Empathy

Chapter Fifteen

The weeks passed by in a blur, so quickly that I couldn't keep track of the days. The temperature slowly warmed up, winter turning into early spring as December turned into March. Grass started to show through the white and brown snow, although dead, but grass was grass and there was hope for the season to come.

Aiden was nothing but a gentleman to me since we started going out in December. On Christmas Day, he sent me a necklace through the mail that was sterling silver, the pendant a cursive M for my first initial. It was a very sweet gift, very Aiden, but Aiden knew that I would never take off my dad's ring from my neck line for as long as I lived.

I hadn't seen much of Peri since the beginning of junior year. She would often tell Luna and I that she was far too busy to hang out with us. To make matters worse, I also didn't see Gemma as much. Not that I cared that much, but she was still my sister. I had a right to see her and wonder where she went sometimes.

"So, how are you and Lover Boy doing these days?" Luna asked me as I sat in the passenger side of her Kia. "You look super cute this morning," she commented, taking in my appearance, completely changing the subject. I looked down at my clothing.

I wasn't wearing anything special today, but I did manage to make a little effort in my appearance. My hair was extra curly today, with a little braid in the middle of my hair in the back. I had on mascara, applied with the help of my mother. I was wearing a graphic T-shirt that wasn't super baggy like it normally would be and skin tight jeans that left nothing to the imagination. Looking up from myself, I glanced over at Luna. "Thanks," I spoke. "I really did try to put some effort into what I looked like."

"Why would you do that? You never did that before. Aiden has liked you since basically the beginning of time without you going all supermodel on us. What changed?" she asked, driving down the neighborhood roads to get to school.

I shrugged. "I don't really know. I just thought that I would spice some things up. I mean, you only live once," I told her.

"Ah," Luna said, her mouth opening up wide in realization. "I see." She never finished the rest of her thought, just simply let it hang there for me to fill in the silence.

"What are you thinking, Lu?" I asked her as she made a right onto the street to our school.

She just shrugged, her grip on the steering wheel tightening. "Nothing, just thinking about whatever pops in my mind."

"Like what?" I pressed.

"Oh, you know, if you're just changing to impress Aiden and his popular friends."

Luna drove her Kia into the student parking lot, finding a spot to park nearest to the school entrance. I gawked at her. "Luna, I'm not trying to impress anyone. I'm just trying to be happy."

In the months that I've had my Empathy, I have found out how to control it. Or let it control me, I haven't decided which one it was yet. I discovered that the more feelings I absorb from people, I feel their emotions as my own. I actually quite liked having artificial emotions, it made me feel human, less broken inside.

Less like a failure and a mistake that should never have walked this earth.

I could feel her despair over Aiden and I. She thought that she losing me just like we were losing Peri. Luna would never admit it, but I knew her too well. I knew exactly what she was thinking despite not being able to read minds. I found that people were a lot more truthful with their emotions that anything else in the world. It wasn't just the physical tells that I could see, but it was so much more.

"Luna," I said, placing my hand on her knee. "It's fine. Nothing is changing, nothing had changed." Lies, but I wasn't going to tell her. Not anytime soon was I ever going to tell anyone, family, friends, or boyfriend, about my ability. It would be so hard to explain. I can't even explain it to myself, so how would I be able to ever explain to another human being?