27. Almighty Telepaths?
This is how, several minutes later, I find myself dressed up as if going to beat up a baddie, when I am instead merely just walking Josh back to his house - or rather, the bus stop from which he can take a bus back to his house. It isn't that Josh is incapable of walking himself to the bus place - it is more that I'm trying to prolong the inevitably awkward dinner with my mum for as long as possible. Knowing my luck, she probably plans on extending my house arrest (uggghhh), telling me off mentally (double to the uggghhh) and dishing out some drastic punishment, like CUTTING MY HAIR! (CAPS-LOCK UGGGHHH!)
As we walk to the bus stop - as it really is too far to walk all the way to his house - Josh realises that if my mum herself is telling me to get my suit on, then she too must know about my 'secret identity'. This leads to an awkward line of questioning, in which I end up telling Josh not the real story of how my mum came to find out about my powers - in which she knew all along, but I didn't know - but rather that she eventually guessed for herself, expressly after she called me during a fight with Captain Catastrophe.
I choose not to tell him the real story, as I feel like mum probably doesn't want anybody else to know and that would probably turn out really awkward to explain anyway. And I couldn't tell Josh how it really happened and just tell him 'not to tell anybody', because when dealing with mind-readers, there is no such thing as 'hiding stuff' or 'lying'. Well, at least now I won't even try bothering to lie to my mum; also I won't be surprised when she doesn't believe me, or gives me her 'really' look but nods and acts like she believes me anyway. I feel like an idiot for all the times I've tried to lie to her over the years. But I didn't know how literally impossible it is back then, did I?
When we get to the bus stop, I realise that was probably the most uneventful walk I've ever had, which definitely says a lot about my luck. It isn't night yet, though the sky is starting to darken as the sun dips below the buildings. As I'm not exactly wearing "normal" clothes right now, getting on the bus with Josh would be plain stupid. People are already starting to point and stare at me, making me wonder why I even agreed to this in the first place. I say bye to him and head (fly) home, before it can become even more awkward.
At dinner, Mum teases me a bit before not actually dishing out any punishment - saying the fright I got was bad enough. Unfortunately, she has to do this all mentally, as Amy is around. Speaking of Amy - she has begun to give us more and more strange looks lately, like she suspects Mum and I am up to something. After I asked, Mum said it was nothing - but not the "it's a problem, but nothing worth worrying about" nothing, the "it's actually nothing, nothing has happened" nothing - which is suspicious in itself.
The next morning, I meet Josh at our usual spot, by the tree and he tosses me my phone, which I had forgotten I left with him. He chuckles as I awkwardly catch it and almost fry it back to factory settings (or even worse, not working at all) in the process.
"Check your messages," he prompts and I do, my eyes almost popping out of their skull when I see the number of unread messages in the hundreds.
"This isn't a good sign..." I mutter, opening the first one. Oh, of course. I don't see much content, but I do see a lot of mindless threatening. More hate mail. I sigh.
Josh rolls his eyes. "I was bored, so I read a few last night. All from the same number too. This dude must be a virgin with no life, if he can be bothered to send you over a hundred messages basically saying the same thing."
I nod as I read through a few, snorting as I go. This person is still convinced that I am this "m" guy, although it's likely by now they haven't got the wrong number. Although it would be really embarrassing for them if they did. Likely they dropped out of high school and think Tim starts with an "M" or something. Whatever, I don't really care anyway. If they want to scare me, then they really need to get new tactics.
At lunch, Josh tells me the best news I've heard all week - which isn't that hard to do, as this has been a pretty crazy week, despite it only being half done. Julia is coming back home for the weekend and he wants me to stay all weekend, so he doesn't feel "womaned out" or something like that. I wasn't even aware that it was possible for Josh, master of ladies to feel "womaned out", but I'm not complaining. It's a win - win for me, as I get to see Julia and get to spend time away from Mum and her over protective eyes (and mind), which I feel bad thinking this, but the latter can get kind of annoying after a while.
