75. I Think I'm In Love

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Me: “What’ll we do?”

Simon: “Can we keep lying to them?”

Me: “I don’t know. It feels… wrong.”

Simon: “I understand. I hate lying to Jaeb and Mitchell.”

Me: “Are they nice?”

Simon: “What do you mean?”

Me: “Well they’re both awful to me, but around you. When it’s just you guys. Are they nicer?”

Simon: “Well, yeah. Neither of them is trying to constantly beat me into a pulp.”

Me: “What are they like?”

Simon: “Why the sudden interest?”

Me: “Is it wrong that I wanna know what my boyfriend’s friends are like?”

Simon: “I’ll tell you if you tell me what Tony and Emily and Benny are like.”

Me: “I’m almost surprised that you remembered their names.”

Simon: “I do try.”

Simon paused as I curled closer, trying to absorb some of his heat. Simon sat on one corner of the thick blanket with his legs crossed, and I sat on his lap with my back against his chest. His arms were around me, our fingers entwined. Or at least I thought they were. My fingers had gone numb a long time ago. The rest of the blanket was wrapped around the two of us, and we were watching the cloudy sky. It was nice to just sit and talk a bit.

Simon: “Mitchell is… he’s not quiet, exactly. It’s more like he thinks about what he says before he says it. He’s a great fighter, even though he doesn’t really have a temper. Jaeb makes up for it, though. Damn. That girl is a spitfire. And she has a mouth on her. I think she’s a little bit like Tony, except he’s a real douche.”

Me: “How can you tell?”

Simon: “The way you look at him. Speaking of, do you guys have telepathy or something? Can you talk to each other in your heads?”

Me: “Something like that.”

Simon: “Was that happening today? ‘Cause your faces were changing and you were looking at each other. It was like you were having a conversation without any words.”

Me: “Yeah. When we were in the lab we couldn’t speak, and that was how we communicated. It’s almost like we have one brain to share between the five… four of us. We each get a little section for our thoughts and feelings and memories, but if we project something outward everyone can hear it.”

Simon: “You said ‘five.’”

Me: “There were five of us. Rajeev left. He didn’t feel like he fit in with our freakishness, because he never developed a superpower.”

Simon: “So you guys have superpowers, besides, like, the wings?”

Me: “Promise you won’t use this against us?”

Simon: “Pinky promise.”

Me: “Benny can hide things, make people invisible, alter things so that people see something different from whats really there. He can make my wings invisible so I can go to swim practice. Tony has his… fire, which you’ve seen. Emily can control metal, and I can make storms and move water.”

Simon: “That’s incredible.”

Me: “I like to think of it as each person controlling an element that represents their personality. Sort of. Like, Tony is really… hotheaded and impulsive and can’t control his temper, so he’s fire. Benny has always been a little secretive, but he’s also really outgoing. Light. Emily is calm and cool, or she is now that she’s insane. She’s metal. I’m… well… I guess I’m a storm.”

Simon: “That could be your codename. Storm.”

Me: “Sounds like a TV show. Codename: Storm.”

Simon laughed. I liked his laugh. It was alto and warm and made me want to laugh with him. When he laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkled.

Simon: “Tell me about your friends.”

Me: “Well I’ve known Emily since sixth grade. She thought that I was an eighth grader who was going to kill her when she bumped into me. Before all… this she was outgoing and funny, and had a glare that would make Mitchell pee his pants. Now… she’s… quieter. Not timid, but quiet. Benny and I dated a few years back, but it didn’t work out. He still flirts with me though. With everyone, really.

Simon: “Do I have to kill him?”

Me: “Trust me, he’s no threat.”

Simon: “Good.”

Me: “I never knew Tony until we woke up in the Dark Room, but I know that he’s a protective older brother and boyfriend.”

Simon: “Who is he dating?”

Me: “Emily.”

Simon: “Your best friend and that douchebag? Yikes.”

Me: “Tell me about it. He called me a whore today.”

Simon: “Shall I kill him?”

Me: “Not directly. He implied it.”

Simon: “Was it during our fight?”

Me: “Ha. We didn’t fight.”

Simon: “Sorry. Correction: was it during our not-fight?”

Me: “Yeah.”

Simon: “You’re not, y’know.”

Me: “Aren’t I, though? Isn’t this sluttish?”

Simon: “You’re dating only one guy, right?”

Me: “Correct.”

Simon: “Then no, Jewel, you’re not a slut.”

Me: “Don’t call me Jewel.”

I said it sternly, but really I was smiling and huddling closer.

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