The Leader

The Leader: Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Talia

My scream pierces my nightmare and wakes me up. No one comes running into my room. No, I've been having this same nightmare for two years. Of course, it's of my sister's death. It happened one night when she was taking me home from one of my parties. A truck ran through a red light and hit the right side of the car. She was killed instantly, and I was hospitalized for a month. I saw the truck coming, and if I'd said something, we could've stopped in time and Kate could be here right now. Maybe I'd be able to sleep for once, and I'd have my perfect sister. She was so close to me, and I loved her so much. I don't cry as I think of her, because that stopped half a year ago. I feel nothing but a numbing pain. Santia is the one person who understands me, and she happily keeps me surrounded by good influences. I don't know what I'd do without her. Especially after Mike broke up with me, just because his sister's friend was easy. Santia gave him hell for that of course, and she still does to this day. I sigh and stand up. At least it's a Friday already, and I can almost relax. When I arrive at school, I'm surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and as usual I'm annoyed. People only talk to me because they want to be popular. I don't even want to be popular- I only put up with it to stay friends with Santia. She's the only one who knows that I'm still grieving my sister's passing, and she doesn't get tired of me. In fact, she trusts me more than anyone else. In my chemistry class, I sit at the back and watch the two loudest people in the room; Adam Green and Maya Klyne. Adam's flirting with her, but she hasn't noticed. They would be a really cute couple, though Ethan wouldn't be happy. He wants his brother to stay only with popular people. I would agree with Ethan, if Adam actually cared about being popular, which he doesn't. Ethan's only popular because his relationship with Santia. I stand to move towards the front of the class, and I see Maya turn to me with a sympathetic look on her face. She flinches when I take a step towards her, and so I turn back to my seat and sit down again. Her shoulders drop as she relaxes, and I sigh. She doesn't like me for some reason. I make it through the day fine, though by the end of the day I'm exhausted, and there's no way I can walk home. I see someone staring at me from the gate as I stand there, and I turn away, instantly uncomfortable. When I turn back a minute later, he's a metre away from me. I jump, and swear loudly.

"Sorry," he says. "I'm Liam, by the way."

"Yeah, I know who you are. You're Maya's friend."

"You look really tired. I was just wondering if you wanted a ride home. I mean, you only live two houses away from me anyway."

"I don't even know you. I don't take rides with strangers."

"Maya'll be in the car, if that helps." I don't know what it is, but he's just easy to talk to. I guess that nothing will happen to me, so I shrug.

"If it's fine with you. I mean, it couldn't hurt."

"Why are you nervous?" he asks, concerned.

"I'm not... how did you know that?"

"I'm good at reading people," he shrugs. On the way home, Liam and Maya talk, and I see just how close they are. I wonder why they don't just go out. As soon as I think this, Liam laughs, though Maya hasn't said anything funny. Maya shoots him a puzzled look and he shrugs.

"Nothing," he tells her. "I just thought of something funny." She nods, and now I'm confused. Maya is dropped off first, and then just around the corner is my house. When I get out, I immediately thank Liam, just to be polite, and then I half run into the house, swearing to myself that I will never again go home with those two freaks. I decide to go for a walk after dropping my bag off inside the house. I walk to the nearby park and watch as the sun sets. When it's dark, I see the stars come out, and I enjoy the beauty of the night. At eight pm I start walking back home, not at all worried what my parents will think. After Kate died, they haven't been paying any attention to me at all. I walk while I think, not paying attention to where I'm going, and somehow I end up outside of a vaguely familiar house. This is Maya's place. I see a light on upstairs, and I hear talking and laughing. She must have a get together going on. Then I hear Santia's voice, and I freeze. I immediately knock on the door furiously, and right away Maya is opening the door.

"Talia! Oh my gosh. I guess you should come in. I saw this coming a while back. It's meant to happen." I have no idea what she is talking about, but I step inside. I make my way up the stairs, and after taking a deep breath I step into the room. Immediately I can feel the energy in here. It's almost uncomfortable, but it mostly just feels... powerful. I see ten people sitting around one person, and I get a shock to see that it's Ayla, one of the least popular people in school. She glares at me, and then a bolt of lightning flashes in the no longer clear sky outside. I hear the thunder, and then Ayla stands and storms out of the room in anger. I'm really confused now. I have no idea why all of these people have gotten together for a secret meeting.

"Tal," begins Santia.

"Leave me alone," I reply, turning to face her. "I can't believe you've been lying to me this whole time."

"It's not like that, Tal!" I turn away and find myself face-to-face with Liam.

"Talia, I know you're confused, but you need to listen to me, okay?" I nod slowly, because I suddenly feel lightheaded. "We all have special abilities, and we get together every so often so that we can try to figure out why. We also train ourselves, in case we've been given these gifts for a reason. I know you believe me, because I can read your mind. Now Talia, you're going to go home, and you'll forget all of this." There is a cry of outrage from several people around the room, though I barely hear it. Liam's eyes are all I can concentrate on. "You will wake up tomorrow morning and remember how you went straight home after the park."

"I did go home straight after the park," I hear myself say. Then everything goes black.

When I wake again, my brain feels like mush, and I can only remember parts of my walk. Mostly I think of the park, and remember watching the stars and the moon for a long time. I don't bother getting out of bed; I know I'm the only one home at the moment. I just lie in bed and think of last night. Suddenly, an image pops into my head; black eyes, staring into mine. I relax right away, and I feel a strange feeling in my chest. It's something I haven't felt in a long time, and so it scares me. I feel some emotion, and I know that it's because of whomever these eyes belong to. I feel so strongly about this person that it's taken away not only my pain, but also the numbness, and that's only from thinking about their eyes. I suddenly remember flashes from the night before, and then I fall asleep again, and I know this time when I wake, even the image of those beautiful eyes will evade my memory.