Synectica

Chapter 7

        Netta spent the night at the Stev's house and in the morning Ella's sister, Dana, drove them to school. Netta thought it might have all been a dream when she woke up that morning, but when she saw Ella, everything came back. At school she said goodbye to Ella as she went off to her first period chem class. All she could think about were all of her questions for her new friends. Like, had they known for a while that she was "one of them"? Had they seen her that night when she had attacked Greg? But they seemed surprised when she told them about it. Netta couldn't sort through it all.

        Fourth period came around and Netta went off to Spanish class. When she walked in and sat down, she as shocked to find that both James and Ryan were sitting in desks as well.

        "I guess I never noticed them before." She thought.

        "Gee thanks Netta," said Ryan.

        "Do you seriously always do this? It's getting annoying." She said back.

        "I can only have conversations with my little brother, Peter - he's a Cistan so he has telepathy too. I just annoy everyone else by making side comments on their personal thoughts. But we can't hear thoughts and talk to someone telepathically simultaneously."

        "Huh. I guess telepathy reduces the need for passing notes."

        "Yeah pretty much. I talk to James sometimes when I get really bored, but somehow he's figured out how to muffle me in his head. It's quite aggravating really."

        "Maybe cuz he doesn't like constant yapping in his ear."

        "Who? Me? Nah..."

        Ryan smirked at her and she rolled her eyes sarcastically. The teacher held up her hand and called for class to start.

        "Prestar atención por favor!" She said with far too much enthusiasm. "We will be having a field trip en la semana proxima - next week. Please turn in your permission slips as soon as possible. We will be visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art to observe classical Hispanic art."

        "That should be interesting," Ryan said sarcastically in her head.

        "Meh, a day off from school is good enough for me. Plus the MET is really interesting. We could probably slip away from the group and wander around for a while."

        "Yeah, I'll bet we could. And what's with her calling it the "Metropolitan Museum of Art"?" he said with a funny voice inflection that made Netta chuckle softly to herself. James looked at her suspiciously and then looked at Ryan and mouthed something menacing.

        "Uh oh. We have incurred the wrath of James," said Ryan cynically in her head. He looked over at her with a mischievous smile and they both stifled a laugh. Netta listened to what James was thinking.

        "Those morons are going to get caught. Why can't Ryan keep to himself....Netta, if that's you, go mind your own business."

        Netta looked back down at her desk quite aghast that he could detect her listening. But then, if Ryan bugged him as much as he claimed to, then he would probably be used to the feeling of having someone watching him; or listening to him in this case.

        Spanish proved to be much more amusing hearing Ryan's side comments. He seemed to enjoy talking to someone who could actually respond besides his brother. It was so amazing to Netta. She could have a complete conversation with someone without looking at them and without physically speaking to them. James continued to look at her with very aggravated glances throughout class. She was too afraid to listen to his thoughts again. He seemed like the kind of person she did not want as an enemy.