TWO HOURS LATER, I AM lying on my back in the yard, trying to catch my breath. It feels excellent destroying all the dead logs around the yard, and trying to disarm Liam and Colton. Training was the distraction that I needed. I feel more awake now than I have in a while.
Rolling on my side, I face Colton. “Thank you. That helped. A lot.” He rolls over and smiles at me. I can’t draw my eyes away from his face, his eyes specifically. Every time he looks at me, I have trouble breathing. He seems to have the same difficulty. Reaching out, he slowly tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
Hearing giggles across the yard, I break my eyes from Colton and sit up, attempting to hide my blush. David is chasing Emma across the yard. She pushes with all her might to try and get away from him. Watching them makes me smile. Standing up, I lean back, keeping my eyes on them and ask Colton, “When do you think they’ll realize that they are both crazy about each other?”
Putting his arm across my shoulder, he replies, “Knowing David…probably never.” David runs over and grabs Emma around the waist, pulling her toward him. Her smile is infectious. I hope to someday have something like that.
“I hope they come to their senses soon. No one wants to see them pining after each other anymore,” I say but don’t mean. It is endearing to see them together. It is like watching a romantic comedy—a friendship that slowly turns into more.
“Dinner is ready!” yells Claire from the kitchen. I walk away from Colton, and over toward Logan and Liam, who are trying to pick up all the larger pieces of wood to put into the pile for the fireplace. I concentrate on the pieces and thrust my power out, connecting small pieces of energy onto each wood piece. Forcing them to come together, I create a smaller pile near the house.
I smile sweetly at them when I see their mouths hanging open in surprise. “You’re welcome.”
Walking past everyone, I head into the kitchen and stop short when I see four extra people. People I’ve never seen before: a man, in his low twenties, two teenagers, and a small child. Colton slams into my back when he comes into the room. Steadying me, he looks around the room, and runs over to greet the man at the table.
“Hey, what are you guys doing here? Where are your parents?”
“Working, but Tom called us over. Haven’t seen you guys in a while, thought we could catch up.”
“Awesome. Yeah, that sounds great. Oh, Conner, this is Ryanne. Ryanne, this is Conner, Natasha, and Natalie, they’re twins, and Madison. They used to be our neighbors a while ago.”
“It’s nice to meet you all,” I smile at them. Natasha glares at me while Natalie stands at her side quietly. Conner and Madison seem nice enough though. “Oh, Claire, do I have time to go take a quick shower? I feel gross.”
“Of course. I just said dinner was ready for everyone to start cleaning up. I forgot how quickly you could finish it for them.” Laughing, I walk out of the room, and back up the stairs into the bedroom. After a quick shower, I change back into a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt. Being in a much better mood than I have been in a while, I skip down the stairs.
Ugh, she’s back. Slut. Look at what she’s wearing. Her shorts are way too short, and her shirt is super tight. She just wants attention. This is my only chance at getting Colton back…if she ruins it…
I turn toward Natasha and ask, “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“W—what? H-how?” How did she know that?
“Ryanne can read minds,” explains David. Crap. Turn them off. Don’t think about Colton. Grunting, Natasha stalks out of the room.
“I’m great with new people, can’t you tell?” I ask Conner, trying not to smile.
She’s pretty. I wonder if she’ll play with me.
Bending down, I stop at eye-level with Madison. “Thank you. You’re very pretty too.” She giggles, and jumps up to give me a hug.
“Looks like you made a new friend,” Conner says.
Claire calls out from the kitchen, “Okay, someone go get Natasha. Dinner’s ready.”
I follow everyone into the kitchen, and turn to Logan. “Are my shorts too short?” I ask him.
He looks me over once and shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so. Why?” I can’t really tell if he’s being serious or not.
“Natasha said my shorts were too short, and my shirt was too tight. Apparently, I want attention.”
“Well, she doesn’t know you very well, now does she? Ignore her,” he tells me.
I nod and sit down at the table, between Emma and Liam. Closing my eyes, I concentrate on pushing their thoughts back into the mental box in my mind.
“What the heck is she doing? Praying?” says Natasha.
“She’s blocking your thoughts. Unless you’d rather have her read your mind all night,” Logan explains a little rudely. Natasha glares at him. I look over at him and smile. It is nice to know that I’m not the only one that doesn’t like Natasha. Her twin, Natalie, just sits to her left, looking down at her empty plate.
Logan is sitting in front of me, Natasha to his side, and Colton beside her. Throughout the whole dinner, Natasha keeps touching Colton’s arm, and flirtingly flipping her perfect blonde hair over her shoulder. I’m a little envious of how straight and smooth her hair is compared to my curly mess. I look around the table…all the girls are blonde. Is that another mage thing? Logan keeps telling me jokes, trying to keep the conversation going. It actually works.
“Okay, if you were on a reality television show called Elevator Shenanigans, what would you do?”
“Elevator Shenanigans? That’s the best you could come up with?” I ask. I can’t help but laugh.
“Yes, now what would you do?” Logan asks.
“Hmm, I’m not sure, what would you do?”
“I’d stand really close to everyone that came in. Maybe occasionally smell them. Pretend that I’ve met them before.”
“Smell them?”
“Yes, got anything better missy?”
“Hmm, I think it would be really funny to stare at a person for a long time, making your eyes get larger and larger, until they can’t get any bigger.” I demonstrate that. “When they ask what’s wrong, start backing away until you hit the wall, and point a finger at them at the same time. Once they start squirming and right before the elevator opens, whisper ‘You’re one of THEM’ and then run out screaming.” I start laughing before I finish talking.
