Free Independence by Shelly Crane

It was like, the more skin he was touching, the more intense our connection was. My mind pushed right into his and he put up no fight.
    But as soon as I started to see the energy ribbons behind my eyelids, I heard a faint knock in the back of my consciousness and then the door opened. I lifted up to see over the couch as Kyle and Lynne came in without waiting. I gasped and glared at him as he lifted his arm s in an annoyed manner .
    "What the hell are you two doing here?" he asked. " And making out, no less. Uncle Peter is going nuts worrying about you both." And then he looked to the hallway and paled. "Beck?"
    I jumped up and straightened my clothes. "We found them, but couldn’t take them home. I had a vision."
    Caleb grunted in annoyance beside me. "And I called Dad and told him we were fine."
    Kyle had to drag his eyes from Beck who stood bored in the hallway entrance, arms crossed. "Well, he's just worried about you. He said you should have called him again by now, so I decided to come and see if you were here, though I never actually expected to find you here."
    I saw in mind exactly what he'd been expecting. His house was still crowded from the meeting , and family in and out. He thought he'd get some alone time in with Lynne. In Caleb's apartment. Alone .
    Lynne smiled even as the boys stared angrily at each other , and came to stand next to me . She laced her arm through mine. Beck moved further into the room and cocked her head at me. Or Lynne, rather. "So, you've replaced me? And with this blonde cute-as-a-cookie chick at that? Is that w hy you don't care about being friends with me anymore?"
    Lynne jolted at the implication and looked at me. I said, "No, I didn't replace you. What are you, five? Besides, you were the one with the ultimatums and accusations. I saved your life, if you remember."
    "Yeah," Beck sneered, "how could I forget, f reak."
    "Hey!" Kyle yelled, startling us all. "Don't talk to her like that. She's the V-"
    "It's OK, Kyle," I waved away his help and Caleb's as I saw his mouth open to say something, too . "Beck's just having a hard time." And she definitely didn't know anything about the Visionary stuff and I wasn't inclined to clue her into it yet. She was already walking away as I said it. I heard the door slam again.
    "So, anyway ," Kyle continued in annoyance , "you need to come back and l et Uncle Peter know what's going on."
    Caleb sighed and licked his lip s before saying, "Well, I'm the Champion now , not Dad ." Kyle sighed, too. "I'm the Champion and I saw what needed to be done and did it. I have to do what's best, not worry about whether Dad will be angry, even if it means he's left in the dark. "
    Kyle twisted his lips. "Yeah. I kind of forgot about that. Sorry."
    "It takes some getting used to," Caleb agreed. "Even I forget half the time."
    "No you don't," I called him on his bull crap. "You never stop thinking about it." I left Lynne to stand in front of Caleb. He looked so vulnerable and open right then. "But the thing you don 't understand is that no one has doubts that you can do this, but you."
    He took a deep breath. He glanced over at Kyle. Kyle took that as his cue to say something smart , in typical Kyle fashion. "Yeah, what she said. But you can keep your bossy pants off when we come visit, 'cause I ain't following orders, bro."
    Caleb cracked a wry smile. "Speaking of which," he crossed his arms, which was very distracting for me, "what the heck are you doing marching in my house when the door was locked?"
    "So I had Aunt Rachel make a key." He shrugged. "What's the big deal?"
    "The big deal?" Caleb laughed. "This is my house! And Maggie lives here now, too. What if you had walked in on something?"
    Kyle grinned devilishly. "I thought I had."
    I bit my lip, but still blushed. Caleb laughed and punched Kyle's arm. "Shut up, man." He came behind me and put his arms around me.
    "Besides," Kyle continued and accepted Lynne into his arms as she came back to him, "I thought I