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" 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐈 𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄? " Athena pleaded as Edward accelerated much too quickly down the quiet street. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to the road.
He sighed.
"One," he agreed. His lips pressed together into a cautious line.
"Well... you said you knew I hadn't gone into the bookstore, and that I had gone south. I was just wondering how you knew that."
Edward looked away, deliberating.
"I thought we were past all the evasiveness," Athena grumbled.
He almost smiled. "Fine, then...I followed your scent." he looked at the road, giving her time to compose. The girl couldn't think of an acceptable response to that, but she filed it carefully away for future study.
Athena wasn't ready to let him be finished, now that he was finally explaining things.
"And then you didn't answer one of my first questions..." she stalled.
Edward looked at her with disapproval. "Which one?"
"How does it work-the mind-reading thing? Can you read anybody's mind, anywhere? How do you do it? Can the rest of your family... ?" she, asked for clarification on make-believe.
"That's more than one," Edward pointed out. The girl simply intertwined her fingers and gazed at him, waiting.
"No, it's just me. And I can't hear anyone, anywhere. I have to be fairly close. The more familiar someone's... 'voice' is, the farther away I can hear them. But still, no more than a few miles."
He paused thoughtfully. "It's a little like being in a huge hall filled with people, everyone talking at once. It's just a hum-a buzzing of voices in the background. Until I focus on one voice, and then what they're thinking is clear. Most of the time I tune it all out-it can be very distracting. And then it's easier to seem normal."
Edward frowned as he said the word- "When I'm not accidentally answering someone's thoughts rather than their words."
"Why do you think you can't hear me?" Athena asked curiously.
He looked at her, his eyes enigmatic. "I don't know," he murmured. "The only guess I have is that maybe your mind doesn't work the same way the rest of theirs do. Like your thoughts are on the AM frequency and I'm only getting FM." He grinned at her, suddenly amused.
"So, my mind doesn't work right?" the words bothered Athena more than they should.
"I hear voices in my mind and you're worried that your mind doesn't work right, for me?" Edward laughed. "Don't worry, it's just a theory..." his face tightened.
