Can You Keep a Secret?

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lewis rolled out of bed the next morning, dreading college much less than the day before. His stomach wasn’t fluttering although it felt like someone had tied a knot in it. He tried to ignore it as he jumped in the shower, letting the water drum out any tension in his back and shoulders. He was almost finished when the vision hit him – hard. The drumming of the pounding water disappeared as a sharp pain knifed across his head, doubling him over.

Jenny – was it Jenny? – was standing in a circle of trees, her hand resting against one, eyes closed. She turned towards him, her eyes opening and piercing him with their focus. They held him captive, up until the vision ended abruptly, making him stumble as he became hyper aware of everything around him. His head now ached with every thump of his heart, the tightness of his stomach lost in the sick feeling now consuming him.

“Lewis?” came his mother’s voice, worry clear in her tone. A knock accompanied the voice, the sharp rap adding to the overwhelming pain he was already experiencing. “Lewis, is everything ok?”

“Uh, yeah,” Lewis gasped, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to will the wave of sickness that threatened to flow straight out of him. “I-I just need a moment.”

It took him twenty minutes to even begin to feel normal again, his body exhausted from the sheer effort of staying upright. He dried and dressed himself, before making his way downstairs to talk it through with his mother. She was sat at the kitchen table, brow creased in concern as she gave him the space to sit down and get comfortable.

“What happened?”

Lewis took a deep breath before launching into a brief explanation, describing the vision in as much detail as possible, which wasn’t a lot, considering how little there had been for him to go on. When he was done, his mother sat in silence for a moment, until her gaze went vacant as she attempted to reach into the future and see what he had seen. Minutes later, she shook her head, deep in thought.

“I can’t see anything,” she admitted. “But that doesn’t mean it’s something bad. Chances are, this is a random clip of something bigger that will come to you in time. It was probably painful because you couldn’t see all of it – which means as your sight gets stronger, you’ll get more visions but they shouldn’t be that painful.”

Lewis breathed a sigh of relief. He’d come to pretty much the same conclusion but it was good to hear the words come out of someone else’s mouth – particularly his mother’s. She had always been incredibly insightful and honest to a fault. So he didn’t complain when she demanded that he have breakfast and was out of the door before it was late enough to need a lift again.

Walking along the street, he felt a calm settle over him that he hadn’t felt for a long time. He resolutely ignored the curious half of him that wanted to explore what the vision could have meant, leaving it alone as his mother had suggested. He was positively cheerful when he sauntered through the college gates, confidence making his back straighter and his whole body more self-assured.

“Hey, Lewis,” Jenny called out from his left, her eyes catching his as he automatically turned at the sound of his name. He stood rooted to the spot as she walked towards him, confidence and natural grace making the walk look like she could never fall. “How are you this morning?” she queried as the distance between them closed and she was stood directly in front of him.

“Uh, I-I’m pretty good, thanks,” he cringed as his voice caught briefly but tried to ignore it. “How’re you?”

“I’m fine. Are you sure you’re ok? You look a little queasy. Do you want to sit down somewhere?”