I Know How You Feel

“Okay, now let’s go through the list again,” my mom said standing over me in my suitcase. It was the day before the trip and I was bubbling with excitement. Everything was going perfect so far.

“Six causal outfits?”

“Check.”

“A white shirt and black bottoms?”

“Check.”

“A formal dress?”

“What?”

I looked through my suitcase and didn’t find a dress. I couldn’t remember seeing it on the list.

“Here, I’ve got one. Put it in.”

She handed me a bluish dress and I folded it and put it in. We finished up and I went upstairs and laid on my bed to try and fall asleep. After I realized that wouldn’t happen, I decided to play this game I used to play when I was little. I looked at a book on my desk and pretended if I concentrated on it enough I could move it. It was dumb but my mom used to tell me that if I concentrated enough, I could move it like Matilda. Usually I fell asleep after doing this for so long and as I got older, I realized that was her plan. I stared at it and closed my hands quickly.

Suddenly something hit me in the head with a sharp thud. I rubbed my head and looked down to see the book, the one previously on my desk, laying open in my lap. I picked it up with one hand and stared at it. With the other hand I pushed up firmly on nothing. Soon the book was flying upwards and trying to escape my hand. I stopped concentrating and the book stopped tugging and fell back into my hand. I had another curse.

Telekinesis.

When would they stop coming?

I laid the book aside and fell back onto my pillow feeling exhausted. The next thing I knew I was asleep.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock and nearly pressed snooze before I realized;

Today was the day!

I skipped into the shower, took a quick one, and came out humming to myself. After gathering all my toiletries, I threw my hair into a low bun and put on some shorts and a t-shirt. I slipped into my flip-flops and walked downstairs. My mom was awake next to a cup of coffee and my little brother was making eggs while she watched. He was actually pretty good at cooking when he paid attention. I stuffed the rest of my things into the suitcase and zipped it up.

“Good morning!” I sang.

My mom raised her mug and my little brother took the pan off the stove. For my mom, this was way too early for her to be up. She usually slept the whole day after a Friday night shift, but she was nice enough to drive me up and see me off.

“Nicky, are those for me?” I asked looking at the eggs.

“No, you’ve got two hands,” he said putting the food on a plate and bringing it to the table.

“Oh, okay,” I said.

I grabbed another frying pan and turned the stove on high. I grabbed a few things from the refrigerator and started to make fried ham.

Nicholas sat there quietly while the aroma filled the room.

“Hey honey, can I have some of that?”

“Sure, Mom,” I answered. “Nick?” I asked knowing he was too proud to take any.

“No, I’m good,” he muttered.

I smirked and finished cooking. Afterwards I got to have the satisfaction of eating it slowly in front of him.

My mom and I loaded everything into the car and we headed to my school. I never liked going to my school on the weekend but in this case I really didn’t mind. We parked and my bubbliness filled the car. The buses were waiting in the parking lot and people were walking up to drop off their luggage. I bounced in my seat and squealed a few times.

My mom smiled and gave me a hug before turning to open the door.

“Oh and before you go,” she said.

I paused and she pulled something out of her purse and handed it to me. There in my hand was a new touchscreen phone with a cover bedazzled in the shape of an O. I squealed louder and suffocated my mom in a tight hug.

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you,” I repeated over and over again.

This fancy new phone was my first phone. My mom, as I mentioned earlier, has issues with technology in the hands of children. Therefore I was the only girl in my freshman class without a cellphone. It didn’t bother me much before, but having one was still amazing.

“Okay, okay, now there are rules,” she said.

“Yes?”

“You have to call me every night and don’t get on the internet unless it’s WiFi,” she explained.

I gave her another warm hug to show her I understood. I opened the door and ran to get my stuff. After two trips, all my stuff was in the bus and we were ready to leave. I hugged my mom for a full minute and kissed her on the cheek.

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too. Be safe.”

I got on the bus and looked around for a seat. Romeo raised his hand in the air and I sat down next to him. He seemed as excited as I was. We kept talking about things to keep from being tempted to hold hands or anything else. After a while I found myself dozing off. The next thing I knew, the bus stopped and Romeo was softly calling my name. I opened my eyes and realized my head was on his shoulder.

