Reader

“The term is known as Meddling. It is slang for controlling another’s emotions to such an extent that you control their actions.” Master Barrick explained that night. He was sitting in his usual chair, but his book was closed. He looked a little shaken, as though talking about such things was a taboo and at any moment he was expecting to be struck down.

                “Why would someone Meddle with Mrs. Forman?” I asked.

                “Why indeed.” Barrick said more to himself than to me. “I am afraid that someone else has found out about your existence. A new Semien is a momentous occasion, and everyone vies for the position of Master.”

                I blinked. “New? I’m sixteen.”

                Master Barrick smiled. “If only. Flynn, I’m afraid that there are some things you don’t understand, and will be better off not knowing. Ignorance is bliss, if you recall.”

                I shook my head, “But now that you’ve told me, I want to know!”

                “I’m sorry, son.” Barrick said softly. “But there is too much at stake, and I order you as your Master not to ask me for any more information, and to stay away from that woman.”

                 I wilted visibly. As a Semien, I couldn’t refuse to obey my Master. It was built into my psyche somewhere that I owed him a lot, and therefore if he told me to do something expressly, I couldn’t possibly say no. Barrick shook his head at my reaction, and then promptly told me to get to work. I halted though, wanting to tell him of my superior control that day.

                “Master, there is this girl at South Glen…” I began.

                Barrick laughed, cutting me off. “I certainly hope there is a girl there. If not, I would be supremely worried for Mrs. Forman.”

                “No, sir. I’m serious,” I continued, “This girl is new. She came in today; really popular. The kind of girl that would never even look at me; very pretty and has money and…well, she decided that I intrigued her…”

                Barrick leaned forward. “She said that?”

                I nodded. “And all the while she has these massive Greek gods vying for her attention, and she just kept coming toward me, like I’m some sort of prize.”

                “And why, pray tell, are you the prize?” Barrick asked in all seriousness.

                I shrugged. “I have no idea.”

                We paused for a moment before Barrick commented, “You really like this girl.”

                “Of course I do; who wouldn’t?”

                “Your Aura tells me that you like her immensely, my son.” Barrick pointed out.

                I glanced down at my arms. They were covered with a soft chocolate brown. I gaped at it in utter confusion. “No, that didn’t happen all day. I was completely in control. Every time I even thought about her, my Aura was calm.”

                Barrick scratched his temple in contemplation. “So. This is an interesting predicament. Because no matter how hard you try here with me, you cannot control yourself; yet with this girl, you are collected. Perhaps we should have tried attraction sooner.”

                I scoffed, and then blushed. He was right. I was totally and completely infatuated with this girl. I leaned back on my arms thinking about her, my Aura growing even more silky as the thoughts passed. It felt good to let out the emotion.

                Barrick watched me for a while, a small smile on his face. “Enjoy this while you can, Flynn. Truth be told, at this age and time, it may not last.”

                I nodded in understanding. “I know. But it feels good to be noticed for a change.”

                “Just remember the rules.” Barrick advised. “Do not make a spectacle of yourself, especially since that woman is around. Your feelings may do whatever they please in the confines of this house, but outside you must do as you have done today.”

                “Yes, Master.” I agreed. “But don’t you think it’s strange that I’m able to control so well around Braydie?”

                “Braydie; I assume this is your girl’s name,” Barrick nodded, “I think that if you had enough reason, you would automatically revert to your training. This is an emotional enigma to you. You have never loved like this before and so your semi-enlightened mind is taking over, protecting you.”

                I considered it, and it seemed a feasible theory.

                “Now, get to work.” Barrick ordered, “It will be a long day for you tomorrow.”

***

                I didn’t see Braydie until lunch the next day. In fact, I purposely avoided her. I wanted to test out my control; to see if I could turn it on and off as I pleased. Throughout the morning, I would think about Braydie and then check to see if my Aura would turn brown as it had the night before. It didn’t. Perhaps Barrick was right. I didn’t trust the school campus anymore, what with Mrs. Forman running around; and my inner control was taking over when it deemed fit to do so.

                At lunch, I quickly got my tray of Salisbury steak and veggies and headed to my regular table. My excitement was squelched by my infuriating sub-conscience. I didn’t have to wait long before the hoard showed up with Braydie in the front. Again, the number of followers has dwindled to only about a dozen. When her eyes locked on me, Braydie’s Aura brightened and she shooed off her followers as easily as a cat shoos mice. Her tray clacked on the table as she set it down, and then there she was in front of me, right on schedule.

                “So, Mono. What’s up?” She asked.

                I shook my head. “My name’s Flynn.”

                “Whatever.” She said, grinning. “As this is our first date, I’ll ask you some questions, and you answer them.”

                I sipped my milk before responding. “Is this a usual thing to do on dates?”

                She chuckled. “No, but it’s usual for me. I ask questions, you answer them; then you ask and I answer. It’s the simplest way to read people who are unreadable.”

