His eyes became cloudy while Selena tried to understand what he was saying. Instead, she shifted in her seat—jittery and confused. “It’s being able to move objects with your mind.” He sounded very far away and her mind started putting two and two together even while still having a hard time wrapping itself around what he was saying. “I can’t imagine what it was like for my mother to keep the extrasensory powers of an energetic child away from my father but she did it and as soon as I could understand, she told me not to tell anyone.”
His sight shot back to Selena. “People can be cruel to those who are different. There are so many haters out there. So I’ve had to live with this thing all of my life,” he said, looking forlornly past her. “You already guessed that I’ve got a strong magnetic side to me. What you didn’t know was that I’ve learned to control it most of the time except when I’m really upset.”
Selena finally spoke up. “So those people falling to the ground, sodas spraying out, broken fountains and spigots, movie projectors that fix themselves, batteries that suddenly start and so on—all you?” Selena asked, trying not to be completely overwhelmed.
He nodded and stared at the ground. “Yes”
“You really have some kind of power over stuff?”
“I guess so.”
“You don’t have any gadgets—you don’t even wear a watch. Does what you’re telling me have anything to do with that?”
He solemnly nodded. “Electrical stuff sometimes goes bezerk if I’m too close. Watches speed up.”
“That explains it,” Selena mumbled to herself.
“I know what I’m telling you seems so freaky.”
“It is.”
“I know how hard it must be for you to understand this,” he stated nervously.
“I’m trying.”
His dark eyes stared at Selena’s hands. “It’s actually not as bizarre as you might think.”
“It isn’t?”
His dark eyes shot back to her. “Remember when I told you that we were all electrical?” Selena nodded solemnly. “For some kind of reason, I can manipulate molecules."
“How can that happen?” Grandmother Chela had always told her that there was more to the world than met the eye. Could she have been talking about things like this? After all, weird stuff didn’t seem to faze her grandmother at all. “How can it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Xavier, I don’t know how to handle all of this.”
“It’s still me, Selena.”
“But—“
“Please don’t hold what I am against me .”
Words flooded out of Selena. “I don’t hold your abilities against you, even if I’m freaked out, but I am angry at how you kept this from me,” she retorted.
“Selena, I had to make sure you were ready for what I had to tell you.”
She shook her head, her insides twisting and turning like a crazy river and her voice dry and tight. “Ready?”
“You promised me you’d wait for me to tell you my secret, remember?” he asked gently.
“I didn’t know you were keeping something this important to yourself,” she responded furiously.
“Please try to understand, Selena.”
“You’re the one who needs to understand what it takes to be in a relationship,” she snapped.
“This thing I’m cursed with is very hard for me.”
“What’s hard is that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me.”
“Please try to understand.”
Selena shot up. “I need to get inside my house and think on this for a few days.”
“No,” he responded also standing up.
“No?”
“I’m not letting you break up with me again.”
“What?”
“I’m not going through all that heartache again,” he stated with his sad eyes on her. “Don’t put us through that, Selena.”
She crossed her arms in front of her. “Then you should’ve come clean sooner. I already told you that for us to have a good relationship we’ve got to know each other. I’ve got to know exactly who you are.”
“You do know who I am,” he stated powerfully.
“No, I—“
“Yes, you do,” he insisted, crossing his own arms in front of him.
Anger burst from her. “You keep things from me!”
“You do too,” he said with his own frustration.
“Like what?”
“Your mother had cancer, didn’t she?”
Selena was so upset she stepped closer to him, challenging him with her eyes. “I didn’t tell you about that because I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Because my mom is dead and yours is alive,” he said gently.
“Exactly.” The fury in her voice was much less sharp.
“You care, Selena. You love me like a love you.”
“Right now I’m very angry with you, Xavier.”
He nodded. “I know,” he said quietly.
“Very angry. Moonflower used to call you a freakoid,” Selena blurted. ”I had no way of knowing she was right.”
“That really hurts, Selena.”
“That Moonflower called you a freakoid?”
