the game

the fake smile

Chapter Ten: The Fake Smile

        "The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness."  Victor Hugo

    I never liked sleeping much. I know it's a strange thing to say. After all, most people do nothing but sleep every day all day. I use to be one of those people, when I was younger of course. Of course, when we're young we believe in silly things like Santa Clause, Tooth Fairy, and such things. I don't like to sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see their faces. The faces of people I once called Father, Mother, Brother and Sister. They're nothing but faint memories now. Whenever I try to remember my family, it's muggy. Like trying to focus on the fuzzy images in a TV with that static. I wasn't raised with my biological father. My mother had run off when she was pregnant with me. However, my blood mother died while in labor with me. I was raised by my Aunt and Uncle. They always made me feel like I was a part of their family. Like I was their own child. I always knew I was different though. I always had a knack for fighting, and I was good at it too. I also could sense what people were thinking, or feeling when they were around me. I had also easily controlled how people felt, or how they acted towards another person, or even the simple bonds between people, I was able to influence all that. Most people called me charismatic, but my family felt it was something else. People were drawn to me, like a magnet to metal. They also felt this was beyond being charismatic, despite what people had told them. My family grew to fear that someday, people would see what they saw in me, and become fearful of me. They begged me not to be vocal about my powers because someone might try to harm me. Of course, they put the fear into me, so I kept quiet about my powers. However, there was always this one girl who was intrigued by me, and what I could do.

            I first noticed this girl when I was seven, and my family had enrolled me in an art school. I was very talented at drawing, and they hoped to hone in this talent, and draw attention away from my physic gifts. I enjoyed the school very much. There many kids, and they all seemed to be very friendly towards me. I enjoyed the attention I got. However there was that one girl who always seemed to be staring at me, but when I looked at her, she'd blush, and look away as if ashamed she had been caught looking. I always thought she was a bit weird. She didn't interact with many people, and had only a few friends that she hung out with. Though, I wouldn't learn until later why that was.

            One Day, she sat next to me at lunch, which was unusual for her like I said she tended to avoid me.

            "Hiya!" She smiled brightly, and I smiled back. She had pretty brown hair that was slightly curled, and brown eyes.

            "What's up?" I asked, turning to her with a friendly grin. She smiled, and looked down shyly, and then looked back at me.

            "Well, I heard that you had some sort of mind reading powers right?" I tensed up. There it was, I knew someone would find out about my powers. My throat began to feel like it was closing, my body tensed with fear of what would happen. She giggled slightly, and I looked at her, unsure of what to think of her."I'm not gonna tell anyone, and I don't think it's weird. In fact, I think it's pretty cool." I relaxed a bit, and then sighed in relief.

            "Y-you do?" I questioned, looking at her shyly. She grinned widely, and nodded.

            "Yupp! Tell me, what am I thinking about right now?" I looked at her, trying to see if she was serious. She giggled, and nudged me."I'm serious! What am I thinking about?" I sighed, and looked at her, trying to focus.

            "You...You're thinking about you family, and how you want to help them, but you're frustrated cuz you can't." I guessed on something broad that would imply to anyone, but she looked at me as if I told her I just saw an alien.