by W. J. May
I shivered despite the warm air. “I guess you’re right.”
Brent’s brows knotted together. “You guess? You think he didn’t do it? We all know he’s guilty. Zoe, you aren’t still in love with him are you?” He straightened, the shock on his face impossible to miss. “He’s a monster. I mean, I know what you said to Seth, but I know you, Zoe. You’re still in love with him.”
He didn’t know and the others wouldn’t understand. The hurt and disappointment in Brent’s expression ticked me off. “I know what he did. And I don’t need you to judge me.” I stood, no longer interested in talking. “I’m going inside to change.” I grabbed my shirt and stomped back toward the house.
Pounding barefoot on the interlock didn’t have the effect I wanted. It didn’t muffle Brent’s words as he muttered, “What the heck? How am I ever going to tell her?”
Whatever he had to say could wait. He apparently didn’t care about my feelings.
Chapter Three
Brent
The only good thing about the events of last week was that Kieran, and his Scottish accent, were gone and I could maybe have a chance with Zoe again. Obviously I would take all of my friends being alive and happy over having a chance with Zoe any day, but if there was any silver lining, that had to be it.
Except she was still in love with the jerk, even after everything he’d gone and done. I’d wanted to tell her this morning how I felt and it just fell apart at the mention of Kieran’s name. The guy had to be millions of miles away, probably back in Scotland now, and he was still causing problems. How was I ever going to tell her that she didn’t need him? That I could love her and would never hurt her the way he had?
My thoughts grew into a jumbled swirl. Sitting outside in the humidity, alone with only my messed up head as company, I decided a swim would clear them. I wasn’t wearing swim trunks, but I didn’t care. I stripped off my t-shirt and jumped into the water. It was nice and cool compared to the heat in the air and I could almost imagine myself as normal if I treaded water without touching the sides of the pool.
Being able to see through any surface I touch with my hands or feet was a fantastic ability, just overwhelming at times. Learning to control the sense was exhausting. However, the water with its clear liquid felt almost normal. It even seemed to sooth my sore, worn fingertips.
I used to play guitar every day or whenever I had time, but now when I’m alone, I’m almost constantly playing it. The feel of the vibrations of the music through my fingers seems to calm me down and keep me from thinking too much about Zoe, Rylee, or Kieran.
I lay on my back treading water, pretending to play guitar strings in the pool. I’d brought one of my acoustic guitars along and the minute we’d arrived at the villa, I’d double-checked it hadn’t been damaged in checkout baggage. I’d practically wrapped the entire thing in bubble wrap but was still worried something might happen to it. I needed it as my form of therapy. I didn’t even want to think about what I would have done if it got damaged. It was bad enough I had to live with Zoe while she was still in love with Kieran.
“Good morning,” someone called out.
I jumped at the sound of the voice, splashing water. Zoe’s dad came out of the sliding doors of the villa with a cup of coffee and a medical journal. He held up a hand in greeting and went to lie down in a hammock that lay adjacent to the pool.
I got out of the pool. “Morning, sir,” I said as I tried to shake off the majority of the water droplets dripping off of me before using my shirt to take care of the rest. I dried off as quickly as I could, keeping my back to the man as much as possible. I’ve been friends with Zoe and her family for years, and her father has seen me shirtless many times from various outings at the beach or just hanging out on a hot day, but ever since that day in the mine, I’ve been working out with everyone else. I didn’t want him asking why I was suddenly buff after years of being the skinny, non-athletic musician. The fact that he was a doctor made it seem like he would notice it even more.
Part of me thinks we should tell Zoe’s dad about what happened. He’s always been really cool and not the typical kind of parent. Sure, he was Zoe’s dad and watched out for her, but he never grilled us on what we were up to or made us feel like most parents did with teenagers. Zoe had told me about him doing blood work on her and Kieran but never came back with results that made him question what might have happened. Maybe nothing showed in our systems. Zoe had mentioned something was high or low or whatever, but he hadn’t pushed her or any of us for more bloodwork.
