The Prodigies [First Draft]

Twenty Five

All day, Color's words played in Kenny's head as if they were on repeat.The second the bell pinged at the end of seventh period, the young girl walked briskly to the library. She picked up the few medical books where she had found a handful sentences on cases similar to her own. However, rather than search for the Darkness in more medical books, she looked in the Gifted section of the library.

The Gifted section was a bookcase of non-fiction books written about Gifts and Gifted people. Titles such as I'm Gifted, But My Parents Aren't! What to do When You're the Only Gifted Person in the Family and Making Friends With People Who Aren't Gifted sat beside each other on the shelves. Kenny had never thought to search for Black Outs here, for she had thought the Darkness was a rare ailment of the senses. She had never guessed that there was something going on in her brain, much less her Z-area.

Kenny picked several books on side effects off of the shelves. Miss Gavin was absent from the room, so she wasn't able to ask the librarian to search for titles in the catalog. Once she had gathered all of the books she could find, the young girl sat at the table in the far corner and began her reading. She knew she would have to break curfew if she wanted to complete a thorough search of the Darkness, but Kenny was getting used to the idea of being out of her dorm past nine o'clock.

The curfew patrol hadn't caught her yet.

By the time Kenny had finally finished looking through the books, it was almost eleven at night and she still hadn't found much more than a few passages on the Darkness. However, she refused to give up hope and promised herself she would return tomorrow. Wearily, she placed the books back onto their shelves and started on her way.

The hallways were silent except for Kenny's own steps. Her eyes adjusted to the soft light of the uplight chandeliers, for they were much dimmer than the fluorescents in the library. The young girl checked her pocket for her ID card and started on her way. She had barely made it ten steps and was wondering how she was going to complete her homework when she heard shuffling noises coming from behind her.

Kenny turned to find someone was coming around the bend of the hallway. She froze in fear, for the young girl was standing in the middle of the corridor. She wouldn't make it to the end of the hallway if she ran, and the lighting in the school building was bright enough that she could be recognized even if she did. She was about to turn and try to escape anyway when a voice called, "Hawking? Is that you?"

Kenny frowned as Einstein squinted at her. What was he doing in the school building at eleven o'clock? Then she gasped in realization. Had he been in the Nursery? Was the Nursery in the school building?

"It has to be you. If it were anyone else, I would've gotten a reply already."

Einstein began to stumble toward the young girl, and he seemed as though he was having difficulty walking. She pulled an index card from her pocket asking why he was here and attempted to show it to him. He glanced at it for a moment before looking back up at Kenny.

"I'm not going to read your stupid index card, mute," he told her blatantly.

Kenny blinked. She took another card from her pocket. This one read, That was rude of you.

After several long moments, Einstein glanced up from her index card and scoffed. "It was supposed to be rude, mute. Gosh, could you be any denser?" He then picked the card from her hand and ripped it in two.

Shocked, Kenny stared at the boy. She looked from him to her ripped index card, rage boiling inside of her like the water inside of a geyser. She recalled what Color had told her about Einstein's migraine postdrome symptoms, but she did not care. That was her index card, and he had ripped it in two just because he felt like it. She reached for the two halves of her card, but Einstein held it above his head.