A Much Needed Talk

11 years ago, at the Tall Pine Mall

On a hot sunny day, a young boy was having lunch with his parents; he was quite happy because, later on, his dad would be taking him to do some batting practice for the first time. Even though the bat was still a bit too big for him, at that very moment it was all he could think about.

After he finished drinking from his soda, he spotted a red-headed girl on another table close to them. She was having lunch with her father. He saw her talking to him, seemingly asking her father for something. After he nodded, she got up from her chair and took off running.

The speed at which she ran had amazed the boy; from the direction she was heading, it was obvious where she was going, a candy store. Just before she entered the store, the boy noticed that a small pink coin purse had fallen out from her pocket without her noticing it.

The boy didn’t have to think much about what to do, he got up from his chair to pick up the purse and hand it back to her.

“Where are you going, John?” his mother asked.

“To the candy store, can I go, please?” he asked, still keeping his eye on the purse to see if anyone else was going to pick it up.

“Ok, Son. Here’s some money,” his father said handing him two notes. “Hurry back, ok?”

“Thanks, Dad,” he said, happy to also be able to buy something for himself.

Halfway to the store’s entrance, John saw a big kid picking up the purse and enter the store; not sure if that kid intended to give it back to the girl, John followed him inside. Unfortunately, the big kid was none other than Frank’s older brother - by four years - Steven Dickson, and no, he had no intention of giving the purse back to its owner.

As he entered the store, he heard the girl talking to the cashier, “Please, I can’t find my purse. My brother is sick and this is his favorite chocolate. I promise I’ll pay you back later.”

“I am sorry, little girl, I can’t do that. Why don’t you go to your parents and ask for more money?”

“My dad won’t give me anymore money and this is the last one,” the girl answered not letting go of the chocolate bar she wanted to buy and then started to cry.

When John looked at Steven, he noticed he was smiling most likely enjoying the girl’s sadness. When he turned around to search for something to buy, John noticed that part of the pink purse was sticking out of the back pocket of his trousers.

At that moment, something had struck him, seeing the girl crying and the bigger kid actually enjoying it had brought about a feeling he had never felt before. He bravely headed to Steven and quickly pulled out the purse from his pocket.

“Hey, asshole, what are you doing?” Steven growled at John noisily enough for everyone to hear.

“That’s my purse!” the girl exclaimed when she saw her purse in John’s hand.

“Is that true?” the cashier asked.

“You’ll pay for this,” Steven told John as he turned to him and then punched him in his stomach, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

As he fell on his knees, all John could hear was the cashier calling the other store’s employee to stop Steven from doing anything else. The whole world around him then went dark.

John regained consciousness a few moments later still on the ground just as his parents arrived at the store; the commotion from inside had alerted them. Feeling quite sore, he had trouble getting up and only did so with the help of his father.

Since she had seen everything that had happened, the cashier was now talking to the mall’s security guard who was holding onto Steven.

“Thanks,” the redhead said and then smiled at him. “I’m sorry, but I have to go now, I’ve got to visit my brother at the hospital and visiting hours are almost over. Oh, my name is Amelia, by the way. What’s yours?” she asked.

“John, John Newman,” he answered.

“Thank you, John.” She then proceeded to hug him and headed to her father who was talking to John’s dad; before she left, she waved at him

Present day at John’s house

“So, aren’t you going to invite me inside?” Amelia asked her friend; she had chuckled when she had seen that her earlier question about penance had stunned him.

“Of course, come in,” John answered and moved to allow her to enter.

“Oh, before I forget,” she told him before pinching his right arm.

“Ouch, what was that for?” he asked while he rubbed his arm.

“For you to know that you’re not dreaming this time,” she said and then chuckled again. “Let’s go to the sofa, we’ll be more comfortable there.” Amelia didn’t wait for him to reply, so she walked to the sofa and sat down; seeing him still at the front door, she patted on the sofa and said, “Sit.”

John obeyed her; after a moment of silence, he couldn’t help it but ask once again, “All this time it was you?”

“Aye,” Amelia answered.

“Even after what I did?” he asked a bit ashamed at the memories of the event.

“Aye,” she answered once again.

“Why?” he asked.

“Oh, wow. Where should I begin?” she said looking a bit serious. “How about because I wanted to keep an eye on you? Or because I am so pigheaded that not even the Abyss would drive me away from you, much less a cunt like Vanessa? Or simply because I felt like being more than just a friend to you? I invented Caile Agùr as a way for us to keep in touch; I even based her name on the Gaelic words caileag ùr meaning new girl. For a while, I even wondered if you’d ever catch up to it.

