Twisted Minds

Stage 3 - Anger

I had texted the twins and told them to meet me at the park down the road from school once the day was over and they agreed, saying they had some questions for me. So there I was, sitting on the swings, rocking back and forth on the tips of my converse, listening to what all the children were thinking. You might have thought that I was trapped in a deep daydream, but behind the façade I was screaming, until a shove from behind me brought me out of my inner ranting and sent me flying to the AstroTurf floor.

"Hey!" I shouted as I turned to face the perpetrator, but only found the twins standing there grinning. "Oh, it's you." I said with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, it's us and you totally deserve it! Your mental screaming was giving us a massive headache!" Seanaccused, whilst he held out a hand that I grabbed, so that he could yank meback to my feet.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone else to be able to hear what I'm thinking." I muttered and they laughed.

"You'll get used to it, we did." Shane said, nudging his twin. We all sat down on the grass under some trees, away from the prying ears of the people that live in this town. Because everyone knows everyone and this town is way too small for secrets, seeing as though they're far too hard to keep.

"How long ago did this start for you two?" I asked once we had settled and they had opened a packet of M&M's.

"When we turned eighteen five months ago." Shane answered, whilst stuffing his mouth with the chocolates.

"So the same as me then. Did it just occur that morning, like you went downstairs and you could hear what everyone was hearing?"

"Yeah, just like that. It was so funny to hear my Mum thinking about how our Dad was stealing the duvet that night." Seanchuckled as he remembered the thought, which caused it to play out in my ownhead.

"Have you found a way to block people's thoughts? Because that would be super useful."

"We have but it took a while to develop, even now it's hard to control. What you have to do is imagine you're building a brick wall and with each brick you place, the more soundproof your brain becomes." Shane informed me, before gobbling down more M&M's.

"And you found this out how?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"By reading loads of teen fiction novels. They are actually useful and have really good plots." Sean admitted with no shame.

"Seriously? Teen fiction? Come on, guys! I thought you had class!" I scoffed and Sean glared at me.

"No judgment, dude! We're helping you out here." Shane said, pushing me over and making me face-plant into the dirt. I sent him the evils as I returned to my seated position and punched him on the arm.

"Ow!" He complained as he rubbed his arm, pouting at me, which just made me raise an eyebrow at him.

"Man up, Bro." I deadpanned, before moving the topic along. "Can you two help me with this stuff?"

"Yeah, why don't we start with the blocking of our thoughts; remember to imagine you're building up the brick wall, otherwise it won't work." Sean said, before thinking: 'Good luck, Dude.'

So I closed my eyes and began mentally building a brick wall, literally. I imagined myself getting the concrete from the mixer, laying it down, and then sticking a brock on top of it, before wiping away the excess concrete. Ever so slowly the voices that had been given me headaches for the whole day, began to seep and ebb away into thin air, clearing my mental space and allowing me to actually think again.