"D O E S anyone know what this plant is called?" Professor Thorpe asks, showing a fairly common species of houseplant on a power point.

I sigh, already beginning to doze off. Really, I thought botany was going to be more exciting. The hands on experiences aren't half bad, but I am about to go mad listening to the latin names of common plants. I glance at Orion, wondering how on earth he manages to look so attentive all the time, but he refuses to look away from Thorpe.

Rubbing my chin, I decide to conduct a test to weed out the telepathic among us. It's a fairly common ability to get, and it's fun to watch them react. I concentrate on screaming the word 'HELP' inside my mind, likes it's all in caps. I scan the room, knowing the trick is keeping your expression neutral.

Almost imperceptibly - I might have never noticed it if I wasn't looking for it - Orion turns his head so that his right ear is facing me and furrows his brow. Orion? I think, reaching my mind out to his. I can feel a connection begin to form, and then the link is severed suddenly.

He turns his head and meets my eyes, a look of shock evident on his face. I have broken his calm façade for a moment, and although he quickly regains his composure, I conclude he is definitely not an innocent.

Meet me after class at the fountain, Orion's voice slides into my head, nearly making me flinch visibly. Miss clairvoyant.

You're the clairvoyant one, I reply, rolling my eyes. But I will.

A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth, and this time I'm not sure what I did to break his granite demeanor. I finally tune back into Professor Thorpe's lecture and decide I'd better focus...at least for the rest of class.

☽ ☽ ☽

The fountain is behind the main building in a small courtyard surrounded by bushes and oriental trees. It is really quiet scenic, as fall is beginning to descend and everything is turning different colors.

Orion is already there, though I have no idea how he arrived so quickly. I begin to walk a bit quicker until I am in earshot. "Sorry! I was speaking with Anna about our next assignment." He waves a hand in dismissal, staring at me intently as I approach. "What?"

"Sorry," he shakes his head a bit sheepishly. "Its just...how did you do that? How did you know I was a telepath?"

"When you first looked at me, I felt you inside my head somehow. I guess I'm just more alert than most people, but I knew you were there. Then I was bored in class so I wanted to test if there were any mind readers," I shrug, looking up at him again with a small smile."And it turns out I was right."

Orion smiles back, still staring at me intently. I can feel him unconsciously trying to dig through my mind, but I raise an eyebrow and place walls between us. "You're dangerous," he says slowly. "And mysterious."

"I could say the same about you," I reply. "So why am I here, anyway?"

The breeze blows Orion's dark brown curls around his face, and he bats them away half-heartedly. He glances at me, then sighs. "I need your help with something. Except, I'm not sure how to explain what it is."

"Well," I sit on the edge of the fountain, swinging my backpack off to get more comfortable and tilt my chin upwards. "How can I help you if I don't know what it is?"

He looks off into the distance for a moment, sitting down next to me and folding his hands in his lap. When he turns to look at me, his deep brown eyes are serious and still.

"Can I trust you, River Grey?"

"What?" I blink at the question, wondering what the motive behind it is.

"I said, can I trust you?" He repeats, still burning a hole in my chest with his intense gaze.

"I...barely know you," I admit, tucking a strand of stray hairs behind my ear. "Why should I?"

"That's fair," Orion says, looking at down at hands, unconsciously spreading them out to stare at his fingers. A nervous tick, and I'd say he probably has a manual ability like pyrokinesis. "But how can you help me, if you don't trust me? And how can I tell you how to help me if I don't trust you?"

I consider this and nod slowly. "Alright. But there are levels of trust, and we're only on level one. I want you to know I am not going to do anything illegal for you."

"Of course not." His eyes flash with something - mischief maybe? amusement? - then he pulls a notebook out of his bag. "I noticed my mother was acting strange a few days ago and I may have used my telepathy to see if she was alright. I discovered some strange thoughts and emotions in her mind, which I have written here." He hands me the notebook, and I stare at the words on the page.

Thoughts
Weapons
War
Choice

Feelings
Frustration
Pressure
Anxiety

"If I had just been reading the feelings I might have pronounced your worry to be just that: worry. But I would say the thoughts would change worry into concern, which is definitely distressing," I mumble, my mind racing. "What was her behavior like before this? After? And have you read into anything else or found anymore clues?"

