“Wow.” She perked up and bounced off the bed. “What color is my aura?” she asked, kneeling at my feet.
I laughed. “Your aura is orange.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re energetic, fun, kind… creative.”
She cocked a brow. “So you walk around seeing all these colors floating above people’s heads?”
I laughed. “No… I just see a brief glimpse of color when I first meet someone,” I explained.
She grabbed a bag of Cheetos from her night table. “And what’s yours?”
“Mine?!” I was at a loss for a second. No one had ever asked me that. “I don’t know. I can’t see my own aura. I wish I could.”
“Bummer. Maybe you’re orange, too.” She hopped back on her bed. “That’s so cool that you’re aReader. There aren’t too many kids here who areReaders. You probably have mad skills, girl.”
I laughed again. “I don’t know about that…”
“Leo’s the only one I know who’s aReader. The guy is cocky as shit but he’s got some mad skills… he’s also aShifter.”
“A what?”
She smiled wide. “I keep forgetting… you’re so new. It’s not what you think… he doesn’t turn into a werewolf or anything like that. AShifteris someone who can manipulate objects or elements,” she explained. “He has telekinetic powers. Kind of like Carrie, you know the book by Stephen King?!” She laughed. “Only he’s not crazy.”
I was impressed. I wanted to know more. “Like how?! What does he do?”
“Well, he’s kick-ass at pyrokinesis, for one thing.”
I laughed. “English please?”
She bounced off the bed, full of energy. “He can manipulate fire. He’s kind of amazing actually.”
My heart skipped a beat then. Wow. These kids had some amazing abilities, and I was sure I would fade in comparison. “I’d love to see that.”
She offered me a Cheeto, but I was way too excited to eat anything. “Don’t worry,” she said. “You’ll see it. Leo is a total show-off. A lot of the guys here are actually.”
I wondered about ‘the guys here’. I was sure they’d be a far cry from the boys I knew back home. I was hoping they’d be much more interesting. But I didn’t get too excited because I was sure they’d ignore me, too.
But then again, maybe here, boys won’t think I’m a total weirdo.
She sat cross legged on her bed, digging into her bag of Cheetos, surrounded by polka-dots and pinks, the tips of her dark pig tails a bright red. I smiled knowing that she and I would be great friends. Sometimes you just know these things. “So what’s your thing?” I asked, curious. “You said you were aHealer?”
She smiled wide. “Yep… it’s what I do.”
“So… you can heal people, like how?” I asked, confused.
She twirled one of her pig tails. “If you sprain your ankle, come to me,” she said. “You have a headache… period cramps…” Her face broke into a huge smile. “I’m actually pretty popular around here. I’m also pretty good with heartbreaks, so if one of these boys breaks your heart, I’ll be here for you, girl.”
I laughed. “Wow… that’s pretty convenient,” I joked. “I just need to fall in love first, I guess.”
She popped a Cheeto in her mouth. “Actually, it’s best to avoid the whole thing… if you can.”
I got the feeling that she’d been burned once or twice. “Actually, I have. I can usually read boys’ thoughts and they’re all idiots.”
She cracked up then.
I’d never been in love so I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have your heart broken, but I still couldn’t forget how my mom was when my dad disappeared. I didn’t know much but I knew that this heartbreak stuff is no joke.
