To Be Gifted

“No blind dates?”

“None.”

“How about not-so blind dates?” Rose caught the eye roll I had tried to hide and added, indignantly, “I mean with friends. That’s got to be better right?”

I pretended to think about it. “No, not really.”

She sighed quietly but she didn’t look angry, which was good. A mad Rose St. Claire held grudges and did not calm down easily. She seemed to become more frazzled as it became closer to the Spring Formal. If Rose didn't watch herself, she was heading for a breakdown.

“Rose, I really don’t think I need a date to have fun. I’ll be fine alone.” I shrugged. “Besides, I have you.”

She winced, which didn’t bode well. “Um, I accidentally saw some of Tyler’s plans for the Spring Formal and, you know, he remembers that it’s our anniversary. I think he has some stuff planned. I’m really sorry, Hale.”

It explained all her crazy behaviour, scouting for boys around the school whom I haven’t met yet and quizzing me on the type that I liked. I guessed I couldn’t blame her.

It was her second year anniversary with Tyler. They’d met at a party and I’d seen the fireworks between them. It was also the first time I saw Rose acting as shy as I did. They didn’t bump into each other again until the Spring Formal in freshman year, when I was too reluctant to go. She’d gone with some girls from our class and met him again.

“It’s no big deal. I could probably go with Gayle and the rest.” Gayle Patterson was a friend of ours, one whom I wasn’t exactly close with but one that was nice enough that she’d probably include me if I asked.

Rose smiled and hugged me. “Thanks Hale! God, you deserve a boy who’ll treat you right.”

I laughed despite the slight pang I’d felt hearing that. There wasn’t any boy that I particularly wanted but all the same, when I saw how happy Rose and Tyler were together and how they just needed each other to feel at ease in uncomfortable situations, I felt like I wanted something like that too.

She released me and caught the slightly wistful expression I had on my face before I could wipe it off. Rose looked thoughtful and then brightened. “Okay, wait. I have the coolest idea possible.”

I raised my eyebrows, not sure where she was going with this.

Rose rummaged under her bed, where she kept various useless things, and found what she was looking for. It looked like a crystal ball. She grinned at my confusion. “I’m going to read your future!”

I couldn’t help but laugh again. “You’re going to read my future? Where did you get that from anyway?”

“Yeah, I’m going to find out the name of the boy whom you’re going to fall in love with!” She giggled, taking this as seriously as I did. “It’s from my Aunt Daisy.”

Giving Rose a crystal ball was completely her style. Biting back another laugh, I watched as Rose placed both hands on her crystal ball and closed her eyes.

When she spoke, her voice caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand because it didn’t sound anything like hers. It was lower and more staccato.

“His name—let me find his—his name will have an e. His face, I can’t get a look at it, his face—dark hair. He has dark hair. Oh my, but I get the sense that he’s—he’s very good-looking. You two have already met...and will meet again soon.”

She opened her eyes and gazed expectantly at me, only to see my uneasiness. Rose had been joking before but when she spoke about the boy, she’d sound completely solemn. It was almost like she hadn’t been making the stuff up, like she could really see into the future.

It didn’t make sense and was extremely creepy.

“Is there something wrong, Hale?”

I shook my head, trying to brush that weird sensation off. “I’m just thinking about how lucky we are that the dance is still going to happen.”

George McKinley hadn’t made an empty threat; he really had cut off donating funds. He had also persuaded some of his friends to stop their donations. Luckily, not everyone had followed his example (some affluent members of society made it clear that he seemed unhinged after Emily’s death) and there were still donations coming in but it wasn’t enough.

Aside from the school fees that the Elite paid, donations were the school’s only other source of funding. Without donations, the school would only be able to afford teachers and not the extra equipment and technology that the Gifted needed to continue to help the school win competitions and keep our academic ranking at one of America’s highest.

For a while it looked like the Formal wouldn’t have been possible because of cash flow problems. But then some parents pooled together extra money to fund the Formal, reasoning that Emily’s death had taken a toll on the students and we needed some fun to take our minds off her murder.

All this I had heard from Rose, who was becoming fast friends with Mrs. Kellogg, the school secretary and huge gossip.

“I can tell it’s going to be a great night,” sighed Rose.

She was completely wrong.



There was no hiding it, I was bored. While Gayle had been very accommodating, allowing me to join her group of friends, I didn’t know what to talk to them about. They seemed very interested in waiting around, hoping to attract the attentions of guys and getting asked to dance while I didn’t really see the point of it.

I was seriously contemplating leaving. The only thing stopping me was the disappointment over getting dressed up for nothing.

I was wearing a dark blue strapless cocktail dress, with beads all over that reflected light, and more make-up than I’d ever seen or ever knew how to use. I’d helped to pick out Rose’s dress, a short floral one that she loved, and she helped do my make-up. I felt more grown up than I ever had.

Someone snapped his fingers in front of my face and asked, teasingly, “Are you listening to me?”

Stopping myself from jumping in fright, I eyed Drew Sutherland with caution.

“You haven’t heard a word I said, have you?”

