The Gifted

Dan

It's been two weeks since the attack and I'm closer to the finish line. Just a few more sleepless nights and I'll get it down. I mean....if the world is going to end for us...why care about school, right?

I can't believe I'm even thinking this. It must be all the caffeine in my system.

Well. I've been stuck behind a computer while I watch my friends come and go in the Lab after practices. It's mostly Sam and Dom in there. Or Nikki and Kat in their own thing. Emms is finally better so I've seen her come and go. I feel bad for her because it's like she is a newbie with her abilities. All I see is her eyes closed tight inside that pixel box and her legs crossed. I wonder how it feels like to have the whole world in your head.

For sure I know how it feels like to have the whole world on your shoulders.

I make my way back to the Lab for the hundredth time and the first thing I hear in the hallway are the echoes of laughter coming from the Lab. I furrow my brows at this. I recognize one laugh. Sam. It's so rare to hear that from him, but the other one....it's a girl. Kat?

When I enter, my memory takes me back to that day at the attack. I saw my brother kiss Adeline....

I have to say...that relationship can go wrong in so many ways. But if it makes laughter come out of a blank guy like Sam...it must be special.

Sam and Adeline immediately stay silent when I enter. I give them a tight smile and nod. "Don't mind me. I'm just...making the piece that will keep the whole mission together."

I sigh as I take a seat and peek through a crack of the screens in front of me to see the reason to the silence. All they do is quietly study the design of the Forbidden Building.

Weird way for a date. I really do not see them together. They are polar opposites. Like I said....anything can go wro--

"Hey guys!"

I look up and my heart flies when I see Blake's wide smile and shining eyes. She waves at Adeline and Sam, and they just give her a polite nod. Another thing, Sam convinced only half of the group to trust Adeline and Gabriel again. Nikki, Jordyn, Dom, and Emms are still a little suspicious of them. As usual. They're always suspicious of everything. Nothing new there.

Blake comes over to me and my muscles relax at the feeling of her touch on my shoulders as she playfully kisses my cheek. "Hey, nerd. What are you up to?"

"Well," I say with a sigh. "Just finishing up here. I still need the--"

"Great! Let's hit the waves!"

I furrow my brows at her when she twists my chair to look at her puffed cheeks and shining eyes. "What do you mean?"

She scoffs and presses a button on my transparent typing pad to show the weather. I click my tongue when she pushes to the side to what I was working on.

"It is literally...the perfect weather to surf!"

"Yeah. I know. But if I don't get this done, there may not be more times to surf with you."

Blake groans and playfully sits at the stool by my side. "Okay. Then lets go to our hideout."

"No, Blake. I can't. I have to finish this." I rub my eyes tiredly and continue typing.

"Look at you. You look like you haven't slept in years. You look like you're starving--"

"I just ate--"

"And you look like a boring nerd boy. Let's go! For just a second!"

"Well. This is who I am. The boring nerd boy. I'm sorry for that." I don't know if it's my exhaustion, but anger slowly rises within me and it's blinding me from hurting Blake.

She furrows her brows and sighs in defeat. "Not even a small sun tan out on the sand?"

I give her a small smile and shake my head. "No, honey. Not today."

"Then when?"

"When I'm done."

"So in a million years?"

I glare at her teasing smile and she raises her hands in surrender. "What?! Your words! Not mine."

"I'm serious, Blake. If you're gonna be here, then help."

My heart kicks me as I realize the words that just came out of my mouth. I steal a glance at her and see that she, too, is taken aback at these words. But she quickly pushes her hurt to the side and says, "Fine. I'll help. Follow me and I'll give you a rest."

"That's not helping. I'm almost done! All I need is to--"

"I know. You just need to joint together the last metallic molecule with Kat's gene sample to put everything else together. I saw it already. Easy peasy! You can do that in an hour. Let's go!"

"No, Blake! Don't you understand?!"

By now, Sam and Adeline have stopped whatever they were doing and watches us with wide eyes. Blake doesn't care about them as she gives me a confused look and her eyes shine with hurt.

"I'm just trying to help you. You need to rest. If you want to continue doing more research or whatever you do--"

"If I don't finish this, maybe I'll never be able to do research again!"

"Danny. Your dad can help. Mia can help. Everyone can help. Why are you putting it all on yourself? No one asked you to do that!"

"No. I never asked for this. No one did but thanks to all those attacks, I need to finish this--"

"And you can't take a break of twenty minutes?!"

"No! I can't have anymore distractions!"

Before I can realize what I've said, it stabs Blake's heart. She takes a step back and she blinks back tears for my words.

Damn it. I screwed it up. Oh no....

I open my mouth to say something but she only raises up a hand to stop me. "Don't."

"Blake," I say with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean that! I'm just so tired and....I didn't mean it!"

"But you said it," she says in a steady voice. "And that's enough." She turns around to start walking off, but I quickly take her wrist.

"No. Wait. Blake. Please. Don't--"

"Let me go, Dan. You were right. You don't need more distractions. You don't need me."

"Hey. No. That's not what I meant!"

"Then what was it that you meant? Clearly I'm your distraction, right?"

I open my mouth to say my million ways to fix this but for once, I'm left speechless. And this makes it worse as she scoffs at my silence and says, "That's what I thought. I'm so sorry I care for you. I'll be out of your way now."

"No. Blake. Don't...don't go..."

But she's already off. I watch her feet angrily echo against the metal floor and disappear in the dark hallway. I already know that she will let her tears spill in the darkness where no one will see her.

I let my head fall and fight back the urge to punch something. I'm sure that if I see a mirror, I will bury my fist in it. I look up to see Sam and Adeline quietly watching me. Sam gives me sad eyes and Adeline only does a quiet laugh.

"You really screwed up there, nerd boy," she says to me with her mocking smile. I only give her a glare and decide to hide behind my computer. It's what's left of me anyways. The other half of my heart just left through that hallway.

Now I have another puzzle to solve. How to get my other half back. This mission. This life. It's taken everything from us. Everyone has lost something for this mission. I just lost her...

This is why I don't speak. This is why I stay behind a machine. In the end, it's all we'll ever have. Just a world filled and controlled by lifeless machines without a heart to get stabbed or eyes to hurt you.