The Mind Bender

Chapter 5

Don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling errors. It's hard to proofread everything. 

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Dane is one of the meekest kids at school. On this particular Monday morning, he sat in the corner and read a book, oblivious to the chatter that was going on. He wasn't into other kid stuff. He wasn't fond of talking about toy cars or video games. He wasn't into these things anyway. A boy approached him and suddenly grabbed the book he was reading.

"What's this, Daney loony?" The blonde boy with curly hair smirked as he showed Dane the page he was reading.

"Give it back." Dane stood up. His voice trembled, but he had to be assertive.

"What did you say to me?" The blonde boy curled his lip and shoved Dane who would have fallen if he hadn't had a firm grip on his armchair.

Dane attempted to pull the book back, but the stocky bully who was a few inches taller than him held it high and shouted in the room.

"Hey, look what Loony's reading," he yelled in the room. Everyone turned their heads to look at them.

Dane glared at him.

"Look," the bully said, laughing and pointing a finger at him. "Gay loony's mad now."

Dane pushed him gently. But the stocky boy loomed over him as he pushed him with his chest. The bully wore disdain on his face.

"What is happening here?"

Dane looked up. Their teacher had entered the room, curiously staring at the two of them. She squinted.

"Give his book back, Max." Sherri Gaylor looked as if she waited for the burly boy to hand the book over. But Max glared at her. She glared back. "The book." The teacher who wore her usual garb and her stern disposition kept her dour stare at the bully. She stood in front of him until he handed the book over.

Dane watched nervously as Max leered at him and turned away to head for his seat. He fought furiously to keep his mind from infecting his. He succeeded with so much effort though. He sat on his chair and put the book in his bag. The classroom fell silent as Sherri started checking on them. On the sly, he could make out Max's livid facial reactions. He wanted to read him, but he hesitated. Instead, he focused his attention on their lesson, or at least he tried to.

Classes wore on. Dane could barely focus without the occasional ringing inside his head. With the ringing came alien thoughts. He knew those were his classmates'. Thoughts about weekend plans with family, hatred to their parents, or boredom. Sometimes they got a little too loud, he had to cover his ears, to no avail. The torment that his abilities brought him made him helpless. The other kids taunted him for his weird behavior, which happened whenever the episodes got so severe, they gave him paroxysms.

"Dane, what's wrong?"

He looked up. He didn't notice Sherri was in front of him. Worse, he didn't really know what to tell her.

"Are you all right?" Sherri appeared worried.

Dane nodded, but he knew from the look on his teacher's face that she wasn't at all convinced. She looked at him for a while and then walked back to her table. Dane could catch her staring in his direction and he would look away. He could guess she was worried. When the class was over, Sherri came up to him.

"I want to talk to you," Sherri told Dane in a tone that bore concern.

Dane looked at her. Even without attempting to read her, he knew she was genuinely worried. But he couldn't tell her what was bothering him, could he? He simply shook his head.

"You can always tell me if something's bothering you." She smiled.

"I think..." The docile boy hesitated.

"What is it?" Sherri wrapped her hand around his arm.

Dane looked at her hand. "Nothing."

"All right," Sherri replied. She looked at him seriously. "Don't hesitate to tell me anything. When you're ready, I'll be around."

He nodded, but couldn't tell her. He went out of the room. He was walking quietly in the corridor, not minding the strange stares he got from the other kids. He avoided their curious glances. Some of them were smirking. He could make out their derision in the corners of his vision.

He had been walking with his head drooping when he bumped into someone.

"Watch your steps, loony."

Dane moved his head up. Max had eyed him with disgust.

"Loony queer." Max mocked him. The kids around laughed as the bully did.

Dane just stood there quietly, waiting for Max to do his usual antics. After a while, he walked off. But Max grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Where are you going?" he asked bluntly. He drew his face near his. "I'm still talking to you."

Dane felt a finger prodding his forehead. "Just," he said, hesitating, "just let me go." He held the straps of his bag to fix how it hung behind his back.

"Go where, loony?" Max laughed and turned around to see other kids laughing.

Dane was scared. This wasn't the first time Max toyed with him, but his harassing always made him feel terrible. Again, he was rendered indecisive, unable to move, waiting for his bully to get on with his taunts and get over with it. He could see him moving his feet as if he was dancing, throwing punches in the air. But what came next was a punch in his cheek.

Dane fell on the floor. For a moment he thought the punch broke his jaw. He rubbed his hand on the bruised cheek and then looked at Max with terror. The kids around them chuckled. Dane had propped himself to stand when Max launched himself on him, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him up. The disgust in his eyes horrified him. "Just... just leave me alone," Dane said with his lips trembling. He was scared.

"How about no?" Max curled his lip and grabbed Dane's collar. 

Amid Max's aggression, Dane was helpless. He let his bully pull him by the collar as he looked at him with terror in his eyes. He tried to remove Max's grip from his clothes, but it was too tight. "Let me go," he pleaded.

"Why, loony? Scared of me?" Max smirked. He looked around to see some kids cheering. Others looked concerned.

Dane knew none of the kids were willing to help him. They were too scared. He looked at them, and while some of them looked worried, they were afraid of Max. No teacher was around to call out to.

"What's the matter, Daney?" Max spoke with his mouth too close to Dane's face.

Dane felt drops of saliva splattered on his face. He saw how Max stared at him with disgust. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you're a fag," Max replied in a louder voice that drew laughter from nearby kids. He pushed Dane on the face and giggled as he saw him fall to the floor again.

Dane hit his butt on the floor. The pain made him groan. But his bully's derision looked unrelenting. He glared at him.

"What are you looking at?"

He saw Max stoop and reach for his arm. He pulled him again, and Dane couldn't resist his brute force. "Let me go." But he only heard Max chuckling. Despite his hesitation, he raised his voice. "Let me go!" Unbeknownst to him, his scream unleashed potent psychic waves that traveled to their target's head.

Max froze.

Dane removed his bully's grip and watched the motionless boy eye him with confusion. Max scowled, but while he stood agape, he seemed unable to move. Dane, on the other hand, fixed the straps of his backpack and stepped away. He had just turned his back on his assaulter when he heard his body fall on the floor. When he turned around he saw Max wriggling with his eyelids fluttering.