, he had a way of not having them hate him afterward. "Look," I reached for her hand, afraid that she might freak out and back away.

  She stood there, aloof, "I just want you to consider one date," I whispered leaning forward. I took a step closer, "Is this okay?" I whispered, centimeters away from her lips as a slight nod gave me permission; my heart felt like it could jump out of my chest. I grinned, leaning forward to plant one on her before stepping away, trying to maintain the smile on my face.

  "I’ll think about it." She smiled, pulling herself back a little bit and putting a hand on my chest. "I'll text you."

  "Okay." I said breathlessly, thunderstruck that I had actually kissed Amy Bloom. Amy freaking Bloom.

  "See you later, I really have to go." She smiled, pulling away completely as she rushed into the parking lot. I was hoping that Aaron would've gone home by now so I would have the pleasure of driving her, but obnoxiously he was pulling out of the spot just as she entered the car.

  ***

  As soon as I got home, I ran a hand through my hair. I'd attempted a phone call with Chase, my older brother, but he sent me to voicemail. The nervous sweat beads had dried, and I was cautiously entering my bedroom, afraid of passing by my sister's room.

  She always brought her boyfriend over and mom would make them leave the door open, which was pointless since they would make-out either way. I glided past the door and kept my eyes shut.

  "Ty!" I heard her cheerfully shout, elongating the y. Dang it.

  I walked backwards and into her room, staring at Jessica as I crossed my arms. Her hair was tied up and her loose, silk pajamas flowed around her like a dress as she approached me.

  "Hey Jess." I smiled, glad that she was alone.

  "I need your advice on something. I don't know if brothers usually give sister's advice, but…"

  I stopped her before she could get any further, "if it's about your boyfriend, I don't want to hear it."

  She stopped talking and began laughing. "No silly goose, if I was going to ask someone for advice on Zach, I would ask my friends, not you," she laughed. It kind of stung a little bit to hear that, but that was something to overthink another time. For now, I felt beads of sweat form on my forehead as I watched her, wondering what sort of advice Jessica could possibly need.

  "Then what?" I raised an eyebrow as she laughed, hopping onto the bed.

  "I have a costume party to go to tonight and I need you to go buy me some nail polish to match my costume; I’m super busy with homework that I need to finish before going, so could you…?”

  "Sure." I cut her off, only Jessica would disguise needing a favor as advice. Jessica had a tendency to go on tangents with her speech. One second, we’d be talking about nail polish and the next she’d be telling me about how she wanted to go on a safari. I was usually all for conversation with my sister; but tonight, I didn’t want to talk. I needed time to process my own issues— and a drive to the local drugstore seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.

  "What?" She laughed, "are you being serious, I had a whole monologue and some tears ready to convince you that I need it. But okay," she grinned happily, reaching into her purse and pulling out some money.

  "The shade I need is Dior Red 999. You can get it at the store that's like a mile away. I need that brand and color. It's so pretty. It'll go with my costume, but like the party starts in an hour and I'm going to be fashionably late, but not too late because Zach—"

  "Okay," I cut her off, "I was going out anyway, I have to buy some more vitamin pills for mom."

  "You're the best Ty!" She squealed excitedly, handing over the money and stretching her arms to hug me before I held a hand up to stop her. "Oh yeah, also, Chase was here earlier! You totally missed him!" She exclaimed, but I had seen him, and he had spent some time with me, regardless of if he ignored me the entire time. I looked at the fifty-dollar-bill that she’d handed me. I wondered if nail polish could actually cost that much.

  "I'll be back before eight." I said, watching her face light up with a smile. Jessica loved when people bought her things or did her favors, it was the only way to make her happy. It was probably why she and Zach had been together for so long: their love-languages aligned.

  I headed out to the car and drove out to the store near our home. It typically wasn't crowded at night, but today it had a couple more cars than normal.

  I really hope I find this nail polish color before anyone from school sees me. I thought to myself and walked inside. I searched through the store. When I got to the cosmetics section, I stopped and froze in fro
nt of the nail polish. I had no clue what I was doing. Jessica wanted red nail polish, so maybe that's what I would get her.

  I grabbed a random bottle before glancing at it and shaking my head. It wasn’t a brand that sounded like the one she’d mentioned. I looked around, searching for someone who was more well-versed in nail polish.