Anyway, thanks to Josh's news, I'm practically floating for the rest of the day, literally at some points too. I'm well aware that it's only a matter of time before I screw up and someone apart from Josh sees me and I reveal myself as the biggest idiot of all time, but I'm in such a good mood, I don't care. Only common sense keeps me from flying all over the place, but I do decide to miss my bus on purpose and fly home, carefully climbing in my bedroom window and hoping our neighbours aren't feeling particularly nosy at this moment.
At first sight, I know my room has been trashed. Even better, it's got Amy written all over it - just the way the clothes in my drawer have been thrown everywhere, stuff has been knocked off my desk, my door is ajar and her trademark pink balaclava is laying crumpled in the centre of my floor. Speaking of which, I have no idea where she even got that from. Mum didn't buy it for her, and where would you even go to find a pink one, apart from the Internet? "Lil' Gangsters Co."?
She also hasn't taken anything, at least not that I can notice. Well, she could have taken any number of the things that I've got thrown in a heap in my wardrobe, but as I don't care about anything in there - hence why they are abandoned to the depths - I wouldn't notice. The funny thing is, despite her extreme efforts to ruin my room as much as possible, it's not any different than it was, as my room was already the epitome of messiness in the first place. So nice try, but no.
"Yo, Amy!" I call, walking out into the lounge. Hmmm, the TV is off. That's weird, no-one is home. Actually, if Amy isn't home yet (she would have taken the bus, unlike me), then how did she mess up my room? Damn, that's really creepy.
I look around the lounge, looking for a note from mum explaining why she isn't home, or maybe Amy hiding behind the couch, so she can explain to me what she's doing home early (although, then I would probably have to explain why I am home early too.) All the while, I get this weird itching feeling on the back of my neck, as if someone is watching me. I can't help but keep looking behind me, but I don't see anybody. Nobody at all.
I slowly walk back to my room, carefully placing each foot down to try make as little noise as possible, so I can hear if someone is walking behind me. I look back again, just to be sure. Nobody. But I don't trust the noise of my own feet even, so I carefully levitate myself a few inches off the ground, so I can hear nothing but my own breathing. If someone else is in here, chances are they already know about my powers and if they don't, well, hopefully their surprise will give them away.
I stop and listen - no, nothing. Damn it, why am I being so paranoid? I shrug the feeling off - well try to - and walk the rest of the distance. I step through my bedroom door and, well, it's...
I can't keep myself from gasping. It's tidy. As in 'tidy' tidy. As in, somebody else tidied it 'tidy', because I can't remember a time when my room was this tidy, at least not by my own hand. Not only was the floor clear, but quick inspection also shows that there is nothing under my bed, which is weird, because stuff is always under my bed. I open one of my draws and everything is folded neatly and arranged by colour and type, the kind of organisation that makes me cringe, but stare in awe at the same time. I touch the nearest shirt, to make sure it is real. I feel material, but this can't possibly be real. Can it?
When I left for school, my room was a dump, but it's always a dump, so when I left the house, my room was normal. Then, when I got in the window, it was even more messy and Amy's 'iconic' pink balaclava was laying on the floor. Now that I've walked back in from being out in the lounge, it's miraculously tidy, so tidy that it definitely would have taken more than the minute or so that I was out to do. How is this even possible?
I walk over to my window again. The curtains have been carefully drawn back, so even the creases on each side are identical. Damn, is that even possible? I'm about to reach out and see if that is 'real', too, when I feel my foot step on something.
I look down, but nothing is there. But I can definitely feel something beneath my right foot and just to be sure, I reach down and touch it. With my hands, I can make it out to be an article of clothing, but when I pick it up, it just looks like I'm holding nothing, maybe something invisible. Visually, there is nothing there. But physically, there is definitely a piece of clothing in my hands. It's probably one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had, counting all the other weird stuff I've done in the last few weeks.
I step on another piece of clothing and the word 'illusion' occurs to me. Of course, it's a really elaborate and well done illusion, probably some supervillain trying to impress me with their talent, before they attack me on the way to school tomorrow or something. Okay, I'm impressed, sure. But I would have been more impressed if they actually tidied my room, because that, my friend, is an impossible feat.
I hear the sound of keys clinking and turning in the lock downstairs and I freeze. That better be Mum. Looking around in disbelief at the illusion once more, I run out of my room and leap down the stairs, all of them, landing, probably impressively on the balls of my feet at the bottom. I look up to see Mum as she opens the door, clutching a small bag of groceries in her other hand. She frowns when she sees me.
