Look Away

Chapter 4

I strolled into my next class, praying my teacher wasn't another undercover Hunter. There was another seating chart, and I sat beside a girl who seemed no more impressed with the school than I was. Her pencil glided across a piece of paper in her sketchbook, and if a single strand of her black hair dared fall from behind her ear, she quickly showed it its place and went back to her sketch. According to the board in front with the seating chart, she had the same last name as Pryor, and given that he has mentioned a younger sister in the past, they could be kin. They appeared related, but why wasn't she a Hunter? And if she was kin to Pryor in any way, she'd undoubtedly despise me for the tragedy I brought their family, but I refused to believe it was my fault, and maybe I could convince her that as well, but I figured she and I would both be better off not associating or communicating with each other. Her wardrobe choices for the day did suggest she was closed to conversation. When the teacher stood and started talking to the class as per usual thus far, this girl, Melody, ignored the world and continued drawing, and the teacher didn't seem to care. At one point, Melody became frustrated with the frequency of hair falling in her face, so she sat back with a huff and stiffly pulled her hair into a ponytail, but if she wanted her hair out of her face, she shouldn't have gotten bangs. I could sense thoughts in her mind about being tempted to cut the bangs short to keep them away from her eyes, but she remained remarkably focused on the drawing through the start of the math lesson.

'What are you doing here? Get out.' I heard someone say with particular disgust, but I found great difficulty in trying to determine the source. 'Why are you trying to read me?' I noticed out of the corner of my eye, Melody was subtly watching me with extreme caution. 'You're the freak my brother sent here right? I don't trust you and neither does he, I hope you know.' I glared at my paper on my desk with guilt and anger.

'Sorry, I can't really help it. Proximity makes thoughts, especially strong emotions, hard to deflect. It's not easy being bombarded with hundreds of this every second, especially when hang the time, they're directed at you.' I admit telepathically to her. 'And I'd rather be called Dahlia, thanks.' I add with an air of sass. I guess I opened the channel up myself, but it takes power to actually get into my head without permission,whether I was in yours or not.

'Well, Dahlia, don't too comfortable. We both know this little cover you're using isn't going to last long. My father may be convinced, but Pryor and I aren't because we both know that you can only pretend to not be a psychopath for so long.' My fingers tightened around my pencil, the lead broke, and I, with a completely unsteady hand, set the pencil down on the desk and took a shaky breath to calm down.

'You're trying to manipulate me, aren't you? Just like your Aunt in that respect.' I scoffed with a smirk at my own attempt at manipulating her, but then I realized what I was doing and shut down. 'Sorry. It's a process. In case you can't tell, I happen to be making an effort to change, so stop trying to send me back to the drawing board. All I ask is for chance to right my wrongs.'

'Come back to me, Dahlia. This isn't you. You're not a worthless Human, so stop pretending to be one.' The voice sent chills down my spine. 'Dahlia!' I was being scolded and ordered back like a slave. The words from the Psionic overwhelmed me and became all I could hear or think. 'This isn't you. Stop changing who you are for people who will never be satisfied. Come home.'

'Th-this isn't ... this isn't me.' I covered my ears and placed my head on my desk in pain. I screamed. "Go away! Get out of my head!" I wanted it to stop, but I couldn't stop her. Kasai had always been too powerful for me to get away, too strong for me to defend against. This was how she kept me around so long, or so I told myself. Truth is, I stuck around because I was afraid of what was out in the rest of the world, but when the fear to stay overpowered the fear to leave, that's when I hit the road. I didn't want to leave because it was the only place I had ever known, and to be honest, what she was saying rang with truth, but I had to change. I knew I needed to change who I was because who I was killed people without mercy or regret, and that was not okay, but that was how I was raised. "Get out!" I shouted, a burst of blue energy streaming across the empty room, and Melody collapsed onto the desk as did I. Then, I felt a violent shove to my shoulder.

"Dahlia! Melody! Am I boring you that much that you fell asleep in class?" The teacher stood with her nails like claws in her hips, knuckles white with frustration. The bell rang and saved us both. I grabbed my bag and hurried out the room behind everybody else, but Melody lingered in a daze. I tugged on the strap of my bag and hit the halls.

The next class was thoroughly boring, and all that really stood out was that instead of a desk, I was seated on the far side of the room, hidden away in the corner because we got to choose our computers. I opened my notebook and found my student access information for the computers, and I memorized it on the spot. During the entire class, we were given a free period after being given our first homework assignment. 45 minutes later, the bell rang, and I was one of the last ones out because of my spot in the back of the room. I hurried to my next class to hopefully see Peter, and there was no seating chart for this class either, so I sat off to the side, up towards the front. Peter walked in and sat down beside me.

"Hey stranger." He smirked, and I returned the smile. "How's it going?"

"Great, I guess. Nothing overly memorable, but I'll get used to the landscape I guess." I lied. A girl slid into the seat behind me and I could feel her gaze causing chills down the back of my neck.

"Oh cool! You've got a tattoo? Can I see it?" She asked enthusiastically, but I stiffened and silently pulled the collar of my loose T-shirt to cover my back. I rubbed my shoulder and blushed slightly, hoping she hadn't noticed the marks on my shoulders too. I wanted to say it wasn't a tattoo; they're burns as a sign of superiority and rank back with Kasai, and only myself and a few others of mastery level have burns on the back and shoulders. Most are isolated to the shoulders. Kasai always said that reaching mastery level was a sign more of maturity and connection with your power and that we should always continue learning and trying to connect to our powers more because you could never tell what you'd find. My burns are blue and white to signify my ability to manipulate wind and water currents whereas the pyrokinetics have red and orange typically.

"Not right now," I whispered over my shoulder as an answer to the now dismayed girl behind me. Only the League of Psionic Elites had markings even remotely like mine, so my past would be blown, not to mention the fact that we were supposed to wear them with pride, but once I defected, I became extremely self-conscious of them. It's not like Hunters burned each other as symbols of respect and rank, and Humans didn't have the power.

"Oh, okay," she pulled out her notebook and shoved a bookbag under her desk. "I'm Anastasia, by the way." Her hand was extended, and I, like Peter earlier today, hesitated but because I forgot what to do. When I remembered, I took her hand and shook it.

"Dahlia," I nodded and glanced at Peter. Her hair swished across her face in long bangs, grown to the length of her chin which was directly proportional to the length of her ebony hair. One of her eyes was partially hidden behind her bangs that got pushed to the side, and both eyes glowed a bright blue in contrast to her hair; the blue top she wore did nothing but compliment this effect. Barely noticeable was a silver slit in her irises.

"Nice to meet you." We both stared at each other for a second before she spoke again, this time much more quietly. "Are you Psionic?" I put my finger over my lips.

"Shh. I don't want it broadcast. You know people aren't big fans of people like me, Miss. Telekinetic. You rogue too?" I whispered back, and she nodded in response. "It's nice to finally meet someone with something in common." I then remembered Peter and looked at him nervously. He smirked.

"Don't worry. I won't tell." I smiled with relief. The teacher, a woman in a green blouse with a black skirt and matching high heels stepped up front and started going through her introduction. A bell rang in the middle of class, and everyone left their bags in the classroom and walked out the door. "You coming?" I stood slowly and followed out the door, but first, I made sure to grab a book off the bookshelf, well, I used telekinesis to do so.