• 1

    I always knew I was different. Not because we had more money than just about everyone I know. Not because the Campbell name was one of the most known in the entire United States. But because of the strange ability I have.

    Ever since I was a little kid I’ve had the ability to see the aura of all living things: cats, dogs, squirrels, fish, trees, birds, and, of course, human beings. With my aura sight I can know just about everything there is to know about a person just by looking at them. I can also guess what that person is thinking. I’m not always right with these guesses, but nine times out of ten, they’ll be right.

    Today is the first day of high school for me and I couldn’t be more tensed. I really don’t know why I am. Most people are nervous about the kids or teachers there, only because they don’t know what they are like. But I do. After taking my morning shower I put on my favorite pair of jeans and my favorite shirt. I found a pair of socks under my bed and my shoes in my closet. After getting dressed and stuffing my backpack full of school junk, I made my way down the curved stairwell.

    “Vincent, hurry! You’re gonna be late for school!” my mom yelled to me.

    “Yeah, yeah,” I sighed in reply. To her, late was on time, and on time was five minutes early. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in the mind of an entrepreneur. I got some Poptarts from the monster-sized pantry and hopped into my mom’s Bentley. She was already waiting in the driver’s seat.

    “You got everything?” she looked over the seat.

    “Yeah I got everything,” I replied. She shrugged and started the car. The engine was so soft it took me by surprise when we started moving, but then again, it always does. I sat back in the leather seats wondering why she bought this thing anyway. I knew we were rich but she didn’t have to buy one of the most expensive cars in the world. Any old car would have done the trick. I looked out the window to view the surroundings. Everything looked so vivid, mainly because of the aura. I saw the light yellow aura of a squirrel in a tree, though I couldn’t see the actual squirrel.

    “I remember when I was started high school,” my mom said, breaking my gaze.

    “Really?” I asked without interest, I already knew where this was heading.

    “Yep. Ninth Grade was the beginning of my life. I may not have been the most popular but I certainly was one of the brightest. You know, this starts a new era, Vinny. Each decision you make—”

    “Can drastically affect the rest of your life,” I finished her sentence. I watched as her aura suddenly sparked, annoyance.

    “I know you can tell what I’m gonna say before I even say it but you could, you know, let me say it.” she complained. She was always like this when I finished her sentences with my gift. But honestly, you didn’t really need it with her; her sentences were so obvious she might as well have them stamped on her forehead.

    She cleared her throat, “As I was saying, this will—” she stopped mid sentence as she realized we were about one block away from the school. I saw her aura kind of wiggle and shrink, concern.

    “Well, this is it Vinny, this is the beginning of your life. Are you sure you haven’t forgotten anything? Do you have enough money for lunch? Oh, I wish I could be there with you.”

    “Relax mom, don’t get an ulcer. I’ll be fine,” I assured her. She calmed down a little, just long enough to unlock the door. I opened the door and felt her aura start shortening again as more anxiety set in.

    “Relax mom, jeez.” I closed the door but could still feel her. Her unease was starting to make me uneasy, another effect of aura: increased sympathy and empathy. I could feel her wave of concern rush towards me and I walked quickly to the front door of the school to avoid it.

    The school was, big to say the least. It had one of those Japanese fountains in the center of it. I thought it was a waste of tax payer money but it wasn’t my call. There were flowers inside the building and some guy in a tux waiting for all the freshmen. He approached me and I quickly scanned his aura. From the look of it he really didn’t want to do this, like someone who just lost a bet or something.

    “Welcome to Midway High School, finest school in all of Texas,” the man said with as much serenity as he could muster, “I am Vice Principle Steel, the one in charge of all ninth graders.”

    They don’t pay him enough for this stuff, I thought. I couldn’t help but smile, my amplified empathy caught hold of his serenity.

    “Thank you,” I replied with powerful tranquility. His aura bustled a little with surprise, but he suppressed it. Apparently I was the only one who really thanked him.

