Glaston (The Gifted Book 1)

by C. C. Lynch

  I found my way to my class an hour early and began looking over my notes. Being early allowed me enough time to begin writing the paper that was due at the end of the week and read the material we would cover in class. I liked to be prepared in case I was called on for any reason. Chemistry was not my strongest area of study, but I was sure I could manage well enough.

  Two draft pages were finished before any of the other students trickled in. My concentration lay solely on my paper and I refused to meet the gaze of whoever was staring at me from the other side of the room. Having another student’s eyes on me was reminiscent of how I felt when Samantha was staring at me in our study period. Ignoring the prying eyes, I looked out the window and enjoyed the view of a few decorative trees lining a garden on the side of the building. A squirrel hopping along the branches stole my attention until the professor entered the room.

  The professor scribbled equations across the board and the students frantically copied them down along with whatever he was saying. Halfway through the class the squirrel caught my attention once again. It scurried about and jumped to a slender branch on an adjacent tree. The branch snapped underneath the critter’s weight and he fell to the ground, squirming about erratically. I must have made some noise because as soon as I saw the squirrel fall to the ground the professor asked if he was interrupting whatever had my interest.

  “I’m sorry, I was paying attention.” My eyes were still on the squirrel.

  “What did I say then Abrielle?”

  I repeated his exact words and the formula without breaking eye contact with the hurt animal. “I’m sorry Professor B. I know this is going to sound silly, but there’s a squirrel down there with a broken leg. I saw him fall from a branch and it’s…” my words began to trail as I realized how ridiculous I sounded.

  “Do you think you can help it?” his words were surprisingly kind.

  “Yes,” I whispered uncomfortably.

  “Then go ahead,” he nodded before returning to his work.

  “Really? Okay.” I walked quickly from my seat to the door then took off in a full sprint down the stairs and outside to aid the animal.

  “Shhhh,” I slowly made my way to the animal.

  The squirrel was hobbling about frantically thrashing about his broken leg. Letting go of all precautions I had before, I let myself use the healing ability Professor Horicon declared I had. I imagined a wave of serenity flowing from me to the rodent. Within seconds it stopped thrashing and lay on the ground panting. As I inched closer his rapid breathing slowed. Finally I put my hand a few inches above his leg and imagined every cell in the little limb mending and fixing the injury.

  I opened one eye slowly, afraid to find the leg still limp and twisted, but exhaled in relief when it was rather firm. Slowly I stepped backwards and retracted my influence from its mind. Once I saw that he could run away on his own without any trouble I sprinted back up to the classroom and silently took my seat.

  At the end of class the other students left quickly to get to their next destination. I gathered my items and the professor called me to his desk. Worry ridden waves of nausea rolled about in my gut as I made my way to his desk. Considering the austerity of the school, the concern of a squirrel was probably on the bottom of the priorities list at Glaston Academy.

  “That trick you pulled with the squirrel, Abrielle,” he began before I cut him off.

  “I’m so sorry for disrupting your class like that. I saw that it was hurt and I just couldn’t help myself.” I looked at the floor ashamed of how infantile I had acted in my very first college chemistry class.

  “It was disruptive,” he pulled his glasses off, “but it was superior. I will award you fifty extra credit points to the class for healing the squirrel.”

  “You saw that it worked?” I asked surprised.

  “Oh yes, it is one of my gifts.” He grinned and made a note next to my name in his roster. “The class has a paper due Friday. Since they have had an extra week to work on it I will give you until one week from today to finish it. Good luck with the rest of your day Abrielle.” I tried to suck in my cheeks to hide the enormous smile that pulled across my face. I could not believe that I had scored fifty extra credit points on my very first day.

  It seemed that the rest of the students in Literature had taken their seats by the time I had arrived which made it easy for me to decide which one I would take. Three open chairs were in the back of the room and I took the one closest to the window. I was easily distracted by the nature outside, but it had proven to be a good luck charm in my last class.

  “Is there a bunny or something you need to go save?” The guy who pretended to be Nicholas leaned into my ear.

  My heart raced at our proximity, both out of frustration and curiosity. “Ew, I have your saliva in my ear now,” I laughed rubbing where he had just whispered. “How do you even know about that?”

  “Everyone knows everything here.” He tapped his finger on the desk. “Sort of like how everyone knows that this is my seat.”

  “How am I going to protect the animal kingdom if I cannot keep an eye on it, Vlaine?” It felt empowering knowing his name. Will had given me the largest piece of consolation I could ask for, the name to the man who was fake Nicholas.

  “I will drag you out of that seat if I have to, Abbs.” His eyes were cold, serious. I fought the chill that crept down my back.

  “You still haven’t eaten breakfast have you?” I stood up and walked to the seat directly next to it. “It is the most important meal of the day.” I sat down gracefully not letting him know that his intimidating demeanor had me uneasy.

  He took his seat and I sat through the lecture entirely aware of the daunting yet incredibly attractive man sitting next to me.

