Project Moonlark: A Fanfiction

1. FIRST SIGHT

The buzzing got louder as students explored the museum. At least, Mr Sweeny intended for them to be exploring the museum. They were actually having conversations among themselves. I pretended to be inspecting the pregnant plesiosaur bones that were 60 million years old, but it was hard to concentrate on anything with the loud noises in my head.

"I wonder if I should ask him out..."

"Danielle is really hot"

"What should I get Nicole for her birthday?"

The noises were extremely frustrating sometimes. I'd found many ways to block them out for short periods of time, but during field trips, it was close to impossible. I slouched further down in my thick sweater. Didn't anyone else have this problem? It was as if I was the only one in the world who could hear people's thoughts. I was already the youngest and smartest one in the class, with a photographic memory and all. I really, really hated attention.

"Kristen, I really am honored to have you in my class," Mr Sweeny said as he approached me. Of course. I was the only one alone. That girl is smarter than any student I've ever seen. I wonder why she didn't choose to go to the Ivy League school... You know what? It doesn't matter. It'll give our school a good reputation.

I tried to smile at him as I replied. "It's not such a big deal. I don't want to draw any more attention to myself." That decision hadn't gone well either. Instead of being on the headlines of the local newspaper for getting accepted into an Ivy League school, I was on the headlines for not choosing an Ivy League school. Did journalists seriously have nothing better to write about than some unnaturally smart 16 year old that no one cared about?

She's really humble. Also really beautiful... I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I concentrated on the walls of the museum. They were brown. Interesting.

I also noticed a boy reading a newspaper with my big, ugly face on it. He looked bored. The distraction definitely helped. I hadn't heard any of Mr Sweeny's thoughts. The strange thing was, I couldn't hear any of the boy's thoughts, either.

I didn't think he could see me, so I took my chances and peeked at him, trying to make it look like I was just casually turning my head to look at the next dinosaur fossil. It didn't help at all that my vision was so perfect. He was so absolutely gorgeous that it looked almost inhuman. He ran his fingers through his messy blonde hair once, and then rubbed his eyes and fixed his gaze on me. I turned away quickly, blushing with embarrassment.

"You know him?" Mr Sweeny asked me. They're cousins, probably... I tuned out his thoughts, trying to find something to look at again, but I couldn't peel my eyes away from the mysterious boy. I gave him another quick glance, and my photographic memory captured every detail of his face. He had dull blue eyes and perfect, soft pink lips. I didn't have time to process the wave of emotion that hit me when I stared at his face, because when I looked up again, he was right in front of me.

"Do you know this girl?" He pointed to my picture in the newspaper. I blinked and glanced at the floor instead. It was safer to look there. Anywhere but his face was safe, I concluded. It took me a moment to find words, and then I finally spoke.

"Yes." My voice came out cracked and hoarse. I cleared my throat and shifted the weight on my legs from one leg to another awkwardly. It was weird to not hear someone's thoughts. It felt very relaxing, actually. It gave me strength to take control and ask the next question.

"Why are you looking for her?"

"Um," he bit his lip. Reading minds would be very helpful right now. I hoped he wasn't a kidnapper.

"My dad asked me to look for her. I know it sounds weird, but I swear that I'm telling the truth." His tone told me otherwise. I glared up at him.

"That does sound weird! Which sane person would honestly be looking for me—I mean, that girl." I turned to look at the imaginary cracks in the ground. I'd just given myself away to him! I tried to remember any self defense I knew, but the one time I had gone for a lesson, the teacher hadn't gotten past the taekwondo stance. I put my hands on my hips anyway, glaring defiantly at him.

"So you are the one?" He questioned, like he was trying to clarify some kind of confusion.

"What?!" I nearly screamed. "No! I think you got the wrong person. I'm just a regular old teenager." Did this guy have some sort of mental illness?

"But you know who she is, right?" He looked too innocent. I sighed.

"What do you want with her?" I asked, and the voices around me started to become more and more faint. My class was leaving! "I have to go find my class," I said quickly, using that as a convenient excuse to leave him.

"Hey, wait!" He called, but I was already stumbling my way towards my classmates' familiar mental voices. I could recognize them by now. This boy's dad would be very disappointed—assuming he was even telling the truth!

I turned around a few times, and each time, it looked like the boy was a little bit closer to me. I suppressed a scream as I broke into a sprint, nearly bumping into one of the fragile fossil displays.

Once I reached my class, he was already right behind me. I jumped in shock, knocking one of the dinosaur bones out of place. I stuffed it right back into the model and turned around, running towards the exit before the boy could catch his breath. Screw class. I was about to get killed.

I made it out of the museum safely, but I could still see him chasing me. I couldn't help the shiver that ran through my body. Why would someone want to kidnap me so badly? Sure, everyone in my class hated me because of my intelligence— I'd purposely done badly in a few tests just so that I'd stop being called "nerd" or "smart" when I was younger—but how could a complete stranger hate me so passionately that they'd start chasing me?

"You're Kristen, aren't you?" The boy shouted from behind. I screamed, too terrified to do anything but come to an abrupt stop. Then I saw the next problem.

There was a giant lamppost in front of me, and I was going to bump right into it. The boy gasped silently as I clung on to the lamppost like it was a lifesaver, crying as I held on to it. It broke off the ground with a loud ripping sound, and every passerby turned to stare in shock. I realized that I hadn't paid attention to the road, either. A car was speeding right across, and my stupid lamppost was going to crush it!

I felt someone pulling me from behind, but I was in too much shock to move. I felt a sudden burst of... adrenaline? It was definitely something, and the next thing I knew, I was letting my kidnapper save me, falling into his arms like a coward. I held out my hand instinctively to stop the lamp, even though I knew it was no use—

The lamp stayed in the most awkward, gravity-defying, tilted pose. It wasn't exactly crushing the car like I'd expected it to, but it wasn't standing upright, either. It was bending at a 45-degree angle. I stared at my normal hands, but they looked the same as always. How could— I turned to the boy behind me.

"I didn't do anything," he said unconvincingly, the corners of his lips twitching upwards with the hint of a smile.

"Let it go," I whisper-shouted. Everyone was staring at us now. My eyes turned wide when he still wasn't moving. "Do something! Can't you act like a regular human being for once?" I heard him chuckle under his breath and sighed.

I checked my normal hands again. It couldn't have been me, could it? There had to be some explanation for what was happening. I observed the lamppost again. It was slowly moving downwards, about to crush the ground below it—

I reached out to stop it again, and it flew right back to its original position. I gasped, the world around me blurring. I tried to stand up straight, to fight against the weird boy's hold, but I was already fading into unconsciousness.