Fireworks {ON HOLD}

The Official Freak Club (T.O.F.C.)

Picture of Camp to da side (i couldn't find an exact one, but hopefully this will give you at least a little visual) ~~>

"Where are we going?" I asked for the billionth time. We were taking the long way out of the forest, going to 'the Camp'.

"I've told you already: camp," Maya replied, eyes staring ahead. The wind was beginning to blow a little harder now, and my hair was whipping back and forth all over my face and sending dead leaves rushing and rattling in a wild dance all through the trees. The gray sky was foreboding, and I felt that a storm was coming. "Just be patient--we're almost there." She quickened her pace and glanced at the clouds--she wanted to avoid the storm just as much as me.

I didn't know why I was following Maya. She still could be a dangerous person. She could be lying. She could be part of a mad scientist group herself! She might be leading me into some dangerous trap, or she could be--

I think we've established that I don't want to hurt you, Maya's voice echoed through my mind, making me blush.

Sorry, I formed the word in my mind, embarrassed at thinking that she still wanted to hurt me--which, to her, was sort of like saying it right to her face.

I was still getting over the whole, 'I-Can-Hear-Your-Thoughts' thing. I felt like I had to be careful what I thought, or else I might seriously insult her or she might hear some of my darkest secrets. It was uncomfortable--disturbing. Having my privacy intruded upon was probably the worst fact; I mean, my mind was really the most private, protected place there was. I could feel safe there; it was where I hid when the world outside became too much for me. And having that taken away? It made me almost afraid of her.

"Please don't be afraid of me," Maya said, obviously eavesdropping on my thoughts. I stared at the ground, my cheeks heating at the fact that I'd been caught thinking about her--again. She stopped walking, and I stopped, too. The autumn wind was whipping the leaves into our faces, and my nose was numb from the cool air. She sighed, shoving back a jet-black strand of hair from her face, and gazed at me with her entrancing electric blue-green eyes, and I was startled to see a sort of sadness filling them. "Please. I know that me being able to read your mind scares you--and it would probably scare me, too, if I was in your place. Heck, it does scare me, knowing that other people are afraid of me. It makes me afraid of what I can do. And it makes me feel less connected to those people; they always seem cautious or untrusting. I know that, and understand it, but I wish that just one person wouldn't care. Wouldn't have to worry about 'what they're thinking'. I promise that I won't listen to your thoughts, Raina--"

"But what about just now?" I asked, almost demanding. "You were listening in my mind, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was," Maya admitted. "But it was because I was afraid for you. Think about it: you've just found out that I'm a freak, that they're people who are after you, that there are more people like you. I'm surprised you haven't gone into shock, yet. That's why I'm sort of in your head. I swear, that's the only reason."

"Okay..." I said, still suspicious.

She sighed. "Okay, I know you can't trust me right away--well, we've just met, anyways. But, please, just don't judge me on my mind-reading-junk. Judge me when you feel you know me. Please?"

I gave a tentative nod. People had been afraid of her most of her life, probably, because she could tell what they were thinking. She could see what their darkest desires were, or their craziest wishes. And that scared them. Their secure, only sense of safety was being disturbed by a teenage girl. It was almost like Santa Claus in that aspect: he knows you've been a bad little kid, so you're getting coal for Christmas!