Logan joins me, and I end up laughing so hard that I snort, sending us both into another fit of laugher. I cover my mouth to try and quiet my laugh a little. Liam and Emma, who had both heard our conversation, are laughing with us.
“Oh gosh, my stomach hurts,” Logan says. Finally taking a deep breath, I’m able to calm the laugher. The table is awkwardly silent. Tom, Claire, and Colton are smiling at us, probably happy that for once I’m not about to pass out or anything. Avoiding everyone’s eyes, I glance down at my lap. One last giggle escapes, and I glance up at Logan to see him still smiling.
“You totally have to do that sometime. It would be hilarious coming from you,” says Logan.
“I don’t think so. I’ll videotape it, and you do it. We could be YouTube stars!”
Colton looks around the table. “Does anyone else feel really out of that conversation?”
“You had to be here, man,” says Logan.
“I was here, man.” Colton does his best imitation of Logan.
“I meant here.” He circles his arms in my immediate direction. “You were over there,” he says, while pointing to the other half of the table.
“Is everyone done eating?” asks Claire. “Why don’t you guys go hang out in the entertainment room while I clean up?” Everyone starts getting up from their chairs and leaving the room.
“Can I help you clean up, Claire?”
“No. Go hang out with everyone else. I’ve got this.”
“Are you sure?” I don’t want to leave the mess for her to clean up on her own. There are a lot of dishes to do.
“Yes, go. Go.”
She pushes me toward the door. Taking the hint, I walk out of the room, and up to the entertainment room. The couch is already occupied, as are both of the smaller chairs.
Natasha is sitting very close to Colton on the couch. Emma and David are sharing a chair. Logan is sitting on the other side of the couch. Conner and Natalie are sitting with Madison on the floor. Liam is sitting by himself against the wall, so I walk over and sit beside him. Wrapping his arm around me, he pulls me close to him.
“You feeling any better?”
“Yeah, I really am. I promise this time. I am hoping that, if I get back in the habit of training, things will slowly start to return to normal. I could really use normal right now.”
Liam squeezes my shoulder a little, “I hate to break it to you, Ryanne, but none of this is really normal.”
“True. Well, any semblance of normal would be fine.” I rest my head on his shoulder, and look around the room. Everyone seems to be involved in his or her own conversations.
“Natasha keeps giving you the stink eye,” Liam tells me.
“I read her thoughts earlier. She thinks I’m ruining her chances of getting back with Colton. Apparently they were an item at one point. I’m not standing in her way, so I don’t know why she keeps glaring at me like that.”
“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Colton isn’t giving her any attention because he keeps glancing at you.”
I lift my head off his shoulder, and glance over at Colton and Natasha. He is quietly talking to her, not looking at me. I don’t know what Liam’s talking about. “He does not.”
“Does too.”
“I’m not having this conversation.” We settle into silence. Listening to the conversations around us, I hear Conner mention that he missed last week’s episode of The Big Bang Theory. Gasping, I turn around and ask, “You watch The Big Bang Theory?”
“Yes, it’s weird, but it’s one of the only shows that I can stand to watch.”
“I love it. Sheldon is so hilarious.” We start animatedly talking about Leonard and Penny’s relationship, the quirkiness of Howard and Raj, and strange friendship/relationship between Sheldon and Amy.
“Aww, look they’re having a nerd moment,” says David.
“Hey, hey. Don’t diss it. Just because you can’t understand anything more complicated than a rock…” I smile innocently at him.
“Ooooohhhhhh.”
“Oh, little girl. You asked for it,” says David, while standing up. Walking toward me, he wiggles his fingers.
“You wouldn’t!”
“Wouldn’t I?” He is getting closer to me. My eyes dart to the door, right before I run toward it. He runs after me, and catches me in the hallway. Wrapping his arms around my midriff, he starts tickling my stomach.
Doubling over laughing, I say, “Mercy, Mercy.” I am laughing so hard; I can barely get a word out. “You’re a genius,” I manage.
“I know.” He drags me back into the room. I yank my hand out of his, and sulk back toward Liam. Sitting on the ground, I fake pout toward David. “You’re not very nice, picking on girls smaller than you.” He chuckles before sitting back in the chair, and wraps his arm around Emma. She snuggles into this side.
An hour later, Madison has fallen asleep, and Conner decides that it is time for them to leave. Standing in the living room by the front door, everyone is saying their goodbyes. Natasha is still glued to Colton’s side.
“It was very nice talking to you, Ryanne. I hope we meet again soon,” says Conner.
“Me too.”
“Colton, can I speak with you? Alone,” asks Natasha. Colton runs a hand through his hair, and I think I see him glance at me, but I don’t know for sure.
“Umm, sure.” She pulls him outside, shutting the door after her. Out of sight and out of hearing range. For some reason, I just stare at the door, unable to pull my eyes away.
“He’s not interested in Natasha,” David whispers in my ear.
Blinking, I draw my eyes away from the door. “Okay?” I look at him trying to find the underlying meaning to his statement. When he doesn’t explain further, I shake my head and say, “I think I’m going to go to bed. I’m pretty tired.” I turn away and head upstairs slowly.
“Goodnight, Ryanne,” a chorus of voices says behind me.
Even buried under the comforter, I start shivering. I don’t have any warmer clothing to change into. Spotting Colton’s sweatshirt folded on the dresser, I push the covers back and put it on, inhaling. The shirt smells like his cologne. I walk back to the bed and pull the covers back, nestling under the sheets. Closing my eyes, I slowly drift into a dreamless sleep.