Minds: Book One

Chapter One

        English has always been my favorite subject, mostly because all of my English teachers have had interesting thoughts. I have learned more about people in my life than they would probably like me to know. But I mean, when you have the ability to read people’s minds you learn a lot about someone. The girl that sits in front of me during math secretly collects realistic looking baby dolls and sometimes when she is home alone she pretends that she is pregnant and plays house, the boy that sits behind me in science has a crush on our fifty year old librarian, and my government teacher has twenty-five cats. My mom can do it too, or could do it all the way up until she died when I was eight.
        As I walk to my usual spot in the back of the cafeteria with my bagged lunch I see my best and only friend waiting for me.
        “Hey Isaac,” River barley looks up from his sandwich when I sit down at the table.
        “Hey.” I look up at River as he is eating his sandwich. He was thinking about asking Corrine Magonie to prom.
        “Why don’t you just go ask her already,” River’s eyes shoot up to mine.
        “Would you stop doing that?” He rolls his eyes and continues, “Stay out of my head. Plus, I have zero chance with a girl like Corrine.” He's probably right, but I don't want to agree with him since that would hurt his feelings. I look over my shoulder at Corrine. She is thinking about going shopping after school with her dad’s credit card. That doesn't surprise me. I roll my eyes and look back at River.
        “What is she thinking about?” At the same time River and I say “Shopping.” River laughs to himself and shrugs his shoulders.

        When lunch is over I have Senior English which is my last class of the day. When I walk in  go straight to my seat in the back. After a couple minutes everyone is in their seats and Mr. Peterson starts talking about Hamlet I'm not really paying attention until someone walks in through door. She is short and has long, straight, golden blonde hair that cascads down to her thin waist. When she faces the class she has perfect skin with piercing green eyes.
        “Well it looks like we have a new student joining us, everyone welcome Alice Gray.” She flashes a smile that shows off her perfectly straight white teeth.
        “You can go have a seat in front of Mr. Rollins.” Mr. Peterson points to the empty seat in front of me. Alice doesn't just walk to her seat, she almost glides to it. I try to read her mind but when I try a voice pops into mine.
        Don’t even try to get into my head. It scares me so much that I nearly jump out of my seat. Did she just talk to me in my head? Alice winks at me before she sits down. Yep, she definitely just did. I try to talk back to her but I don't know how. Instead, I try to read her mind again. This time I can. She is thinking about how blue my eyes are.
        I thought I already told you to not to get in my head Isaac. How does she know my name? I close my eyes and try to talk back to her. Still nothing.
        Hey don’t strain yourself, not all of us know how to do it. Just then I fell slight pressure on my head like she is searching my thoughts. She turns around and flashes me her perfect smile again. Mr. Peterson continues to talk about Hamlet until the bell finally rings. Alice gathers her stuff back into her bag and slings it over her shoulder. She turns to look down at me. I realiz I have not stood up yet. She raises her eyebrows at me.
        “Will you give me ride home?” she asks.  I quickly stand up and grab my books.
        “Uh, yeah,” I say with a shaky voice. She smiles and spins around on her heels. I follow her out of the classroom and down the hallway. She is at least a foot shorter than I am. She starts to walk away from the student parking lot.
        “Um Alice, my car is this way.” She whips around to look at me and follows me towards my car. I open the passenger door for her and she slightly touches my arm before sliding in. When I get into the front seat I hesitate on starting the car.
        “How did you know that I was trying to read your mind?” I ask as I look over at her. Her eyes meet mine and she says,
        “Because I can sense when people are trying to read my mind.”
        “But how did you speak to me?” She laughs a little.
        I just stare at Alice unsure of what to say. She raises her eyebrows and says, “What?” I just shrug my shoulders and start the car. When I'm  pulling out of the parking spot I notice that Alice is still looking at me. She looks so beautiful with the sun shining directly on her hair.
        “You think I look beautiful?” I look over at her shocked by her comment. She laughs and adds, “I can read your mind remember?” I can feel my face getting red.
        “Oh yeah.” I glance over at her and she is just looking out the window. She is thinking about kissing me. I suddenly turn my attention back to the road as she laughs a little. My hands tighten at the wheel. I try to concentrate on the road in front of me, but then I realize how she smells like vanilla and coconut. Shaking my head I try to concentrate on the cars around me, but I can hear the small breaths she is taking. Taking a deep breath I turn up the volume on the radio and try to concentrate on the task at hand once more. I still can't. The beautiful girl that is sitting not even two feet away from me is still thinking about kissing me. I pull over to the side of the road and close my eyes.
        “I make you nervous, don’t I?” My eyes met her breath-taking green eyes, but she already knows the answer to that question. She just smiles at me.
        “Isaac, you are in danger.”