“But we can talk more about that later,” she smiled before continuing. “What I want to know is what happened to you? I have a good estimate on the when but have almost nothing on how it happened or what powers you’ve got.”

“I have some questions of my own,” he said choosing not to answer right away. “One of which is: how long?”

“How long what?” she asked confused.

“Everything,” he answered. “Your secret powers, you keeping an eye on me.”

Once again they stayed quiet, each waiting for the other to say something. Each wanting an explanation from the other for past events but also having to make some of their own.

“This isn’t going anywhere,” John finally said to break the tension.

“Aye,” Amelia agreed with him.

“So, who goes first?”

“I guess I should since I’ve been hiding my powers since we met,” she sighed and then proceeded. “You probably have guessed by now that my whole family... wait, let me correct that, my clan is part of the Abyss. Well, the best that I could describe my abilities without taking too long is that they are similar to that of a Technomancer.”

“A Technomancer?” John asked trying to take in what she had just said.

“Aye. You see, my glasses, the drones and bees from yesterday and the ring I gave you are all altered by my abilities.” Amelia started to explain.

“Wait, the drone and bees, that was you?” John asked surprised.

“Aye, it was me, and you’re welcome,” she said smiling. “I only found out about it because of the ring. I had given it to you so that I could keep track of you and try to protect you; I was worried that my clan’s enemies would target you. My mom taught me how to do it via the ring and my glasses. These glasses serve for other things too, like masking my powers.”

“Wait, they mask you against the use of any skill?” he asked thinking about when he used observe on her and the flickering that had happened the moment she took them off.

“Well, most of the ones that I know of. As long as I wear them, the masking works.” She then looked at him suspiciously and asked, “Why do you ask?”

“I have a skill that basically allows me to see information - even some hidden ones - about people and objects,” John answered.

“What kind of information?” she pushed him further wanting to know more.

“Name, class, level, stats, you know, like stat sheets we see in games,” he decided to be truthful. “Oh, and some very personal information as well. Before you get angry, when I cast it on you, you had your glasses on and the skill’s level was too low. All it gave me was your name, that you are a level 5 straight A student and that you had an almost neutral opinion of me.”

“So, if you cast it now, you’d see more info about me?” Amelia asked, but before he could answer, she continued, “But I am pretty sure my glasses would still affect what you’d get.”

“Yes,” he said. “You’re probably right.”

“Go ahead,” she said while taking off her glasses.

“Are you sure?” John asked. “It could give me some pretty personal facts about you.”

“Aye,” Amelia answered and then she smiled. “It should be fun. Besides, I don’t want to hide any more secrets from you.”

John proceeded to cast observe, but before he could read the window, he saw Amelia smile as one of the lenses of her glasses flashed a red light.

John took his time as he read Amelia’s stat sheet. He was amazed by the difference between their levels; like it had happened with Katia, Aza and Amanda, this also affected his ability to see her stats. As he read the information about her leaving the clan’s leadership to her brother, John wondered if Peter was the leader that Robert wanted John to meet. The description of her feelings for him was somewhat vague; he felt he had to read them twice just to be sure about what it said. And that surprised him, well, that and the relationship score. He was puzzled that there wasn’t anything about how the events of six years ago had affected her feelings for him; he guessed there just wasn’t enough space on the stat sheet.

With the sheet still up, he kept on thinking about all he had learned and all she had done for him. Truth be told, he was annoyed about her keeping her secret from him all these years, but then again, he didn’t see any way she could have told him about it; she might even have been prohibited from doing so. He was also a bit annoyed about the ring, but deep down he knew she had good intentions, and it had saved him from further ass whopping.

The knowledge of her feelings for him had brought him back to questioning his own feelings for her. June’s inquiry about them was just the start, even though he didn’t begin to write the assignment due for tomorrow. Now, knowing how she felt made a huge difference.

When he finally looked at her, he saw her patiently smiling at him. He smiled back and knew exactly what he wanted to do; he just wished to know if she wanted the same.

“So, what now?” This time, it was Amelia’s turn to break the silence.

“What do you mean?” John asked back buying some time, just enough to build up his courage.

“I mean, what... do... we... do… n...” before she could finish her explanation, John kissed her.

Like in his dream, it wasn’t the most romantic of kisses, mostly due to his inexperience and it catching Amelia by surprise.

“Oh, good answer,” she said after the initial shock had subsided and she became pleased with his initiative. “Let’s try it again, with me ready for it this time.”