Mind Reader - β

Chapter 6 - That Girl

I returned to my refuge under the comforter.

'Why can't he understand? This is a matter of life and death! I'm his only son, okay? Can't he trust me once in his life?'

Once again, I grumbled and despaired at my situation. My only comfort was the darkness under the sheets. Here, I was safe. Well, not really considering what I learned today. But it was still safer than outside of it. Some more time passed with me being depressed. Right now, I was by far the unluckiest person on the planet, no doubt about it.

'It's all those guys' fault! Why did they have to appear in my class? Like that psycho! And that freak! And that... whatever the hell it is! And that one too! And even that girl...'

'...'

'Ah...'

'That girl.'

My brain received a new shock of a completely different type. I left the comfort of my hiding place to sit on the bed.

'That girl...'

If I was the unluckiest person on the planet, then what about her? I knew about her. Everything.

Her situation couldn't even be compared to mine. She was far, very far, less lucky than me. If my luck was 0 due to my current terrible situation, hers would be around -100. No, luck was an insult to what she had gone through. She had seen and experienced the worst of the worst.

And the problem was... I was the only one who knew about it. No, even that wasn't completely true. But that didn't matter. If left alone, that girl would most probably die soon.

What should I do? Should I let her die when I could easily save her? Any normal person would answer no to this question. The only problem was that she was probably still at school. And I didn't want to go back there.

'Ugh, what now. It's late, right? All those freaks probably left already. There should be no risk... perhaps. Come on, Wren. You know the risk is more global than immediate anyway.'

And that was true. If not, would everyone in class have been sitting and listening to the teacher naturally? Well, naturally was perhaps an exaggeration, but at least most of them had no intention to initiate a bloody massacre in class. For the very immediate future.

Some more time passed and I tried to convince myself. In the end, knowing that the girl's situation was very unstable forced me to move. She could be dead by tomorrow, or even in the next hour, for what I knew.

I exited my room and checked the circumstances in the apartment. Elodie was in her room, my father was still on the sofa, and my mother was preparing dinner in the kitchen. I decided to simply leave the place. Indifference applied both ways, after all. No one would care if I left home at this time of the day. My sister would immediately be stopped by my parents if she tried to do this but I was free to move as I wished. Both my mother and father noticed me leaving the apartment but neither said anything about it.

I headed back to school, still very unwillingly. It was hard to forget what I learned just a few hours ago. That girl should be grateful to me for doing this for her.

'Not really. If anything, I should apologize to her in humanity's name. Poor girl.'

I wasn't someone to be empathetic with or pity others that much and I believed most people were the same. I had "read" a lot of folks' memories and people's normal tragedies felt bad, but that was it. However, that girl's past was just on another level.

After a while, I was in front of the school. I hesitated once more but there was no point in delaying this any further. I entered the premises.

It was late afternoon and school wasn't closed yet. One of the good things about being in high school compared to middle school was that entry was free for students. One could enter and leave school as one wished. All consequences of attending or missing classes would be on the student and not on the school.

The building was quite deserted at this time of the day. A minute later, I was in front of my classroom. I took a deep breath to calm myself down. My power told me it was safe but I couldn't help trembling internally. When I was ready, I crossed the threshold and looked inside.

There she was, sitting on her seat as if she hadn't moved all day. She was surprised to see me and stared at me warily. I had to be prudent here. The last thing I wanted was for her to take me for someone suspicious.

("He's... the crazy boy who ran away while shouting something incomprehensible in the morning.")

'Alright, let's forget about not being suspicious and look at things positively. She does remember me. Great.'

I entered the room completely and went to sit as far away from her as possible. I didn't want her to feel threatened in any way. I then watched her from that position. She was mostly expressionless except for the small amount of wariness she exerted toward me. Even this was only shown as a very slight frown, almost unnoticeable. I boosted my courage before starting the conversation.

'Okay, I can do this.'

"Hi. I'm Wren. I'm the one who was sitting next to you in the morning."

She looked at me without saying or thinking anything. I deliberately didn't talk anymore, waiting for the right opportunity. However, no matter how long I waited, it never came.

"I, uh, actually, I would like to offer my help."

Her frown deepened.

("I shouldn't trust people who say that.")

'I know why she reacts like this but what else can I say? It's the truth, after all.'

Some more time passed and I was left with no other choice than to just go for it.

"Listen. First, let me tell you I'm not responsible for your current situation. But I do happen to know a little bit about it. Everything must feel very foreign, right?"

Her wariness level reached a maximum and transformed into anger.