He was a doctor. If we told him, maybe he could find a way to change us back – if we wanted it. Some days the ability felt like a curse but most days I now I couldn’t imagine not having it. I grinned. It might come in handy having a doctor around in case any of us got seriously injured in a fight or our new powers start causing serious problems. I waved to him, but he didn’t notice, already absorbed in his medical readings. I grinned again as I headed for the villa. That’s why he was the perfect guy to take us on holidays. No questions, no demands, no complaints.
I went inside and followed the smell of coffee to the kitchen. I had a feeling Zoe would be all right with telling her dad if I talked it over with her. It was the other two who would be a harder sell, especially Seth. He was still all over it just being our secret and if any outsiders found out, we would be in serious trouble. The big guy read way too many comic books. We weren’t superheroes. How could we be of any use to anyone when we can’t even keep ourselves from being killed by a stupid car?
“What’re you thinking about?” Seth’s voice startled me out of my thoughts. “The pensiveness is reeking off of you in waves.”
I rolled my eyes. “I thought you could only smell strong emotions.” Then I chuckled at him. “That’s a big word for you.”
“Screw off!” He laughed. “But you’re right on the smelling of strong emotions, but you also look pensive and I said your name three times before you responded. It doesn’t take a superpower to know you’re thinking about something.” He took a huge sniff and then walked passed me to grab a cup from the cupboard. “Thank freakin’ goodness I like the smell of coffee.” He pushed air through his nose. “That smell is going to stay in my nostrils for months.”
I sipped my own coffee, glad I didn’t have strong smell like Seth or taste like Heidi. I liked junk food and preferred to keep it that way without knowing that the person who cooked my hamburger just got back from a smoke break or was drenched in Axe.
“So what were you thinking?” Seth poured his coffee and added only a dab of milk and sugar. “It looked like whatever it was is bothering you.”
“Just stuff.” I shrugged. “The usual.”
Seth nodded. “Understandable. It’s still hard for me too.”
I raised an eyebrow. Seth was usually more aggressive and less sympathetic. Maybe he was feeling bad about how he treated Zoe yesterday. If that was the case, then it was her he should be sympathizing with right now, not me. “I know it is. It’s hard on all of us.” I pushed my eyebrows together determined he would get the point. “That’s why you need to go easier on Zoe. She was closer to him than anybody else and she’s hurting from it.”
“She’s still in love with him!” Seth shook his head. “That’s why she doesn’t want us to go after him. You know it. I know it. Hell, even Heidi knows Zoe’s hung up on the Scot, even though Heidi’s too cute to ever admit it.”
I stayed silent. I couldn’t argue with that. “It doesn’t matter if she’s still emotionally connected to him or not.” I’d thought about this a lot. Something else was going on, but I couldn’t figure it out. “She was betrayed just as much as the rest of us. Maybe more.” I straightened and gave him a hard look. “Unless you think she helped him kill his dad and then Rylee, after committing a string of burglaries with him, even attacking my father.”
“Of course not,” Seth said quickly. “But her judgment’s clouded. I’m not sure we should listen to her idea of just sitti
ng around and letting this murderer go free.”
Zoe appeared behind Seth in the doorway. By her look, I knew she had heard every word of it from her room. “And your judgment isn’t clouded, Seth?” she growled. “You don’t have a personal vendetta because the robbery at Brent’s house almost made you lose your best friend? Your judgment isn’t clouded by the fact that Rylee, the girl you have been crushing over for years, is dead?”
I looked at Seth, shocked. He had been in love with Rylee? That was news to me. Guess we all had secrets, and skeletons, in the closet.
Seth jumped out of his seat, slamming his coffee mug on the table, the dark liquid splattering everywhere. “I’m not in love with Rylee!” he shouted, cornering Zoe against a wall. “I have never been in love with her. Stop throwing senseless accusations out at everyone who accuses your boyfriend of being guilty of a crime.”
