He smiled warmly. “Yes, I’ll drop you off before my class.”
When I got in class, I took the back seat in the last row and noticed I was one of the first ones there. Out of curiosity, I pulled out my phone and texted the last phone number I had for Ella.
I couldn’t imagine how she was. My beautiful, petite, blond hair, blue eyed sweetie. She was vivacious, smart, and outgoing. I really hoped she was in a good place. I wondered if she had her memories as well, or if they had been swiped, like Stacey. Would she have remembered our old future as I had? Would she have shown signs of her gift around this time, as she had last time?
Blake: Hey Sweetie! How are you?
It wasn’t long before I got a response back.
Ella: Who is this?
I frowned.
Blake: Blake…
The response was immediate.
Ella: Sorry, wrong number.
I felt close to tears once more. Should I call the Judge right now? Should I wait until I had a free moment without Collin around? I didn’t know who he worked for or what his purpose was, but somehow I knew he wasn’t on my side. Will had warned me to be suspicious and cautious, and I needed to act cautious, at least for now. Instinctively, I felt I couldn’t use my phone.
Before I ended up here, we had just discovered we had spies among us. Horatio, another gifted man, was Will’s best friend, and together, they created an institute to test and discover gifted people. Will eventually changed his ways and went towards a nurturing practice, whereas Horatio was known to use inhumane techniques. He also felt the gifted should take their ‘rightful’ place in society and should no longer stay in hiding. He felt the ungifted should be our slaves and the gifted used to enslave them.
I had four other siblings out there, three of which that were unaccounted for. I had a promising idea where two of my brothers were. Supposedly, my sister already worked for Horatio and supported his beliefs.
“This seat taken?” a somewhat familiar voice asked smoothly.
He was a tall—although at five feet one or so, almost everyone was taller than me—lean guy. He had short sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was ruggedly handsome, and I knew beneath his
blue V-neck t-shirt he had a trident shaped mark on his shoulder blade.
I looked up in surprise and grinned widely, forgetting myself for a moment. “Gavin!” I exclaimed.
He looked at me with confusion, slight interest in his eyes. “Hey, there. Do I know you?” He gave me a lopsided grin.
I blinked, remembering he wouldn’t. Not anymore.
I blushed. “No,” I mumbled. “I think I’ve seen you around,” I said lamely.
He looked at me with some appraisal. “Are you new to this class? I’ve never seen you before, and I never forget a pretty face.”
I ducked my head, looking for an answer. “I am. Just started today,” I stated.
I didn’t want to rebuff him, because he could very well help me in my endeavors, but I wanted to make it clear that I was unavailable.
“Hmm,” he murmured as he slid into the seat next to me. “Maybe I can help you get acquainted with the school, get a coffee together? What’s your next class?”
I looked down at my schedule, even though I knew it by heart. I had a great memory and was a very fast learner. “That sounds great and physics,” I stated.
“Me too.” He grinned.
The professor walked in at that moment, ending our conversation.
After class, I accepted Gavin’s invitation to walk me to my next one. I was glad I found a familiar face, even if he didn’t remember me. I knew he could help me find my little brother Alex again, maybe even get to him before his gift started coming in, help guide him and, hopefully, introduce him to me.
“So, what brought you to this school?” he asked conversationally as we walked to the next building for our next class.
“It’s kind of complicated,” I finally said after some thought. I needed to form a friendship with him. “A…a friend went here, and I needed to leave an unpleasant situation.”