Free Tunnel Vision by Susan Adrian Page B

mind so very much my coming to help here. I believe this situation will work out well for all of us. Perhaps we can be friends, in time?”
    Her eyes flick to me, and reality floods in. I have to remember who she is, and why she’s here. She may be here to protect me, but she’s not my friend.
    Myk visibly brightens, though. “Nice to meet you,” she says, polite, if quiet.
    Mom relaxes. She must’ve been expecting fireworks. Then she frowns at me. “Jake?”
    I realize I haven’t said anything. “Oh. Welcome, Mrs. Delgado.” I stop. Then I add, “So nice that you could come at such short notice.”
    She laughs, a round, full laugh. “Oh, that. That is no trouble at all. I am so happy to have found you.”
    I bet.
    She gestures to the empty seats at the table. “Shall we sit and get to know each other before dinner? I brought enchiladas, to show your mother I can cook. I will make salad. I thought we could eat in an hour or so?”
    Myk shifts, uncomfortable again. “Oh … I have too much homework to do. Sorry.”
    “Me too,” I say, quick. “Got to get on that homework. But we’ll see you at dinner.”
    And whatever comes after that.
    She waves us off. “Of course. We will continue our chat, your mother and I.” Her eyes narrow, a touch, at me. “She has so many good things to say about you.”
    Spy translation: She’s pumping my mother for information before she moves on to me. Excellent.
    Once in my room I take out my phone and text Chris, just because it makes me feel normal.
    Housekeeper is def a dragon. But damn she is hot. Salma Hayek, anyone?
    He comes back right away.
    I need me some housekeeping. Can I come over and play?
    Yeah, definitely more normal.
    Come have dinner tomorrow and see for yourself.
    I know he has Oklahoma tech rehearsal tonight. But tomorrow will be perfect. I drop into my desk chair and spin, already looking forward to the buffer. If Chris is here, she can’t do anything wonky, can she?
    Maybe I should just have Chris around all the time.
    Can’t. Tech rehearsal tomorrow too. After show is over will come dragonate.
    Damn. I really am on my own for a while. Me, my family, and my handlers.
    But expect a surprise in a minute …
    A surprise? Like I need more surprises in my life right now. My phone buzzes again. A message from an unknown number.
    Jake? Hi. It’s Rachel.
    I draw in a sharp breath. No way.
    Chris gave me your number. Hope that’s okay.
    YES, I want to say. YES. But I count … one, two, three … before typing.
    Yeah. That’s cool. What’s up?
    Through the walls I can hear Ana’s voice, musical, talking to my mother. I try to ignore it and what it means, stare at the phone. At what normal looks like. A normal girl.
    Just hi. Sorry I’ve been weird. Oh, gotta go. Our scene. Talk tomorrow?
    I type fast, so she can read it before she has to leave.
    Sure. See you tomorrow.
    I add her number to my contacts, grinning to myself, then give Chris a virtual high five. He said he’d talk to her about me, if he had a chance. Thank God for best friends. I allow myself a minute of imagining Rachel … kissing her …
    Then I dig out my calculus stuff, because I really do have work to do, especially to make up for this morning.
    I don’t care if I do have a Stanford acceptance from DARPA. I still want to earn it.
    *   *   *
    I don’t remember the first time I tunneled. When I was little it used to happen all the time, accidentally. Random images, sounds, emotions would flick through me when I touched things. I thought it was normal. I learned quickly which things not to touch, what I didn’t want to feel. Things from dead people, mostly.
    I do remember the first time I did it on purpose.
    I was six and a half, and Myk was a baby, about four months old. I thought she was a tiny monster. She was always fussy, bawling her lungs out day and night. Sucking up every second of my parents’ time and attention. I wanted nothing more than to send her back.
    We were