ARCANE

013

Chapter 13

His heart bursts through his chest as he runs through the street. Since his shoelaces are perpetually untied, they drag through the puddles forming in the cracks between the concrete sidewalks. At least the verandas from each shop provide Jamie with some security from the violent storm raging above him.

Finally, he can't take it anymore. His jacket has practically soaked through, as has his pants. Quickly, Jamie ducks into the nearest shop. The bell rings above him, alerting whoever is inside to his presence, but he doesn't care.

"Oh, hey?" Jamie looks up from the door, smiling at Eden behind the counter.

Eden freezes, surprised that anyone has come into this shop in the middle of the day, even more surprised that it is Jamie. Really, Eden wasn't sure that he would ever see Jamie again. He slowly puts his phone in his pocket, hoping Jamie doesn't see the message he wrote to Cara.

Can you please come to Keisha's with me? She wants me to help her go through Thea's stuff, and I can't bear to do it alone.

"Storm's pretty wild, huh?" Jamie flicks his matted hair off of his forehead. He slowly walks through the shop, looking at the comic books on the shelves. Even though Jamie is a toucher, not a looker, he restrains himself, but only because he doesn't want to do water damage to them. "Sorry, I can't be outside in the rain. It makes me sick like a dog. Maybe it wouldn't now, I guess, but it used to anyway. That's the deal with having a compromised immune system anyway. You like comic books?"

Eden gulps behind the table. If he was nervous before, he certainly is nervous now. Jamie is here and Cara is being interrogated by the FBI, so everything is a disaster.

"I liked them as a kid, but I never kept any. I moved around so much that I tried to build a record collection instead. Which is pretty hard, when you are a poor kid in foster care. Eventually, I was adopted though, and the rest is ancient history," Jamie jokes, looking up at Eden. He pauses when he sees the boy's nervous expression. "Or I guess, maybe not ancient for you. We're probably the same age anyway."

"Uh huh," Eden tries to relax his shoulders, but it feels more than impossible to let someone else into his space.

"Sorry, I have a habit of rambling," Jamie tries to keep his eyes fixed anywhere but on Eden. "It's funny, you know. Wesley grew up in foster care, and so did Cara. How weird is that? I bet us, our siblings, and my roommate were the only kids in this whole town who were in foster care. It's crazy we hadn't met before this."

"Cara was in foster care?" Eden lets his surprise betray him, but for once he doesn't mind.

Jamie looks up at Eden, but unfortunately, he has never been good at reading people. "Yeah. We talked about it over breakfast the night that... that night." There is no need to specify which night since they all know. Developing superpowers at the expense of someone's life isn't something that one forgets easily. "Have you talked to Cara since she was interviewed?"

"She hasn't answered," Eden shakes his head back and forth. He bites his bottom lip.

Jamie takes a step forward. He watches Eden wring his hands beneath the desk, reminding him of Cara's habit. The world has gone so topsy-turvy that Jamie isn't sure if Eden has picked up the habit, if he has always had it, or if he is witnessing telepathy in action. "Do you like her?"

"What?" Eden tries to make his face look caught off guard. Lying has always been a strength of his, but for some reason, he feels guilty doing it in front of Jamie. "Uh... no. She's like... not my... we just aren't compatible."