"Elle was right when she said you were different, but I do not think that even she knew the full extent of what she was saying. The experiences you''ve had ensure that you will look at every event in your childhood, and view it differently than your peers. You have been forced to grow up in a world that is unforgiving, whereas even Elle has not experienced half of what you have accepted as an unchangeable past. You have the ability to tell right from wrong, you have an understanding of morality. These are things that can only be gained through experience, and the other part of you that also exists because of this experience is your affinity. Adults train for years to be able to activate theirs without some sort of mnemonic device, and yet here you are using it to run between classrooms. It is unfair for you to compare yourselves to them, and if anything that is because you are better."


    I got up and left the room, it was almost fully dark outside so I couldn''t convince the other people at the orphanage to let me go walk around the village. I just went over to my room and lay down on my bed. I didn''t understand half of what she was saying. How did we grow up in a world where grown-ups didn''t make sure that the person they were talking to was actually following? How does anybody get anything done around here if half the time nobody gets each other and nobody else cares if they were... gotten? Something like that. The only thing that I took away was that I should forgive them because I have powers. That can''t be right.


    I think I''ll have a chance to actually go over what Miss Larche said in the morning, if I tried to find the answer right now I''d be sitting in my bed all night not getting any sleep. We didn''t go to school the next day because it was the day of prayers. I don''t understand why this empire prays to all seven of them depending on where you are. They each have their own days of prayer, so every time I moved I would end up missing a day that I thought I wouldn''t have school and then getting punished for it. That was usually the first thing that let me know I would be moving away again. I was going at it again. Thinking faster than I could remind myself to go to sleep.


    I always used to think that counting sheep would never work, but I had never actually tried it before that one night in Plaqarte. If I was able to actually focus on counting, eventually the voices in my head would stop and I''d be able to actually close my eyes. If I didn''t do this it would just feel like I''m forcing my eyes closed and then I''d hate myself again.


    I got all the way to three-hundred and fifty-six before I finally shut up and could go to sleep.


    "Listen, all I''m saying is that if she was a little bit younger I''d be sending love letters every day."


    "A little bit? She''s in her forties, how could you possibly be into that?"


    "I''m with him, if a woman looks like that then I don''t care what age she is."


    "Okay, I didn''t go that far. No amount of looks can make me like a sixty-year-old."


    "If she looks like a twenty-year-old it''s not like anyone even cares, at that point you''re just freaking out over numbers."


    "If someone is sixty and they look like they''re twenty, then there''s something weird about them. Nobody is like that without some crazy explanation that involves them murdering babies."


    "I don''t know where the murdering babies part came from, is that where your mind goes to when you think of beautiful things? Babies?"


    "You''re hilarious."


    "I don''t think we should be talking about this kind of stuff."


    "You''re always worried that a teacher is right around the corner. It''s not like they''re watching our every move. Plus, if we get expelled then I''ll actually be able to ask her out without getting punished."


    "Don''t you guys think it''s weird to fantasize about a woman more than twice your age?"


    "What are they gonna do, stop us from thinking?"You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    "They probably could."


    "Well, that''s a plus for me anyway."


    "Yes, we know Celio you''re so smart, and so cool, and your brain works so much faster than the rest of us because you can run fast."


    "Glad you''re finally giving in."


    "Pardon?"


    "Now back to what we were talking about, I don''t care if she''s eighty-"


    "All of you shut up, that''s disgusting."


    We all paused for a second, he wasn''t looking at us like we were crazy, but he had this look on his face like he was trying to see what was going to happen. Was he testing us?


    "Yeah, you''re right."


    "I''m sorry man, I was just joking."


    "We don''t have to talk about it anymore if you don''t want us to, but you usually make jokes like those all the time. What''s the problem with it now?"


    "My problem is that it''s disgusting to think about dating an old hag."


    "Alright man, we won''t talk about it."


    Now he looked disgusted. He must have been testing us. What were we supposed to say? Should we have continued talking about old women who look good? Were we supposed to never talk about it, to begin with? What was he trying to prove? What was the point?


    "I need to go get something to eat, don''t follow me."


    "Alright."


    And just like that, he''d walked away.


    I woke up the next morning to somebody knocking on my door. It was Elle. I didn''t have time to go over whatever sort of dream I just had, she was already in my room looking at me like that guy did. She was trying to see what I would do. I had to quickly think about what Miss Larche said to me, but that wouldn''t be an issue.


    Am I supposed to be the grown-up? That felt like what she was trying to make me think, that because I''ve gone through more than they have because my mother died I''m able to act better than they are. That part didn''t make sense. Wouldn''t my mom dying be an excuse for me to act poorly? Everyone would always mention that she had passed away whenever I hurt someone yelled in class, or argued with the teacher. It would only work a few times before nobody talked about it anymore and I moved to a different town or city.


    There was only one part of what she told me that I agreed with. If I decided to say no to them, to just be angry at them until whenever Reynold came back, then everything would return to how it was and I wouldn''t get anything from this little escape from having to deal with him. Even if they were lying, even if they were trying to trick me, if I spent the next couple of weeks, maybe a month refusing to forgive them then I''m sure that even Elle would do something, maybe she would stop hanging out with me, something that would make the little freedom I get from him just as horrible as when he''s here. It didn''t matter that I was angry at them, I would just tell myself that I was not forgiving them because I thought they were good people, but that I was forgiving them for me.


    "I thought about what you said yesterday."


    "Oh did you?"


    "Do you want an apology or do you want to interrupt me?"


    "How about both."


    "Then how would I give the apolog-"


    "Apology accepted. You were an idiot. I forgive you."


    "How can people see you act like this and still like you?"


    "He said while smiling."


    "I''m a smiley kind of guy."


    "''Guy''?"


    "Kid. Boy. Child. Happy?"


    "Absolutely."


    "Where are the other people? Did you bring them with you?"


    "Their parents are all really strict about today, they''ll be at the rituals and ceremonies, everything that this town does."


    "So should we head out into the forest again?"


    "Depends, are you going to run me there or am I going to refuse to go?"


    "Eventually, when you''re old and grey, you''re going to look back and wish you had just walked there."


    "My bones are just fine, and they will continue to be fine."


    "You sure? I think your skull might be cracked. Want me to check?"


    "First of all, how would you ''check'' if my skull is cracked? Are you going to pull open my head like a sandwich?"


    "I could probably do it if I tried hard enough."


    "Just hold your arms out and let me jump into them. This is the closest you''ll ever get to a girl anyways."


    "Are you the daughter of a seer?"


    "Could be."


    She jumped into my arms, and in a second we were off over to the forest. I couldn''t run that quickly with her in my arms, the last time I did that her arms and legs were red for a whole week. Her hair got in my face again while I was running, I always told her to tie her hair up, and that if I tripped and fell she would break all the bones in her body. I think she knows that I won''t trip.


    I don''t know why she believed me whenever I said that I was smarter than the other people around me. I don''t know why she believed me when I would brag about how I could control my powers. Even now as I was running faster than a horse without a carriage to pull, she didn''t hold on to me. She didn''t cover her face from the wind, or look away from what was in front of her. Where did this trust come from? How could someone who I''d only known for a month act like this to me?


    We finally got to the edge of the forest, and I set her down on the ground feet first. The first few times we did this I would just lie her down and then she''d hit me.


    "Thank you, my noble steed."


    "I could just run you all the way back to the village and explore the forest myself."


    She started to walk into the trees before I finished what I was saying.


    "You''re right, you could."