GENS POV
When I woke back up it was getting darker and it was time for dinner. It had stopped raining and chubs and zu weren't in the cabin Liam was sitting on the edge of the bottom bunk watching me.
"Hey, they just rang the bell for dinner." He said to me. I nodded and got up. I put on my hoodie and walked to the door. He hadn't gotten up yet.
I walked over to him and sat next to him. "What's bothering you?" I asked him. He just shook his head.
"Idk, I just don't feel well I guess. Still nervous even though I know we are safe." He said. "I'll be their in a minute. Grab me some food!" He said
I got up and walked to where Mike said the food would be served. I grabbed two bowls and told them I was getting it for a friend. They didn't question me when I told them that.
They trust to easily, I could be just getting seconds for myself. I thought. They had chili tonight. Maybe every night, I just didn't know it.
I walked over to where they had a large fire surrounded by old logs I stood up on one of them looking around for Liam.
When I didn't find him I looked for Chubs he was a walking away quickly. "Chubs! Hey Chubs, have you seen Liam?"
"No...." He seemed off so I asked him "hey are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm just not feeling up to it tonight. Maybe tomorrow night?" I just nodded not wanting to push I looked for Liam as Chubs kind of stormed off I finally spotted him and he was making a beeline for me.
"hey what was that about?" He asked me I just shook my head.
" he said he really wasn't up for it tonight. I think he was heading to the cabin, to read a book probably!" I said and we both laughed.
He helped me down off the log and I handed him a bowl of chili "sorry I didn't know if you would want anything on it so I just got you a plain bowl"
he shrugged "that's OK I don't really need any toppings anyway" he said. I smiled at him while I shoved my face with chili.
It wasn't super spicy, but it was just enough. It filled me, and Liam seemed pretty content with it. We sat their taking in all the sights and smells around us.
I watched Zu play with a girl her age, and then it clicked. "Omg! I saw her in one of zu's nightmares at the motel! They got split at the camp." I said as Liam followed my gaze.
He laughed "that explains why they tackled each other earlier." And I giggled to myself. "HEY ZU!" Liam yelled.
She looked up. "Come here! No, bring your friend" he said. They walked over.
"Hi there, I'm li-." But he was cut off by the girl.
"I know who you are. Genevieve and Liam. Suzume told me about you!" She said. Me and Liam shared a look.
"wait, told you-told you or..." he asked.
"No of course she didn't tell me. I'm Hina, zu's cousin." She told us.
I smiled when Liam asked, "you were at Caledonia right?" And hina nodded.
"Zu! Why didn't you tell us, we could have tried to find her! Are you yellow?" He asked.
"No, I'm green." She explained to us.
They ran off back to the other kids they were with and played around some more. "Was I just sassed by a 12 year old?" He asked.
I laughed aloud. "I think so lee!" I said to him in between breaths. I was laughing so hard. I slid off the log and in between Liam and the log. He slid down so I was resting on his chest.
It felt nice, and for once, I wasn't scared of what I could do, and I didn't try to pull free. I just say their with the heat from the fire on my face.
He smiled. "Would you believe me if I told you zu was jumping up and down when I told her she would have to get up at seven to do some good ol'- fashioned book learning with the other cubbies?" He asked me.
I turned my head a little to see him. He saw I was confused and clarified what it meant. "School" he said. I nodded and smiled to myself. That was good, she would get a school lesson.
We sat in silence for a while till Liam got up and put Our bowls in a container floating by. As he was coming back zu pulled him onto the 'dance floor'. He motioned for me to follow but I didn't.
He laughed and acted like he had a lasso. I felt a familiar feeling pull at my tummy. I was moved from the log on the ground to Liam and zu. As soon as I was over to them "wouldn't it be nice" turned on.
I smiled to myself. "Not fair!" I said. Zu giggled silently.
"Step up on my feet!" He said. I gave him a looked and he shook his head. "Trust me!" He said. "Come on before our song is over!"
