Leo Hernandez
I met Sarah Lewinski in the courtyard after my dinner cooking shift. She dressed in a spaghetti strap floral sundress with a long sleeve jean jacket. Let's just say that words can't express how happy I am that I'm the one who can read minds. I find Sarah really, really, really pretty. I know she has scars all over her body that she hates, but every single one of them is a part of her that I like.
But alas...sigh...teenage angst – Sarah just looks at me as a best friend. Of course, she's my best friend, too, but I want to be more than that. I want to trace my fingers over the scars and promise her that they make her more beautiful, while she wants to paint the new hot guy and listen to me tell jokes. It's like a knife to the gut.
I came here straight after my shift, so like a lot of my shirts, this one is stained. For pants, I wear jeans with suspenders because who doesn't love suspenders? I tried to smooth my hair down and tame the beast, but that's like trying to make the blanket that's a tad too small cover your toes. Im-poss-i-ble.
I wish I were more physically appealing. Everyone thinks I'm confident and secure with myself because I'm the loud guy in the room cracking boisterous jokes, but that's so far from the truth. That's farther than...well, I don't have a comparison, but believe me it's far. I've got this crazy hair, a super skinny body, I'm not all that tall, and there's not an ounce of muscle on my bones. The manliest thing about me is the spine marking because it looks like a badass tattoo.
"I was starting to think you weren't going to show," Sarah admits, slightly smiling with light pink lips and lavender eyes that can put you in a trance.
"I'd never bail on you," I promise. When I first met Sarah, I read her mind. A lot. What can I say? I liked her so why wouldn't I use the shortcut and find out her interests? But I slipped and disclosed something about herself that she hadn't told me yet, and she made me vow not to ever read her mind. And like a good friend, I never did. Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a good person, because I would've loved to pick up her thoughts when she painted the Dragon.
Did she like his height or his rugged look? Did she find his muscles enticing?
To me, the kid looks like a sewer rat, but my opinion may or may not be slightly biased...
"So where are we going?" Sarah inquires as a breeze tosses her cream-colored hair to the side.
"Well, I saw Kya and the Dragon getting heated in the lunchroom. I don't know what about, but if she's still watching him, I'm sure they're quite the site to see."
"So, you want to follow them around all night and gawk at them?" Sarah dubiously inquires, propping a hand on her hip and cocking her head to the side.
"Stalking, not gawking. I'm not a fanboy, Lewinski. Geez, you've gotta keep up on your slang terminology."
Sarah and I head inside and take the elevator down two floors to the level with shops and movie theaters and such. We stop by a candy shop to snack while we walk. Like a true gentleman, I pay for both of us.
The cashier is a woman I don't know very well, but I've seen her around. She's pretty nice. However, I've never had an actual conver –
"Wow why would a pretty girl like her go out with a stain-monkey like him?" I blurt out, reading her mind. Stupid turrets. I've got them physically under control, just not verbally. "Hey," I call to the cashier, who is gaping. "That is rude and uncalled for. I prefer stain-orangutan, thank you very much." With Sarah at my side, I ask her, "Can you believe these people? Geezum."
We almost exit the store when I see Elektra and the Dragon talking just outside the door. Forget Kya and the Dragon – Zeus and the Dragon are going to be much more entertaining.
First, we do a little mind reading.
What's thig guy want? If he makes one wrong move, he's dead. That's Elektra, ready to fight if she needs to.
Now, I reach out my probes and fingers into the Dragon's brain. Let's see what this guy is –
Huh.
That's odd.
I can't get a read on him. I thought walls could only form when trauma was involved. But not being able to get feelers during a casual conversation? This has never happened to me before, and I can't help but throw a mental fit. Great. Now I'm stuck eavesdropping like a normal person.
"Elektra, right?" the Dragon asks, twiddling his thumbs in nervousness.
"Yep," is her choppy response.
"Look, I just want to apologize for jumping down your throat earlier. I shouldn't have gotten so reactive."
Excuse me, what? There's only room in Asylum for one proper gentleman and that's me.
"I never laid a finger on you," Elektra replies, ignoring his apology.
I look to Sarah, who silently chuckles. She hides behind me as we listen in, her hands lightly touching my back, which isn't strong and curvy at all. It's just a toothpick.
"I don't know who did," the Dragon admits. "But I'm sorry."
"Well..." Elektra shrugs but accusingly eyes him. "We're all a little messed up." And with that, she turns on her heels and walks away, thinking, this guy is crazy...
