The What Ifs (A KotLC Fanfiction)

One

(A/N: After a week of working, I finally made this chapter. Thank you tam_loves_biana for the help and basic plot outline! The italic text is straight from the first book. All rights go to Shannon Messenger)

tam_loves_biana

Across the museum, Sophie caught sight of  a tall dark-haired boy , reading yesterday's newspaper with the embarrassing black-and-white photo of her on the front. Then he looked up and stared straight at her.

She'd never seen eyes that particular shade of blue before, teal, like the smooth pieces of sea glass she'd found on the beach-and they were also so bright ,they glittered. Something flickered across his expression when he caught her gaze. Disappointment?

Before she could decide what to make of it, he shrugged off the display he'd been leaning against and closed the distance between them.

The smile he flashed belonged on a movie screen, and Sophie's heart heart did a weird fluttery thing.

"Is this you?" he asked, pointing at the picture.

Sophie nodded feeling tongue-tied. He was probably fifteen, and by far the cutest boy she'd ever seen. So way was he talking to her?

"I thought so." He squinted at the picture, then back at her. "I didn't relize your eyes were brown."

"Uh...yeah," she said, not sure what to say. "Why?"

He shrugged. "No reason."

Something felt off about the conversation, but she couldn't place his accent. Kind of British, abut different somehow. Crisper? Which bothered her-but she didn't know why.

"Are you in this class?" she asked, wishing she could suck the words back as soon as they left her mouth. Of course he wasn't in her class. She'd never seen the boy before. She wasn't used talking to boys-especially cute boys- and it made her brain a little mushy.

His perfect smile returned as he told her, "No."  Then he pointed to the hulking greenish figure they were standing in front of. An Albertosaurus, in all its giant, lizardesque glory. "Tell me something. Do you really think that's what they looked like? It's a little absurd, isn't it?

"Not really," Sophie said, trying to see what he saw. It looked like a small T. rex: big mouth, sharp teeth, ridiculously short arms. Seemed fine to her. "Why? What do you think they looked like?"

He laughed, "Never mind. I'll let you get back to your class. It was nice to meet you Sophie."

He turned to leave just as two classes of kindergartners barreled into the fossil exhibit. The crushing wave of screaming voices was enough to knock Sophie back a step. But their mental voices were a whole other realm of pain.

Kids' thoughts were stinging, high-pitched needles-and so many at once was like an angry porcupine attacking her brain. Sophie closed her eyes as her hands darted to her head, rubbing her temples to ease the stabbing in her skull. Then she remembered she wasn't alone.

She glanced around to see if anyone noticed her reaction and locked eyes with the boy. His hands were at his forehead, and his face wore the same pained expression she imagined she'd had only a few seconds before.

"Did you just...hear that?" he asked, his voiced hushed.

She felt the blood drain from her face.

He couldn't mean...

It had to be the screaming kids. They created plenty of racket on their own. Shrieks and squeals and giggles, plus sixty  or so voices chattering away.

Voices.

She gasped and took another step back as her brain solved her earlier problem.

She could hear the thoughts of everyone in the room. But she couldn't hear the boy's distinct, accented voice unless he was speaking.

His mind was completely silent.

She didn't know that was possible.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

His eyes widened. "You did-didn't you?" He moved closer. leaning into whisper. "Are you a Telepath?"

She flinched. The word made her skin itch.

And her reaction gave her away.

"You are! I can't believe it," he whispered

Sophie backed towards the exit. She wasn't about to reveal her secret to a total stranger.

"It's okay," he said, holding out his hands as he was moved closer, like she was some kind of wild animal he was trying to calm. "You don't have to be afraid. I'm one too."

Sophie froze.

"My name's Fitz," he added, stepping closer still.

Fitz? What kind of name was Fitz?

She studied his face, searching for some kind of sign that this was all part of a joke.

"I'm not joking," he said, like he knew exactly what she was thinking.

Maybe he did.

She wobbled on her feet.

She'd spent the past seven years wishing she could find someone else like her-someone who could do what she could. Now that she'd found him, she felt like the world had tilted sideways.

He grabbed her arms to steady her. "It's okay, Sophie. I'm here to help you. We've been looking for you for twelve years.

Twelve years? And what did he mean by "we"?

Better question: What did he want want with her?

The walls closed in and the walls started to spin.

Air.

She needed air.

She jerked away and bolted through the door, stumbling as her shaky legs found their rythem.

She sucked in giant breaths as she ran down the stairs in front of the museum. The smoke from the wildfires burned her face, but she ignored them. She wanted to get as much space between her and the strange boy as possible.

"Sophie, come back!" Fitz shouted behind her.

She picked up her pace she raced through the courtyard at the base of the steps, past the wide fountain and over the grassy knolls to the sidewalk. No one got in her way-everyone was inside because of the poor air quality. But she could still hear his footsteps gaining on her.

"Wait," Fitz called. "You don't have to be afraid."

She ignored him, pouring all her energy into her sprint and fighting the urge to glance over her shoulder to see how far back he was. She made in halfway through a crosswalk before the sound pf screeching tires reminded her that she hadn't looked both ways.

Her head turned and she locked eyes with a terrified driver struggling to stop his car before it plowed right over her.

She was going to die.

The next second was a blur.

The car swerved right-missing Sophie by inches-then jumped he curb and sideswiped a streetlight. The heavy steel lantern cracked from its place and plummeted towards Sophie.

That was the last thing she saw before the world went dark.

(A/N: So this is the first chapter. Again everything in italics is straight from the book. The last sentence I wrote. Again I would like to thank tam_loves_biana for helping me with the plot. You should check her out. Her KotLC fanfictions are awesome. I'll hopefully have the next chapter out soon.)