  "Excuse me," I called for a nearby employee. She glanced at me, her striking brown eyes knocking me down like thunder. She was beautiful, and strangely familiar. Her long ash-colored hair hung smooth, voluminous, and straight at her sides. I almost wanted to reach over and touch it; it looked like silk.

  "Yes?" She asked after a long pause, I hoped she didn't think I was some creep checking her out. I stood there just admiring her looks.

  "Sorry, you just look really familiar." I looked down at my feet awkwardly, then turned my attention back to her. "I'm looking for a red nail polish. I think it's called door or something?" I muttered quietly, hoping nobody else in the near-empty drugstore could hear me. She laughed slightly. Humor filled her eyes as she watched me curiously.

  "Dior?" She suggested, the toothy smile still present. Oddly enough, I felt like I was sitting beside a Christmas tree with my family surrounding me while the scent of cookies and the color red filled the air. But as soon as she stopped smiling, my thoughts faded, and I wanted to hug her. I shocked myself with the random feelings toward a stranger and glanced the other way.

  "Probably." I replied, feeling the need to clarify, "it's for my sister. I don't do that sort of thing." She glanced behind me with the same warm smile but didn’t respond. It wasn’t like she cared. She was just doing her job by helping a random customer.

  She squatted down and began looking through the rows to search for the brand. "Is there a specific number or just any Dior?"

  "Red and Nine-hundred-ninety-nine." I replied as she nodded.

  "Here it is." She smiled and pulled out the last available red Dior 999 from the very bottom shelf and stood up. "There you go." It was the color of burgundy fall leaves and looked like it would match her ash-tone hair well. She held the bottle in her hand, waiting for me to take it. But I simply just stood there, mesmerized and wondering if I should ask her on a date. I knew I had just recently asked Amy, but Amy was probably going to say no because Aaron had her wrapped around his finger.

  "Can you smile again?" I heard myself blurt out and then suddenly I felt like a squashed tomato. "I'm sorry, that was way out of line," I tried to chuckle it off, but the awkwardness still hung in the air. I reprimanded myself as I took the nail polish from her.

  "It's fine," she blushed, looking at her raggedy old sneakers and pushing her long black hair behind her back. "Is there anything else you needed?" She asked and I could tell there was an underlying "I hope not" behind her words. I could tell that she was feeling uncomfortable

  "Nope, that's all thank you." I said quickly. She nodded and sauntered off, returning to the task she was originally doing.

  I quickly grabbed a bottle of the vitamin pills for my mom and paid for my purchase with Jessica's money. I got in my car and drove home, utterly embarrassed and trying not to overthink the interaction. It wasn’t like I would ever see her again, regardless of how familiar she looked.

  Chapter 6:\ Studying Violet

  Aaron

  'Violet Veowsalot' I typed into my google search engine. I had to scroll for a while before an image of her soft dark hair and large brown eyes popped up. Something was off about her; I just couldn't put my finger on it. There had to be a reason that she was so difficult to find online.

  Violet Veowsalot Wins Rosemond High Spelling Bee

  Of course, this nerd would have that as the only piece of identifying information about her. I chuckled lightly; I didn't even know Rosemond High had spelling bees. And when was this? Two years ago. There were no other images of her on the internet.

  This was my idea of studying; but studying Violet Veowsalot turned out to be a total waste of my time. Not that I had anything better to do. With my all-knowing capabilities, I should have realized that I would regret sending Amy home. I had absolutely nothing to do now.

  Speaking of the devil, Amy's name popped up on my phone screen with a very long message below it. I didn't want to click it otherwise she would see that I read it. So instead, I skimmed over the part that I could see.

  Amy B: Hey A, I had such a big dilemma with...

  That was as far as my phone would show me and for the first time in a while, my curiosity was peaked. I waited a few seconds before clicking on her full message.

  Amy B: Hey A, I had such a big dilemma with deciding how to go about this. And I know earlier you told me it was fine, but I just wanted your full approval before I jump into anything with Tyler. You may or may not know that I texted him a few times this summer, but it was irrelevant to me. Anyway, I agreed to go out with him. I hope you're okay with my decision.

