*Watty's 2021 Shortlist*
Samantha Roberts and Ben Evans have one thing in common - they both attend Sir Robertson's School for the Gifted, an elite boarding school for the children of the world's wealthiest. Both scholarship students, they gravitate...
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School drags on. I love it here, I really do, but my guilt and worry over Ben make it so I cannot concentrate on anything. Seeing Ben in Tech-sci is nice, but he doesn't seem himself. He's quieter, and... well... slower than usual. The Ben I know couldn't sit still for more than ten seconds, and I hardly see him fidget once.
There is this awkwardness between us now, and I know it's my fault. Because I'm hiding stuff from him. I should just TELL him.
Even if it means I'm crazy.
Even if it means losing him.
And on top of that, it happens again. Someone flickers.
I'm in P.E. this time. P.E. is my own personal brand of torture. I am so uncoordinated and clumsy that I could trip on flat ground. Also, the only other girl my age in the class is Amber.
Yippee.
Ms. Lewellyn, the gym teacher, has stepped out for a moment, which means Amber is treating us to a full run-through of her always-perfect gymnastic routines.
I'm busy watching her execute another flawless triple cartwheel with a roundoff, marvelling at the way her long blonde hair swings perfectly even when upside down, when time seems to slow. Her gym uniform flutters against her legs and her red lips stretch into a perfect smile.
Her body seems to freeze, my vision blurred and distorted. Then, just like before, she seems to disappear, not even a waft of her sickening perfume left in the air. It's almost like she glitches, a stumble that nobody sees but me.
She pops back into existence, time snapping into place like a rubber band. All eyes on her, she finishes her cartwheel, coming up to land perfectly on her feet with a flourish and a bow.
I look around me, expecting—hoping, really—that someone else has seen what I have. That someone else's face will be creased in shock. But no one is even looking in our direction anymore, too preoccupied with the return of Ms. Lewellen.
I can't reason away what I've seen. It wasn't like with the principal—it wasn't just a glance, a flicker. I had seen Amber disappear, clear and simple.
What is happening to me?
After school, I walk over to the library. Ben always teases me that I spend so much time there they should name it after me. I shake my head and force away all thoughts of Ben and the guilt I feel.
Time to concentrate.
I take a deep breath as I walk through the doors, and I feel a load of stress leave my shoulders. I love the smell of books, and the library is so quiet. Peaceful. I'm looking for books on psychology, the brain, and how our eyes can be tricked. I'm hoping that's what happened. It was just a trick of the light. Or maybe sleep deprivation. Or stress. Anything other than me going crazy.
I head straight to Non-Fiction. After browsing around a while, I have a decent-sized stack of books in my arms, and head over to one of the comfy armchairs to the window.