“Sorry,” I mumbled getting up.

“I did not mind,” he smiled getting up after me.

We got off and stretched our legs but soon came back on the bus to ride another few hours. Romeo and I told each other stories about road trips, and he even taught me some Italian, but after a while we ran out of things to do and both of us were running low on energy.

We settled into a comfortable silence. I pulled a piece of paper out of my bag and started doodling pictures. Romeo opened Twilight and read a few pages. I lifted my pen up and it accidentally brushed against his hand and I twisted awkwardly in my seat. He seemed to be doing the same. All the rules the teachers put on the bus about ‘no displays of affection’ were grating on my nerves. I really just wanted to hold his hand.

I scribbled some more and instead decided to check out my new phone. Thankfully, the technology ban was lifted for this trip so many people had their iPods and music players out and listening to them. I pulled out my phone and found the camera. I snapped a whole bunch of pictures of the entire bus and then a few of Romeo reading. He looked up and smiled making the picture perfect.

He took the phone from my hand and took a picture of the both of us. I looked at the picture and smiled at him. We looked pretty cute together. Of course he looked way better than me, but both of us together made me feel like things actually might go right. Romeo fell asleep after another hour and I decided that it was time to try messing with the telekinesis. I lifted the handle on somebody’s purse and let my pencil float above me. It wasn’t a huge accomplishment but still, to most people, defying the laws of gravity with your mind was a lot. Then I heard Sam’s voice loud and clear in my head as I was trying to lift a chocolate bar from the box at a fill station.

“OLIVIA STOP IT BEFORE PEOPLE SEE YOU!” She yelled in her thoughts giving me a blinding headache for a second.

“WHO’S GOING TO SEE?” I screamed back at the thoughts in my head.

“Holy—I just heard her talking in my head. Ow, that hurt.”

I tried thinking the same way I thought before I screamed back at her.

“Sam, the next time you scream at me I’ll give you a migraine.”

Then there was a pause and I turned around to see Sam. As soon as our eyes made contact I blocked out all the thoughts again.

“Wow, you could cause spontaneous combustion with a glare like that. Who was that at? Not me I hope,” Wyatt asked while he searched through the candy section for an Almond Joy.

“Nobody. It’s nothing,” I answered automatically.

“Oh, okay,” he said. He found the candy bar and left. I walked back to the bus by myself and found Romeo still sleeping there. He was smiling in his sleep and just looking at him made my bad mood disappear.

We got moving for the last time and arrived at the hotel around dinnertime.

“Okay, everybody, we’re here!” Mr. Harson sang.

Everyone cheered and we piled off the bus in a hurry. After taking roll, Mr. Harrison hushed everyone so that he could talk.

“Okay, we have a big concert tonight so everyone who’s tired I suggest taking a nap after dinner. We’ll meet up outside here at seven-thirty. Remember, if you’re late you’ll get less time to walk around afterward. Now go and make merry. Just remember the rules!”

Everyone ran to find their luggage. Romeo put his hand out and I grabbed it. We went to find our luggage and I got my key from the front desk.

“Two hundred forty-three,” I said outloud.

“One hundred twenty-seven,” he stated.

We looked at each other and sighed. Not that we expected to be in the same room or anything--that would be weird—but still, that was a floor difference.

“Save me a spot in the dining room?” I asked walking towards the elevator as he read the signs.

“Of course,” he said flashing one of his heart-melting smiles.

I walked into the elevator and followed the signs.

“Two thirty-nine, two forty, forty-one, forty-two, two hundred forty-three!” I slid my key through the door and found that it was already open. Walking through the door, I heard a blow dryer running. I walked a few more steps in and saw long blonde hair flying everywhere.

I had totally forgotten that I asked Mr. Harson to put Sam and I in the same room. There was no backing out now. I paused and groaned internally before making a mad dash to the bed that wasn’t taken. Putting band and choir kids in the same room took an extra effort on Mr. Harson’s part so I knew if I asked him to switch he probably would give me one of his disappointed looks. I was just going to have to deal with it.

