He realized it did not matter. He had failed the test, so clearly he did not have the power to fight for good or bad. Jay knew that all there was for him to do now was to put the Academy and his test behind him, but he simply could not get it out of his mind how Lieutenant Rogers had reacted to his joke. It was as if he had actually been right about the last card – except that he saw the card, and knew he had been wrong. He might have been able to get this out of his head if it were the only oddity that he faced regarding the test, but ever since he dug into his imagination to pull out the tall tale about the couple in the park, he had not been able to get his imagination to stop. From the moment he stepped out of the testing room and met the small crowd who had gathered to see why he was in there so long, his mind began forming a stream of pictures. He could almost see how each kid in that crowd would react if Jay had passed the test. He saw some of them shaking his hand, some telling their friends, and some just standing there in awe, wondering if Jay was reading their minds at that very moment. He could see one boy waiting outside the school for Jay to walk out, grabbing him, and beating him to a pulp. Imagination or not, he had decided to leave by a different exit that day. Then Lieutenant Rogers walked out of the room behind him, and as he passed Jay could see a new picture, with that guy Bob – or was it Lieutenant Rogers? – Kissing Sarah goodbye, telling her he would have to miss their anniversary again.
But that was yesterday. It was a new day, and Jay had come to terms with his being declared normal. It might have bothered him more if he was not so distracted. With all that was going on, he could not concentrate on any one thing. Jay found himself sitting in English class without any idea of what was going on. Ok, he thought to himself, time to focus, everything she’s saying will be on a test at some point. I need to think about English now. For a few moments he was able to concentrate, but before long he felt the overwhelming desire to look out the window at two squirrels chasing each other around a tree. He looked, and was surprised to find that there were, in fact, two squirrels chasing each other around the tree. Focus Jay! English now, English…He was back for a few moments, but then a statistics problem popped into his head. I hate this problem, I can never get it right, and I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. He quickly pushed the problem out of his head, realizing this was clearly his imagination once again getting the best of him, as he was not even taking a statistics class. English! English! English!
“…Can anyone tell me what the author means when he makes this comparison to gold?”
He means the gold is like their love, which can be beaten and stretched a large distance without breaking. Jay smiled. At least his imagination was on topic now.
“The author means that the gold is like their love, which can be beaten and stretched a large distance without breaking,” The teacher responded, answering her own question.
Ok, that was freaky, Jay thought. With all the excitement the night before he never got around to reading the assigned poem, so he knew he could not have actually known the answer.
“What about the compass? How does that compare to the gold?”
The compass shows a representation of their love as well, with the woman being the fixed point, and the man traveling away from her, but their never really being separate from each other. The thought came before Jay could stop it.
“The compass shows a representation of their love as well, with the woman being the fixed point, and the man traveling away from her, but they are never completely separate from each other.” The teacher’s response to her own question rang in Jay’s ears, as if an echo from something he had already heard.
“Can anyone tell me what the title of the poem means?”
Jay had to raise his hand. If he was wrong, he would be wrong, but he had to try.
“Yes, Jay?”
“The title of the poem is 'A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning'. A valediction is a farewell message, and John Donne says in the title that this poem is a farewell message where the women being spoken to should not be sad, because they will never truly be apart from each other.”
The teacher appeared surprised and pleased by Jay’s answer. “Wow, Jay, very good! Ok, now tonight for homework…”
“Sounds good!” Jay interrupted. “Tonight for homework we will be reading a sonnet by the same author, called ‘Death, Be Not Proud’, and we should be ready to speak up more in class tomorrow. There will be a test next Wednesday, so we should make sure we understand the poetry completely, as well as the time period in which they were written…and…and…and I need to go to the office now!”
Knock, knock.
“Mrs. Johnson, can I see Jay in the office?”
WHAT IS GOING on!? Jay was in disbelief at the event that just took place. Did I really just read Mrs. Johnson’s mind?
As he walked down the hall toward the office, his thoughts were so full of disbelief over the previous encounter that it did not occur to him to wonder why he needed to go to the office at all. He probably could have figured it out by looking at one of the pictures going through his head, but he was ignoring them now. He grew up hoping he would become a reader, but now all he wanted was a moment of solitude with his own thoughts.
All thoughts of his previous encounter faded, however, when he arrived at the office to find his mother yelling at the principal, and his younger brother sitting in a chair in the corner of the office. He might have found some amusement in his quiet mother telling off the giant that was the school principal, if it were not for the sight of his brother. There he sat, shirt torn, a bloody tissue shoved up his nose in an attempt to stop bleeding, and face severely bruised. Jay rushed to his side and knelt down beside him. “Donny, what happened to you?”
