Gifted Connections 2

“I’m Sam,” he stated as he attempted to give me a fist pump instead of a hand shake.

“The rumors have already started circulating,” Dawn explained in amusement as she gave a pointed look at Marcel and Michael. “So, half of the Knights believe you are either insane and dangerous, and the other half envies us for seeing you in action last night.”

“Wonderful,” I said dryly. “Well, Sam, you should know a few things from the start. I am fiercely protective of my friends and family. If anyone wants to harm them or threatens them, I will show my displeasure. If you are tasked with watching my sister, brother, and our new ward, I expect you to not be a coward, but protect them. Can you do that? If you can’t, leave now.”

“Yea-yea-yes,” Sam finally stuttered.

Terrence dropped his large black hand on my shoulder. His height and size rivaled Remy’s. “He’s proven himself in the past to me,” he said softly. “I’ve briefed my team once more this morning; we’re going to take our jobs seriously.”

“Too bad it’s too late for Collin, since Ned didn’t take it seriously,” I choked out before turning on my heel and leaving.

I already knew the route we were going to take for our morning runs. We were running down the driveway out the gates and down to the first stop sign and back. Remy and Troy had calculated the distance to a little over four miles. As I ran, all I could think about was Collin’s insistence on running with me when he thought I had been oblivious to his deception. I know now I had caught occasional glimpses into who he really was.

He had lived the life of a typical only child; spoiled and sheltered. However, that also left room for his parents to expect more from him. His dad had pushed him the hardest. His Dad had hired the extra tutors to make sure he excelled in classes. His dad had pushed him in sports at an early age. His dad tried to live vicariously through his son. Always seeking to regain his glory days.

His mother had been concerned that her son would never receive his gifts, until she realized she could never use her gifts around him. They pushed him further into the local gifted community, where he met Bridgette. He had dated her for years because that’s what was expected of him. He had admitted to me on one of these runs, that his interest in me was the first act of rebellion.

Maybe this was another sign for me, not to take life for granted. That I needed to live it to the fullest, with no regrets. I needed to take the time to let those I loved and cared for know how much they meant to me. I had already lost my ‘family’ once, and I had a lot of regrets. I never let them know verbally how much they meant to me. From this day forward, I wasn’t going to let the past define my future. I didn’t need to remain broken.

I looked up from my musings and noticed Remy and Rachel had fallen in step beside me. I looked back and noticed that Jace, Troy, and Terrance were steps behind us. Bringing up the rear were poor Jemmy and Sam. I felt bad for the way I came off this morning. I shouldn’t have been so hard on Sam. He wasn’t Ned. It was unfair for me to judge him without letting him prove himself.

I dropped back and fell into step with Jemmy and Sam. “This is torture. Who gets up before the sun? I’ll tell you who, the Devil. The Devil loves the dark,” Jemmy groaned. “I should be sleeping. Whose idea was this?” Jemmy wailed dramatically.

I could see Sam was making a conscious effort of not looking at me, so I decided to give him some time and ran on the other side of Jemmy.

“Suck it up, butter cup,”

I gently ribbed her. “You do realize my legs are a quarter of yours. You should be up there with Remy and Rachel.”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “I was blessed with good genetics. I manipulate electronics. I don’t need to be a fast runner or any runner, for that matter,” she grumbled.

“It helps our endurance as well,” I tried to reason with her. “Imagine if we had a tougher mission last night, would you been able to handle it?”

“What did Gavin tell you,” Jemmy asked with narrowed eyes.

“Nothing,” I said in a high-pitched voice, acting like I knew something, when in truth I knew nothing.

She mocked growled. “I am going to kill him. I was a little winded, so what? I could have kept going.”

I laughed, “He didn’t tell me anything, but I run almost every day, and I was starting to feel it.”

“You also became Super Gifted Girl. You were doing things I didn’t think was possible. I wanted to hump you, well if I swung that way,” she said tongue in cheek.

I rolled my eyes. “I missed your dramatics.”

She gave me a saucy grin. “I wish I could remember, but I already knew you were going to be my BFF the moment I saw you. Although…I was a little jealous of you at first because I thought Gavin was crushing on you.”

I snorted. “Hardly, you should have seen how horrified he was when he thought he might be one of my six connections.”

I heard a strangled sound come out of Sam’s mouth before he tripped over his own feet and landed on the pavement with a resounding smack.

I ran back to him as he was wincing and staring down at his hands and knees. He looked slightly embarrassed as I kneeled next to him.

“Let me help,” I said soothingly as I held my hands over his knees first. I imagined peaceful, serene thoughts and felt the warmth radiate from my hands. I watched as the scrapes disappeared. It wasn’t as intense as last night, but it was no less awe inspiring.

I turned his hands over and placed my hands over his hands, feeling the warmth flow out once more.

“Is it true?” he asked with a voice full of awe and fear.