Gifted

Chapte Twenty

|Wednesday|

Katie

My alarm blares and I slap at it groggily. I sit up, rubbing my eyes, and then slid out of my oh-so-warm bed to get some clothes and start my day. I stand in front of my bathroom mirror, looking at the yawning, sleepy girl in front of me. Her green eyes are veiled in grit, which I brush away with the back of my hand. Her red hair is matted on the left side, where I slept on it, and I untangle it carefully.

After my shower, I head downstairs to grab a toaster waffle for breakfast and brew a cup of coffee to go with it. As I’m eating, I hear footsteps on the stairs, and then Mom enters the kitchen in her soft, blue bathrobe, her hair wrapped in a towel, face damp from her shower. She sees me and nods shortly in greeting. I return it. This is the usual for us these days.

We eat in silence for a while, and then as I’m grabbing my backpack to leave, she waves for me to stay seated.

“Kaitlyn Emily Rosenberg,” she says slowly, and I immediately tense: she never uses my full name unless I’m in trouble for something. “We have something to discuss. Liza...did she spend the night last night? I thought I heard...”

“No, Mom,” I say quietly. I don’t tell her I had Liza sneak in and out of my bedroom window to prevent this very thing.

Mom nods, but her eyes are still sharp, like they always are at any mention of my girlfriend. She wants me to find a nice boy to settle down with, but doesn’t listen when I tell her, often, that I couldn’t care less. Liza is all that I need. So what if she also happens to be a girl.

“Ok, that’s all, Katie. You can go now,” she says quietly. She watches me as I leave. I can feel them, mistrustful and wondering.

I make sure the front door is shut before I call her a bitch under my breath.

. . .

Liza is standing by the front doors when I walk in from the parking lot, a big smile on her face. I rush to give her a hug, holding her tightly. I wonder if this feeling, this happy rush I get every time I see her, will ever go away. Oh, I hope it doesn’t!

“Wow, you’d think I hadn’t seen you recently at all!” she laughs.

She holds out her hand, palm up, and a small, rounded stone materializes in her hand, shiny and blue. A sapphire. It's connected to a woven silver chain. I glance up at her, smiling. It’s my favorite gem. She hands the beautiful necklace to me and I give her a kiss in thanks.

“Wow, Liza!” I say, holding it up to the light and watching in delight as it sparkles and gleams brightly. “It’s so pretty! Thanks!” I put it on carefully and then look at her for an appraisal.

“I thought it would set off your eyes, blue and green, you know; they’re complementary colors,” Liza says.

I give her another hug. When I pull away, I notice the stares.

Students line the hall, silent and watching, their eyes focused on the stone now resting in the hollow of my throat. A few students’ eyes are envious, some mistrustful, others merely curious.

Liza doesn’t notice at first, and then when she does, she instinctively pulls me tight against her, like she wants to protect me. I pull away, annoyed. They’re not doing anything. Yet, anyway. Through the crowd, I see Jake and Mina approaching, gently moving students aside.

“Hey, Liza, hey, Katie,” Jake greets us with a smile. I smile in return.

A guy comes up to us, shoving people out of his way. It’s that creep, John McGreere. I scowl at him, but he either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.

“You hear about the new law that was passed in New York, yesterday?” he says to us, smirking slightly.

A chill passes through me. What law? I look at Jake, Liza and Mina, and see their faces have become stony.

“Yeah, we heard, the story broke on CNN this morning,” Jake says shortly. His anger toward John—hell, nobody likes John, once you get to know him—is unmistakable. “You should know, though, that that law is illegal; it’ll be struck down by the Court within the week. They can’t force us to register. It’d be like trying to force black or Asian or Hispanic Americans to register themselves with the government based on their skin color or their heritage; it’s absolutely illegal, and is nothing but thinly-veiled bigotry and hatred against powered people.”

John laughs, which makes me want to punch him in his face. “Well, I guess we’ll see, Jake. Before you know it, the Feds’ll be rounding up you freaks and shipping you off to the gas chambers. The world is better off without your kind.”

For a moment, I think Jake actually might try to attack John—he looks absolutely livid—but then Jake turns sharply and storms away down the hall. Liza takes a moment to flip John off, and then quickly follows, beckoning for me to follow, but I don’t. Liza shrugs and gives John a disgusted look and then walks off down the hall. Mina, however, stays where she is, glaring at John.

“You total coward,” she hisses at him. “Why are you so happy to go around causing people grief? It’s pathetic. Now piss off before I decide to become a tiger or something, and then...” She leaves the threat hanging.

John’s eyes widen but then he’s jeering again. “Oho, you think you’re so tough, little Miss Mina Smith. You and your mutant freak family are just—”

Mina slams him against the bank of lockers behind him, so hard that the whole row rattles. Holy crap, I knew they were stronger than ordinary people, but Jesus...

As she holds him pinned with one hand, she forms the other into what looks like a lion’s paw, flexing the razor-sharp claws and resting them against his throat.

“Yeah?” she breathes. “Gonna finish that thought? Go on, I’m waiting, John.”

He’s shaking so hard, he can’t seem to get the words out. Finally, he sputters, “I’m s-so s-s-sorry. Please let me go, and I’m—I’ll st-stop.” His eyes are bulging, wide in terror as he stares at the claws flexing inches from his nose now.

“Mina, let him go.”

I turn from the spectacle to see Jake weaving his way back into the center of the hallway. He looks wearily at Mina, his face taut and strained, and maybe a little embarrassed, too.

Jake sighs. “Please, Mina. You’ve had your fun, ok? Let him go, or he’ll probably get the cops or something...”

Mina laughs, loud and almost hysterical. “The cops! Oh yeah, like Lauren would arrest me! Or the other four on day-duty! But, sure.” She pushes John, none-too-gently, away from her, and he goes sprawling across the floor. He staggers to his feet, still shaking like mad, and then goes tearing off down the hallway.

I have a feeling that’s not the end of it.