A Date

Standing alone on the rooftop, I watched the noise of the students far below. My stance was casual, wind blowing at my jacket as I had my hands clasped behind my back. The wind was quite strong today, a storm brewing in the distance. Chloe was late. Half the period was over and she hadn’t joined me. This wasn’t like her.

Before I could reach out with my Gift, I felt her as she climbed the stairs. Door opening, I turned to watch her walk over to me. She didn’t meet my gaze, fighting with her long hair as the wind tossed it around.

I gave her a smile. “Good morning, Chloe.” She didn’t answer right away, so I focused on her noise. Guilt weighed heavily on her. She felt ashamed as I recognized evidence of euphoria in her noise. It wasn’t strong enough to overwhelm her, but it was stronger than it normally was this time of day. I moved over to kiss her only to have her jerk away. “Something wrong?”

For the first time, she met my eye. “You can tell, can’t you?”

I felt my mouth open to ask what she was talking about, but I hesitated. I stated the truth. “You had sex.”

She deflated. “You can tell.”

“Your Gift makes it rather obvious.”

She moved to the fence, grabbing it as she looked down at the people. “Every so often one of the administration wants to speak with me about some random thing. They take me back to their office and we… well…” She cleared her throat, turning around to face me. “Let’s just say we make a deal that allows me to continue my work in peace.”

“I see.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

Her noise was difficult to navigate. I didn’t know what she wanted me to say. Then I realized this wasn’t about saying what she wanted to hear. She wasn’t asking for her sake, but mine.

“You know I don't have a strong opinion on that.”

“I sucked off a man twice my age before letting him bend me over his desk and take me. You are really okay with that?” I looked inward and found… nothing. The barest of feeling at the edge of thought. She turned away from me, letting out a long breath as my silence answered the question for me. She was muttering something to herself as dark emotions swirled around her.

Moving up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her as I read her noise. She took comfort in my touch, but there was something else there. A wavier in her conviction and an exhaustion that went beyond the physical. She didn’t pull away, leaning back as my arms held her against me. “Sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for.”

“I feel like I keep testing you. This whole thing doesn’t seem real. I keep waiting to cross some line that would disgust you and bring this all to an end.”

“That won’t happen.” She was silent for several minutes. I could see her noise moving the entire time. A lot of emotions, but nothing that I could act on. “What are you thinking?”

I could see the amusement in her noise. “What? You don’t know?”

“I told you it doesn’t work like that. I can’t read minds.”

“Only emotions, I know,” she said with a light laugh. She sighed, the amusement fading. “I was thinking about what I could do for you. I mean, I feel like things are a bit lopsided between us.”

“Just being near me is all I need.”

“Yeah, but that’s not something I give. I want to do something for you. There has to be something.”

Bending my head forward, I kissed the top of her head. “There is something.”

Excitement and curiosity filled her noise. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “Go on a date with me this Friday.”

I could feel her disappointment in her noise. “That—”

“Please.”

She sighed. “Yeah. Okay.” I hesitated. Chloe seemed to pick up on it. “What?”

After a brief debate, I decided to tip my hand. “Do you have clients on Friday?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you cancel?”

“Cancel? I mean, I suppose. Wh—” She pulled herself out of my arms, spinning to look at me. Her eyes were wide. There in her noise, I saw it. Anticipation. Hope. She was trying to temper her expectations, yet that hope…

Reaching out, I brushed the hair away from her face. After, I pressed my palm against her cheek. “I can’t guarantee things will go as you hope, but it would mean a lot to me to go on a date without your Gift in your noise.”

“I can do that,” she said with a happy smile. “I can definitely do that.”

Leaning forward, I kissed her. About two seconds in, she jerked away. “Oh god. I—”

She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence as I kissed her again. I felt her hand against my chest, a pressure trying to push me away yet not having the desire to do so. Arms around her, I pulled her back to me.

When I finally broke the kiss, she had a breathless look to her as our eyes met. Her noise was a swirl. Each breath I took filled my body with energy as I felt it wrap around me.

“You’ve gotten a lot better,” she whispered.

“I had a good teacher.”

As she kissed me, I saw it in her noise. An understanding. It wasn’t complete, but she was starting to see that I was different. That we were different.

And that was okay. At this moment, we were both happy in our unique ways.