The Weirdos

65

The next day, Jasper went to see Roderick and found him sitting in front of a fish tank, his eyes following a fish that swam back and forth within it.
"Roderick?"
The albino slowly turned his head and looked at Jasper.
"There were ripples in the pond. But there are no frogs or fish and no one made a wish. Strangers near, but the skies are clear. No one around to hear. They whisper to their devices about sacrifices. Who is next and who is last. How to make a blast. Dangers come from strangers. Be wary of the man and his big black van. Be wary. Be wary."
Jasper frowned and opened his mouth to speak when Narcolepse showed up and pulled him away from the doorway.
"Leave him alone, Frosty. Skins is calling us all down to a meeting."
Jasper followed Narcolepse down to the dining room table and they took a seat with the others. They all looked at Skins, at the head of the table as she stood up and cleared her throat.
"Alright, boys. I have some sad news."
Jasper swallowed. Was it about Roderick? Was he gonna be ok?
"I will be leaving you all soon. Next month, in fact. I will be replaced by my male counterpart who will run more drills and exercises with you."
Next month? Already? He hadn't even started on Narcolepse's essay. He didn't know if he was ready for this. For the woman to leave. Just like his mom. Like Evelyn. He lowered his eyes to the table. He was lost in his thoughts and didn't register all the questions Books and Freak started throwing at Skins. Jasper stood and left the room. He was halfway down the hall when he realized he'd been followed. He stopped and looked back, finding Narcolepse leaning against the wall.
"You have an interview to do, right? Let's get it over with before it's too late."
Narcolepse went to the library and Jasper ran upstairs to get his notebook and pencil and the packet of questions. He made his way back to the library and sat at a table. Narcolepse was browsing the shelves, running his fingers over the book spines. Jasper watched him, then started writing in his notebook.
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
"How did you discover your abilities?"
Narcolepse paused and tapped the bookshelf.
"I fell asleep on my way to school. I saw images... A car. Blood. My mom. And I saw a woman I had yet to meet."
"Skins?"
Narcolepse nodded. Jasper wrote it down.
"How did you end up here?"
Narcolepse worked his jaw, then said,
"Skins picked me up. I was walking home from the convenience store."
"She just... Picked you up?"
Narcolepse let out a breath.
"I had a few visions of her. When she pulled over and said 'Hey, you. You're special', I knew I had to go with her. It was shifty, yeah. Especially for it being the middle of the night in a bad neighborhood. But I went to the window and I talked to her. 'What's so special about me?' I asked her. She shrugged and said, 'You tell me'. Eventually it led to us arriving at the safe house where Roderick was just being unloaded."
Jasper wrote down the information.
"What was your life like before you discovered your mutation?"
"Skip."
Jasper blinked a few times, then found another question to ask.
"What's your favorite place in the house and why?"
"Anywhere but my room."
Jasper hadn't been expecting that answer.
"Why?"
"Do these questions have to be so personal?"
"Yes. I'm trying to understand you."
"You don't need to understand me, you just need to have my back like I have everyone else's."
"I thought you were going to be cooperative."
"I didn't think you'd be asking about private shit."
"Why is your life so private?"
"I'm done."
Narcolepse left the library. Jasper was too slow to stand and stop him.