“No, that you called me one. . . I guess with what I’ve told you, how can I expect you not to see me as a freak.”
Selena winced. She hated hearing him talk like that. Pulling out of her own anger, she and came to her senses. “I’m sorry, Xavier. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m furious with you, but I shouldn’t be calling you names. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Do you really want to stop seeing me?” he asked, his unwavering liquid eyes on her.
“No.” It was all she could say. “But—“
“You have no idea how much I hate being this way,” he grumbled fiercely.
“Xavier—“
“How could I tell you about something I hate so much? How can I expect you to love everything about me when I’m like this?”
His whole demeanor twisted in a harsh rigid knot. Waves of self loathing, bitterness, and anger threatened to drown him. Selena swiftly put aside her own bruised feelings in order to reach him because she just couldn’t let him sink any lower.
“But you’ve got a gift, Xavier,” she murmured.
“It’s more like a curse,” Xavier retorted venomously. “I wish I was a normal person.”
“But I thought you didn’t care for average?”
“I usually don’t but in this case, I do,” he said bitterly.
“But, Xavier, if you were normal then you’d be another person, and I don’t know if I’d love the other you,” Selena stated strongly.
His hard gaze shot back to her and for the first time in this complicated conversation, he smiled.
“I don’t understand why you hate your abilities,” Selena continued.
“I’m too different and out of place except when I’m with you.”
“I’m different and out of place and I’m not telekinetic,” Selena stated matter-of-factly.
He rewarded her with his movie star sparkler. “You’re perfect,”
“Right!” Selena exclaimed, rolling her eyes.
“You are,” he whispered. He gently touched her cheek, bent his head very close to her own, and tenderly brushed his lips over hers. A painful spark exploded between them, sending small flashes of electricity shooting off their lips.
“Ow!” Selena cried, her fingers already on her mouth. “That really hurts.”
“I think we have to understand that every time we separate from each other emotionally, this will happen when we come back together.”
“I guess so,” Selena chuckled.
“I’m sorry things are so weird with me,” muttered Xavier.
“You are just amazing and unique.”
“Thank you, but—“
“Now it’s your turn to take the compliment.”
Xavier smiled. “Okay."
Selena took a deep, uneven breath. “I think it’s great that you’ve got a gift, Xavier. You can use it to do a lot of good.”
His eyes clouded again. “There was a time when it could’ve made a big difference in my life, but it failed me.”
“What was that?” Selena asked gently.
“Saving my mother.” His tone was strained. “The accident happened so fast that neither one of us had a chance to use our abilities to set the car right. I think about it over and over again. Why didn’t I react sooner? I could’ve saved my mother’s life.”
“Xavier,” Selena said, putting her hand on his arm. “You’ve got to stop replaying that in your head. You’ve got to stop torturing yourself. Your mother’s accident was just that—an accident. It wasn’t your fault.”
“First I distract her and then I . . . I should’ve been able to stop it.”
“But Xavier, she was the adult with her own abilities and if she was not able to stop it, what makes you think you could’ve?”
“It just seems like I should’ve been able to.”
“Stop it, Xavier. Please stop.”
They stayed silent for what seemed to be eons but in reality, it was only a few seconds.
“Selena,” he said quietly. “You asked me a little while ago if I was leaving you. Now I have to ask you the same question.”
“You’re asking me if I’m leaving you?” Selena asked incredulously.
“Yes, I know I told you earlier that I wouldn’t let you leave me, but I can’t make you do what you don’t want to do.” His face became completely expectant of an answer. “Are you leaving me?”
“Of course not.”
The muscles on his face relaxed. “With my mother out of my life, I couldn’t stand it if you were gone too.”
“You’ve got to do a lot more than move a few objects with your mind to get rid of me,” Selena teased.
His relieved eyes fell on hers. “Thanks, Selena, for sticking by me.”
“You don’t need to thank me for sticking close to the one I love. It’s as natural as breathing but . . . .”
“What’s the but?” he questioned.
