Gifted Connections 1

Jemmy was the quietest I had ever seen her, and she suddenly seemed very interested in her perfectly pink polished nails.

Troy stood up first and began to take his pants off.

I hastily closed my eyes, and he chuckled. “I’m not completely getting undressed, Princess. Yet,” he said suggestively with wagging eyebrows. It should have been creepy, but he was entirely too good looking and smooth to be considered creepy.

I peeked between my fingers, despite his assurance I wouldn’t get an eye full of maleness. I gasped and put a trembling hand to my mouth as I saw a mark in the shape of a ? on his right hip. I recognized that mark.

When I was thirteen years old, I had a persistent ache in the back of my neck. One night, I woke to a searing pain, like someone had taken a hot poker to it. The next day, I woke and found the same ? shaped mark beneath the right side of my hairline. It was roughly two inches wide and tall. Occasionally, it still pained me, but I had mostly forgotten about it.

Jax stood up next to Jemmy, throwing a reassuring smile my way. He took off his shirt and started to flex his muscles, getting a few laughs and groans from the group. I remained speechless. He pointed to his upper right arm, and there was the ?.

Noah stood up next and started dancing like he was a stripper. I groaned, covering my eyes. No man should have moves that good. Heck, I bet he was a better dancer than me. “Pow,” he slowly lifted his shirt and pointed to his back-shoulder blade. As he flexed, his well-def

ined muscles bulged.

They continued going around the circle. Remy stood up with no fan fair and dropped his jeans so that we could see the mark on his inner thigh.

Mr. Jace was next, and he stared at me intently, but with an enigmatic expression in his eyes, as he unzipped his pants and pulled down his boxers. He came dangerously close to revealing his manhood, as he revealed the mark on the ‘V’ of his pelvic area.

Drake stood up, and I imagined I was as red as he was as he showed me the mark on his pectoral muscle. Out of all the guys, he was the lankiest, but he still had a lot of definition in his biceps, pecs, and abdomen. He reminded me of a swimmer, with his long arms and wide shoulders.

He spoke softly as he stated, “In the Greek alphabet, the seventh letter is Eta. This is that symbol.”

Will looked closer at the mark on Drake, since he was the closest to him. “This is unheard of. This is so…absurd. You boys are pulling my leg, aren’t you? You guys took a hanger and gave yourselves this, didn’t you?”

Noah stood up and held his hand out to me. “I remember getting this mark when I was about fifteen. We all got it within days of each other.” He looked over at Will as he pulled my shocked frame from the couch. “We always thought we had a mutual connection out there. We did our research,” Remy cleared his throat, “well, Remington, Jace, and Drake did. Today, when Blake hugged me, I found hers.” He gently lifted my hair, giving me instant goosebumps. My head and scalp were highly sensitive to touch.

“You’re flipping kidding me, right?!” Jemmy looked over at Will. “I thought they made it up! How is that even possible?!”

This wasn’t happening, right? This was all a dream. Wasn’t it?!

“You guys need to keep this to yourselves for a while,” Will said quietly. He had a worried expression, and his perfect salt and pepper hair now stood on end from him running his hands through it several times. “If Horatio were to get wind of this, he would stop at nothing to get you.” He looked pointedly at me.

“She needs to work on honing and controlling her gift,” Mr. Jace said gravely.

“She’s already going to be hating life shortly,” Jemmy said with a sympathetic frown.

“Why do you say that?” I asked with concern; the first time I spoke since the bombs had gone off around me. Six to be exact.

“You’ll be expected to begin your physical training, and it’s no joke. Since you’re a senior, your class load is going to be crazy too. More than likely, you’ll have a lot of catching up to do, the curriculum is intense and probably more than you’re used to. Then, you’ll probably be stuck in a class of kids just coming into their gifts for your gift training.” Jemmy said with regret lacing her voice.

“Way to be such a Debby Downer,” Troy said with a laugh. “I’m sure you, Drake, Noah, and Jax can find the time to tutor her, and when Remy, Jace, and I are in town we can help out as well.”

Everyone nodded in silent agreement. I felt like I was close to a panic attack. Was it too late to change my mind? I fought the urge to flee; I didn’t want this life. If I could, I would tell them to take my gift away and shove this connection thing so far up where the sun didn’t shine.

“She shouldn’t struggle too much with school,” Mr. Jace said finally. “She was on track to be valedictorian or salutatorian, and this school system isn’t too far behind ours.”

Drake looked over at me with his eyebrows raised. “Are you in AP classes?”

I knew he wasn’t insulting my intelligence, but I was on edge and irritated that they were all talking around me like I wasn’t even there. “Why? I don’t look smart enough to be a good student? Is it because I come from a trailer park? Should I be a product of my environment? Maybe I should be on a street corner trying to score some more blow, a little Mary Jane?” I said acerbically.

Jemmy, Noah, Troy, and Jaxson started laughing at Drake as he flushed red. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to find the words to respond to me.

“You know that’s not what he meant,” Remy finally spoke up for the first time since we got in the car hours earlier. “Drake is extremely bright and studious. He's not used to the rest of us peons being on his level. I’m sure he was pleased that his connected wasn’t like most of the girls that pursue him.”

Drake gave him a relieved smile as if he had voiced the whole situation correctly. The others stopped laughing, and I immediately felt like a jerk for being so mean to him. It was obvious that he was shy and slightly socially awkward. I wasn’t a bully, and I hated when underdogs were picked on. I shouldn’t have lashed out at the easiest target, regardless of my own fears. He had been nothing but nice to me, and I didn’t hear him complain once when he cooked for us.

“I’m sorry,” I looked directly at Drake. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you because I’m- because of all these new changes. All my classes are AP, but I would appreciate it if you can help me when you’re available.”