  10

  I was fidgeting in my seat for most of macroeconomics just waiting to get to skill. The idea of a seminar dedicated to perfecting my innate abilities was exciting. I practically skipped to Professor Horicon’s office to find out where I would need to be only to find out that they had not figured out which professor would be instructing me. It was disappointing that I would have to wait to begin my Individual Skill Enhancement Seminar, but it would give me an entire afternoon to finish my chemistry paper.

  With all the other students in their classes I had the entire dormitory building to myself. The silence allowed me to polish my paper before Professor B. left for the evening. Since everyone made such a big deal about failing a class I wanted to make sure the assignment was to his liking.

  Though Professor B. was impressed with my initiative, he informed me that my reference format was outdated and some of my figures seemed pointless. The man was fair and made it evident that we would have papers on the most important parts of the lecture so he knew we understood the material since we would be learning so much in such a short amount of time. I did not know what my other professors would be like, but so far he was my favorite.

  I left his office studying the notes he wrote on my paper and walked into a body. “I’m so sorry,” my eyes met a freshly ironed three piece suit. The headmaster met my gaze momentarily and continued walking without saying a word. “Have a good evening, headmaster.” I called politely to him as he walked away. He definitely did not speak much, but I still had yet to find out why people were so afraid of him.

  I went back to my dorm to make the necessary changes to my paper and then met up with Will at the stables. Aside from the horses, we were the only ones in there.

  “Well I did not get Adele to set a fire like you wanted. I thought for sure there would have been an explosion when I walked directly into the headmaster, but nothing happened then either.”

  His jaw dropped, “what did you do to piss him off?”

  “Nothing, I was leaving a room and he was there but I didn’t see him. I walked right into him, but look,” I raised my hands in the air, “I’m still here.”

  “No,” he shook his head, “you don’t get it. The headmaster isn’t seen unless he w
ants to be seen. Most students here stay under the radar enough so they never interact with him. You did something to piss him off.”

  “These freshman scare tactics don’t work on me,” I squinted at Will, “I’m an empath, remember? We can tell when someone is bad, it’s innate.”

  “Your alarm bells are broken. You flirted with the one person I told you to stay away from.”

  “Ugh!” I sneered my lips in a repulsed manner, “I wasn’t flirting. Vlaine was a scout that pretended to be my best friend. I was bitter because of that so I made sure he knew I knew it was him.”

  “Don’t Abrielle, don’t interact with him. He’s bad news.”

  “How?” I was beginning to get frustrated with how unclear he and Liz were about their warnings.

  “Vlaine is…” he searched his mind for the right word to use, “powerful.”

  Will put the brush down and waved for me to sit next to him. I ran my hand along Cinnamon as I walked to Will’s side and sat next to him.

  “I know you don’t understand that everyone has different abilities here. I remember when I was new and I thought that I was the only one in the world with a talent like I had. Meeting other people that could communicate telepathically was really incredible. Then I was walking past another Individual Skill class and I saw someone that had telekinesis. I was floored.”

  He bumped his fist on his thigh nervously as he searched for more words to complete his warning. “Vlaine can shift how other people see him, like you found out, but he can also manipulate how other people use their gifts. It’s a really, really dark talent and he does not use it for anything good.”

  I searched his eyes and found nothing but the truth there. “I greatly appreciate the warning Will, but I am still not convinced. Give me a reason to be afraid of him and the headmaster.”

  “When I first got here I saw another student stand up to Vlaine. It was nothing serious, something stupid like taking the last pretzel that Susan had made or something. Either way the kid made it kind of obvious that he was taking a stand against Vlaine. Later that day when the kid was in ISE Vlaine was in the corner watching. The other kid’s skill was astral projection, see he could project on command and walk different dimensions. Well, when the kid was in the middle of projecting into the forth plane Vlaine altered him and made him get stuck there. I could feel what the guy was feeling, it was awful. I’ve never felt so scared or trapped in my life. That was not the first or the last time Vlaine has done something like that and he never gets in trouble for it.”

  I took everything in. I still had no idea what the full story was and I refused to judge anyone from another person’s account. Chewing on my lower lip, I let my wall fall quickly so I could read Will, hoping he would not notice. “Why do you think the two people you have warned me about seem to be around me all the time?”

  He shrugged, “no clue.” Unless they’re protecting you, he thought to himself. I put the wall back up before he knew that I had read him.

  Protecting me? Why would I need protection? It was such a bizarre thought and I knew that it wouldn’t leave my mind until I knew what he had meant by it. Of course if I asked, he would know that I had read him. I pushed it temporarily out of my mind knowing that Vlaine and the headmaster were the only ones who could answer my question.

  The energy in the barn was getting too depressing so I felt the need to change the subject, even though I had not heard what was so terrifying about the headmaster yet. “So why don’t you just ask Adele out? I saw her today, she is gorgeous. Those perfect curls, pretty brown eyes, and a super cute pixie nose.” I smiled and bumped my elbow into his.

  He shook his head bashfully, “no way, I think she has a thing for Robbie. He’s another pyro. Besides, no one has time to date around here.”

  “Seems like wasted years if you don’t make some sort of effort to be fully happy. She could be sitting here with you talking instead of your faux pas friendly acquaintance.”

