Read Online Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn - Free Book Online Page B

could grill me, using mouthfuls of breakfast and a manufactured scowl to keep her questions at bay. The empty halls of school smelled of overnight cleaning. I rounded a corner and found Simon leaning against my locker, wearing a
Tactus Dura
t-shirt. I was starting to think he had a collection.
    “Good morning,” I said carefully, opening my locker.
    He rained a brilliant smile on me. “Good morning. How’s your practice going? Did you link your thoughts to anyone?”
    I bit my lip, pretty sure I didn’t want to tell him about Shark Boy. “Well, no.”
    He leaned against the lockers again and studied me. “What about your parents?”
    “I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right. You know, jacking into my mom’s head.”
    He let loose an exaggerated sigh. “Kira, you’ll have to jack into
everyone’s
head.”
    “I… I’m not sure I want to.” I looked away from his disappointment.
    “Hey.” His hand tucked under my chin. “I know it’s hard. But you’re going to have to make a choice, Kira. Do you want to be a zero your whole life?” I shook my head, my chin rubbing gently against his fingers. “Then you have to learn how to jack everyone. Even your mom. You’ll make her happy when she thinks you can read minds like everyone else. I promise.”
    I nodded, but the uncertainty must have shown in my face. Simon dropped his hand away. “It’s all or nothing, Kira. Because if you pick and choose, someone’s going to figure it out. And you’re not the only one with a secret here.” I nodded more vigorously. What would Simon do if someone found out our secret? I didn’t like the tight feeling that came with that thought.
    His voice flipped back to soft and tender. “We’re in this together, right?”
    “Right.” It sounded weak, so I backed it up with a tentative smile. I wanted Simon to trust me, and not only because his mood swings set my nerves on edge. I needed his help.
    He brushed his fingers against my hair. “I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”
    As students began to trickle in, he turned away—before anyone saw us together. I ignored the twinge in my chest and headed to Latin with renewed purpose.
    Once there, I realized the difficulty of what I was facing. I had only mindjacked two people at the same time before. How could I juggle thirty minds at once? Instead, I stuck in my hearing aid and listened to Mr. Amando conjugate the verb to teach:
doceō, docēre, docuī, doctus
. I needed Simon to
doce
me how to jack an entire class before I attempted it on my own.
    Latin flew past, which meant English with Raf was next. The class was half full, with no Raf, which gave me a disturbing sense of relief. I took an empty seat between two students, leaving no room for him.
    A moment later Raf appeared at the door and paused to say goodbye to someone. The set of Raf’s shoulders told me he was already mad, but his jaw clenched when he saw I hadn’t saved him a seat. He passed by without a word and sat near the back of the class.
    I rubbed my face and stared ahead at Mr. Chance. His ineptitude with the mini-mic caused an annoying crackle in my ear. I crept into his mind, slow and gentle. I didn’t want to jack him accidentally, so I lingered at the edge, listening to the ear bud play a halting echo of his thoughts. I took it out, shoved it into my pocket, and focused on my essay about Hester’s thoughts on the scaffold. At the end of class, I was packing my stuff and didn’t notice Raf until he stepped into my view with the oversized sneakers that were fashionable for Portuguese Soccer Gods.
    Emotions warred across his face. “Why aren’t you wearing your hearing aid?” he asked. Raf was dangerously observant. Had he seen me take notes without the aid?
    I stood and fished the tiny bud out of my pocket to show him. “The battery died.” I wondered how many lies I would have to tell today. And every day.
    “Oh.” His face brightened. “Well, you can copy my notes during free period.”
    I