Free Collide by Christine Fonseca Page B

remember them with us. Part of . . .”
    “What?”
    He grinds his jaw, clutching the wheel until his knuckles are white. “We, all of us, were part of a government project. An experiment.”
    I have no response.
    “They were testing our abilities.”
    “What the heck are you talking about, Josh?”
    “The government recruited us to be part of some secret government experiments focused on studying psychic phenomena.”
    I can’t process his words. My hands begin to shake as my thoughts fracture. “So, let me get this right, all five of us in the picture can read minds and crap?” The quiver in my voice won’t abate. “Move objects with our minds?”
    “I think so, yes.”
    “And we were all part of some government experiment our parents were involved with?”
    “Yeah.” Josh’s voice grows more distant with each answer.
    I shake my head, refusing to trust his words. “We’re all in hiding now, running from a bunch of people who want to kill us?”
    Silence fills the gap between us.
    “This is crazy!”
    “Dakota, I’m telling you the truth,” Josh says, and I know he’s telling me the truth. In fact, part of me has known for a long time. “Mom and Dad took us out of the experiments and brought us into protective custody, all of us.”
    “Why? What happened?” My gaze shifts from him to the road and back.
    “No idea.”
    I riddle through his story. Everything he says fits into the scattered memories that are still part of me.
    “David’s part of this?”
    Josh says nothing.
    “You should’ve told me. That night, when I cried on your shoulder, you should’ve told me the truth. You know what he means to me.”
    “Yes, I do, which is why we agreed that he had to leave to protect you; to protect all of us.”
    “ We ?” I flash to the night Josh first met David in vivid detail. The day after Winter Formal, David and I met at the Coffee Shake. David left as Josh walked in. Josh’s expression was so worried when he came to the table, so angry. He watched David get into his car and ordered me to stop seeing him. A few days later, David left without a word. “You had no right!”
    “You and David always had something between you, even then. He used to tell me that he was going to marry you. When you found each other again, he was determined to continue the relationship. But being together . . . it was a risk none of us could afford to take.”
    “So that’s why you hate him? Because he remembers our past? WITSEC, the experiments, my abilities?”
    “I don’t hate him. I just don’t want him with you. And I’m pretty certain he only remembers as much as I do, which isn’t a lot, trust me.”
    I don’t trust anyone anymore. There’s so much more to the story, so much I can’t riddle out. No matter how hard I try, nothing more than fragments of that life gel in my memories.
    I look at the map, focusing on the bold “D” next to the star. Anger crawls against my skin. I want to scream, run, something. My hold on reality cracks. I can’t handle any more. The car begins to shake with my emotions just as the radio suddenly begins to blast country music through the old speakers.
    “Dakota, you have to calm down.” The windshield wipers begin sweeping frantically back and forth, back and forth. Josh pulls the car over to the side of the road. “I’m serious. Calm down or we’re gonna crash.”
    “I . . . can’t . . .” I say, half frightened, half intrigued by the power of my anger.
    “You must.”
    His words bind to me and I stare into his eyes.
    “Take a deep breath. Settle your thoughts.”
    “I can’t.” The car continues to shake.
    Josh’s voice booms in my head. Let go, Dakota. Release the anger you’re feeling. The fear. It’s the only way . My mind whirls. Panic seizes my lungs. Dakota! Relax!
    I follow his command before I comprehend what’s happening. I take a slow and steady breath.
    Josh grabs my shoulder and stares into my eyes. That’s it. Take another slow