“Stop keeping stuff from me,” Selena implored.
His face relaxed. “I’ll stop.”
“You sure about that?”
“I promise.”
“One hundred percent sure?”
“Yes,” he said, chuckling. “Besides, I really don’t have any more secrets.”
“You sure you’re not Superman or something?”
He chuckled loudly. “Nope. I’m just a little telekinetic—that’s all.”
“And I’m just simply Selena.”
“Simple—I don’t think so.”
“No, I guess not. I’ve got lots of complications.”
“Not as much as me,” he mumbled.
They stayed silent for a few minutes exhausted and trying to absorb the enormity of what had just occurred.
"Actually," Selena said, breaking the silence, "all human beings are pretty complicated if you think about it." She placed her hand on his cheek.
He took her hand from his cheek and covered her palm with tiny deliberate kisses. Their expectant lips met. Once they disengaged, after a moment of being completely lost in each other, Selena winced at the sudden lack of warmth from his lips touching hers.
“You won’t tell anyone about my ability, will you Selena?” he asked, concerned.
“I won’t.”
“Can you imagine what your father would do if he knew?”
“He thinks talking to animals is weird,” Selena declared.
“Yes,” Xavier said, chuckling lightly. “He, especially, can’t know about this.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep your secret because you asked me to.”
“Thank you, Selena.”
“So, no one in the world knows about you?”
“Your grandmother knows,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“Grandmother Chela?” Selena questioned, baffled.
“Yes.”
“But how?” Selena asked, still not sure she had heard right.
“I don’t know how but when she was here she told me I’d better tell you.”
Realization struck her. “So that’s why you’ve been acting so strange.”
“Yes. I still can’t figure out how your grandmother knew.”
Selena chuckled lightly. “Grandmother Chela isn’t an average person either.”
“I can see that.”
“It’s good that I have first hand experience with special people,” Selena said, smiling at Xavier.
He grinned. “Luckily.”
Chapter 42
"There's like no good movies coming out this weekend," groaned Moonflower with regret. She, Saul, Selena, and Xavier sat at a school cafeteria table during lunch. Things had gone back to normal, and Selena couldn't have been happier that all was well with her boyfriend and friends.
"There's got to be at least one, my butterfly dudette," Saul commented.
"Nope, Hollywood fell asleep at the wheel."
"We could hang out at my house and watch movies on DVD," Saul offered.
Moonflower nodded enthusiastically. "I'll bring an awesome movie! I saw it with my parents last weekend.
"Sounds good," Selena said.
"It's a mega-old movie, but my parents loved re-watching it, and it really spooked me."
"What's the name of it?" asked Xavier with curiosity.
"Carrie."
Xavier choked on his soda.
Moonflowers eyes widened. "Uh-oh. Are you okay, Xavier?"
"Moonflower, I don't have malaria or elephantitis or anything like that," explained Xavier, getting his bearings back. "The soda went the wrong way. That's all," he said, eyeing Selena with a solemn expression.
"I know," Moonflower stated with an indignant tone. "I get it that everything is not like in the movies."
Selena smiled. "You do?"
"Of course!" Moonflower stated, insulted. "Take the Carrie movie, for example. It was completely unrealistic."
"Unrealistic?" muttered Xavier.
"Yes! A girl who can poof move things magically—like that could ever happen," snickered Moonflower. " Please! Give me a break!"
"Yeah, total make believe," Saul interjected.
"Let me get this straight," Selena told Moonflower, "you believe in vampires but not in someone like Carrie?"
"Vampires could really exist," Moonflower insisted dramatically.
"They could totally exist," agreed Saul.
Selena turned to Xavier to see his expression. His lips were upturned in amusement. She patted his hand, and he squeezed her fingers. Selena grinned. It was so good to have everything back to normal again.
***********************************************
Check out other young adult novels by Mia Rodriguez including the sequel to Lovestruck. The Key of Hearts is now available.
The Key of Hearts
Paradise Abductions
Paradise Escape
Supernova
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