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The boywinksand then turns around to face the front of the room. I just look at the back of his head with my jaw open. I have no idea what to say, but thankfully I don’t have to say anything. The teacher begins the lesson.
I’ve never, in my life, had anybody that I couldn’t read, other than my dad. And I grew up in New York City. There was an abundance of people around me—it’s the reason I was so sick all the time. But in the seventeen, almost eighteen, years I’ve been alive, there hasn’t been a single person that I can recall coming across that I couldn’t read. And now, I suddenly come to this small town in the middle of nowhere Montana and there are ten people in this classroom alone that I can’t read. And there was Will, who I met during first period. How many more people will I not be able to read?
There is something strange about this town.
For a moment, I wonder if I could possibly make friends here. If there are people I can’t read, I would be normal to them. But I quickly shake off the thought. Who wants to be friends with a freak? Even if I couldn’t read them, I can read a lot of kids in this school. What happens the first time I accidentally answer somebody’s thought out loud? It hasn’t happened in a few months, but it could happen. Easily.
It’s hard to distinguish somebody’s voice from their thoughts. They sound identical. And if somebody has their back turned to me, I can’t tell.
Blaine keeps looking at her. And Parker. Of course she would capture the attention of two of the nefarious three. She’s gorgeous.
I turn my head and see a girl looking right at me. She has a frown on her lips.
The girl is pretty, there is no doubt about that.
Why does she think I’m pretty? There isn’t anything special about me—not at all. If anything, I’m too thin because of my illness. Sometimes it’s hard to keep anything down. And my skin is pale—mostly from staying inside way too much. If I could avoid leaving our penthouse, I did. I’ve never seen myself as pretty, yet I’ve heard multiple people call me that in their heads.
At the end of class, the boy in front of me turns around to face me.
“Hey, Vixen. Want me to walk you to your next class?”
“No thanks,” I mumble, gathering my things.
His smile only widens at my rejection. “I’m Blaine Denton.”
“I’m Henley. Please refrain from calling me anything but that.” I sling my backpack over my shoulder and head toward the exit.
Blaine chases after me. “Ah, but Vixen is so much better, don’t you think?” He grabs onto my arm, halting my steps. “Listen, we should hang out sometime.”
I sigh, looking up at him. “I’m truly not interested. But I can promise you that any other girl in this school would say yes to you. There is this redheaded girl in my biology class that spent the entire period thinking about you. To be honest, it made me nauseous.”
It’ll probably be even worse now that I have a face for the name. A lot of girls think about Blaine.
He blinks. “What?”
Realizing my blunder, I simply nod at him and walk past. He doesn’t follow, probably confused by what I said.
Maybe it’s best for him to know I’m a freak right off. Maybe he’ll tell the whole school and nobody will talk to me. That’s about the only way I am going to survive this place—if everybody leaves me alone.
When I walk into my next classroom, I spot Parker sitting in the back once again. I didn’t see him all morning and now suddenly he’s in all of my classes. My heart races, but I try to brush it off as I walk toward the teacher. She points, telling me where to sit.
Right in front of Parker.
And beside…
“Will.” I nod at him as I sit down.
He simply glares back.
I like him, even if he doesn’t like me. Anybody who is quiet, I like. Being around him is nice.
Maybe not as nice as Parker though.
Parker… just thinking his name makes my heart skip a beat. Something about him… he blocks out all the noise. It’s so blissfully quiet around him.
I sigh at the quiet, pulling out my book.
I’m still hit with thoughts of others, but it’s not so loud.
