Mind Over Matter

Grace's pov

“Come on, why don’t you want to go? Everyone at school is going to be there!”

“I already told you, I know what’s going to happen. I’m going to end up heartbroken by Erek and embarrass myself in front of all those people. I’m not going to let that happen!”

“Now you sound like Yulia.”

“Yeah, but she just worries all the time. I actually have a reason to worry.”

“Then just go to the party, avoid getting heartbroken and embarrassed, and have a good time!”

“It doesn’t work like that, Annora, you know that. I may be able to see the future, but it doesn’t tell me how to avoid something, just what’s going to happen.”

“What are you going to do about Erek then? You know he’s cheating on you.”

“Yeah, but…”

“You still love him.”

“Annora Preyleen, I already told you about reading my mind like that.”

“It’s not like I can help it. It’s like listening to a conversation that’s right in next to you. You can’t help but-”

“Listen in.”

“Oh so I can’t read your mind to see what you’re going to say, but you can see the future to predict what I’m going to say?”

“Yup. Now are we going to eat or what? I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving, Gracella Kimmerson.”

“Why do you insist by calling me by my whole name?”

“Same reason you do it. To annoy you.”

“Good point. Now let’s go, we can discuss this at the Techno Cafe.”

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I silently sipped my Snake Tea, pondering on how to deal with Erek.

“We could expose his secrets?” suggested Anne, sipping her chocolate slush with a coffee shot. Coffee was outlawed long ago, along with other drinks with large amounts of caffeine. Anne already had to show her ID to be eligible to even get a coffee shot in her drink.

“I don’t really want to be mean, Anne,” I said. “Just…”

“Get revenge,” Anne said, a grin on her face.

“Exactly,” I laughed.

Anne sipped her drink thoughtfully. “I think I’m gonna get another coffee shot. Do you know how tiring it is to hear everyone’s thoughts all at once, trying to translate what you need?”

“Hey, you’re not the only one.” I commented. “I get random future flashes for no reason half the time. Soooo annoying."

“Maybe it’s just to warn you about something you don’t want to happen?”

“I don’t know…”

“I’ll be right back. I’m gonna go get another shot.”

Anne got up from the table, leaving me alone with her thoughts. Well, probably not, since she could most likely hear them from over there.

A girl with blonde hair walked up and sat down in front of me.

“Hey, how’s it going?” she asked. 

“Um… it’s going good. Who are you?” I snuck a glance at Anne, who was arguing with the cashier about her age while shoving her ID in their face.

“Oh I’m Joanna, but my friends call me Jo. I was wondering if you could help me a bit while I’m at Talent High.”

“Oh, uh… sure thing.”

“Thanks!” said Joanna cheerfully. Suddenly, I saw a flash of the future. 

Joanna is laughing. Not good laughing... evil laughing. I can hear Annora crying for help. Where is she? Why is it so hot? What’s going on?

 The future flash ended. I jolted back a bit. Future flashes were always a surprise when they happened. Sometimes they’re intentional, sometimes they aren’t. I looked up to see Joanna still smiling at me, but now a shiver was sent down my spine. Joanna’s smile faltered. She tilted her head.

“What do you think of me?” she said, sounding like a little girl.

“I, uh…” 

How was I supposed to answer that?

Anne, if you can hear me, we have a situation.

“I think that…" I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. "I could definitely help you at our school. Do you know… what classes… you’re in?”

As I was talking, Joanna was leaning closer and closer. 

“You’re lying,” she whispered. “You don’t really like me. You think I’m scary, creepy, a maniac… just like everybody else. Don’t you?”

I looked over to find Anne still dealing with the cashier, too preoccupied to listen and translate thoughts.

Joanna giggled. “You… you think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“N-no!” I exclaimed, not knowing what to do. “Why would I think that?”

Anne!

I could see Anne flinch. She had always gotten on to me about yelling my thoughts, but this was an emergency. Anne turned around and saw Joanna at the table, leaned into my face. Her face became red as she waltzed her way over.

“Don’t lie, Grace. I can tell when you’re lying.” Joanna was now nose-to-nose with Grace, her beady blue eyes non-blinking.

“Hey!” shouted Anne. “What are you doing here?”

“Just having a conversation,” said Joanna, not breaking eye contact with me.

“Well, whatever it is, it can wait until later. Me and Grace have important things to discuss.”

Joanna slowly turned to Anne.

“I said…” she began as she stood up. “That I was having a conversation. So beat it!”

“How about you beat it?” seethed Anne, getting into Joanna’s face. “If you mess with Grace, you mess with me. So get out of here, before I do something I’ll regret.”

“Oh, you already have,” whispered Joanna.

I glanced at the person next to her, her cup raised, and the liquid half out of the cup as if frozen in time.

I gaped at the frozen figure, then looked around to see everyone else frozen too. Well, except for me, Anne, and Joanna… and apparently several others who stood from their seats in the cafe.

“Anne…” I said tentatively. 

“Yeah, I see it too,” said Anne. 

“What did you do?” Grace looked back to see Anne towering over Joanna.