“It’s not senseless!” Zoe pushed him away from her before I had a chance to step in. Her eyes widened when she looked at his face. “It isn’t, is it?”
It had just been a shot in the dark, but it had definitely struck a nerve. Seth looked at her again and stormed out.
Zoe visibly winced with each step. She glared at me. “You wanna go at it, too?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
Zoe’s dad came rushing in. “What’s all of the yelling about? Everyone okay?”
“Nothing.” Zoe waved her hand. “Tensions are just high with Seth.”
Her father raised an eyebrow. “Is that all?” He stared at her long and hard, even I grew uncomfortable and shifted my weight. “Why do I have the feeling you’re not telling me something?”
“It’s just a theory,” I said before Zoe could reply. “We don’t want to spread rumors or cause him more pain.”
“Seth?” Zoe’s dad asked.
I nodded.
“I understand,” he said and sighed. “Try to remember, this is a vacation. Don’t dwell on whatever it is too much. The four of you should have some fun.” He forced a smile. “Doctor’s orders.”
Zoe rolled her eyes at her dad’s dorkiness.
I grinned as he left and then turned my attention back to Zoe. “Your dad’s right, Zoe. This is a vacation. If Seth wants to talk to us, fine. But let’s leave it all alone and forget this conversation ever happened until we get back home.”
She gave me a shaky smile. “Okay,” she said. “I’m for that. If Seth is.”
Heidi woke up shortly after and jumped in the pool. After the girls were ready, the five of us went out for lunch at a small restaurant in town. It was a great place, with a view of an old Aztec temple, right outside the window where we sat. A live band played as we ate. I watched them, hypnotized by their music and the way their fingers moved over their instruments. I ached to join them even though I didn’t know any of the songs and my guitar was back at the house.
“Do you think we could get a tour of the ruins?” Heidi asked, pulling my attention away from the musicians. “I remember learning about the Aztecs in History class and I’d love to see the temples up close.”
“That’s a great idea!” Zoe’s dad pushed his plate away and leaned back. “At least we can go to some of them. A few are in too poor condition and aren’t safe.”
Zoe, who had her hands pretty much covering her ears from the live band, dropped them and folded them on her lap. “I’d love to see the ruins, too. The Aztec unit was the most interesting in school.”
“Why? Because they ripped the hearts out of the chests of their human sacrifices?” Seth asked.
Zoe made a face. “Well, they did that, but they never killed in battle.” She bit her lip as she tried to remember. “They preferred to injure the enemy warriors so they could capture them and use them for sacrifices. You could say they had a healthy respect for life because they thought killing in battle was wasteful.”
“I’m sure that mattered so much to their sacrificial victims,” Seth joked.
“I have to admit, I’m not into the killing thing. Sounds a bit too gory for me.” I finished the last of my fajita. “But the city built on a lake is kind of cool.”
“How about we go on a tour tomorrow afternoon?” Zoe’s dad asked. “I’ll arrange it today.” He set his fork down on a plate with a clatter.
Zoe, sitting across from him, winced at the noise.
“Sorry, honey,” he said. “I keep forgetting.”
You could have heard a pin drop from the silence at our table.
We all looked at Zoe. Was it possible she had told her dad about our powers without talking to us first?
I felt Seth tense up beside me and laid a hand on his arm. Whether or not that was the case, we didn’t need a scene at the restaurant.
Zoe’s face grew tense as she looked at her dad. “What do you mean, Dad? What do you keep forgetting?”
He looked at his daughter and then at all of us before staring down at his plate. “Nothing.” He shrugged.
“Obviously it’s not nothing,” Seth said in a low, angry voice. “Why don’t you just tell us?”
He looked at all of our tense faces and forced a smile. “The rest of you must’ve noticed she can now hear exceptionally well.” He looked at his daughter. “She once answered me when I said her name from down the hall under my breath.”
Zoe flushed. “You were louder than you thought,” she muttered.
