I didn’t mean to do that, I really didn’t. I told them because they needed to know. Him knowing what we were was a danger to both of us.
But I didn’t think they’d go and kidnap him.
A few days earlier:
"Hey, Ar you okay? Why Ar you ignoring me?"
I roll my eyes. How original.
"Answer me! Don't be such an Ar-se!"
"Bro, that was a good one!"
"Dude, who says 'bro' anymore?"
"Don't be mean to him!"
"I'm just saying, it's kinda—"
I throw my spoon into my bowl of cereal, milk splashing out on the table, and turn to look at my siblings. "Enough," I say.
Alec raises his hands in mock surrender. "It wasn't me—"
"Saw me banging on the so—"
"Mivah, no!" I say.
He turns to me, as if he wasn't just about to sing something inappropriate. "What?"
I sigh. I didn't get enough sleep last night, so I'm tired, and he's been insulting me the entire morning. He deserves what I'm about to do to him.
I look into his eyes, and as if he's realised what I'm about to do, he raises his hand, but it's too late. His eyes glaze over, and around me, I hear the rest of my siblings gasp. "Mivah," I say.
"Yes, Ar." He leans forward sluggishly.
"Eat your breakfast quietly. And when you're done, go get ready for school."
"Yes, Ar." He turns to his food and begins eating. When I look at the rest of my siblings, their hands all fly to cover their eyes.
"I'll eat my food! I'll eat my food!" says Alec, and picks up his spoon to eat. But he keeps one hand covering his eyes, not caring when milk spills on his shirt. The rest of my siblings soon follow suit, and I let out a deep breath. Finally, peace and quiet.
Well, as peace and quiet as a mind reader can have. I still hear their thoughts, and they aren't pleasant.
I roll my eyes, grab my bowl and stand up. They all look up at me, except for Mivah. "I'm leaving for uni. When you finish breakfast, get ready for school. Ben's already waiting for you outside."
"Okay," they say in unison.
I glance at Mivah before heading to the kitchen. Nothing will happen if I leave him like that. The effect will wear off on its own once he's completed the things I told him to do. Serves him right for making fun of my name.
"Good morning Layla," I say when I enter the kitchen. She gives me a brief smile before returning to her work. I place my bowl into the sink and leave.
Layla is our carer, not that my siblings and I need one, but my parents don't trust us to take care of ourselves. I don't like her, neither does she like me or my siblings. She claims we're always loud and annoying, or at least, her thoughts do. Not to forget, she tends to have lewd thoughts about my mother, which is repulsive. I can't fire her because my parents adore her. And the fact that she's an ordinary human makes it "all the better". At least we have a little normality in our lives, is what my mother says.
I grab my bag near the front door and leave the house. Ben is outside, and when he sees me, he waves. I like Ben. He's a polite, modest old man, much better than Layla.
"Would you like me to drop you off, Miss?"
"No thank you, Ben. I feel like driving today."
I unlock my car and hop in. When I ignite the engine, BTS' Map of Soul: Persona CD begins to play. I smile.
The drive to university is surreal—mainly because I'm listening to authentic music with voices that bless the soul—but I suddenly find myself in a good mood despite the grey clouds forming above. Maybe today is going to be a good day.
When I reach my university, I park in a spare spot and hop out. I...don't have any friends here, nor do I know anyone I can talk to. The students here though, know me: eldest child of the Chaos family, but that's about it.
My grandparents and great grandparents and great great grandparents were all wealthy. My parents are wealthy people too, running the successful business my grandparents passed onto them. Although I don't really know what it is they do there, I know they have a variety of stores across the country. From clothing stores, to cosmetic, to jewellery; anything one's heart desires.
I make my way across campus until I'm standing in front of the main building. I don't like this building though. There are a lot of people inside, and where there's people, there's thoughts. Students' thoughts tend to be dark, angry, anxious, dirty, bored, or sometimes, happy. A girl just can't catch a break.
Still though, I take a deep breath and enter.
There are a lot more people today than average. If I were still eight, I would've passed out from the thoughts that would've pierced my mind, but I'm nineteen, and not to brag, but an expert at mind control (both mine and others).
