Missing a Human Heart

Life was almost setting into a routine. Almost. There’s only so much routine one can have while living with mutants.

“The public school system is atrocious,” Tempest muttered as he sat next to me before class started.

“Really?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “Pandora and I are doing pretty well, in case you haven’t noticed. Plenty of successful people went to public school.”

Tempest just shrugged absentmindedly and flipped through his American History book. I saw my opportunity.

“Were you homeschooled?” I asked casually.

“Private school,” he said, his eyes scanning the pages of his book. He suddenly paused and smiled slyly at me.

“Clever. Trying to get me to reveal more about myself. That’s all you’ll get out of me today, Miss Pamela,” Tempest said. “How about you tell me something about yourself?”

“I have nothing to hide,” I replied innocently.

“Let me guess… Asperger’s?” Tempest asked. My jaw dropped in shock.

“You have to be kidding!” I exclaimed. “You think I’m autistic?”

“A low level, maybe. Mostly functional.”

“What makes you even consider that?”

“I’ve seen your room. Everything is meticulously ordered. It’s beyond tidy and into the realm of obsession. You can study for hours without losing concentration. You have no empathy or sense of humor. You have no social skills-”

“Hey!”

“Come on, Pamela. Admit it. Who is your best friend?”

“That’s easy. Pandora.”

“Doesn’t count. Name another one.”

I steamed silently, my fingers shaking as they clutched my pencil.

“Exactly. You need to go out with people sometimes, loosen up,” Tempest said as the bell rang. The teacher started his lecture, and Tempest turned away.

For once, I found that I had no focus at all. He was wrong! I wasn’t that girl!

I stood up suddenly. Everyone stared at me, including the teacher. I started to say something, but I finally closed my mouth, grabbed my bag, and left the room.

I instantly felt a rush of adrenaline as I walked down the empty hallway. I smiled triumphantly, wondering if Tempest would follow. I was skipping class. I was a rebel. I was proving everyone wrong!

But what exactly was I supposed to do? I doubted skippers went to the bathroom to hide from hall monitors and read books.

I stopped by Pandora’s classroom.

“Hello, Pamela,” the teacher said pleasantly when I walked in.

“Hi. I need to borrow my sister for a minute,” I said with fake sweetness.

“Of course,” the teacher nodded enthusiastically and motioned for Pandora to follow me.

“What are you doing?” Pandora hissed in my ear as soon as we were in the hallway.

“Having fun,” I smiled widely. “Let’s do something dangerous!” I suddenly had the perfect idea.

“Are you feeling okay, Camel? You look like you’ve gone crazy,” Pandora said in concern as she hurriedly followed me up the stairs. “Where are we even going?”

“I’ve thought of exactly the thing to prove everyone wrong!” I declared.

“Prove who wrong? What are you talking about?” Pandora practically had to run to keep up with me. I didn’t answer, grinning mischievously to myself. I could feel a quiver of excitement running down my spine. I felt so… free!

I burst into the classroom at the end of the hallway, hardly believing what I was doing. The blood rushing to my head made it almost difficult to hear.

“Mr. Barber!” I exclaimed a little too loudly. He was standing in front of the class, dry erase marker in hand. The regular teacher sat in the back of the classroom. Everyone looked over to me, and I could hear Pandora gasp behind me.

“I need to talk to you!” I said. He looked startled.

“It’s all right. Go ahead,” the teacher in the back of the classroom nodded. “Everyone, get started on the assignment. Ask me if you have questions. Mr. Barber will continue the lesson tomorrow.”

Jaren put the cap back on his marker, set it carefully in the tray in front of the board, and walked calmly into the hallway. He closed the door behind him.

“What can I do for you girls?” he asked pleasantly. I could see why Pandora liked him so much. Not only was he patient enough to privately tutor her in math (something I had quickly grown frustrated with), he had kind brown eyes and well-trimmed brown curls. He wore a dark green polo with a pair of khaki pants, and he had a relaxed, casual air. Even so, something set off alarm bells in my head. Was it just because of the guys’ warning, because I was skipping class, or was it something else? Was that a glimmer of ruthlessness behind his unusually long, dark eyelashes?

“I need your help with something,” I started hesitantly.

“Math? I hear you’re doing quite well in your second year of calculus,” Jaren said, looking confused. “Is this about you, Pandora?”

“It’s a science project, actually,” I continued. Something passed over Jaren’s face, but it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

“Pamela…” Pandora muttered, half warning and half begging. She looked about ready to run in the opposite direction.

“I don’t have much experience with science, but I’m willing to do what I can,” Jaren shrugged. “What is your project about?”

“Genetics. Mixing human and animal DNA,” I said, my mouth suddenly dry. We stared at each other for a few minutes of silence, each sizing the other up. Pandora fidgeted nervously beside me.

“We can’t talk about this here,” Jaren finally said in a low voice. His voice seemed to have changed. It had lost its friendly tone, replaced by something much darker. He started steering us towards the stairs, a hand on each of our backs. Pandora grabbed my hand. Her palm was cold and clammy. She was clearly terrified, and I couldn’t blame her for once.

My mind was racing. What had I done? What had I gotten us into? Sure, we weren’t passively letting this all play out anymore, but we were messing with things we had no business with. Maybe it was better to let Jaren and the guys settle this their own way. It was too late now.

Jaren led us out of the school and into the teacher’s parking lot. It was drizzling slightly. The parking lot was abandoned at this time of day. No one would hear our cries for help.

“What do you know about this?” Jaren asked. He suddenly seemed very tall and very strong.

“N-nothing! Nothing at all!” Pandora stammered. She tried to pull me back towards the school, but Jaren grabbed my free wrist.

I was suddenly caught in a tug-of-war between Pandora and Jaren. They each pulled so hard I thought my arms might pop off.

“Ow!” I exclaimed. “Let go of me!”

Jaren pulled even harder, bringing tears to my eyes.

“Pandora, let go!” I finally shouted.

“What?” she stared at me, both of us practically dragged along by Jaren’s strength.

“I’ll be fine. Get the guys, and then come find me!” I said as Jaren lunged for Pandora with his free hand. She managed to twist out of the way.

“It’s either both of us or one of us! Please let go!” I begged. I was the one who had gotten us into this mess. I would not let her suffer for my stupid idea.

Pandora let go of my wrist, although the fear was clearly showing in her eyes. I didn’t have a chance to give her even one word of encouragement before Jaren whisked me away with superhuman speed.

He ran into the woods, dragging me behind him like a limp doll. It was like waterskiing without the skis. I tried to run along or at least dig my heels into the ground, but I just bumped along, completely out of control.

“Where are you taking me?” I shouted, but my words sounded weak and scared. Was I simply a hostage, or would something worse happen? Would I find out firsthand what had happened to the guys?

I had gotten exactly what I wanted. I was proving I wasn’t just a do-gooder. I was getting involved. Maybe I would even find out more about everything.

Was it worth it? I certainly hoped so.