Deadly Little Games (Book 3)

Chapter 2 (Part 1)

The bell rings just as I splash some water on my face, trying to get a grip. I tell myself that sculpting Adam's mouth was no big deal, and I've got no reason to freak. But then why can't I shake this feeling that something's desperately wrong?

I hurry out of the bathroom, down the hallway, and into the gymnasium. No one's on the court yet. Most of the kids are probably in the locker rooms, changing into their sweats and sneakers. 

But not Ben.

He has permission from Principal Snell to skip the actual "physical" part of phys ed class. Instead he's given the humiliating task of keeping score on the sidelines. Snell, along with most of the teachers at school, believes that Ben sufers from a fear of crowds, a fear that makes things like contact sports and switching clase with everyone else somewhat of a challenge for him. And so he's also been granted a License of Lateness--a pass that allows him to arrive at all his classes a few minutes behind everyone else, to avoid careening into people in the hallway.

The real reason that Ben avoids crowds is that he has psychometric abilities: abilities that enable him to sense things through touch. One might think having a power like that would make him want to touch pople all the time-- to find out all their dirty little secrets. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Almost three years ago, during a hike through the woods, Ben touched his girlfriend Julie's hand and sensed that she was cheating on him. Unable to control his need to sense more, he gripped her harder. Julie drew away, and though Ben tried to pull her back, she ended up tumbling backwards off a cliff.

And dying almost instantly.

After that happened, Ben tried to avoid touch altogether. He dropped out of public school to be homeschooled by tutors, shut himself off from everyone he knew, and barely ventured outside his house. But then, a couple of years later, he thought he'd try to have a somewhat normal life again and moved in with his aunt, two hours away, to enroll at our school. 

That's when he accidentally touched me.

And everything changed.

Ben sensed that my life was in danger.And he was right, This past Sempterber, my ex-boyfriend Matt was plotting to take me captive in a twisted attempt to win me back. Then, just weeks ago, Ben knew that someone was trying to deceive me. If it hadn't been for his keen awareness in both of those instances, I might not be here right now. 

I wonder if he'll be able to sense that Adam's been on my mind, that I sculpted Adam's mouth, reminded of a kiss that didn't happen. And that just last night, when I couldn't fall asleep, I went down to the pottery studio in my basement and sculpted Adam's eyes, with the lids closed--the way he looked the instant before he tried to kiss me. 

After a few minutes, boys start making an apperance on the basketball court for a little pregame.