                I supposed I was the unreadable party; and it sounded like a decent suggestion. Anything I didn’t want to tell her I could simply lie about, right? “Okay. Shoot.”

                “What’s your full name?” She asked, slurping up her boiled peas. I watched her for a second, wondering how she was able to stomach the putrid stuff.

                “Flynn P. Barrick.” I responded.

                “What’s P?”

                I skirted. No one was supposed to know my name had been Pearce. “Patrick.”

                “Okay…” She said slowly, thinking the name over in her mind. “Sounds good. What do your parents do?”

                “My Dad owns and operates Aurora Bookstore.” I answered truthfully. Anyone passing by the brownstone would know that. Braydie nodded carefully, as though she were thinking of how a banana split should taste. “Why?”

                “Bookstore, huh?” She replied, “That’s good. Shows he’s not a bum. What about your Mom?”

                I bit my lower lip. “Don’t have one. She skipped out after I was born.”

                “Poor you. No worries though; my parents did the same thing.” Braydie said between gulps of milk. Then she attacked her steak with a vengeance, her Aura a shade of anticipation.

                “I thought you were vegetarian.” I reminded her.

                She smirked. “I was when that oversized chimpanzee was asking me out to sushi. I had to let him down easy. And I think that that counted as one of your questions.”

                “It wasn’t a question.” I insisted, “It was simply a remark.”

                “You talk dorky.” She said, grinning. “I like it.”

                I shook my head and cut into my own steak. After popping a piece into my mouth, I caught her staring at me with an intensity that almost made me want to run and hide. I stared back at her and swallowed. “What?”

                She snapped out of it. “Nothing. I just wanted to test something.”

                “Is it my turn to ask questions?” I asked.

                “Sure. Why not?” She said, her Aura turning tiger orange.

                “Why did you come to South Glen?” I asked.

                She thought about it. “A feeling, I guess. Like this was the place I was supposed to be. What about you?”

                “Coincidence.” I said, “I thought I was asking questions.”

                Braydie grinned. “Carry on.”

                I had to think. “Who are your parents?”

                Her Aura wilted only a fraction. “My real parents are gone. I have a guardian named Archie. He’s like, my Dad’s half-brother or something like that..”

                “Sorry.”

                “It’s okay.”

                The real question on my mind was burning within me, and I took my last swallow of milk before asking it. “Why did you pick me?”

                She shrugged. “Like I said, you intrigue me.”

                I waved my hand, “No, really. If I intrigued you, what was it? I don’t understand why you decided I was the one you wanted to talk to.”

                Braydie pushed her finished tray aside. “Well, first of all, you didn’t flock around me like I was something special; which a lot of people think I am. See, I make money by singing. I used to be a nobody, and then I wrote a song that was a smash hit. I became famous; and you have no idea how annoying being famous is.”

                “So I didn’t know who you were.” I said. “That’s it?”

                “No,” She continued, “Second of all, you’re someone that I can’t read. At all. You’re like a blank slate, even while you’re sitting there, talking to me. That’s never happened before. Usually I read people really well.”

                “So I am oblivious and unreadable. Perfect.” I concluded. I sat back and watched her Aura go into annoyance mode.

                “That’s not all, either.” She said, her voice lowering. Her face was no longer smiling. “You’re really…weird, different; I don’t know. You’re something else, Flynn. Something I’ve never encountered before. You’re more than the others.”

                I narrowed my eyes. “What others? Like the other students or…”

                “No.” She said, her Aura smoothing out into calm blue-gray. “You’re more than just a Reader. You’re more than a Controller. You’re…something else.”

                I suddenly started to panic. I leaned in toward her. “What are you talking about, Braydie.”

                She leaned in as well, her face shrouded for the first time with secrecy; yet her Aura was still calm. She whispered, “I’m talking about us, Flynn. About Semiens.”

                Shock flooded into my system. I stood up so fast that the bench I had been sitting on flew backward into the wall. I felt as though the world were spinning, like my stomach had dropped into my feet; my heart was thudding against my chest. Turquoise shattered my blue calm. I was sure my face was as pale as paper.

                “How do you know about that?” I hissed.

                Braydie stood up carefully. “Because I am one. Just calm down, Flynn…”

                I backed away from her. The rules: Tell no one. Blend in. This was not following the rules. I had been ordered not to tell anyone. Not to stand out. Things started fuzzing along the edges of my vision.

                “Calm down.” Braydie said soothingly. “It’s okay. You’re over reacting.”

                I shook my head, trying to clear it. “I…I have to go home.”

                “Flynn, listen to me: you’re attracting attention.” Braydie hissed, “Sit down!”