Donny was unable to answer due to a fresh set of tears that ran down his face at the sight of his older brother, but there was no need for him to; it took only an instant for the pictures to begin to form in Jay’s mind. Jay could see a group of kids blocking his brother in a bathroom. He could see them accusing him of something, clearly something foul, although Jay could not hear what it was as he was only seeing pictures. Then one of the kids stepped forward from the crowd – one who was noticeably bigger and stronger than any of the others. The boy stepped close to Jay’s brother and, bending down so his face was close to Donny’s, said something in his face with a challenging look in his eyes. It must have been something vile, because Donny shoved the big kid with all his might. Donny, you know better than that! The push clearly caught the boy off guard, as he fell hard on his backside. Jay could see the anger build in the kid. He could see the kid get up in a furry. He saw, and almost felt, a quick hard blow to the stomach. The next blow came to his head, at which point the pictures immediately stopped.
“Donny, it’s ok now. It’s over.”
Jay leaned over and gave his brother a hug. After a wince that told him not to hug so tightly, Donny wrapped his arms around Jay’s neck. “You’re not a villain, Jay, I know you’re not.”
THE RIDE HOME was unusually quiet. Their mother drove in the front seat, clearly having used up her desire to talk in the office, where she yelled, screamed, and at times uncharacteristically cursed, at their principal for not keeping better watch of the students, and not informing her of the rumors that had been circulating involving her son. Donny sat in the back with Jay, sleeping with his head awkwardly on Jay’s shoulder. The unnatural crooked position was the only way Donny could rest his head without aggravating one of his many welts or bruises. It was not just the lack of noise that made the trip feel quiet to Jay, but also the lack of pictures. Shortly after leaving the school, all his mental images stopped. Good, Jay thought, they’ve caused enough trouble, let them go.
It had not taken Jay long to figure out what had pushed his brother over the edge. His brother was brilliant; he would have known exactly what he was getting himself into shoving that boy. He knew the only thing that would cause Donny to take such a risk, and his words to Jay, apparently the only words he has spoken since the incident,
confirmed it. That kid had insulted me, calling me a villain, and Donny was defending me. The thought was sickening to him. That boy was huge, and the beating he gave to Donny was severe. Jay almost wanted to tell his mother to turn the car around so he could go face that kid himself, but Jay knew his mother would never do that, and even if she did Jay knew he would probably not fare much better than Donny had.
When they arrived home, there was a black car sitting in their driveway, and a man in a military suit similar to the one Lieutenant Rogers had been wearing the day before stood outside the car talking on a cell phone. He ended the call as soon as the family pulled up.
“Is he alright?” The man asked formally.
Jay did not have to be able to read minds in order to see that this guy really did not care about Donny. Part of Jay did wish he could have a few images, in order to figure out who this guy was and why he was waiting for them. Not receiving a response to his question, the man continued.
“My name is Captain Williams, and I would like to speak with Jay about his test yesterday, and recent events at school.”
“It’s not his fault!” Jay’s mother looked livid. “He clearly didn’t start those rumors about himself, and that’s all they are, rumors, Jay would never…” She trailed off, unable to bring herself to repeat what she had heard people were saying about her son.
“Ma’am, we have no reason to listen to rumors. This is another matter, and one which we believe Jay would be interested in discussing as well.”
“That choice is his to make, not yours.” Jay had never seen his mother so aggressive.
“That is true.” Captain Williams turned his attention to Jay. “Jay, may I speak with you regarding what is best for the league of Heroes and the safety of the world?”
It was clear that Captain Williams was trying to play on Jay’s desire to become a hero. I’m not stupid, Jay thought to himself. But yet he did want to talk to Captain Williams, because he knew now that he did have some ability, even if it were sporadic. Before he could respond, the pictures began again. The clear ones were from his mom and brother, but there were others. Most of them were black, showing nothing worth value. A few of them were just faded, however. One of him, his mother and his brother standing there, one of a steering wheel from the driver’s seat of a car, and one of the back of their heads…
Jay spun around and, sure enough, a car had pulled quietly into the driveway, with one man having already stepped out of the passenger’s side and was looking at them, and the other was still inside the car, in the driver’s seat.
“Will they be joining us?” Jay meant for this statement to be a show of confidence, but his voice came out weak and shaky instead.
“No, they are here to assist me should I need to make any important decisions. They will wait in the car if you would prefer.”
“You need two more people to help you make a decision; well I need three. We can either speak out here like this, or we can wait for my father to get home and see what he has to say.” What am I doing? Jay could not believe he was being so rude to people from the Academy. Was this not his lifelong dream? He knew it was. But he also knew that they could not be trusted, or else why would they block all their thoughts from him? He knew the black pictures did not mean they were not thinking. The only other explanation was that they knew how to keep their thoughts hidden.
“Very well, he is on his way now, it should not be long.”
CAPTAIN WILLIAMS WAS right in the respect that it was only a few minutes before his father arrived, having to park along the street due to the driveway being filled up with cars. He was wrong, however, when he said it would not be long. With his brother in an awkward state between fatigued and overly alert, and the three of them being surrounded by strange men, while nobody said a word…those few minutes were very long.