“No, I really wasn’t.” He looked at the rest of us, the excitement plain on his face. “The rest of you must’ve noticed.” He waited a heartbeat of a second before continuing. “And you would all think it reasonable if you had similar abilities, wouldn’t you? Did the same thing happen to the rest of you that happened to Zoe in the mine?”
Seth crossed his arms. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He glared at Zoe. “There’s nothing wrong or unusual about us.”
“Wait,” I blurted out. The others looked at me, surprised. “He’s already figured it out,” I told them. “We might as well tell him.”
“I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Seth growled, now glaring at me. “Everyone, zip it.”
“No, Seth.” I turned to Zoe’s dad, meeting his gaze head on. “He’s not going to tell anyone, is he? That’s why he brought us here.”
“Of course, not,” Zoe’s dad said, taking a sip of his lemonade. “Actually, I wouldn’t be able to legally if all of you became my patients. There is doctor-patient confidentiality after all.” He couldn’t stop the corner of his lips from raising.
“Fine.” I grinned back, liking Zoe’s dad even more. “That solves it.”
“No, it doesn’t—”
“Shut up, Seth.”
“All of us got superpowers when we were in the mine,” Heidi blurted out.
Chapter Four
Zoe
I stared at my dad, unable to figure him out. He’d known? On top of that, he’d tested me to see if it was true? He had my bloodwork and Kieran’s. How long had he known? “I can’t believe you tricked me.” I should have been mad at him. Instead, all I felt was relief. Like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew?”
He had the decency to look embarrassed. “I hoped you’d tell me in your own time.” He put on his unreadable doctor’s face. “If it weren't for that slip of my tongue, none of you would have known I already knew.”
“You knew about all of us?” Seth accused.
I could feel his glare on me and I couldn’t even look at him. He had no right to be angry at me. How was I supposed to know Dad figured it out? I hadn’t done anything wrong.
“I had my theories,” Dad explained, using his hands to gesture as he talked. “However, when Kieran’s blood results came back normal, I did consider the possibility that it was only Zoe who had been affected. It just didn’t make sense, though. The trace uranium in that room and the electricity from the lightning, it,” he hesitated and glanced at me a second before continuing, “It should have riddled your body wit
h complications.”
I bit my lip. I never did tell Dad that Kieran had switched the blood test results. He still didn’t know Kieran also had superpowers. It was for the best he didn’t know. I didn’t need him worrying about our safety from my psychic boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend, Zoe. How did he switch the blood results anyway? He would have had to have gotten past Dad’s nurse, probably. Unless he broke in at night like he did all of the other break-ins. I winced at the thought. That was probably exactly what he had done.
“What do you mean riddled with complications?” Seth stopped accusing as his tone turned to one of worry.
Heidi hit his arm. “He means cancer or our organs shutting down. We are all fine, Seth. Nothing’s changed for the worse.”
I stared at Heidi in surprise. She sounded like the old Heidi, and yet stronger.
“We all can’t hear like Zoe.” Brent crossed his arms over his chest and hid his hands under his armpits. “This isn’t exactly the place we should be having this conversation.”
No one argued. We didn’t stay much longer at the restaurant and headed back to the house in a tense silence. Despite the fact that this was supposed to be a vacation, no one was really in the mood to forget about reality. Especially the reality of our superpower senses.
I tuned out Dad’s quiet conversation with Brent as Heidi and Seth chatted in front of me as we walked back to the villa. Instead, I took in the sounds of the small town with children playing and the wind blowing. I heard all of their heartbeats mixed with the sounds of running feet, moving cars, and people talking to create a strange song that made up the essence of life. It's a shame Brent didn’t get this power. He would be able to appreciate it much more than I can. It didn’t help that I was slightly jealous of Brent’s power. Aside from thinking too much about where he could put his hands and the awkwardness with him touching my or Heidi’s shirt, he had it pretty good. No headaches like me, or nausea like Seth and Heidi.
