The Boy Who Read Minds

by Veronica Soliman

  "What emergency?" I asked as she walked back toward me and stood, crossing her arms.

  "I'm not here for games, Aaron." She said, a slight blush appearing as she looked away. She looked like she was trying to force herself to be mad at me.

  Why'd you leave me like that? I caught a glimpse of her thoughts, wishing I could hear more, but she made eye contact and once again, only my thoughts could be heard. I was mesmerized; I couldn't look away. I wanted to reach over and hug her, to tell her about how much I missed her, but I kept my hands to myself.

  "Do you want to go for a drive?" I asked, reaching forward, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. I slid my hand down as she looked away, her cheeks heating up as I tilted her face up to look at me, my index finger under her chin.

  "Not with everyone knowing what we look like from that video." She said, releasing a breath as she looked at me with a warm emotion swirling around her brown eyes. I was surprised that she hadn’t slapped my hand away.

  "It's been two weeks; I think the commotion about that video died down a while ago. We should be good. Anyway, how’s Amelia doing? I'm sorry about Ethan, I know you two were friends." I said, dropping my hand, then mirroring her by crossing my arms as well. Violet sighed, her warm breath causing smoke in the cold air around her.

  "I hope whoever did it ends up in jail forever." Violet said, glancing away for a second as a thought struck me. Bailey.

  I couldn't agree more that it was probably Bailey Bloom. She was the only person there at the time of his murder and it didn’t make sense that it could possibly be anybody else— especially not at her house. However, the justice system would prevail, it seemed illogical if Bailey got off the hook, scot-free.

  "Let's get disguises if you're worried about people knowing who we are." I smirked, changing the subject as she laughed, rolling her eyes. She raised her eyebrows, a hint of a smile playing on her lips as she swayed from side to side.

  "Where are we going? I thought you were just picking me up for school. Also, when were you planning on telling me that my headaches don't happen anymore." She tugged at her ponytail and I just stood there staring. If ever there was someone more beautiful than me, it was Violet. I might be a narcissist, but I know true beauty when I see it and Violet was the embodiment of that, inside and out.

  "I thought maybe you'd want to go somewhere cool. Get in loser, we can talk when we get there." I said, hopping into the driver's seat as I watched her walk around the car and sit in the passenger seat. Stunning. I backed out of her driveway as she put on her seatbelt.

  "So… how was your week?" She asked as I smiled internally. I was happy that she'd cared enough to ask because only God knows how alone I’d felt.

  "I couldn't sleep all week. It was weird. I guess I’d just gotten used to sleeping with you." I laughed when she scoffed.

  “You wish.” She laughed, turning on the radio and letting it play in the background.

  "I missed you a lot." I said. "How was your week?" I asked. Violet didn’t respond for a moment, eying my steering wheel as I glanced over at her.

  She rolled her eyes and laughed, "Aaron, when are you going to tell me what happened to your fists?" I froze momentarily, wondering if I could come up with some excuse to touch her arm so the scrapes and bruises on my hand would disappear.

  "You missed me that much, huh?" I laughed, ignoring her question completely as I continued driving. It was another short pause before she spoke again.

  "Yeah, I did miss you. I couldn't sleep without you nearby." She glanced at me with a warm smile on her face, "don't let that get to your head."

  "It's already there, Vy." I smirked, laughing.

  We drove in a comfortable silence for a couple minutes as the music played. I knew exactly where we were going, but I wanted it to be a surprise. I was nervous that if I started talking, I wouldn't be able to shut up and might accidentally blurt out the surprise location. I had a new-found tendency to ramble.

  "So, you're ditching today?" She asked.

  "We are ditching today."

  "Are you going to tell me what happened when you left last week?"

  "No." I said, flashbacks of Joseph's bloodied face reeling in my mind, making me tighten my grip on the steering wheel.

  "Please?"

  "I… visited a friend." I said, looking at her as I saw her entire body turn and face the door. She wasn't happy with what I'd said, she could tell I was lying. I could practically feel her overthinking it. "Look, I don't want to tell you because I don't want to upset you."

