Kimmi

A Troubling Childhood

I was always different, but I didn't always know that. I grew up in Miss Ellingber's Orphanage until I was adopted by my parents. It took a while for me to adjust, but once I was ready, I entered middle school. I was eight or nine years old, but I looked much smaller than the other girls my age. This unfortunate trait, coupled with my quiet nature, made me subject to bullying. People would think that they could boss me around just because I was smaller than them, they were wrong. I was determined not to be taken advantage of or made fun of. But one day, this girl, her name was Louisa, went too far. She teased me all that day, getting more and more annoying, whispering around me, pushing my stuff off my desk, and trying to trip me in the halls. During recess she decided to push the boundaries and pull on my hair, already on the edge I pushed her with a lot of force for my stature, but as I watched her friends crowd around her on the floor I heard something. It was Louisa's voice saying, "I need to put that quiet weirdo in her place." I felt light headed watching her stand back up so I heavily ran to our playground's gazebo, there I emptied out my sorrows and sulked. I was only there for about two minutes when a boy I recognized entered. His name was Scott. When Scott reached my wooden hideaway, he made me feel better. After I noticed him staring at me and my tear covered face, I reluctantly told him in between sobs what had happened that day with Louisa. Scott told me that from now on I should just be myself and everything would be fine, and with that, he left. I loved him, and to this day, I still do. Now I'm entering high school, and now, I know what that voice was. When I touched her, I could 'hear' what Louisa thought about me in her own words. I know this now because it happened again, a lot actually, but now I can control it. I can touch someone without knowing if they like me or not if I please, or I could find out there and then. Among the numerous occasions of these instances one of them always comes to mind when I think about my skill. About a year or two after my conversation with Scott, a girl named Sarah transferred to my school. She was a relatively pretty girl, with medium length auburn hair that looked pretty next to the autumn scenery, and crisp blue eyes that were piercing enough to poke a hole through any lie. She was especially charming compared to my dull, dark eyes that matched my equally dull and dark hair, but nonetheless we soon became friends. At this point in time, I could relatively control my ability, only using it if I questioned someone's intentions, or if I was extremely upset or nervous, and although sometimes it was extremely tempting, I never used my ability on Sarah. I just could never justify using it one someone who was so sweet to me, in my mind her behavior did not merit any suspicion. You already know how this is going to play out, so I guess there is no use in stalling. Early, on a cool November day, I saw her speaking to Emily, a girl who was very close to Louisa, a girl who I thought that Sarah and I both despised. It made me feel a bit uneasy when I saw them laughing together, a feeling kind of like I wasn't supposed to be there, like I was intruding in their conversation. As I got closer, I made eye-contact with Emily, and watched as she whispered something to Sarah, to which Sarah, with a surprised look on her face, turned to look at me, then back to Emily. Once I finally reached their suspicious-looking huddle, I witnessed Sarah say, "And don't talk to me ever again! Come on Kimmi, let's go!" As she turned on her heel towards me, Sarah grabbed my hand and began walking towards the rest of our class. In that moment, I could have heard what she thought of me, but once more I decided against it. She was still my best friend no matter how suspicious that was, and also, from what I heard, it sounded like she may have been defending me, so I really had nothing to worry about. Thinking back, I wonder if a part of me knew that Sarah maybe didn't enjoy my presence as much as I did hers, but I never would have predicted her true intentions.