The blow dryer went off and I quickly changed my clothes so that I could leave. I put a brush through my hopelessly fluffy hair and made for the door.

“Hold up,” Sam said.

I stopped and willed myself not to turn around. After a few seconds, I walked away. Her thoughts were sad and angry. I tried to push them away as I went into the elevator again, this time up to the fifth floor for food.

I spotted Romeo and crept up behind him. He was talking to one of his friends and I decided to just wait until they were done. I grabbed a plate and filled it up with the hotel food. It was all pretty good. It was definitely better than school food but not as good as my mom’s cooking. I sighed taking a bite of the Japanese-styled stir fry.

I thought about all the things that I could do now. I could read minds, see emotions portrayed by colors, talk to people using only my mind, lift things up and, I swallowed hard before admitting this, hurt people’s brains. With all this power, I had lost my best friend and I wasn’t sure who would be next. I couldn’t hurt anybody anymore. I could wake up every morning and think of all the people whose lives were different because of me. This curse was taking over me, and I had to get everybody out of the way before it gained full control.

Romeo’s musical thoughts moved closer to me, and my heart broke. Even though he was really the only one who could cheer me up these days, soon, I would have to give him up too. He never said anything when I asked if we could sit somewhere else or when I refused to talk to Sam. He just smiled when I looked down and offered hugs.

He sat down next to me and put his arm around my waist. “Why is il mio cuore sad?” he asked.

“It’s nothing. I just miss my mom,” I said.

He pulled me into a hug and we both finished eating.

I lingered in the dining room until I felt like it was long enough to be considered loitering. Then I slowly made it to my room and opened the door. The TV was on and I could smell microwave popcorn. Sure enough, Sam was on the edge of her bed with a bag of popcorn in her hand and the Disney Channel playing on the screen. I was tempted to tease her and explain to her that watching Disney didn’t help her love life but I didn’t. I walked to my bed and sat down. I had nothing to do, so I called my mom.

After a long conversation with her it was almost seven and I decided to change into my white shirt and black pants and fix my hair. I hopped out of my bed and started going through my suitcase. Sam turned the volume down low and tried again to talk to me.

“Olivia?”

I pulled out my clothing and began to walk away.

“Olive?”

I walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

“Livi?”

I turned on the light and stared into the mirror at myself.

What was I doing? Why did this happen to me? Why was I being punished?

All of these thoughts went through my head as Sam’s thoughts stabbed at my heart. I wasn’t sure if I could last all week with her. I already felt like a trainwreck. How long before I started getting tempted to run out in front of a bus?

I shook off those thoughts and got ready.

The concert went pretty well, except we only sang the group songs. Romeo sat out in front and smiled the whole time. He cheered when it was over and showered me with compliments.

“I had seen you with a guitar or dancing and you seemed happy, but up there you looked the happiest I have ever seen you,” he said.

I smiled and we went walking through the stores around the area. I saw all the girls from my choir class with new purses and bags full of stuff and wished I could join them, but I knew I couldn’t. Instead I was helping Romeo find a souvenir for his whole family. And considering he had six brothers and sisters, it wasn’t easy, though I didn’t mind being with him. Whenever we were alone he would kiss me and whisper cheesy romantic stuff in my ear with his wonderful low tenor voice. And for those few minutes, I felt like I had something to grab onto in the pit of despair I was falling into. But I knew that it wouldn’t last.

I slowly walked up to my room and got into bed without even bothering with anything else. Sam turned on the light when she came in and sat on her bed.

“Olivia?” she tried again.

“Olivia, I know you can hear me. I wish you would talk to me. I miss talking to you. I know I get mad at you and say mean things sometimes but truthfully, you’re my only friend. And we’re sisters; sisters don’t let boys get between us. I forgive for what you did. I just—I miss you. Please talk to me.”

I turned over in my bed away from her and she sighed. A tear fell from my face and hit the bleached white sheet.