Clay tried to keep me home Tuesday. First, he planted himself, in his fur, in front of my door so I couldn’t get out of the bedroom. Then, when I pleaded to use the bathroom, he allowed me out and took the opportunity to hide my keys.
My suspicion rose when he calmly watched me get ready. I discovered the missing keys and resorted to further pleading. I explained my need to talk to Nicole in hopes of piecing together the puzzle of my abilities. The one-sided conversation reminded me of the first time I’d reasoned with him.
Of course, Rachel caught part of my serious chat with our dog and did a double take on her way to the bathroom. I laughed and waved her away, then gave Clay a look. Grudgingly, Clay led me to my keys, and I made it to campus on time.
I parked and took a minute to lean my forehead against the steering wheel, still recovering from sharing my ability with three people in one weekend. Clay had obviously sensed it. If Tuesday hadn’t been the only day I saw Nicole, I would have stayed in bed. Steeling myself, I got out of the car and trudged across campus.
For the first time ever, I didn’t pay much attention to the instructor. Instead, I sat by Nicole and whispered questions freely, but failed to uncover anything more than what she’d already shared. Men had hit on her quite a bit after the Halloween party. She attributed the attention to the costume, which she planned to reuse. Since it wasn’t a bad costume, I didn’t dissuade her of the idea. Better to think it was the costume than a freak friend passing some kind of power to her.
I smiled and waved goodbye to her at the end of the class. People pushed past me to leave. I watched them go and dreaded the long walk back to the car. With my pull gone, thanks to Luke and two strangers, I could safely ask someone for a piggyback ride. I’d seen it happen before. Yet, I couldn’t picture explaining to Clay why I smelled like another guy.