Burden.

We got away with it, and with absolutely no issues. Grace checked outside the restroom to see if it was safe for me to go out, and even though it was, I decided to be even more careful and went into the men’s restroom first, so it wouldn’t look like we were coming out of the same place if someone did see us. Maybe too much, but considering we’d just had sex in a school restroom, I think I was justified.

“That was amazing,” Grace said, stretching her arms upwards. “Didn’t realize I needed it so badly. Seriously, though, what made you do that?” She playfully poked my ribs. “Do I look that great today?”

I smiled. “You always look great. I just… I don’t know, it was on a whim and I… thought you’d enjoy it. Is that bad?”

“You were on point, so no.” She laughed.

Mila and Sarah were already in the classroom. They stopped whatever they were talking about when we went in, and a single look at us gave us away to them.

“Where?” Sarah asked, grinning.

“The restroom,” Grace sang languidly.

“Seriously?” Mila laughed. “You guys are nuts.”

“Is it that obvious?” I asked, worried.

“To us, yes,” Mila said, then gestured at Grace. “I mean, look at that dumb smile.”

“Like you’re any different,” Grace defended herself, puffing her cheeks.

“Anyway. Changing the topic now that we have a bit of time alone…” Sarah started. “You’re going out with Alice this Saturday, huh?”

I flinched, but only out of surprise that they already knew. I was about to tell them myself. “She told you?”

“Of course,” Grace said. “You… figured it out already, didn’t you? Alice is the girl we told you about, the one we… had to stop seeing.”

I nodded. “I figured.”

“She told us in a video call last night,” Mila said. “Asked us if it was okay.”

“And is it?”

“Yep. We have no problem with it,” she said. “We encourage it, even!”

“She’s embarrassed of liking cars,” Sarah said with a sigh. “Her dad and her brother are both car nuts, so she played more with small toy cars than with dolls when we were kids. Other girls made fun of her for it, so she developed a bit of a complex.”

“That’s…”

“Stupid, right?” Grace finished for me.

“I was gonna say sad.”

“At least it didn’t make her stop liking cars,” Mila said. “I think it’s the coolest thing. Alice is such a badass.”

The image of Alice in her tight, blue coverall, stained with oil, carrying a ratchet came back to my mind. I had to admit, ‘badass’ was one of the words that would fit that image.

“I’m glad she invited you to go with her,” Sarah told me. “Surprised, but glad.”

{Maybe they’ll finally grow a little closer}

The thoughts came from Sarah, accompanied by feelings of anticipation, enthusiasm… and lust. I swallowed, both literally and figuratively. I swallowed my fear and asked the question I’d been meaning to ask for a while.

“Do… Do you really not get jealous?”

The girls shared a look, one of those where they seemed to talk without words.

“I don’t,” Mila said. {It’s exciting, actually} she thought.

“Me neither,” Grace said. {I want to encourage it more, even} she thought.

Sarah shook her head. {How do we tell you we want to see you with other girls, too?}

When I first heard Isabelle’s thoughts, it came as such a shock that I felt sick. Hearing Mila, Grace and Sarah’s thoughts was jarring, but oddly familiar. But hearing this? It was another shock. It wasn’t just the words. They came with the feelings of affection, care, lust and excitement. They weren’t looking for an excuse to get rid of me, but genuinely wanted me to… to…

My head began to hurt. Hurt badly. The first of our classmates arrived, and slowly everyone else did, too. The bell rang to signal the start of homeroom, and we all went to our seats.

Halfway through the first period, my head was killing me. I felt like it was going to split open. It was the teacher who noticed I looked pale, and I had to admit I had a strong headache. I was told to go to the infirmary.

Sarah helped me there, though she looked just as sick from worry alone.

“What happened? Did you sleep well?” she asked me as we walked slowly.

“Y-Yes. I… had a similar headache before leaving the house, but it wasn’t this bad. Maybe I’m catching a cold?”

“Let’s hope that’s all this is.”

Once in the infirmary, I was put to bed for a while. The infirmary was a good one. Big, with four beds and a capable old nurse. She looked at me, took my temperature and all that stuff. She didn’t see anything wrong, so she gave me a couple of painkillers and told me to rest.

Without realizing it, I drifted off to sleep.

“Sorry, sorry. My fault.” Frey said, floating above me in a dream copy of the same infirmary I was in. “Dammit, I tell you to trust me and the first thing I do is send you to the infirmary. Talk about earning credibility…” She looked regretful.

“What happened?” I asked her, laying in bed.

“I got too trigger happy, in a manner of speaking.” She sighed. “See, I can now hear people’s thoughts more clearly. It’s actual mind reading now, though still limited to short sentences, feelings and emotions. Problem is… Those seem to be a bit overwhelming for the human mind. I let you hear too much, and it hurt you.”

“So it wasn’t just me not handling it well?”

“Nah, you’re doing great, all things considered. Shit, I’m really sorry, kid. I just really needed you to hear what the girls really thought. I’ll have to be more careful from now on.”

“It’s… fine.” I sighed, then smiled. “It was nice hearing that the girls really do care about me.”

“See? I wasn’t lying to you!” Frey seemed satisfied with that, at least. “

“Okay. Rest now. I only dropped by to apologize. I’ll be more careful, so don’t start relying on mind reading, okay? I’ll do it sporadically until you can get used to it. It works best with the girls you already have a sex link with, and I can read the minds of girls who feel lust towards you, but that’s gonna take a huge toll on you, so I’ll have to do that even less.”

“Gotcha…” I felt sleepy, even in a dream.

Frey waved goodbye, and then my sleep was dreamless and restful.

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