I walk down the hallway, making sure not to bump into anyone. I don't really know what I am. When I was eight, I thought I was only a mind reader. But the older I grew, the more power I gained. What once was mind reading turned to mind control by the age of eleven, and it's been that way ever since. The moment I look into a person's eyes, I have control over them, but only if I choose to do so. I only use it on my siblings though. They're annoying.
The class is empty when I arrive, and on the whiteboard is a notice paper. It says that—
"Psychology class moved to room 308. Awe man, what a bummer."
I swivel around and come face to face with a short guy. He beams at me, and with his freckles and pin straight hair, he almost looks like a fairy.
"Hey, Ar. Looks like we moved classes, aye."
I don't know whether to be surprised that he's talking to me or that I didn't hear him come in. Well, didn't hear his thoughts. But I smile nonetheless. "Yeah, it looks like that."
Pretty smile, is what I catch from his mind.
My smile widens. "I gotta go. See you in class," I say, and make my way out.
"Wait!"
I pause at the entrance.
"Sorry but, do you wanna walk to class together?" He scratches the back of his head. "It'll be awkward if we're walking to the same place separately."
I don't really see anything awkward about us walking separately, but I don't comment on that. "Sure," I say, and we both make our way to our new classroom. This is my second year of university, and the first time someone’s come up to talk to me. I like it.
"What's your name?" I ask.
He looks at me with raised brows. "I've been in your class for the past two years, and you don't know my name? I'm offended."
He has...? "Sorry, I don't remember you."
"We did a project together too!" He pouts.
I laugh awkwardly. "We did?"
Wow. "You really don't remember." He looks at me suspiciously.
I shake my head. "Sorry."
"You must have a bad memory then." Even my grandma remembers what she ate two weeks ago.
I narrow my eyes at him, but say nothing.
We round a corner, and at the end of the hallway is a sign that says, '308'.
"Oh look, it's our room," he says, and then checks his watch. "Shoot, we're late. Hurry!"
We pick up our pace till we reach the class, and he knocks on the door before opening it.
"Sorry we're late, sir," I say.
The professor nods his head and gestures for us to take a seat. Better late than never, he thinks.
I move to the back of the class, ignoring some students' gazes, and take a seat. The guy who came with me takes a seat at the front of the class. I pout. Whatever. It's not like I wanted a friend anyway.
"As I was saying, today, you guys are going around campus during your break to people watch, and while you do that, I want you to take note of what they do: their habits, gestures, the way they speak." The professor grabs a stack of papers from his desk. "I also want you to assign yourself to one random person. Watch how they act when they talk to others, and how people react to them."
"That's kinda creepy," someone says.
The professor scoffs. "I'm not asking you to stalk them, Jasmine. Five minute. Watch them for five minutes, and then leave."
The professor walks around the class, handing each student a paper. When he gives me one, I thank him and take a took at it. But I don't miss his piece of thought: would kill for a shake right now.
I suppress a smile and skim over the paper. It's just questions to ask ourselves when we're out observing others.
"Is this an assessment?" asks a girl a few seats across from me. She's petite with curly blonde hair. I don't think I've seen her before.
The professor shakes his head. "No, it's an exercise for you to do and hand in next class.”
"Oh, so we don't need to do it today?" she says.
Annoying as hell. The professor sighs. "I'd prefer it if you did. The quicker it's done, the more time you'll have to work on your actual assessment."
The class groans.
"Be quiet." The professor walks back to the front of the room, and places the remaining papers on his desk. "Whoever hands in the exercise next class gets five extra points on their assessment."
The students all start chatting in excitement, and I don't know whether to pity them or not. I look at the professor. He has a calm expression on his face, but in his mind, he's laughing. No, seriously—he's actually laughing. It's almost creepy.
Sometimes, I'm thankful for my ability. It helps me sniff out the liars, and today, the professor's the first liar I sniff out.
Five extra points my ass.
425Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6eZbctZUX
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Hi!
If you've read this far, thank you 🥺
I haven't written a story in years, so I'm sorry if my writing isn't good. I just wanted to say, this story is for fun. I suddenly thought of it while I was in the shower (I know), so I decided to write it.
Thank you for reading!
ns 172.70.131.6da2
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