    “You are very welcome.” He fervently replied. I took a quick and small bow, something that seemed a little appropriate considering the giant, gushing Japanese fountain behind him, and walked away. There was so much color in the hallways it almost hurt my eyes. Ha, my eyes being hurt from too much color. I see more color than most people on planet Earth.

    My first stop was the bathroom. I didn’t have as much time as I had wanted to get ready for the day. I dove into the first men’s room I saw. Wow, even the bathrooms looked nice. Spotless counter tops, tiles so shiny you could use them as mirrors, urinals and toilets that glisten underneath the light, heck even the trashcan looked lovely. I looked into the mirror and thought I saw my clone or something. The mirrors were so clean, well, they were just really clean. I looked alright. Brown, mushroom-cap hair was looking good, my teeth where thoroughly brushed and very pearly if I do say so myself. I looked, good, and that’s not vanity. Many people tell me that I look good, but I never believed them. Maybe I’m just slow on the uptake, I don’t know.

    I left the heavenly bathroom, if it’s okay to even say that, and started towards my first class. First class is, um, Biology! Yeah that’s it, Biology. Room…156. I said in my mind, the study of life, eh? Wouldn’t it be something if it could help me find out what’s wrong with me? I found my room seconds before the tardy bell rang. I took a good look around and I felt like I was in one of those mad scientist labs. This school has the most expensive science equipment I’d ever seen. There weren’t even desk! In its place were some sort of heat resistant, two-person lab tables. I sat down at a vacant table and put my head down. I didn’t have to much time to enjoy this brief moment of zone-out time, the empty seat next to me was quickly taken by a girl. I inspected her aura out of the corner of my eye. Pink, not a color you see everyday. Using my gift I took a few guesses at her thoughts. She wanted to talk to me but didn’t really know where to start. I kinda wanted to talk to her too. She was a cute girl. Long black hair, eyes so dark they might as well be black, slightly pale face, deep contrast to her pitch-black eyes and hair, and a nice figure.

    “Hello,” I said to her. Relief spread over her.

    “Hello there,” she said with a huge smile. I laughed an inaudible laugh. Her joy was highly contagious.

    “I’m Vincent Campbell.” An expression of disbelief spread over her.

    “You mean, the Campbell!” She said.

    “The one’s that invented the engine that runs on oxygen, yeah, that’s the one.” I made a wry smile. It was always the same thing.

    “I can’t believe I’m talking to one of the Campbell’s!” Just as I thought she would say. “Oh, I’m sorry, my name is—”

    “Alice Walker!” the teacher bellowed.

    “Here!” the girl next to me answered. The teacher marked Alice’s presence on her clipboard. I raised my hand before she even called my name. She took it that I was Vincent, and moved on.

    “Nice to meet you Alice,” I said, turning back to her. She smiled brightly, her eyes closing in the process and slightly cocking her head sideways. The gesture reminded me of something out of an anime.

    “Okay class, my name is Mrs. Clark. The person you chose to sit by is now your lab partner. I will change seats around if you are caught talking to much or just plain messing around, you got me?” she said with a little too much youth. But, of course, it matched her aura color, yellow.

    “Yeah, we got ya!” the class said in unison. The teacher nodded and began writing things on the chalk board in the front of the classroom. Strangely, that was the most surprising thing in the whole classroom. The way the place looked you would expect some sort of laser board or something. Alice giggled next to me. I looked at her bizarrely. What’s so funny? I tried to take a presumption at her thoughts but, for once in my entire life, didn’t get anything! I had a brief panic attack. Nothing. Nothing at all was coming from her. She looked at me with a worried expression. Then it looked like recognition dawned on her and she giggled again. That did it right there. That entire time, her aura didn’t change one bit. Not at all.

    “What were you laughing about?” I asked her trying to contain my panic.

