Paige Brim

Chapter Four

    The streets of London flashed by and Paige found herself in a car with a stranger who had just saved her from another stranger trying to read her mind at gunpoint. Even for a girl like Paige, this was beyond weird. She sat in silence for a couple of mintues. Brown Eyes kept glancing nervously at her every now and then.

    “Are you okay?”

    She just kept staring at the black window beside her. She wished the windows weren't tinted so she could see her reflection. He went back to being silent. Every time they'd stop at a traffic light, he'd continue to look at the window next to him till the lights went green. A few more minutes went by and she could tell he was getting nervous.

 

     “Listen, i know this is too much for you to process right now but if you just…”

     “Who are you?” she cut him off.

     He seemed relieved that she was back to speaking. “James. James Irwin. I'm a friend of your father's.”

    “You're lying. My father's dead.”

    “i mean i was a friend of his.”

    “Prove it."

    “How?”

    She fell silent. They stopped at another traffic light and he pretended to look out the opaque window again.

    “You don't trust me.” he said after a few mintues.

    ”Give me one reason why i should."

    “So saving you earlier wasn't enough?”

     “No.” She continued to stare ahead as he crossed the next intersection and turned right.

    “But i saved your life. I'm a good guy, Paige” he said playfully with a boyish grin.

     “Why are you avoiding the traffic cameras then? ”

        His smile dropped and his eyes stayed fixed on the road ahead. She didn't like the fact that she was in a car with this stranger but for now, there was nothing she could do. At least he knew she wouldn't be fooled easily.

     “I can tell you about your father.” James said a few blocks later.

     “I wouldn't know if you were lying. I never knew him. ”

     “So what do you suggest i do then?”

     She stayed quiet for a couple of minutes. Finally, she decided. 

    “Let me see your mind.”

     “And why would i do that Paige? ”

     “Because i won't trust you otherwise.”

      He hesitated. "Very well"

         He pull over and turned in his seat to face her.

    “Go ahead.”

      She turned around to face him and started to focus. She took deep breaths to calm herself down like she'd done a million times before then turned her attention to those deep pools of hazelnut. After a few seconds she closed her eyes and turned around.

  “what's wrong?”

  “I can't focus. My head still hurts” she muttered.

  "Then i'm sorry Paige but you're just going to have to trust me."

   They continued to drive in silence, heading into the heart of london. It was already getting crowded with people heading home from a hard day's work looking forward to the weekend. After a few minutes, James broke the silence.

   “Are you going to stay quiet the whole way?”

    “Yes. Until i know i can trust you.”

    “Honestly Paige wasn't letting you read my mind enough for you?”

     “But i didn't.”

      “Yes, but i still risked it knowing what you could do to me if you decided to.”

     The last sentence caught her off guard. She turned to face him. “You know?”

      “Yes Paige, of course i know.”

                                               ****************

      

       Her mind flashed back to one of the times when her powers had once gotten out of control at school. She'd been in front of her locker trying to remember her combination before heading home when Melisa Miller walked by. Paige didn't like her much. Melisa had always gotten what she wanted. Not because she deserved it, but because she could always charm people into doing what she wanted. Her triumph card was both her parents' death in an armed robbery when she was two. Paige had always felt sorry for her even though she didn't like her. She knew what it felt like to be an orphan.

        She stopped behind Paige, bent down and quickly snatched Paige's bag off the floor. "God, I hate that girl", Paige thought.

       “Lets see what Paige has in here” she said in a loud taunting singsong voice. Paige tried to grab her bag but the girl was much taller and stronger than her. All around people had started to gather, eager to watch what was happening.

     “Give it to me Melisa.” she said quietly.

     Melisa ignored her completely. Instead she opened the bag and pulled out a small note book with a tiny lock attached to it.

   "what's this, Paige? Looks like a diary to me.” still using that annoying teasing voice of hers. “where's the key Paige?" She asked, searching through the bag.

    “Give it to me Melisa!” she was losing her temper and her voice was getting louder. She wanted nothing more than to punch that girl in the face hard enough to make her drop to the floor.

     “Never mind, i'll just keep this and break the lock later” Melisa said looking straight at Paige with a smirk on her face. She was about to put the diary into her pocket when the smirk disappeared. Instead, an expression of pure terror replaced it. She started screaming. “Stop it! Stop it! Get out of my head! STOP IT!” the screaming was turning into shrieking. Melisa was fixed to her place staring blindly, unseeingly into Paige's eyes. Paige didn't know how or what she was doing. All she knew was Melisa deserved what was happening to her.

    “No, stop! Don't kill them! Stop it!” Melisa shrieked louder and louder. She started sobbing, still staring at Paige but barely seeing her. Teachers and students flooded the hallways and ran over to her. They shook her and shook her but she was oblivious to them. She wouldn't stop pleading with whoever she was talking to.

    "Please….stop…" her voice was getting desperate and quieter, her eyes red from crying that didn't seem like it would cease. Slowly it turned into a whisper. "please…"  and she fell to the floor, silent. Teachers were already wiping her eyes and her nose, comforting her while she stared at the floor. Then her eyes came up and she found Paige looking down at her. She screamed at the top of her lungs, got up and ran down the hall. All eyes were on Paige. The silence turning into terrified whispers. Slowly, she picked up her diary and her bag, walked down the hall and through the door.