Home*

The remainder of the day passed uneventfully. I did walk past Adam on the way out of school and confirmed that the euphoria was still there. It had barely decreased since I saw him at lunch, which meant Chloe’s Gift lasted quite a long time for something so powerful. My current hypothesis had Chloe as having a semi-active Gift with above average strength. If Adam was still under the effects tomorrow as well, I would revise her to a strong. Two or three days? Exceptionally strong.

The bus home was painful, as it always was. While fortunate that the school day ended before people got off work, the bus was still filled with people. Unlike the wealthy and connected students at school, these were the common folk. Those who were under severe stress. Who suffered from the grind of life. They were exhausted, depressed, and anxious. Their Noise grated at me, wearing me down little by little.

Finally at my stop, I stumbled out of the bus. My strength was sapped. The joy of having a Gift that was always on. The more people around me and the stronger their emotions, the faster it drained the batteries. Today had been particularly bad. A gentlemen riding the bus had been in a horrid state; an all-consuming void in his Noise. Exhausting as feeling everyone’s emotions were, at least in the extent my defenses allowed, there was something innately terrifying about feeling…nothing. It was as if the man didn’t exist, his entire existence collapsing into some emotional black hole. I did not dwell on thoughts of where such emptiness would lead.

The arrival at my apartment building gave my body a much needed rejuvenation. Unlike the posh and luxurious school, the place I called home was a dump. Graffiti livened the crumbling infrastructure as I walked to the elevator and stairs. Pushing the up button, I waited.

“Afternoon, Jake,” a quivering voice called out. Turning, I found an elderly man making his way towards me.

“Mr. Wells,” I replied with a nod.

A crooked finger with weathered skin pointed at the elevator. “Not working. Again.”

I turned to the elevator. The light still glowed, but I saw the number hadn’t moved. I turned back to Mr. Wells. “They fixing it?”

He gave a pah noise and swatted the air with his hand. “Cheap bastards never fix a god damn thing. My ceiling still pisses on me every time it rains.” I quickly moved over to open the stairway door for him. He gave me a kindly smile as he passed. I liked Mr. Wells. Had a hell of a mouth, but his Noise was always so welcoming and warm. He may have sounded bitter, but he held a genuine appreciation for each and every day.

Taking his arm, I helped him up the stairs. “Look at the bright side,” he panted as we rounded the second floor. “Don’t need the stair machine in the gym!” He took a few more breaths before finishing. “If they ever get around to fixing that too.”

I chuckled. It was one of my better ones. It was always easier to mimic the real thing if it was something I would have done without the mental blocks. At least, I assumed I would have laughed at that. Humor was a challenge sometimes.

After helping Mr. Wells to his room, I accepted his offer for a meal later. Another reason why I liked him and something I learned quickly: Never turn the man down when he offers you a meal. The man could cook.

Back down on the third floor, I finally made it back to my room. Fishing the key out from my pocket, I jiggled it around until I got the door to unlock. Kicking off my shoes, the door closed behind me.

Without my mental shield, seeing another person in my apartment would have scared the shit out of me. I didn’t so much as flinch at the sight of someone lounging on my couch—though I felt the adrenaline surge. She paused the game she was playing and scrambled to her feet. Alexis was as scantily clad as always. Her spaghetti-strap crop top revealed a great deal of her toned abs. Even more when she stretched like that. Her shorts could barely be considered pants.

“’Bout time you get home. Was worried I’d have to play alone.” She gestured to the screen. Walking past her, I headed for the bedroom without a word. “Hey!” she called after me.

Shutting the door, I methodically changed from my uniform to something more casual. Seeing one of the Parker sisters in my apartment was nothing new. While I didn’t know why they decided to use my place to give the other space, they had become a common presence for the two years I’ve been living here. Neither of them had a key to my apartment, but Alexis didn’t need one. The lock to the small balcony was busted. It went against the terms of the lease to put my own lock on it, and you would have better luck boiling water with a hair dryer than getting the owners to fix anything.

I didn’t mind, even if they tended to show up an inopportune times. Alexis loved playing games and Natalie and I seemed to share a taste in bad movies. They were the only real contact I had with other people outside my aunt checking in every week to ensure, ‘I was still alive.’ Most importantly, the sisters’ Noise never bothered me. Alexis in particular was the type of person who wore her emotions on her sleeve.

Locked away in my room, it didn’t take long for me to hear the reason she was here. Natalie had her boyfriend over. Didn’t need to read her Noise to know what she was up to—the thumping and moaning told me all I needed to know. That too was a familiar experience here. The walls were paper thin and both sisters were quite vocal in their lovemaking. When I first moved in, they were apologetic and did their best to minimize the noise. It only took a few weeks for them to go back to their old ways. Alexis seemed to take it a step farther as if playing it up in a misguided attempt to get me aroused.

Wearing jeans and a loose t-shirt, I carefully hung my uniform so it wouldn’t wrinkle. Heading back to the tiny living area, I left the thumps and moans behind. Alexis was waiting by the door, poised in such a way to show off her athletic body. The loose curls of her red hair framed her face, a playful smile lingered as her eyes followed me.

“Go home, Alexis,” I said in my calm voice as I walked past her without a second glance.

I heard her huff as she followed after me. There was a pulse of disappointment at my lack of reaction to her flirty pose.

“Play with me.”

“I’m busy.”

“You can spare an hour.”

Right before reaching the kitchen, I stopped to face her. Seeing she had my attention, she turned her charm back on. “Please?” she said, touching a hand against my arm. The other found my chest. It was warm as it applied slight pressure. “I’ll make it worth your while,” she added in a husky tone. She rolled her lower lip into her mouth as she gave me the best puppy eyes she could muster. It was moments like this I was glad emotions didn’t affect me like others. A look like that would have put me completely under her thrall.

Unfortunately for her, my mental walls were immune to her seductions. Something that agitated her to no end.

She was constantly teasing me like this. Innuendos, casual touches… not so casual touches. She always promised something more. I think she saw me as a puzzle. A mystery to work out and play with in the meantime. I didn’t mind, but I knew the limits involved. Alexis promised the world, but offered nothing. It was all a game to her and when I tried to play, she took the ball and went home.

There were times I called her bluff. Times when she promised something expecting me to rebuff her, only instead of passively ignoring it like I normally did, I took up her offer. I still remember the shocked look on her face the first time I made a move, my hands resting on her chest at her prodding. I got so far as to running my hands under her shirt before she abruptly put a stop to it.

I still didn’t know her end game. It wasn’t sex. Alexis got plenty of it from the numerous men she brought home. Yet despite that, she constantly dangled it in front of me, baiting me into jumping at something she had no intention of following through with. A situation that would frustrate other men, but I found I didn’t care. I enjoyed being around her—so much as I could enjoy things. I knew from her Noise she had no ill intentions towards me.

She just enjoyed teasing me.