  I re-read the message, trying to read between the lines and decipher if she had a second meaning to it. But lo and behold, the one time you want a girl to be complicated, she isn't. It took me a second to realize that she was telling me this as a sign of breakup. I wasn’t sure why she felt the need to ‘break up’ with me when we weren’t even dating. Maybe she meant that she no longer had the time to spend with me because she was now with Tyler. It would’ve been easier to read her mind if she had said this in person rather than thinking this much about the meaning behind her text. I didn't care— it was mature of her to do— strangely out of character for Amy, though.

  It's fine Amy. Be happy. I replied, adding that cheesy little line to let her know there were no hard feelings in this matter. In fact, I had no feelings for her at all.

  I tossed the phone aside and climbed up the small staircase to the second level in my room. My room was very big, and its arrangement was kind of odd. It was probably meant for another bed above mine, but I used it for books. I was never really much of a reader, but I had moments when I’d be bored enough to read something that my parents had gifted me.

  Perhaps I should study— nah! I climbed back down and threw myself on the bed. I had nothing to study anyway— and besides, there was a costume party tonight that I knew I couldn't miss if I wanted to remain in the loop at Rosemond.

  ***

  I stepped inside to be met with the repulsive thoughts of hundreds of teenagers. I didn’t know why I subjected myself to this sort of torture. Oh right, boredom and a feeling of emptiness. The place was stuffed with high-school students who had nothing better to do tonight.

  Aaron Paul is here! Some random thoughts were tossed my way as I attempted not to notice the girls fixing their hair and staring at me. The majority of them were in outfits that left nothing to the imagination. I walked through the crowds and headed into the kitchen where a few of my teammates were playing a game. I joined in, feeling welcomed by the atmosphere of this home.

  Whoever was throwing this party tonight truly had it planned well. After a few hours, I was completely wasted. I couldn't even tell the difference between a devil and an angel anymore. I hobbled outside of the kitchen, unable to keep my feet aligned with the floor. I fell onto a couch as two people were busying themselves. I grabbed the girl away from the guy and hugged her, wishing I was sleeping on my pillow. The guy punched me, but I didn't feel it.

  "Get off bro." The guy said, but I couldn't think, my words became slurred and my mind wandered. The thoughts fell on a single phrase instantly.

  Aaron is such a doofus. Said the voice. I wondered who could possibly be watching me at this moment. My head was throbbing and the pain I felt was subsided by a single clear voice. My eyes searched the blurry bodies of the room to land on none other than the girl that had won the infamous Rosemond spelling bee.

  Violet Veowsalot. Parties were never really her scene; it didn’t make sense why she was here. She stood awkwardly in a corner looking completely uncomfortable. Surely, she hadn't thought that about me, perhaps someone else had.

 
I think I will just leave now. Where is Stacy? Maybe she can get a ride home with someone else. It’s getting late. Mom's going to be so mad at me if I come home later than midnight!

  Nope, those thoughts were definitely hers. She turned to leave, and I watched silently. She turned around again and went back to stand at the wall. She was too good of a friend to leave her other friend behind. I was amused and slightly entertained watching her struggle to make a decision.

  I laughed as the couple below me left the couch. I rested my head, my eyes trained on her as the music grew louder and the mood grew sweatier.

  Why is he watching me?

  I didn't look away, wondering how she saw me when she had never once looked in my direction. Maybe I should talk to her; she has nobody right now. She tapped her feet impatiently and I took that as my cue. I was never really one to start a conversation, but in this case, I’d make an exception.

  "Hey Violet." I slurred, staring at her eyes, thankful that I could only hear myself think now. Before I could say anything else, I heard a loud thud, and it took me a few moments to realize I had fallen. She made me weak— no that isn't a pickup line because she physically made me weak with one look, I lost my carefully unstable balance, falling right in front of her.

  "A… Aaron?" She asked, looking at my fallen body. I looked up at her, wanting so badly to stare into the beautiful brown orbs and get lost in them. She looked at me, the air in my throat constricted. I was lost in her eyes, my head pounding, and I wished for another drink.

  "I guess I fell for you,” I laughed, noticing that she didn’t find it amusing. I felt glued to the floor. “Violet." I heard myself say, unable to grasp what was going on. I heard shuffling around me, and the volume of the music became nonexistent. I didn't know what was going on. I wished I was more conscious and hadn’t drank as much. "Help me up."