Deviants

Chapter 28

Jesse

Looking up at the sky, watching the snow fall, I hear someone approach me.

"I know somewhere I'd rather be," Shad says, stepping up next to me. It makes me recall the time we had made a bargain with each other when we had run from our parents. We were never to split up and never settle in one place. That was before we had been taken to Stonegate Orphanage and met Clint and Johnny and all our other friends. That was before I found out about Kate's and Amee's abilities. I still don't even know what Amee's ability is.

"It's Brazil, by the way. Thanks for asking," he says. I look at him, feeling slightly guilty that this is the first thing I've ever kept from him. But then again, I don't recall anyone ever telling me something so personal. I can't even say that they told me because Kate had lost control of her ability.

"I can't leave Stonegate. Not yet," I say. He looks at me with a very annoyed, Shad-look.

"Why not?" He says. I don't have the gut to flat out lie to him, so I settle with no explanation.

"I can't say. It involves someone else's life." He squints at me, trying to read me. I don't yet feel the calming, warm feeling come over me, but I speak before he even gets a chance. "And don't even think about using your ability on me because I can do it right back at you," I say.

"I hardly need to use my ability to get what I want from people," he says.

"Well, you won't get the reason from me any time soon," I say, patting his shoulder. I turn to walk away but he calls my name. I turn back to look at him.

"If it's a girl, we can take her with," he says. I picture trying to ask Kate and Amee to drop everything for me so we can achieve mine and Shad's dream of seeing the world. The thought almost makes me laugh. I shake my head instead.

"Not these girls," I say. I see him smirk before I turn away, knowing exactly what he's thinking. But I'd rather him assume than give away Kate's and Amee's secret. I want to be a part of what they are doing. In order to do that I have to gain their trust, but I can't break Shad's trust in the process.

On the way to my class, I see Kate walking towards the university with her head down, seeming in deep thought. My heart pounds as I try to think of an excuse to approach her. I sigh as I jog towards her before I can even think of anything.

"Alright?" I say, and she looks up, her blue eyes having a sad and slightly confused glaze over them.

"Hi," she says, giving me a small smile.

"So... Any sign of that Cassidy woman?" I ask. Her face seems to lose the small blush it had.

"Um, not since the twenty-eighth," she says.

"Do you think she's still here?" I ask. She runs her hand through her hair as she shrugs her shoulders.

"I wouldn't know... Amee doesn't even think that she came here for me, considering that she never even saw me back in Florida. But what else would've attracted her?" She says, mostly to herself.

"Well, that means Amee has got to know something about her?" I ask. She looks at me, biting her lip. That frustrated feeling comes over me again. "Kate, what is Amee doing that she refuses to tell me? I haven't told anyone about your abilities. I even showed you mine, which was a risk for me too."

"She doesn't have anything against you," Kate says, "to be fair, she hasn't told me exactly what she's doing either. All I know is that it's extremely dangerous and it involves people... like us..." She says. I stop and turn to her, still irritated at the way she views people like us. I'm determined to change her perspective.