Hey, here's Chapter 2. Things should start to explain themselves a little bit. Hope you like it.
Nariel
Chapter 2: Much Closer
Jimmy’s Point of View
There are two things I hate the most: Anything electronic and Nessa being in pain. When she threw her head back to let out that banshee-like wail, I could’ve sworn that her pain doubled back to me ten fold. Yeah, it hurt me more than it her hurt her. It’s the price you pay when you live inside someone’s head. You feel all their pain…Doubled. Saying ouch would be an understatement.
“Jimmy!” She screamed again and I winced.
“Nessa,” I spat out between my clenched teeth, “Try to relax, I’m getting out of your head. This is too much.”
I knew if she didn’t relax, I ran the chance of hurting her as I transitioned out of her head. It was another one of those drawbacks of having the ability that Nessa and I did.
“No,” Nessa answered me sharply, “My mom’s home. She should be up here any second.”
She moaned again as another wave of pain rolled through both of us. As if on cue, Nessa’s mother barreled into the room, her face in a wild frenzy of panic.
“Nessa!” she gasped. She placed a hand on Nessa’s forehead and she recoiled at her mother’s touch.
“Oh my god.” Nessa managed to say. It was at that moment that my thoughts scattered as I felt Nessa’s body begin to convulse. I heard her mother dart out of the room, apparently to call nine-one-one. But, I didn’t care. All I felt was the sudden bliss as the pain was gone. But, the bliss didn’t last long. My stomach twisted in horror as Nessa didn’t move. She was still on the bed and I wasn’t even sure if she was breathing.
“Nessa?” I whispered. I didn’t get a response.
No. No. No!
This couldn’t be happening…Not to me. Not to Nessa. For a moment, I forgot that I was still in Nessa’s head. It was something impossible to forget, so I wasn’t sure how I really forgot…But, it happened. As I raised my hands to place them over my eyes, I felt Nessa raise hers too.
What?
I moved my fingers and Nessa moved hers. I blinked my eyes again and again…So did Nessa.
Oh my god, this is so…cool.
~*~
I would’ve stayed with Nessa, but I couldn’t risk anything. I knew the chances of anyone at the hospital knowing of my existence were slim, but living with Nessa had made me extra cautious. I walked past the hospital for the fifth time. What’s taking them so long? It had been at least two hours since Nessa had been admitted. There couldn’t have been much wrong with her. But knowing Nessa, she was probably still in shock after the whole me controlling her incident. As soon as I had gotten out of her head, she had stared at me like I was some kind of…Freak. I tried not to take any offense; I would’ve done the same thing, but I couldn’t help but feeling just a little hurt. I mean, we were so close…Why would this change anything?
How long has it been?
I let my thoughts wander back a few years to the first time Nessa had acknowledged my existence.
“So wait, you’re not my conscience?” she had asked.
“Uh, no.” I answered.
“Then what are you?” she said.
“I’m something…Different.” I replied.
I almost laughed as I recalled the difficulty of explaining to Nessa what I was.
“I don’t really know how this happened…I just know this is where I’m supposed to be. I’ve heard that there are more people like me somewhere, but I’ve never looked, nor do I want to. You see, we follow certain rules. We pick a human mind to inhabit and we grow and mature along with them. After that, we have to stay with the human. We can’t go on our own personal conquests. It’s just the way it is.” I explained.
“But that doesn’t really explain anything to me.” Nessa said.
“Just know this: I picked you. Now, you’re stuck with me…Probably for the rest of your life.” I said.
“You say it like it’s a good thing.” Nessa grumbled.
A cold gust of wind brought me back to my senses. I shivered and hugged my arms close to my chest. I kept forgetting to wear a jacket whenever I wasn’t in Nessa’s head. The elements didn’t affect me when I was safely tucked away in some one’s mind. But out in the open air…It was freezing when it was the middle of winter. I glanced towards the hospital and sighed impatiently. This was taking forever.
Forget this, I’ll find my way back to her eventually.
I knew Nessa would flip when she found out that I had wandered out on my own, but she wasn’t exactly entertaining at the moment.
First stop: the high school.
~*~
Lighthouse High School was on the top of a grassy hill. In the summer, you’d work up a sweat hiking up the hill, but not in the winter. The high school was made of the same red brick that Nessa’s house was, so it was almost like a second home to me. Apparently, it was lunchtime. I saw the students milling around on the grassy hill, some with lunches, and some without. They all looked dead bored, but I still wanted to be with them. They were allowed to have lives. I looked up the three stories of the school. I had never actually sat in one of the classrooms. I had always gotten my education from Nessa’s thoughts. But, it had all finally started to bore me.
“Hey gorgeous.” A high pitched voice said behind me. I had to hide my grimace as I turned around. It was Nessa’s “friend”, Sydney.
“Sorry, but I’m not interested.” I told her in my best “You’re Insane So Get Away From Me” voice. Sydney snorted.
“It’s called flirting, you dork. What century were you born in?” she asked.
Flirting? What the hell is that?
“I was born in this century, thank you very much.” I said, pretending that I knew exactly what she was talking about. I should’ve known, since I had been living in a girl’s head for a few years, but apparently, I hadn’t caught everything.
“So anyway, you should totally hang out with me and my friends. Nessa isn’t here today…Like you care…She’s so out there, it’s not even funny. She was even worse today.” Sydney rambled on. Her little comment about Nessa made me remember why I hated her so much, along with her annoying, mouse voice. But, this was a lot more fun than hanging around a hospital.
Oh, what the heck? Hanging out with mouse girl and her friends just once shouldn’t hurt anything.
I gave Sydney a quick smile.
“So, where do your friends sit?” I asked. Sydney started giggling.
“Follow me.” She gasped out between her hysterics. I took a deep breath to steady myself. It would take all the patience I had not to lose my temper. Sydney guided me through the groups of students on the grassy hill and we finally came to a small sized group near the school. She started pointing to people and naming names before I could really glimpse their faces.
“Okay, so that’s Henry, the chick in the blue is Marianne; she’s his girlfriend. Uh, that’s Vince in the grey; Joanna is the girl in the red. Oh and that’s Ryan.” Sydney said quickly. My head started spinning.
I’ll just wing it when it comes to names.
“Everyone, this is…” Sydney trailed off, looking at me.
“My name’s Jimmy.” I told the group. They all stared up at me…Inspecting me to see if I was worth their time. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, but I seemed to pass the test because one of the girls (was it Joanna?) smiled and moved over, apparently making room for me. I smiled and took a seat. A boy with dark red hair leaned over and stuck out his hand.
“Name’s Ryan; you new here or something?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m new.” I lied while shaking his hand.
“Really?” the girl in blue asked, “I knew I hadn’t seen you around here before. Where are you from?”
I froze, not knowing what to say. I didn’t know any other high schools in the area, so I decided to make one up.
“I’m from Oak Hill High School.” I said, hoping that they’d buy it. Sydney wrinkled her nose.
“Where’s that?” she asked.
“You know…Maine?” I said.
“Oh, so you’re from out of state?” Ryan asked. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yeah.” I answered.
“That’s really cool.” Sydney said. She looked past me at someone and smiled.
“Hey Claire, it’s nice of you to join us.” She said with a smirk. I turned to look at Claire and froze.
How did I miss that?
Just by looking at her face, I knew. The “not there” expression, the way she stood there, just the way she was; it all pointed to the obvious.
Apparently, Nessa and I weren’t the only ones who had the abilities that we did. Claire did too.
~*~