  "Since when have you cared about upsetting me?" She scoffed, facing the window like it was the greatest thing in the world. All I could think of was how thankful I was that she was sitting here with me, alive and safe on a cloudless day.

  "I don't want to add frosting to that angry cupcake of yours, not yet at least." I pressed the brakes as we came to a stop, reaching for her hand as she turned to face me. Within seconds, my knuckles were no longer blotchy and red; it was almost like I hadn't beaten the life out of Joseph.

  "Forget it. I don't care so don’t worry; you can do what you want. I just want to know how you already knew that my headaches were gone; I know you wouldn’t have left otherwise." She turned to face me again and I took that opportunity to hold her hand, intertwining our fingers. It felt right.

  "I found out a month ago. I took a trip around the block— more than five houses away— to see if anything had changed and when I got back, you were fine and you hadn't even noticed. I..." I took a long pause, feeling my palms get sweaty as I spoke, "I didn't want to tell you because I really like spending time with you Vy. I really like you." She looked at our intertwined fingers as I turned my attention back to the road. I wasn't sure if she would be flattered or upset. It was always an uncertainty around her.

  "You confuse me." She said, squeezing my hand. My rapid heartbeat echoed throughout my car as I pulled up to the amusement park and parked my car. She gazed at me with a childlike excitement. Today would, hopefully, be a fun day.

  Chapter 48:\ She’s My Sister

  Amy

  "Pick me up Amy, I'm so afraid. They have me on bail; help me." Bailey exclaimed on the phone. I wasn't sure what I could do for her. I had no money, and my parents were out of commission, something I still couldn’t believe.

  Things had certainly escalated after forensics had examined Ethan's body. All the evidence pointed to my sister and I wasn't sure who to believe. She had been held in prison for almost two weeks now as they worked to track Ethan's killer. I couldn't imagine Bailey hurting anyone. I had been interrogated several times, they’d asked me if my sister ever showed any strange behaviors and obviously, I said no. I didn't want Bailey getting hurt or going to jail.

  That's my sister. I have to protect her. She'd spent all her time focusing on herself and improving herself, working hard in her college classes and such. I just couldn't picture her doing something so gruesome. They had shown me extremely graphic images, as if I wasn’t traumatized enough already.

  They had shown me a picture of my kitchen floor which had been covered by a tarp, there was Ketamine found in a small bottle to sedate him. I wondered where she'd gotten ketamine from, there was no way she could've stolen it, unless she knew somebody willing to give it to her. I felt haunted each time I entered my kitchen, and I tried my best to avoid my house at all costs.

  It didn't make sense to me. Why would she have any incentive to murder somebody, especially Violet's mom's boyfriend, which I later found out was Jared's dad. I hadn’t reached out to anyone; I could barely function on my own. I enveloped myself in schoolwork and trying to prove Bailey’s innocence. She was on bail for ten-thousand dollars, I didn’t have the money to bail her out.

  When I visited her on this cloudy Saturday morning, the security reluctantly let me enter the confined room with her. It was like an outdoor cell with bars on the ceiling and concrete walls surrounding us as the sun shined onto the concrete bench in the center. One of them had
ensured me that she was crazy. Was it even legal for them to call people crazy? That was rude and offensive; she's my sister.

  "Bailey! Oh my gosh! Look at you!" I exclaimed, running over to hug her. She looked extremely pale, her blonde hair looked so thin and she looked frail. How could somebody like this even be capable of murder?

  "Amy! Where are mom and dad? I need them to bail me out, I don't know why I'm here. Believe me, I didn't do anything." Tears streamed down her cheeks as I watched her. All the evidence seemed to point to her, but I was hopeful that she was being framed. The words of the detectives had rung through my mind far too many times and my gut kept telling me that Bailey had always been a compulsive liar. I didn't know what to think or do. She's my sister. I'd never seen her hurt anyone.

  It did seem kind of strange that she was still hanging around town when her college was almost half an hour away. I thought back to the occasions when I had walked in on her with random men sleeping beside her. I hadn’t thought much about it at the time. I'd always assumed she was just relaxing and hanging out with her many guy friends; I always thought she was cool like that.