Joanna smiled. “Ah ah ah, we don’t want to upset my friends now, do we? It would be a shame for me to have to have Lukas crush your bones into dust... No, you want to live, don’t you?”

Anne seethed with rage. “What do you want?”

“Ah, yes, there it is. The question I’ve been waiting for. See the thing is…” Joanna took a step towards Anne. “There is one thing I want. But my problem is that you… are in my way. Axel?”

The skinny boy standing in one of the booths nodded, and next thing I knew, we were in a large, circular room, with a small group of people on one end and us on the other.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Now, I can’t give out all of my secrets now, can I?” asked Joanna.

I looked over to see Anne looking at Joanna. She had her eyebrows pulled together and her jaw was set, just as it usually is when she is trying to read someone’s mind. 

“Precisely,” said Joanna. 

“There’s so many things in her mind,” whispered Anne. “Crazy things. She’s a maniac.”

“WHAT did you SAY?” shouted Joanna. 

“I said… that you're a maniac.”

Joanna glared at Anne, her face turning red with rage. 

“Oh, I’ve always hated you. From the day you stole Grace to the day you killed my sister.”

Joanna practically whispered that last part, tears streaming down her cheeks. Stole me? How did Anne steal me? I don’t belong to anyone. I don’t even know Joanna. And killed her sister? How? When?

“She was my twin. We were perfect together. I would stop time, she would rewind it… but she was always so tired, so weak. The doctors said that her heart couldn’t sustain all of the time jumping… but when she found out that you had stolen Grace from me, she wanted to help. She made a big jump… too big… and I watched her die in my arms as she made me promise to make myself happy. To always make myself happy…”

Joanna looked up. “You killed her. If it wasn’t for you, I would have had Grace already, and Roanna wouldn’t have had to give up her life to make me happy!”

We stood in silence, not knowing what to say. 

“I-I’m sorry that happened, Joanna,” I said. “But I never really knew you until… well, now. And honestly, I still don’t.”

Joanna looked at me. The corners of her mouth turned up into a small grin. 

“Oh, don’t worry, Grace,” she said. “Soon enough, I’ll be all you can remember. Iranio?”

A small boy in the back of the group stepped forward and lifted his hands. Suddenly, chains emerged from the darkness and shot themselves towards Anne.

“Anne!” I screamed as the chains wrapped around her body.

“Hey, let me go!” grunted Anne as she fell to the ground. 

“Let her go!” I shouted. “What are you doing?!”

“Making myself happy,” whispered Joanna.

“No, you can’t do this!” I exclaimed. “I won’t let you!”

“Grace, this is what we’ve always wanted! This is what we worked so hard for!” Joanna cried. “Why can’t you just be happy for me?!”

“This is what you want, not me. I can’t let you do this.”

“I gathered all of these people… friends of mine, of Roanna, anyone and everyone who could have some type of hatred towards Anne.” She gestured to the group of people behind her. “They all agreed to help me, as long as they could see her…” she pointed at Anne, lying helpless on the floor. 

“...die.”

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“No!” I shouted, as Joanna started laughing, with Anne crying for help in the background. The future flash was coming true. I tried concentrating to bring another future flash that could hopefully help me, but found myself getting overly hot. My hair was plastered to my face with sweat, my breath coming in short gasps. I fell to the ground, my knees suddenly weak.

“What are you doing to her?” shouted Anne, glaring at the small blind girl. I looked up to find the blind girl’s arms raised at me, but I had to look down when the sweat started to cloud my vision. My entire body felt as if the Sun itself had invaded it, piercing my heart and clogging my lungs. My skin burned as if I had doused myself in scalding hot water in the middle of a desert. I tried to take a deep breath, but felt as if I was inhaling fire. I started coughing, which was only depriving me of more much-needed oxygen. I began to hyperventilate, my head becoming fuzzy… I could barely hear Joanna laughing. It sounded so far off, so distant… 

I tried to gather myself enough to hear what Joanna was saying. 

“Need you… memories… mine… kill....”

Was she going to kill me? Is it… already happening? I can’t… where is… have to…

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Anne's pov

“No!” I shouted as I watched Grace tumble to the floor. I wrestled against the chains, but it was no use. 

“Stop!” I shouted at Joanna, who was busy instructing one of her ‘friends’ on what to do next. “Stop it now! I’ll give you anything! Just make it stop!”

“Oh, Anne…” Joanna said, walking towards me. She grabbed my chin and lifted it to her face. “There is nothing else you have to give.” She sneered, then dropped my head back on the ground and walked towards Grace, who was hyperventilating on the ground, sweat dripping off her forehead.

“Do it, Rian,” ordered Joanna. A short, blonde boy stepped forward from the group. I recognized him as one of the people I had fought back in school. He had called Grace ugly and stupid, so I punched him in the face. I never knew what his power was, but I guess I’m going to find out.

“Stop!” I cried, as Rian raised his hand at Grace. A low light emerged from his hand, and Grace stopped hyperventilating. Her eyes were closed, her face looking almost… calm. A few moments later, she stood up, her hair still plastered to her face with sweat.