                I looked around through my shock and saw that she was right. People were starting to look over at me curiously. Rule number two: Blend in. I calmed myself and sat back down on my bench, visibly shaken. Braydie was mopping up the milk that I had spilled when I had stood up so abruptly. I watched her, criticizing every visible angle of her Aura. It was normal. Everything about it signified that she was just another normal person; albeit a brighter happier one, though now she seemed a tad bit annoyed at my outburst.

                “I don’t understand.” I muttered.

                She balled up her sopping napkins and dumped the soggy mess on her tray. She raised an eyebrow. “Exactly what don’t you understand? The Semien part, or the part where I said…”

                I shushed her. “Are you crazy? You can’t talk about that! Not out here in the open.”

                Braydie folded her arms and gave me a look one might give someone who had said that the air was poisoned. “In the open? Mono, no one knows what we’re talking about. It doesn’t matter.”

                Suddenly I became very angry, “Doesn’t matter, huh? Well, it matters to me.”

                “Calm down.” She said, raising her hands. “Geez, aren’t you the moody one. A couple of minutes ago, I couldn’t get you to flare up even a little.” She leaned in suddenly, “And how are you doing that with your Aura?”

                I glanced down, confused. Shockingly, my Aura has gone back into its normal calm blue, though I was otherwise visibly freaked out. It was more than a little frightening; I looked back at Braydie. She had been the only constant to my Aura acting so out of the ordinary. What was it about her that did this? No doubt, I still had a crush on her, but now that she knew that I was a Semien...

                “I take it that it hasn’t done that before.” She said, judging from the look upon my face.

                I fell into repose. Suddenly I didn’t want her even hinting at my mood. I wanted Barrick. I needed him; to tell me what was going on, and why it had to be her who was the only other Semien besides me and Barrick that I had ever met. But Barrick wasn’t here.

                “Where did you come from?” I settled on asking.

                “Michigan.” She said, leaning her chin on her fist. “Why? Been there lately?”

                “This isn’t funny,” I told her in all seriousness, “I’ve never met another…person like me.”

                Braydie laughed. “Of course not, Mono. We’re rare. Young Semiens almost never survive childhood; we get fought over, you see.”

                I shook my head. “No, I don’t see.”

                Her Aura went pale pink. “Oh. You don’t know. What, don’t you have a Master?”

                “Of course I do.” I glared.

                “Then he should have told you about all of this…” Braydie began.

                My annoyance reached sky-high levels. I got up again, this time in a controlled manner. I wanted desperately to sit and ask her some more questions, but Barrick’s orders would have had to g unheeded, and that was not something I was prepared to do. Without a word, I picked up my tray and left the cafeteria, not looking back once.

                All my thoughts screamed at me as I made my way out of the school and into the parking lot. This was totally impossible. The chances of the school’s new hottest girl being a Semien should have been a gazillion to one. More than that, even; the fact she was a famous singer increased the odds dramatically.

                I groaned and kicked an old soft drink cup. What little soda had remained inside splattered anf fizzled out like my control. My Aura swept around me in a sickening diarrhea color. I felt my stomach constrict, like I was about to vomit. I needed Barrick. I needed him now.

                The journey from South Glen to Aurora Bookstore entailed a two block walk to the subway station, and after five stops, another block of walking. I barely made it into the store when I vomited onto the hardwood flooring. An older woman who had been looking at the new book cart shrieked and jumped away. The shriek and the sound of my retching were enough to bring Barrick running to the front.

                “Mrs. Jenson, what is the matt…Flynn?” Barrick took in the scene with worry, grabbing a trashcan as he approached. He leaned over my pile of freshly re-hashed lunch, and steadied me over the can.

                “He just barged in and began to throw up all over the place, Marcus!” The woman huffed. A couple of other customers who had been hiding in the stacks were peering out at the action, careful to stay a safe distance away.

                Barrick waved the woman off. “I apologize, madam. I’m sure there is a good reason. Are you all right, son?”

                I gasped, shaking from the remaining shock, tears running down my face. “She…she’s not what I thought she was…”

                Mrs. Jenson rolled her eyes. “Girl trouble; I should have known. Leave it to a man to handle rejection in just such a way.”

                Barrick ignored her, his worried eyes focused on me. He could tell that this was something much more important than just basic everyday troubles. I glanced at the people in the store and shut my mouth. He understood; with a firm hand, her got me to my feet and into the backroom. After he assured the customers that everything was fine and he would be back momentarily to clean up my mess, he turned to me expectantly.

                “It’s Braydie,” I choked out, “You know the girl I told you about last night…”

                He nodded, remembering.

                I felt queasy again. “She’s one of us.”

Reviews

[Rose of Gondor]

Please, please, please, please, please get this published!!!! I don't care what the editor says and if he/she says it's not good enough I will scream and die of sadness!!! GET THIS PUBLISHED SO I CAN BUY IT!!!!

[Jasmine Thousand]

This is AMAZING!!! *send it to the publisher!*
~Jasmine Thousand~