Our song. I thought. I waited for him to tell me to get off but it never came. He felt sturdy under me. "No spinning" I said to him
He smiled "ok, no spinning" he said. Our dancing was more like swaying. We stayed that way for the whole song. His hand was on the small of my back and my waist.
He slowly put them their, seeing if I would pull away. But I didn't. I had my arms over his shoulders and I was resting my head on his chest.
I wasn't focused but heard him say something to me. "What?" I asked him. He smiled down at me.
"I said your really beautiful." He said to me. I felt myself blush. His eyes flicked from my eyes down to my lips and back to my eyes. I felt him lean in but we were saved by the bell.
More like disrupted by the bell. Their was an audible groan, loud enough to make me and Liam both laugh.
All the kids started to head to their cabins so Liam called for Zu. She said goodbye to Hina and a few of the other boys and girls she was with.
We walked back to our cabin to find chubs asleep with his book on his chest. I put a paper in it to save his page and put it on our desk. I took his glasses off his face gently and put them with his book.
I took zu to the restroom and cleaned hers and my face. She looked at my with complete adoration. It melted my heart and made me feel special. Even when deep down, I knew I was a monster.
When I was done I tucked her in bed. Softly singing her to sleep with children tunes. She fell asleep quickly after our eventful day.
I walked over to the bed and quietly laid down next to Liam. He was already asleep so I turned off the light and rolled over, away from him.
Almost every time I had been close to him while tired, or asleep. I had been in his mind. I didn't want to risk it. He always trusted me, and I woke up next to him each time. But even that little protection I made, made me feel better as a person.
Hopefully I would have time to talk to Clancy about this all. I didn't know when to ask him, but I knew I had too. I need to be able to control this. My powers.
Your freak ability's. I thought. No. Don't do this to yourself. Breathe. Calm down. Your not a freak. I said to myself.
Would you say that to Liam? I asked myself. And I knew the answer. No. Never in a million years. I would rather die a million times over before ever saying that to him.
But I couldn't breathe. I felt like my chest was caving in. I was hyperventilating. Or I was having a panic attack. I couldn't tell. All I knew is I couldn't breathe.
I got out of the bed quietly and walked outside. I sat on the porch for a while till I heard the door open and close. It was chubs.
He sat down next to me and I put my head on his shoulder. No skin is touching, your ok. I thought.
We sat in silence for a while. "You ok?" He finally asked.
And truthfully I didn't know how to answer that.
"Idk. I was just scared. Of being in Liams mind. I was scared of being near him because of my ability's, and I thought , your freak abilities, and I knew I wouldn't never call them that, or say that, in front of Liam. And I thought about how badly I wanted to be near him, but I can't bring myself to trust myself." I said to him.
I felt like a weight was lifted off my chest. He sighed.
"You know, he doesn't care. None of us do, about you being in our heads, as long as it's not on purpose, of course" he said trying to be funny.
"Did I ever tell you about why I'm scared to be in your heads?" I asked him, and he realized I was serious. He said no.
"My parents. I erased their memories of me, and I did the same thing at my camp, with my ex best friend sam. I took her memories of me" I said to him.
He sat up and looked at me. "On purpose?" He asked. I shook my head no.
"No, I was little when I did it to my parents. And I did it to my friend in her sleep. Her arm must have touched my arm, somewhere in the night, cause when we woke. She didn't know me." He looked at me and then looked away.
"I'm so sorry." Was all he said.
"Me too. And I'm scared that I'll do it to lee, or you, or Zu. And I know he trusts me, but I can't risk it anymore. I don't want to lose you guys after everything we have been through."
"Sorry, I just panicked. I wanted to be comforted but I was scared of what I could do. I can't even trust myself. But I found comfort in you, so thank you." I said and I got up to head back in. He followed me in and I got back into the bed.
Tomorrow I will take the bunk. I can't risk this anymore. I don't want to lose him. None of them.
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Thank you for reading and supporting me! You guys mean a lot to me.
Thank you for 300 reads on my other story too!
Sorry I haven't been posting a lot! School has been stressful, so imma try to upload a lot on weekends if I can.
Thanks!