Sentilia

Chapter 24

The speeder was on the ground already, but I hadn't noticed it landing.

K stepped out, and I grabbed his arm. "Wait." I wanted to try and figure out how to read thoughts before seeing William. "How do I do it? How do I read your mind?"

"Max, I know I said you had to learn all of this soon, but you don't have to start this instant. Plus," he added more sarcastically, "My mind is pretty easy to read, actually, you don't need to read minds to know what I'm thinking."

"K, please, just..." I needed to know if William really liked me or not. I needed to know what he was thinking when he was around me.

As I remembered I had to watch my thoughts around him, I saw an inch of sadness flash across his features before he said, "Okay, fine. Try to concentrate on my face. I'm so used to protecting my thoughts, this will take a lot of concentration on my part, too," he chuckled, but it sounded fake, "it's something that's supposed to come naturally, so don't force it too much; just focus on me, and you'll start getting, um, flashes of emotions. Once you start feeling what I feel, then you've got it. And you'll never have to concentrate as much; every time it'll come easier. If you don't get it right away, it's not a big deal; hardly anybody gets it the first time. You know what? Let me try something that'll help." His eyes were serious again, but for the briefest moment. His smile was tentative, testing my mood. But he already knew why I wanted this so bad. I couldn't protect my thoughts, yet.
We faced each other, a few inches apart. I tried to refocus before lifting my head, and stared deeply into his eyes.

I automatically lost all concentration. Or so I thought.

My disconnection was from reality only; I was now completely engulfed in K's mind. I started to feel light-headed; I could feel my heart slightly accelerating, my palms starting to sweat. I was literally feeling what he was feeling: in love. I caught short glimpses of K's car, mixed with flashes of my face, my scent, and my lips inches from his. Along with the visions came a hunger, a passion. K flinched. I could guess he was trying to concentrate on his car, because the visions kept going back to it; he was trying to hide how intense his feelings were, but he wasn't trying hard enough, it seemed. I remembered K saying that we could only have a general sense of what others were thinking, but this was way clearer than that.

In the end, his concentration failed, and he looked away. I returned to my own thoughts, and I noticed his face was expectant. "Well? Did it work? I completely let down my defenses."

Okay, so, now what? Did I tell him that it was successful? He usually was so upfront with me, and now he was trying to hide his feelings. He seemed ashamed of the way he felt. Maybe he didn't want me to know just how much he cared about me. I didn't want to think this through too much, or he would be able to read my thoughts in turn. In any case, I knew what he wanted to hear. A small part of my mind was still connected to his somehow.

It only took a second before I answered: "Didn't get it, sorry." He exhaled but stopped mid-way, trying to hide his relief. It had been the first time I'd seen him on the defensive, and it surprised me.

"Don't apologize, sweetie. I told you: people rarely get it on the first try." The right corner of his mouth curled up in a smile, and he said: "Let's go."

I was even more surprised that he didn't see through my lie. Either he wasn't trying to read my thoughts, or I was able to block them already.

We were at a small blue house that I recognized as Maia's. Was she going to be there? Would she remember me?

K paused, about to open the door, and said: "You know where we are." It was more a statement than a question. I nodded.

We entered and Maia was waiting right near the stairs, same as she was the first time I came here, in my dream. In fact, it almost felt like déjà vu.