unwanted

chapter sixteen

His eyes came to rest on Jess. "The urgency was the strongest with you. It's like I have to protect you. Must take care of you, ease you. Do you have a mark on the back of your neck?"

She looked to Julian.

"No way, babe. I would know."

"Kell told me that the only mark I'd ever need is his." She looked to Jessica and Sean. "Is it one of you or both of you?"

"I have no idea what any of you are speaking about. I knew Adrian was special but the rest of this_____."

"I think it's me." Sean admitted softly. "Since the first time I saw you I knew I had to keep you safe. That was before you even kissed me. Wow, by the way. I feel honored that you were my first kiss."

"Wow, yourself. To have been your first kiss you were pretty awesome at it."

"Sean, what are you talking about? You never once told me about any of this. We talk about everything."

"Jesse, there's not much to tell. I only started feeling differently since mom and dad died. I didn't even think it amounted to much until here recently."

"Can I check the back of your neck?" Jess asked.

He smiled a little and inclined his head.

It was the exact same as Annie's and Adrian's. Same placement. Just below the hairline, a faint circle with a darker line going through the left side of the circle. "What gift do you have?"

The younger boy raised his hands and looked at them. "I'm not completely sure. I think it has something to do with the ground. The earth. I think I'm the reason the garden is doing so well. It's like all of it is a part of me now." He looked out into the forest and all the trees seemed to bow to him.

"Cool." Jess looked to Grammy.

"Not me. I'm as me as I always was."

Next, she looked to Jaymes.

The small boy pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Colors are different now and they're everywhere. Half the group here is a glowing soft pink. When two or more of the soft pinks get together it gets brighter and I can actually see and feel the power coming from them. The other half are a blue with other specs and swirls of colors. Their colors can change with their moods."

Jaymes looked at her. "You're different than all of us. Your color is like a warm glow. Yours is the easiest to read. When you're with Julian it's softer, warmer. When you're sad or hurting there's flecks of grey. If you want to hit someone or if you're playing around, then there's flecks of red."

"How do I look right now?"

His smile was adorable. "Bright. I think you're impress with me."

"Nice. What about you Fritz?"

The younger girl crossed her arms over her chest. "Why do you assume it's me?"

"Because Rob fell asleep in his potato corn soup. He always falls asleep if he sits still for too long. Anyway, I've seen how much you watch everyone. How much you care. You don't want everyone to know just how much you care. Tell me what you can do."

"Nothing as cool as what you can do. What do you think, Jaymes? Should we give her the coolest of the cool awards?"

Fritz's voice was in her head and then Jaymes' when he admitted that he thought she was pretty cool. "Can you do that with everyone?"