"Whoa woah whoa," Orion chuckles, holding up his hands to cut off my ramble. I take this opportunity to examine them closely, but he notices and hastily folds them in his lap again. He leans closer, scanning the area around us before continuing. "Hold on. My mom works as a business agent but I'm afraid some of her company's deals aren't very honest. Someone is going to get hurt. My dad is a hero, but he has more important work to deal with than this. So, I guess it's up to me."

"Why, because you're a hero too?" I ask, cupping my chin in my hand. "Let me guess: It's your duty?"

"No," he replies, a half smile on his lips. The same smile I saw in class, the one he seems to use only when I'm around. "Its because I'm a concerned son."

"Right," I raise an eyebrow. "Well, I'm sure you have your reasons. So, where do we begin?" He opens his mouth to reply when suddenly Amber and Joe are by our side.

"There you are! Making friends already?" Amber says brightly, her sunny smile and skirt accenting her rather optimistic personality. She may be colorful, but I don't think she's particularly bright.

I glance at Orion and then back at her, trying to resist speaking in a cynical tone. "This is college, Amber. I don't need a mother hen making sure I have friends."

Joe laughs. "Sorry Riv, Amber makes it her personal duty to mother any lost new students. After all, she is president of the welcoming committee."

"So it's Riv now, huh? And I may be new, but I'm certainly not lost. Thanks anyway, though," I reply.

"Riv can stand for both River and Rival, so I like it even better," Joe smirks, and I resist the urge to punch him.

I can see Orion smiling out of the corner of my eyes. "Eas, Joker," he says to Joe. "She might put up a fight. After all, she is your 'Rival.'"

Joe scowls, then suddenly laughs, slapping Orion on the shoulder. "We better get to the next person on Amber's list. See you around, Riv. And if you want to try out for the team Orion, I'm sure I could get you a spot."

"I don't play," Orion replies, rising to his feet. "But thanks."

I nod as Amber wishes me a good day and then shake my head as I watch her take Joe's arm as they skip to their next victim. "Never thought I'd see a jock and cheerleader like that."

Orion shrugs, a gesture I can tell he's particularly fond of. "I guess this school really is special."

"Or the people are," I remark. "But, you were saying?"

"Well, I think I can do some digging around my mom's company, since I go there a lot and everyone knows me there," he rubs his chin thoughtfully. "But maybe you could look up threats of war or any weapons that might be getting manufactured?"

"Sure but..." I frown. "What do weapons and wars have to do with working in the business industry?"

"She works for C-Tech," Orion answers. "They manufacture lots of things, although they haven't made any weapons since..." he trails off, his brow furrowed.

"Since what?" I prod, tracing my finger over the words on his notebook page.

He looks sideways at me, a strange expression on his face. "Since Wonder."

My eyes widen as I process this new information. Wonder was a very powerful hero who got so powerful that even the public started to reject him.

After all, even though he was a hero, who said he wouldn't take over the world and become a dictator? People began to fear him and what he could do instead of praising him, and it angered Wonder.

There was no reigning him in, so the government had doctors generate a substance which can remove all or certain powers from their subject, with little or no side effects.

But Wonder refused to take it, claiming he deserved to be the possession of such power. When they tried to force him, he turned on them, becoming the most powerful villain ever known: Grim.

Many people were killed because Grim refused to be the selfless, heroic person he was created to be and instead became angry and filled with turmoil and ambition, wanting nothing but power.

They say his mark even changed from 'Hero' to ' Villain' after he became Grim, and that his identity was a Villain for the rest of his life. After he was defeated, C-Tech stopped producing weapons because the world was restored to peace.

But how long would the peace last? How long before someone hungered for power again?

My instincts told me we were about to find out.

a u t h o r ' s n o t e

hello everyone and thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying the plot so far. this book is now part of a series called The Kinesis Files ™, which are short stories based on parallel universes containing people with kinesis abilities.

what do you think of Orion and River as characters?

next update:
Monday | April 23, 2018

~Joybell ♥