Miss Quick

Chapter Eight

"That's the thing I like about it," Laurie continued, undaunted. "And one thing I don't like is that my ability won't work when it's foggy or when I can't see the stars." She sat back down.  

People made their way down the rows and introduced themselves in the same way. Some reluctantly, a few eagerly, and Becca so quietly I could hardly hear. Out if the people that went, some memorable ones were a pale girl named Sadie who could "ghost" or walk through walls and solid objects, and the jock next to Evelyn who had X-ray vision and claimed that one thing he didn't like about it was when he "accidentally" saw a girl's underwear through her clothes. I almost asked to change to a new seat for both of us.

Then my turn came. I stood up and said "Hi, my name's Ariah Velox, but I go by Ari." Why did I say hi? No one else had said hi! I cleared my throat and continued. "My ability is speed, and one thing I like about it is running faster than a car." Some of the class had been talking but they instantly got quiet. I drew my lip into my mouth, had I said something wrong? Why was everyone staring at me?

"Um..." I struggled to remember the thing I didn't like. "One thing I don't like...is, uh, Mr. Pulcher didn't let me join the track team." The class remained silent.

Mrs. Newman said nothing, so I sat back down. A few seconds later, Evelyn saved me by standing up and introducing herself. The class seemed to snap out of it.

"My name's Evelyn Pulcher, and my ability is speaking in any language. Something I like is that I can talk to my dog, and something I don't like is, when I go to the nail salon, the Vietnamese people make fun of me and I can tell what they're saying."

Some people giggled. Evi sat back down.

By the time everyone was finished, the bell rang. "That was boring," Evelyn sighed.

"Why did the class get so quiet when I said what my ability is?"

"Oh yeah."

I waited for her to say something else, but she didn't.

"Did I do something wrong? Did I suddenly become possessed up there or something?"

"Ari!"

"What? Is there something I should know?"

She sighed. "It's really nothing."

"Then tell me!" I practically yelled.

"Okay! Okay!" She sighed. "I didn't tell you that day in the woods, but some abilities are...more rare than others. Like speed. I was really surprised when I saw you in the woods, but when I learned what it really was, I was even more. Speed is a rare ability because it's so-" she trailed off.

"How can I explain this? It's so old, basically. If you read the history of people with abilities, it's one of the first ones. A lot of times abilities evolve with generations, and to see one like that that's so archaic.."

"Archaic?!" I cried.

"No! Not like that. I mean, sort of pure and powerful. It's just rare, basically."

"Oh."

We walked on to history, I stayed quietly cranky and nervous. Even among these people, was I going to be an outcast? It just wasn't fair!

In history I saw a lot of familiar faces, but it didn't cheer me up like it probably should. Evelyn pulled me over to sit by Josh, and Chaste sat by us as well so we made a square. I also saw Tara, Becca, and (to my dismay) Carlos. He wasn't glaring at me now, but I figured it was because he hasn't noticed me yet.

"Looks like everybody knows everybody," Evelyn said matter-of-factly to the square. "Except me. Hi, I'm Evelyn." This introduction was to Chaste. He introduced himself too and we all sat down next to each other. Josh caught my eye and winked. I couldn't help smiling shyly in return. He didn't think I was weird. At least, not yet.