Shaking my head, I gave him an once-over. Drew was dressed casually, with a simple black blazer over a navy blue shirt and black jeans. It was effortlessly put together, like he had decided what he was going to wear for the Formal only minutes before attending and had, somehow, managed to pull it off.

“I was asking you—do you want to dance?”

“What?”

The exclamation didn’t come from me but from Gayle Patterson. But privately, I felt the same surprise. It had always been a given that the Gifted didn’t mix with us. Now Drew seemed to be changing the rules of the game.

“You haven’t dance with anyone all night. I thought the point of coming to Spring Formal was to dance?” Drew ignored Gayle’s bewilderedness and spoke directly to me.

I knew of some girls who would have been flattered to see Drew Sutherland paying attention to them. Although we didn’t mix, the Elite did know of the good-looking guys from the Gifted and Drew, according to them, had definitely belonged to that category. I had never quite seen it though, at least until tonight, and unlike them, I wasn’t flattered by his attention. I was suspicious.

“Silence means consent then.” He took my hand before I could protest and led me to the dance floor.

It was like he was in cahoots with the DJ. The moment we had stepped onto the dance floor, the music had changed into something slower and I vaguely recognized it was a love song from Taylor Swift. It was just my luck that I would get stuck with Drew Sutherland.

Trying not to blush when Drew put his hands on my waist, my hands met behind his neck. And just like that, we were closer than I’d been with any boy before.

“So where’s Rose?”

I couldn’t help but feel his intent gaze on me even though I avoided looking at him. He had asked about Rose last time too. Was it because he was trying to make me feel more at ease? But this was Drew. He lived off my humiliation; he had ever since we’d met in my first year in this school.

“With Tyler,” I muttered.

“Second year anniversary right?”

Surprised, I looked up to meet his eyes. Then I wished I hadn’t. His eyes were beautiful, a rich chocolate brown with flecks of gold but they only reminded me of how close we were standing and how, like I had suspected, he was looking at me. I flushed and looked away from him.

“Believe it or not, the Gifted can’t help but know about the relationships of your side. Rose and Tyler are one of the most famous couples.”

“What are the Gifted honestly?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the surprise Drew didn’t manage to hide quickly enough. It kind of pleased me actually. So I met his eyes and continued, “You only made me promise that I wouldn’t do anything. It doesn’t include asking questions.”

He smiled at me, but the smile looked a tad brittle, like I was more than he bargained for. “The Gifted are scholarship kids. We work hard for this school. That’s all.”

“Then why would Trent conduct blood tests?” This had been one of the more disturbing parts of the conversation I had overheard. One that I didn't particularly want to think about but I needed to know.

“You should take it up with him. I don’t understand anything that he does.” He shrugged easily.

It made me frustrated how he hadn't answered any of my questions. He had either given me a practiced answer or deftly changed the subject, essentially telling me nothing at all. “You’re deliberately avoiding my question, Drew.”

“No need to spit my name out like that.” Drew smiled and I could feel my cheeks reddening. “You do realize that it’s the first time that you’re actually using my name.”

“Mind if I cut in?”

Without me noticing, the Taylor Swift song was over and Trent had made his way to stand next to us. I stopped, like I had been caught doing something I shouldn’t have. But I hadn't.

The atmosphere was suddenly tense, especially when I noticed that Drew had made not removed his hands from my waist. Wriggling awkwardly, I detached myself from him. It didn’t help though, because they were still glaring at each other and looked ready to fight.

Clearing my throat loudly, both of them turned to me. Drew looked almost embarrassed while Trent’s face was blank, the way it always was when he was angry.

I tried to think of something to say to defuse the tension but nothing came to mind, only confusion as to why Trent would want to dance with me. We hadn’t spoken in years and he had seemed perfectly fine with it until now. And he knew that I didn't even like dancing.

“I’ll be going now,” said Drew, suddenly. He gave me a tight smile, ignoring Trent. “I’ll see you around, Haley.”

I nodded. Then I turned to Trent, who was watching me carefully.

Unlike Drew, Trent was dressed more formally. It was easy to tell that his black suit, paired with a sky blue tie, was expensive and very well made; the sort that the Elite favoured. Trent could carry it off without looking foolish because he had always had a kind of grace about him—almost like a predator stalking his prey but nothing quite as lethal.

I didn’t feel as uncomfortable around Trent as I had with Drew even though it was still a slow dance. I did notice, though, that his hands were a bit colder than Drew’s.

“So you’re interested in the Gifted?”

It was so like him to go straight to the point and not bother with pleasantries. At least this characteristic of his hadn’t changed throughout the years, although everything else had. I nodded, a little warily because I didn’t know if Trent had found out about me hiding in the boys’ washroom.

“The daughters and sons of Angels,
Shall be Gifted beyond compare.
To win the war against the Rebels,
Four objects you must bear.”

I frowned, totally confused. “What does that even mean?”

Trent smiled at me sadly. “There’re a lot of things you don’t understand, Haley. I can’t tell you all of them but I’m tired of hiding from you.”

I opened my mouth to say something but I had no idea what.

It didn't matter anyway because he gave me another smile, this one less sad but no less decipherable and walked away from me.

Still puzzled, I tried to figure out what he had implied. Was Trent implying the Gifted came from Angels?