Flash Fiction #1 Mindreading

ᴋᴏᴏ❀ // daisy_kxx

daisy_kxx

SOULMATE...?

For any normal person, the class would look like the quietest they had ever seen. Professor Lockwood, the most feared and hated teacher of the high-school, was pacing up and down between the desks, observing every students' work. A foul look of disgust etched on his face and brows furrowed into deep pits; his face was enough to look at and be silent.

But for Nicole it was not so silent. It was a din within her ears. Though no one spoke, she heard several of her classmates swearing at the top of their lungs at the dreaded teacher. Some were imagining ways to kill him. But Professor Lockwood; or anyone at all, could not hear them. It was just Nicole who could. And how she wished she could not.

Since the age of seven, Nicole Jones has had the ability to read minds, whether she wants it or not. During the early years of attaining this power, it had been pretty fun to read people's minds. But now, after ten years and quite a good experience of how it feels like to read others' minds, she doesn't like it anymore.

She had heard a few of her friends she had considered close and loving, say mean things to her in their mind, whilst keeping a sugary sweet smile on their faces; and Nicole being unable to control her temper had broken into a fight. And thus, now she was friendless because all of them were exactly like the previous.

"What's so funny, Ms. Dutt?" Professor Lockwood asked sternly to a couple of girls sitting at the last bench.

'She was imagining you becoming a pig and being slaughtered for pork meat', Nicole wanted to say, but thought better. The teacher would not believe her and Padma Dutt would have the opportunity to say it was made up.

"Nothing Professor", Padma lied.

'Screw off, hobnob!' she thought while Professor Lockwood moved past her.

At long last the bell rang and Nicole was the first to exit the classroom. It was getting unbearable with every passing second. She wanted to go somewhere quiet and calm; somewhere where people won't be present and her head won't be bursting with their unnecessary thoughts.

And the terrace was the only place she could think of.

Stashing the contents of her bag into her locker to lighten its weight, she sprinted to the rooftop, skipping two stairs at once.

Once there, she sat on the ground near the edge, overlooking the basketball court and the school garden.

She allowed the cool breeze to blow through her brown wavy hair and closed her eyes at the feeling of the bliss of solitude. She felt that it was the perfect moment to bring out her Rubik's cube out of her bag. It had been lying there for quite a while.

She heard footsteps behind her and swiftly turned to see who it belonged to. Her heart did a jolting backflip as she saw her crush approach her.

Claire Austin, the basketball captain of the school's girl team, had been Nicole's crush since middle school. The tall girl with a blonde slick ponytail, was very much popular in the school and liked by almost everyone, as they liked to show so that is. The best thing that Nicole liked about her was the cute freckles over her rose-tinted cheeks.

But unlike all her peers, she could never read Claire's mind. For some reason, it stayed silent as if it had no thoughts at all. Even when she seemed to be in a deep thought (as Nicole saw when she stole secretive glances towards her), her mind stayed silent. It highly confused Nicole but she never said anything at all.

Heart beating like the hooves of running horses, she turned back to her Rubik's cube and decided to indulge herself into it so she won't have to answer the other.

Much to her disappointment and likeness though, Claire came and sat right beside her, looking like wanting to start a conversation with the other. Nicole however, did not say much but simply glanced sideways a few times or so.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Claire asked all of a sudden.

Nicole took a minute to process the fact that she was the one being talked to, but couldn't understand the question. Hard? What's hard? The Rubik's cube?

"Uh...not really", she finally said after a moment of thought. "Well, if you have good practice it isn't very difficult."

Claire looked at the girl with a question mark etched on her face. She first looked at Nicole and then, noticing the cube in her hand, said, "I'm not talking about the cube."

"You're not?" Nicole asked, confused.

"I'm talking about your power", she casually said.

Nicole wondered for a few more seconds what the girl meant by her statement and then realization dawned upon her. Claire was probably talking about her ability to read minds! But how did she know?!

"You might be wondering how I knew", she said her thoughts aloud. "Well...when you have the same power and are unable to read a specific someone's mind, it gives an idea."

Nicole had expected her to say that she had seen some symptoms that indicated her ability, or maybe someone knew and told her. But then, no one except her family knew.

But never did she expect for Claire to have the same power as hers! She never even thought that someone other than her could!

"S-so, you c-can read m-minds?" Nicole stuttered.

"Yup!" she answered. "Everyone except yours. But can you read mine?"

"No..." she dreamily replied.

"Then my hypothesis is probably right."

"What hypothesis?"

"The fact that soulmates can't read each other's mind."

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