Again, I try to reach out into the Dragon's mind. And again, I'm blocked. But this time, it's like he knows I'm trying to break in. He perks up and tenses like a tight spring. I retract my energy and cower behind a stand of candy.
Eventually, he leaves and I can take a deep breath. "Where would you like to go tonight? How about the teashop, or the movies, or a simple bakery?"
Sarah appears upset. She frowns and shrugs her dainty shoulders. Her feet shuffle against the floor, which she stares at.
"What's wrong?" I ask, placing a hand on her arm.
"It's just...I've been to the teashops. I've seen all the movies. I've tried every pastry at the bakery."
I take a moment to conjure an answer for her not-quite-an-answer. "Well...we could go to the library?"
"And I've read all the books."
Shrugging, my hands become scales with their palms acting as the sets. "I can't win here."
"I've been in here since I was nine, Leo. I've been here for six years. Everything that can be done here has been done by me. At first, it wasn't so bad. But after doing the same things over and over...it gets mind-numbing."
"You paint!" I offer, trying to cheer her up. "You paint things like I've never seen before. You create things for us to see and places that we wish we could be. Every time you pick up a pencil or a brush, it's something unique that happens every time. You're incredible."
Briefly, she grabs the hand on her shoulder, sending lightning up my arms. And not the deadly ones from Elektra. This lightning is from the butterflies that flutter in my stomach every time she smiles. "That's sweet, Leo. But...ah, forget it."
"No, tell me," I insist. "You can tell me anything."
"It's stupid."
"Nothing you say is stupid to me," I correct. "What are you thinking?"
Sarah looks over both shoulders before grabbing a suspender strap and pulling me to the corner of the candy shop. She gets extra close to whisper in my ear, and she smells of vanilla. I could faint right now. "What if we broke out of this place?"
My eyebrows fly as high as spaceships and there's no stopping them. My jaw becomes a lead weight that I can't pull up. My eyes grow as large as an elephant on steroids. "What? You're serious? Sarah, no one's done that before. Where would we go? What would we do?"
"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know," Sarah hurriedly says. "It was dumb, I shouldn't have brought it up."
"Brought what up?" a deep, silky voice asks from behind us. Turning, I face the Dragon. God, even up close he looks perfect. Ugh.
"None of your business," I spit, sounding like a five-year-old.
"Neither are my thoughts, but you still tried to get into those," the Dragon points out. "See: I know when someone's trying to mind rape me, Skinny. And you were doing it. As a payback, I just listened in on that whole conversation. So, I have a proposition for you."
Being under the mercy of the Dragon doesn't settle well with me one bit. Here I am despising his existence, and now the wellbeing of mine lays in his hands. "What?" I ask, shrugging and trying to seem like I'm not about to either throw hands or pee my pants.
"You let me in on your plan of escape, and I won't use my power on you like you tried to do on me."
"But," Sarah speaks up. "You've only been here for a day and you already hate this place?"
"I see this place for what it is: a prison."
"Okay, so let me get this straight..." I start, ready to paraphrase. "You want in on the plans we don't have yet?"
"Yep," the Dragon confirms. "Who else do you need to make this thing happen?"
"Someone on the inside would be preferable..." I admit, trying to think of who could fit the bill.
Sarah speaks up. "Kya. She's good with the wardens and guards. I'm sure she can work behind the scenes."
"Kya?" he repeats, frustrated. "Kya won't break out of this place. She's too stiff."
Sarah laughs. "She's the one who steals rare colors for my paintings."
"Yeah," I say. "She sneaks me aces to cheat during gambling, and she'll steal spices for me that are hard to come by. Kya's one of the most selfless, helpful people I know."
The Dragon looks confused. "Really?"
"Uh-huh," Sarah nods. "She always says that we judge people by the surface without looking underneath. Looks like you're a surface-gazer."
Evilly, the Dragon smirks, as if he's come by some golden information. "I'll tell her about the idea."
"You sure? It looks like you two weren't hitting it off so well in the cafeteria," I warn.
"If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have said anything. I'll see you guys around. My name's Ren, by the way."
"Awesome," I grumble as he stalks out of the candy shop. "Do you hate that guy? Because I hate that guy."
"Come on, Leo," Sarah grumbles, grabbing me by my sleeve and tugging me out of the shop. "We've got blueprints to paint and plans to make." On the way out of the shop, I point two fingers from my eyes to the cashier's mouthing, I'm watching you as I leave.