“Grace!” I called. She didn’t even react. She was looking at Joanna with a small smile on her face.

“Oh, Grace!” cried Joanna. “I’m so happy you’re alright!”

“What happened?” asked Grace, pulling some damp hair behind her ear.

“That girl-” Joanna pointed at me. “Tried to kill you.”

“What!” I shouted. “Why would I ever do that?!” 

“Because you were jealous of our friendship,” replied Joanna. “So you hypnotized one of my friends to raise her body temperature to a torturous degree. I told you she was bad news, Grace,” said Joanna. 

“Grace, don’t listen to her!” I shouted. “I don’t know what she’s done to you, but it’s not real! I would never do that to you! I’m your friend, remember?”

“No, you’re not,” said Grace, her face expressionless.

“Go ahead,” said Joanna. “She tried to kill you. It’s only right to return the favor.”

Joanna handed Grace a small knife, a smile on her lips. Grace stepped forward towards me, knife in hand, pupils dilated.

“Please, Grace!” I cried as the tall boy grabbed me and held me up.

“Please, I’m your friend! Remember when we went to the park last week? You skinned your knee and I helped you bandage it! Do you remember?”

Grace’s eye twitched, and I thought maybe I had brought her back, but then she raised her knife and said, “That wasn’t you. That was my real friend, Joanna.”

“No, it wasn’t, Grace! Please, you have to believe me!”

Grace took another step forward. The knife was now inches from my face.

“I don’t believe you,” she whispered.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I dropped my head, helpless. 

“I’m sorry, Grace… I’m sorry I can’t save you… but no matter what happens, no matter what you so… you’ll always be my friend.”

Suddenly she jerked back, a look of surprise on her face, like how it usually is after she gets a future flash. 

“Well?!” asked Joanna impatiently. “Do it! Kill her, and we can continue to be the best of friends, forever and ever!” She giggled, sending a shiver down my spine.

Grace looked at me and raised the knife again.

Please come back to me.

I looked her in the eyes and noticed that her pupils weren’t quite as dilated as before. Before I could even react, Grace turned around and thrust the knife directly at Joanna. It missed her face by a few mere inches. 

“Why did you do that?!” she exclaimed. “Kill her already!”

“I… don’t think so,” Grace said, seemingly out of breath.

“Get them!” Joanna growled. The group of people next to her took a step forward.

“Wait!” Grace shouted. They all stopped.

“Don’t you see what you’re doing? You’re working as her slaves, her henchmen, doing her bidding.”

“We are fulfilling our own wishes,” said the blind girl. “We take orders from no one.”

“Well, what did you all just do?”

They were all silent for a moment. 

“Argh, just get them! What are you waiting for?!” shouted Joanna.

They hesitated, not knowing what to do. Grace took the opportunity to catch her breath before continuing.

“What reason do you have to kill her?” Grace asked. “Sure, she may have gotten into fights with you, or been a bit rude…”

“Not helping,” I said.

“... but she was doing it to protect herself, me, or even you guys! Pierson, you remember how Anne locked you in the boy’s bathroom?”

The boy nodded. “It took me forever to get out.”

“Well, she did it because she knew that your big brother was coming to the school. He was looking for you, and she knew you wouldn’t react well to that. She didn’t tell you because she didn’t want to upset you.”

His face went pale, remembering the horrid days spent alone with his big brother, coming to school with large bruises on his face.

“And Lilianna! She got into that fight with you because you stole my homework and claimed I copied you.”

Lilianna looked down. “My mom told me if I failed, she would homeschool me.”

“I understand, Lilly, but Anne just saw you yelling at me in the classroom and she reacted. She was protecting me. Lukas, you know how that is. Everytime someone bullies your sister, you react right?”

Lukas nodded, his fists balled up in anger. “I refuse to stand by and watch them mistreat her.”

“That’s what Anne was doing! Sure, sometimes she doesn’t make the best choice or can be a bit aggressive at times, but everybody makes mistakes! That’s no reason to hurt her!”

“Enough!” shouted Joanna. “I’m tired of you sticking up for her! ‘Anne this, Anne that’. I’m sick of it! Kill her!”

The group stayed still, crossing their arms in defiance, except for a few people that I assumed were direct friends with Joanna. 

“Arghhh! I can’t believe you! I’ll be back, Anne, and I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all!”

With that, she disappeared. One minute she was there, the next she was gone.

“Where did she go?” asked Lukas.

“She probably stopped time to allow herself to get away,” said Lilliana.

“Anne…” mumbled Grace. I looked over to see Grace’s knees buckle, dropping her to the floor.

“Grace!” I shouted, running towards her. I lifted her off of the ground, cradling her head in my arms.

“She’s burning up!” I exclaimed. 

“I’m so sorry,” whispered the blind girl. “This is my fault. I’m the one that raised her body temperature. I wasn’t trying to kill her, just keep her down. I think I went too far…”

Lukas wrapped his arms over her.

“We need to get her some help,” I said, standing up. “Lukas, can you carry her?”

Lukas nodded, picking up Grace from the ground.

“Hang in there, Grace.” I whispered.