  It was one of the main reasons why I started hanging out with Aaron— so that I could be more like Bailey. But now that I thought about it; I'd never once spoken to any of the guy friends. It probably explained the ketamine. I wondered where she'd gotten the sedative from; did she know an anesthesiologist or a pharmacist that could've given it to her? I highly doubted it.

  "I don't know; they should be flying home soon, and they should try to bail you out." I lied through gritted teeth. I didn’t want to stress her out more than she already was. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that our parents were dead and that she would be trapped in that jail cell until I figured out a way to make the bail. I had considered asking Aaron, but I didn’t want to burden him.

  "I'm so sick of being here. The food is gross, and I don't have any of my friends here." She complained, running a hand through her musty hair; it stuck to her head and looked like she hadn’t washed it since the day that she’d been arrested.

  Friends. I didn't really have any friends either. Aaron and Violet were probably the only two friends I had left in this world and they only hung out with me out of pity. Even Tyler had left me broken and sad. He was selfish and he didn’t understand me. I hadn’t spoken to him since we had broken up and he never tried to reach out.

  "Did you do it Bailey? Did you kill and try to eat that guy?" I heard myself ask blatantly.

  "You too?! None of these people believe me! No!! I would never do that!" She exclaimed; her eyes were wide as she continued to try to convince me that she was innocent. I just couldn’t comprehend why they’d still kept her here if she actually was innocent.

  I stared at her cautiously. All of the evidence pointed to her; I couldn't seem to wrap my mind around her mere words when all the facts were against her. There was a tarp covered in blood in our kitchen floor, there were bite marks on the man, and there were several bottles of a sedative found in her room.

  I couldn't believe her. I realized; because aside from the physical evidence came the fact that she had had multiple men in our home over the years and every single one of them was always ‘sleeping’ as she had called it. My eyes widened immediately as I backed away, panicking as tears rushed down my face.

  "Oh my god!" I cried loudly; I was sitting in front of a murderer. It all made sense now. "Oh my god! You did, didn't you?! Why?! You’re a killer!" I moved backwards, my heart racing as her tone shifted.

  "I didn't!" She growled sharply, grabbing my wrist and tightening her grip around it.

  "Ouch, Bailey, let go! That hurts." I shouted, trying to pull my arm away from her.

  "I didn't do it! Why don't you believe me?" She was twisting my arm backwards; I feared that she would break it. My heart was racing as I searched the room, hoping a camera or a police officer would save me.

  "You had blood on your face… it wasn’t red paint! Oh my god! And your bite marks— I… I can’t believe it.” I gasped, staring at my sister with furrowed brows, “There was blood all over our floor and— oh my god! Ouch! Bailey let go!" I shouted as I felt a muscle tighten. "Stop! Help! Somebody help!" I shouted loudly as officers barged in and separated us.

  Tears streamed down my face as I watched her. She looked pitiless, emotionless— a sociopath. They put handcuffs around her wrists as she glared at me, cursing at me and screaming incoherent words. My arm had turned red where her hand had been; she was much stronger than she looked. I rushed out of the doors as she continued to shout and threaten me, sinking into the ground and crying into my knees.

  Chapter 49:\ Amusement Park

  Violet

  "I didn't think you’d be the type to be afraid of heights." Aaron laughed as I tried to remain composed. He wanted us to go on one of those rides that shoots you up forty feet, stops for a few seconds, then drops you at fifty miles per hour. There was no way my heart could handle that.

  "I'm not," I said, but my voice was shaking. “I’m fearless.”

  "You can hold my hand if you're scared," Aaron said, turning to me, his gray eyes sending shockwaves across my body. I smiled, unable to stop myself.

  "I'm not scared." I crossed my arms, trying not to giggle as he copied my stance. The line moved and soon enough, we were on the ride and I was screaming and grabbing Aaron's hand for dear life while he laughed the entire time. The ride stopped in midair and froze as absolute terror filled my features. I don't want to fall, keep me up here.

