That struck a nerve. “N-no.”
“Right. Because we— I admit it's very rare, to meet someone like us.” Jesse jammed his hands in his pockets and gave her a crooked grin. “In Pine Ridge, there's a few of us that live there long term.” His face clouded. He would not tell Sophie about the more transient guests who shared their skin tone, the ones who were not welcome in Pine Ridge, and who soon found out if they made the mistake of coming there.
Sophie's mind was whirling. What was this guy telling her? Was he saying that she was part of some secret race of people that maybe her adopted family with her weird genetics and matching skin tone we're hiding out in a small town just a few hours away from where she'd spent her entire life? Who would say that? Even in her head, it sounded too crazy, not to mention creepy.
“Are you saying we're related?” she finally demanded.
Jesse hesitated. “Not exactly. I don't think we're from the same family. I just think we're something that's the same.” He tilted his head as if listening for something. A confused expression crossed his features again. “Or least we're— similar," he concluded.
That drew a bitter laugh from her. “I'm not similar toanyone, believe me. I don't fit in with anyone, I willneverfit in with anyone, anywhere except my own parents.” The next words pushed past her resisting lips, a tsunami wave of words she’d never said aloud to the people she loved beyond anything in this world. “They aren't even myrealparents. They adopted me.” Sophie covered her mouth with her hand, horror and shame in her eyes.
She had never expressed such a thing before. Her parents were alwaysher parentswith a fierce possessiveness. As the bullying grew and her self-confidence fled, her parents unshakingly adored her and supported her. They made her the center of their universe so that she always felt loved andtalented. Even on her worst days, she could have a good time as long as she was with them. She knew that some people sought out their birth parents as teens and adults, but she never had any interest in doing so. Privately, she wondered if her birth parents had taken one look at the freak they had brought into the world and ran. Her adopted parents had taken one look at her and thought, “She completes our rainbow.”
“Adopted? That’s... Okay, that’s cool.” Jesse let the words fall slowly as if he weren’t sure they were the right ones to let out. “Do you know anything about um— the other parents in your life?”
“No.” What was she doing here, still talking to him as the interstate beckoned and the toll roads would bring her closer to the crowds she could immerse herself in? She was a freak and the fact that there was somebody else that looked even remotely like her made her itch to be in his company. Just the sight of him made her want to open up, to ask him questions—to pry into his medical history, for goodness’ sake! But realistically, Sophie had learned the hard way that one occasional glimpse of something could not weigh out the rest of the world's hurtful comments. She didn't have any desire to expose herself to any more hurt. Aside from the fact that Jesse looked somewhat like her and they had a couple of good conversations she didn’t feel like risking any more time or effort.
One way or another, this guy would hurt her, whether it was deliberate pains like her lifelong bullies had inflicted or just a guy being clumsy like Rick from last night.
“I'm going,” Sophie said abruptly, her voice blunt and unemotional. “You might want to move your car.”
Jesse walked slowly back to the driver’s side of his car but didn't get in. “One thing. What do you hear people say?” he questioned.
Her jaw locked, and then the words flew out like bullets from between clenched teeth. “It's amazing what they call me. We're all supposed to be so sensitive, not to offend anyone, to make sure that we respect diversity, but all the comments I hear are about myskinand how I look like I'm dead or diseased. They say it right to my face, right behind my back, loud enough that I can hear them. They don’t care that I'm a person who might have feelings.”Like my parents and their parents. All the words and the slurs. They just keep coming in different shades.Her angry tears spilled over without consent.
Jesse began walking again, but not toward her. His face was softening into something that she could best term as sympathetic and comforting, but yet he was distancing himself from her. Even though she wanted him to leave so she could drive off, it hurt, a physical reminder of the isolation she felt.
He kept walking, until he was far from the striped loading zone, so far that she had to squint to see his mouth moving as he spoke. Sophie stared at him in confusion until—
“Are you sure that you're saying thattoyou? Are you sure that it's not the fact that you have incredible hearing, that you can hear what might be the merest whisper or an almost silent thought?
Sophie's eyes widened. Jesse must have been a good twenty yards away and the thunder overhead had decided to add to the atmosphere by crashing and rattling the world around them.
Jesse’s lips were barely open and his voice was a soft hiss yet she realized she could hear every word as plain as if he were speaking against her ear.
“How are you... How are you doing that?” she demanded angrily, fearful of somehow being made the butt of another joke.
Jesse shook his head, his sharp, stubbled jaw lifted as he disagreed. “I'm not doing it, Sophie. You are. You can hear things that most other human ears wouldn't pick up on.” Hisbrave face suddenly turned into a smile. “I bet that's why you're such a great musician. You're not just hearing the notes from your instrument, you're hearing the notes of every instrument around you, even the vibrations in the air. The melodies and counterpoints and harmonies.... You have a gift.” He bit his lip briefly which she had to admit made him absolutely adorable. “Although sometimes our gifts can look like a curse.”
“Our gifts? Do you have this hearing, too?”
A moment’s hesitation came before his nod. “And eyesight, too. Some other stuff.”
It was like a standoff, only there was no sun, no high noon. The world stayed cold and blustery, and the sky remained dark.
“If you want, I’ll tell you more,” he breathed out an offer.
She could hear it. Maybe she’d been hearing things that were whispered privately, which didn’t make them less annoying but made them less awful, less rude. People wondered about her skin. People wondered about the pale girl who looked like no one else. Yeah, well. She wondered those same things, too. She whispered the same questions to her mirror. If they whispered the words as they processed what they saw, just as she did...? It wasn’t all better, but it was stillbetter.
“Come inside?” she offered, not quite able to look at him. This was letting someone get close to her. It was still a risk, a painful one.
“Thank you.” Jesse beamed and rushed to his car. “I’ll park.”
SOPHIE RETURNED HERcar to its spot and looked at the boxes in the backseat. She refused to unpack, but she did return to her dorm room, allowing Jesse to accompany her.
They were silent until they reached her room. She gestured for him to enter after her before silently shutting the door.
Her mother and father would have fit if they knew that she had a boy alone in her room. If anyone saw him leave at this point, it would appear as though he’d spent the night.