"Why are you home early, Tim? Did something happen?"
I'm about to open my mouth and tell her, or even better, tell her to read my mind, but then she freezes up and screws her face, as if concentrating.
"Uh, Mum?" I ask, confused. After a few seconds, she blinks a few times and shakes her head, carefully looking me over.
"Nice little trick," she says, putting the groceries down, and advancing towards me. I yelp, what trick? Oh, why does she look like she is about to attack me, mentally, or physically, or... I didn't even do anything!
"What trick? Look, if this is a "try and confuse Tim" contest, nice try, it's kinda working, but whoever did that illusion upstairs definitely takes the cake. Unless..." I look her over and she frowns in response. "That was you..."
What did I do? What illusion? No, all I know is that you just blocked me.
I try not to yelp again from her being in my head. "Uh, blocked you? What does that mean? Like on Facebook?" I give her a confused look.
No, for a few seconds there, I couldn't read your mind, because you were mentally shutting me out.
Uh, no I wasn't. I didn't even know that was possible, but that sounds cool. You should teach me. I grin at her.
She frowns in return, backing away and picking up the bag of groceries. You must have done it by accident then.
"Awesome," I say, choosing to speak aloud again. "But, uh, mum, before you get too carried away with the blocking thing, when I was home alone before, I'm pretty sure there was like some other supervillain in the house, because they tricked me into thinking my room was messy and then tidy..."
She frowns and I take her upstairs into my room, which, since I've been downstairs has reverted back to its normal chaotically messy room state, where everything I see is also the same as what I am touching and feeling. Mum looks it over and gives me the same confused frown.
"See," I begin, "before, it looked messy and then it looked tidy, but it wasn't real, it was just an illusion. Of course, you can tell all this by doing that mind-reading-thing-"
She cuts me off, half-smiling as she speaks, as if slightly amused. "No. Nice try Tim, but that didn't happen." Uh what?
"Uh, yes it did. Sure, I might have a good imagination, but not that good. It was an illusion set up by somebody else. Shouldn't you know the truth?" I frown at her, wondering what is going on. I mean, I didn't imagine that, did I?
She chuckles at me. "I do know the truth, I'm only confused at what you are trying to play at. Whatever illusion you claim happened never did, but I don't see what is the purpose in trying to lie to me like this. It's very elaborate, I'll give you that." I open my mouth in outrage, but she continues. "But I know the truth."
I sigh, just wanting her to believe me, or even know what the hell is going on. "No, I swear. At first I thought Amy had just messed up my room, because her pink balaclava was lying in the floor-"
She laughs again. "Amy doesn't have a pink balaclava, however that is pretty creative. A lie, but creative."
I shake my head. "I'm not trying to lie to you this time, Mum! I'm telling the truth. Maybe whoever did this is messing with your mind too, maybe they were the ones that did that 'blocking' thing, as well!" She chuckles again, which seems to make me even more mad. "Can't you see that I'm not even trying to lie?"
I hear the door downstairs open again, but I'm too annoyed to really care beyond registering the sound in the back of my mind.
"Mortals, I'm home!" calls Amy, from down by the door. Mum frowns apologetically at me, like she would really like to believe me, for my sake, but she can't. It's horrible. I've never really had issues with my anger, but I feel like my next reaction could be to punch a hole through something. She shakes her head as she leaves and I look around frantically, not knowing what to do, not really understanding what just happened, or why. It was just as scary as getting shot in the shoulder, or getting my nose smashed in by Captain Catastrophe, or almost choking to death yesterday, or maybe even more, as they were physical things and I knew how to deal with them. This, I didn't even know what to do to begin dealing with. When I brought Mum upstairs, I thought she would tell me exactly what was going on and everything.
But... well I suppose she did in a way, but she didn't say the truth. She said I was lying when I wasn't and... ugh, I can't handle this anymore. I look up and see my window, still open from when I climbed in not even twenty minutes ago. Not caring anymore, not even about the one story drop, I leap over to it and throw myself out, quickly falling in reverse, out into the sky.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