  I looked down at the city surrounding us and the rest of the amusement park, everyone looked so tiny, like little ants. My heart was racing as I looked up to be met with the clouds and a large tree. The machine kept moving up and I couldn't bear to look at my toes. I was so afraid to look down. I held my breath as I tightened my hold on Aaron’s arm.

  "It's okay, they built this machine for fun, it's not intended to kill you." Aaron reassured me, but it did nothing to calm me down. As soon as the drop began, I was screaming and grasping onto my seat for dear life. I was so afraid as it kept dropping and dropping. I shut my eyes. And then, it was all over.

  "It wasn't that bad." I said shakily, my ponytail had come undone as my hair flew around in the wind. The ride ended and my adrenaline was still running high. Aaron was laughing as he helped me unbuckle the seat belt and get out of the seat. As soon as my feet hit the ground, my knees buckled, and I almost fell. I was still shaking as Aaron wrapped his arms around my waist and grabbed me before I could hit the ground. I walked unsteadily beside him, my legs still shaking from the fear of being on that ride.

  "Wasn't it?" He smirked, still holding me as my entire body filled with a sense of comfort. I loved being around Aaron— there was never a dull moment. "Is that the craziest thing you've ever done?"

  "No, meeting you was the craziest thing, but this is a close second." I shot back, smirking as I removed his hands from my waist and almost fell again. I saw him instantly try to reach out to help me, but he stopped midway and kept his hands at his sides. "Was this the craziest thing you've ever done?"

  We walked side by side as we went to an ice-cream truck. It was owned by the amusement park and as such, the price of each cone was very high. I got a cone and Aaron got an ice-cream sandwich, I wondered which one was messier. We had been there for about six hours at this point and still hadn't gone on every ride or explored every place at the park.

  The sun was going to set in a couple of hours and this incredible day would have to end soon. Oddly enough, I didn't want it to end; I felt disappointed. I was having too much fun without all the craziness of our town weighing us down. It was nice to get away from Rosemond for a while. This was a much-needed break, and I was so glad that I got to spend the day with Aaron.

  "I think I’ve told you about it before,” he began, “a friend of mine dared me to mess with this mad scientist when I was like twelve, and so I did, and he got pissed. I’m a hundred percent sure it was your dad— he
almost hit me with his briefcase, and I skated away so scared and paranoid by anyone in a lab coat for years. I wouldn't even go to the doctor." I was rather unimpressed; Aaron seemed like such an adventurous guy, so it was hard to believe that the craziest thing he had ever done was mess with an old guy, who’d turned out to be my dad.

  "Some friend." I muttered, unsure of what to say. It felt like he wanted to say something more, but he held back.

  "You might know him actually." Aaron said, he glanced at me, then quickly turned away. He reached for my hand and led me to an old wooden bench beside a tree that was covered in lights.

  "Yeah? Was your friend Stacy, because that's the only person in this town that I would've been friends with at twelve." I said, sitting on the bench beside him. I turned to face him as the ice-cream dripped onto my hand. He pulled out a napkin from his pocket and took my cone from my hand, gently wrapping it up and handing it back to me wordlessly. My hands were sticky, and he had finished his ice-cream sandwich already.

  "You should wash your hands," Aaron said, using his thumb to wipe ice-cream off my lip, "—and your mouth." I looked at him, frozen in my seat as his voice practically seduced me. I blushed, looking away as I stood up, tossed the cone, and walked toward the nearest bathroom.

  I washed my hands and mouth, adjusting my shirt. I felt sweaty and sticky, but it was fine— I loved feeling this way after a long day on an adventure. I hadn't realized how wild my hair had gotten; evidently spending the day walking in semi-windy weather and going on rides would do that. I walked out and took the few steps toward the bench where Aaron sat, staring at the ground with his elbows resting on his knees. He looked stressed, leaning back with a contemplative look on his face. The cool air passed between us as I looked up at the sky.

  "Vy," he said, his eyes warm as he stared into mine, "I really, really care about you so I… have a few things I need to get off my chest. I should’ve told you sooner, I just—" Aaron suddenly said, stopping midway through his sentence and just looking at me; he looked dreamy.