  “She doesn’t like horses,” his smile drifted towards Cinnamon.

  “That’s not the point,” I laughed. I stood up to finish brushing the horse. “You never know until you try.”

  We fell into silence and finished grooming Cinnamon.

  11

  The next morning Liz and I followed the same routine getting ready and then we walked to the kitchen together. When the girl grabbed Liz’s arm it was less abrupt, assuring me I must have done something right to not get the complete leper treatment.

  Though a huge part of me wanted to run and hide in the dormitory until classes began, I would not show the other students I was scared. I found my way to the table and began munching on some fruit and looking over my lecture notes. Halfway into my persimmon Professor Horicon called me to his office.

  My throat clenched as I walked to meet him. Each time I saw the man I could only think of Samantha’s warning. I felt as if I was off to the gallows with each slow and calculated step. Purposefully, I kept the door ajar when I entered the room, only to have him close it nevertheless.

  “We have come to a conclusion about your Individual Skill Enhancement Seminar.” Professor Horicon unbuttoned his jacket and took a seat. “A quarter of a mile down the road you will see a small path to the left and down at the end of the road is a small building. Get there around ten. On Tuesdays and Thursdays you will have archery in that same building once your ISE seminar is complete.”

  “Thank you so much, Professor Horicon!” I was exuberant. The anticipation to find out what the class would be like was overwhelming.

  “Oh, and Abrielle,” he cleared his throat just as I was about to leave his office, “many of the students are a bit superstitious here. If I were you I would not tell anyone who your professor is for that class.”

  “Okay.” I nodded confused, but told him to have a good day. He had never mentioned who the professor would be, but I was too excited to question him.

  I was nearly two hours early for my physics class and at some point during my pre-class reading I dozed off. I awoke to the feeling of someone braiding my hair. Nicholas. I thought to myself and smiled. I love when he would play with my hair during class. A few moments later I sat up startled when I remembered I wasn’t at my old high school.

  I turned around abruptly expecting to see Vlaine, but it was Will sitting in the seat behind me. “Will! You scared the crap out of me.” I had my hand to my chest. He smiled and I felt instantly calmer. “Are you in this class?”

  “No,” he grinned and got up from his seat and left the room.

  I ran my hand through my hair wondering if I had dreamt the feeling of someone braiding my hair, but sure enough my hand brushed against a messy braid. Weird. I thought to myself. Will was someone I was really comfortable around and trusted, but I still did not know him well enough to know what his personality was like.

  Students walked in, gossiping excitedly about something that I must have missed at breakfast. In a few minutes I would see the rest of my peers turn from normal excited college students to overly stressed individuals merely seconds away from a meltdown. Just a few days earlier I had been a physics connoisseur at another school and here I was already completely lost and beginning to understand why everyone else was so stressed all the time. At the end of the week we would have an exam on information no one seemed to understand.

  Ecology was a nice mental break from physics. Just as the class ended Liz ran up to me. “Hey, so we have that project that we have to work with someone on…”

  “Yeah, we can talk about it tonight, I have to run!” I squeezed her arm and rushed out of the building. I felt bad running off from her so quickly but all I could think about was getting to my skill seminar.

  I jogged down the gravel road and nearly missed the turn on the left. The trees were thick on either side of me but opened up to a small field with an old brick building in the middle of it. I opened the door to find a large basketball court with a track on the second floor that circled the court. At the back of the
gymnasium were a few glass doors. I made my way to those wondering if my class was in there. One glass door had a weight room inside, another had a small snack bar with a few tables, and the last one lead to locker rooms.

  It was lonely and awkward peeking through glass doors in an empty building. Just as I was beginning to become self conscious I heard the door open. Completely oblivious to my presence walked in the man that I had seen in my dreams for a decade. He was even more incredible looking in real life. My heart was in my throat and I could not pry my eyes off of him.

  A perfectly straight hairline separated kempt short dark hair from a flawless face. His eyes were soft, approachable. The man tucked his music player into his basketball shorts, stuffed headphones into his ears, and began jogging around the upstairs track. Never once did he look my way, but I could not help but watch him.

  “Staring is impolite,” someone whispered in my ear from behind me. I turned around to see Vlaine.

  “It’s just,” my face grew hot, “never mind. I don’t need to explain myself to you and you wouldn’t understand anyway.”

  “I wouldn’t understand that he’s super dreamy and you just couldn’t help but swoon?” Vlaine gave me a disparaging smile and pulled out his cell phone.

  Dreamy. That was one way to put it. “No, well yes, but I had seen him before and I just could not believe I saw him here. Like, here at Glaston.”

  “Glaston is the only place you would have seen him,” Vlaine muttered.

  “No it’s not,” I rolled my eyes getting annoyed with how besieged I felt with everything. “I said you wouldn’t understand.”

  I didn’t even understand and I was getting flustered trying to figure it out. I just saw a man that I had been dreaming about walking into a school that I hadn’t known about until last week. The school year had begun quite peculiarly and only got stranger by the day.

  “Well maybe you can be useful,” I smiled pushing away all the negative emotions, “could you tell me where there is a classroom at this building?”