    “Oh, nothing,” she said that trying to fight another wave of laughter. I was kinda starting to get annoyed. This girl was obviously special too. Hmph, and here I thought I was the only one. She nodded as if answering a question I didn’t even ask yet. I was confused for a little but then the question came: Can she read my mind? So not only can she read my mind, but she can see into the future. She then looked at me with a look that said: Pretty much. I resolved to find out after class.

    Just then, the bell rung. The ring kind of threw me off. Another panic attack hit me; I wasn’t paying attention to a word Mrs. Clark was saying. Alice handed me a sheet of paper.

    “Here you go,” she said smiling. I opened the folded sheet and saw notes over everything Mrs. Clark had said. On the back was a note:

    Well, this was a fun first day! I thought I was alone too, but then I met you! We’ll talk later. How about after school? We could go by BK and grab a bite to eat, what do ya say? Wait, I already know, you’re gonna say yes! biggrin See ya later!

    Okay so two things were true about this girl. One, she was special like me, and two she could turn her gift on and off at any moment…I think. I folded the note back along the creases and put it in my pocket. Got a meeting with a girl afterschool, BK, got it. The next five classes went by pretty quickly, mainly because I was thinking about other things. Subject of the day: Alice Walker. I don’t know why I’m so surprised that there’s another special person. I mean, it’s not like it’s impossible that there are two special kids, right?

    Sixth period came around and that meant lunch time. Now here’s something strange: lunch time hurts. That’s right, it hurts. So much color flowing into my retinas that it makes me have a headache and a little disoriented. The cafeteria was about as big as I don’t know what. On the menu: freshly cooked lobster, rotisserie chicken, something en flambé, and a bunch of other needlessly expensive food. I bet they have the menu so chock full of expensive junk to make sure you’re actually rich or something. I bought the cheapest thing I could get and sat down at a vacant table the size of Rhode Island. The table didn’t stay empty for long, a couple of girls, some guys and, sure enough, Alice showed up.

    “Hey you’re that Vincent kid aren’t you?” some guy at my table asked.

    “Yeah, I’m that Vincent kid,” I replied. One of the girls next to me giggled.

    She thinks you’re cute, I think you are too ha ha, said a voice in the back of my head.

    Okay, now I’ve lost it. I looked around to find the source of that voice, if it didn’t come from me.

    Relax, you’re not going crazy. It’s me, Alice! Okay, now I’m going even crazier.

    “Hey, the name’s Will,” said the boy I was talking to earlier. I shook his hand and nodded. The girl next to me shyly introduced herself as Jasmine.

    So Alice, does this thing go both ways? I asked her mentally, hoping I wasn’t going insane. I saw her nod in the corner of my eye. The introductions were still going on, apparently no one knew each other over here, but I wasn’t paying too much attention.

    Now do you think you're going crazy? Alice’s voice echoed in my mind.

    Just a little bit. How are you doing this?

    I told you, we'll talk about it at Burger King. I shook my head a little.

    Why can’t you just tell me right now? It’s not like anyone can hear us. Alice shook her head and her aura came back to life and it said: In due time. Lunch ended and the rest of my day went by fast. I called my mom on my fancy pants cell phone she got me for Christmas.

    “Hello?” she said over the phone.

    “Hey mom, I’m going to Burger King with a friend if that’s okay with you?” I said.

    “Is it a girl?” her excitement rising with each word. My mom is a strong believer in love at first sight. She thinks every girl I go on a “date” with will end up being my wife.

    “Um, yeah. But we’re just friends.” I reluctantly admitted.

    “Oh Vincent! Don’t you know that you don’t go on dates with a girl unless you like her? You do like her don’t you? What does it feel like when you look into her eyes? I remember when your father first asked me out…” For the love of Pete, this woman could talk! It was story after story with her. I had to end this conversation if I wanted to make it to BK before the New Year.

    “Ksssssh, I think we’re breaking up mom I think, Kssssssh!” I hung up the phone. Oldest trick in the book but sometimes it works for her.