His father quickly got out of the car and ran over to his family. “Is everyone okay…oh God, what happened to Donny?” Jay saw his father’s look of concern quickly change to an accusatory eye shot at Captain Williams.
“It wasn’t them dad, he got in a fight at school.” Jay knew his father was where Donny got his desire to fight the odds for family. He could not let his father do something rash.
“Dad, these men are from the Academy, and they would like to speak with me. I told them I didn’t want to until you got home.” Jay was glad to hear that his voice was stronger now.
Jay’s father seemed perturbed by this information, but knew that if they were from the Academy then he really could not refuse their speaking with his son. “Very well,” he responded, “once I see their proof of Academy personnel, we can go inside.”
The three men pulled out small leather card holders, and walked over to the family with their identification information showing. With that, Jay’s father led them all into the house.
“Sir, I would like the chance to talk privately to your son,” Captain Williams told Jay’s father the moment they entered the house.
“How about they talk in the den.”
All heads turned to look at Donny. His suggestion was the first words he had spoken throughout the confrontation, and it seemed to almost surprise his parents to see that he was still awake and listening to everything that was going on.
Jay knew why Donny suggested the den. The only doorway to the den opened into the living room, where the rest of them could wait. There were two windows out of the den, giving an opening big enough for Jay to jump through should he need to escape for any reason, but small enough that Captain Williams could not follow. Good work Donny, Jay thought, be ready for anything.
“The den will be sufficient.” Captain Williams, clearly having taken Donny’s suggestion as an offer from the whole family, motioned for Jay to move into the den. Once the two of them had entered, leaving Jay’s family and the two mystery men in the living room, they shut the door and sat in the two main chairs in the center of the den.
“Jay, I want to talk to you about what happened in English class today.”
How did he hear about that? Jay wondered. He tried hard to keep his wonder from showing.
“Please, tell me in your own words what happened.”
DONNY, DESPITE HIS exhaustion over the day’s events, was as alert as ever. He studied the two men, who did not appear at all interested in him or his parents. The two of them stood off to the side, looking serious but calm. Donny tried to imagine what they could be thinking about that would keep them looking so peaceful. Whatever it was, they must both be thinking about the same thing. As Donny watched them, he noticed a change come over both of them simultaneously. Their calm, although still there, wavered for an instant and settled in a mix with slight fear. Interesting, Donny thought, their expressions changed simultaneously, as if influenced by something that only the two of them felt. Either they are acting on some schedule, which is unlikely as there is no point to make such expressions, or…
Donny knew what was going on now. He looked over at the door behind which Jay and Captain Williams were having their meeting. Jay was not in trouble, he was being tested. Something had changed in the last twenty-four hours, and they wanted to retest his brother as a reader. The thought that his brother could really be a reader was astounding. If Jay is a reader, that means Donny could communicate with Jay. All he had to do was think of something that Jay would see. The problem was the two silent sentries who stood in the living room, clearly trying very hard to get into Jay’s head. If he tried to contact Jay, they would surely notice it.
“Mom, I’m really tired, would it be alright if I went to bed?”
“Of course, Donny. Go get some rest.”
Donny had no intention of getting any rest. Instead, he left the living room, turning left to head towards his room, but once he was out of sight he veered off in the direction of the back door. Once outside, he made his way until he was in a position close enough to hear through the window to the den. Now Donny knew he had time to send his message without being caught, at least for a whil
e.
AFTER EXPLAINING QUICKLY and honestly the events that took place in English class that day, Jay sat back in his chair to rest. He could not figure out how this thing works; first the images come, slow and steady, just a mere distraction. They then disappear during his ride home a short time ago, and now they are going again, stronger than ever. This batch is worse than the rest, since he is finding three of each picture going through his head, and never all together. The images are flying all about, and he is barely able to concentrate on thinking at all.
“Is something the matter?”
Yes! I feel like my head is going to burst open! “No, just a headache.”
“Alright. Well that was a very interesting situation in your English class today. And you say that has never happened to you before? You’ve never seen pictures in your head, or heard voices telling you answers, or felt like you knew things you shouldn’t know?” Captain Williams put a different stress on each of the three possibilities, so that it sounded like he knew they did happen before. Jay felt like he should say yes, but in reality, none of those things had ever happened before.
“No, sir, the images first started just after I walked out of the testing room yesterday.”
“After?”
“Yes sir, I walked out and there was a small group of people, and I began to see images involving them. I assumed at the time that it was just my imagination.”
“Alright, well if you are honest about seeing these pictures, then it means you are a reader. But unfortunately I do not believe what I have not seen for myself. So tell me, Jay, what am I thinking about right now?”
Jay began searching the pictures, trying to figure out which one could belong to Captain Williams. He could identify a few as his father’s, who was beginning to think about work. He knew a few belonged to his mother, who never stopped worrying about him, and debating whether she should get up and do something. There were the black images…
The Games Heroes Play (The Academy Trilogy) Page 2
