Free Speak No Evil-Gifted 6 by Marilyn Kaye

he turned on the TV. Paul looked at himself and listened to the off-screen doctor’s voice.
    ‘Let’s talk about Serena, Paul.’
    Paul watched his own face contort on the screen. He looked like he was in pain.
    ‘I don’t want to talk about her.’
    Dr Paley’s voice was gentle but firm. ‘You must, Paul. You betrayed your classmates. It wasn’t your fault – she put you under some kind of spell. But you need to face up to what you did. How did you first meet Serena?’
    ‘Mr Jackson brought me to see her.’
    ‘Mr Jackson . . . Ah yes, the former principal of your school. Serena hypnotized you and asked you questions. Do you remember this?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘What did she ask you?’
    ‘She asked me about the gifted class. She asked questions about the students. She asked me what kind of gifts they have.’
    ‘And you told her?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘But Madame had warned the class never to reveal their gifts, isn’t that right?’
    ‘Yes.’ Paul was clearly in great distress. ‘I didn’t want to tell her. I wanted to keep our secret.’
    ‘It’s all right, Paul,’ Dr Paley said. ‘She probably gave you some kind of post-hypnotic suggestion. You couldn’t stop yourself. And you were probably afraid of those people. For good reason, too. They were dangerous people. You have nothing to be ashamed about, Paul. Your classmates will forgive you.’
    The boy on the screen seemed to relax a little.
    Dr Paley hit the pause button, and turned to Paul. ‘There’s one thing that puzzles me though, Paul. We were talking about your shape-shifting ability as a response to fear. If you were afraid of Serena, Mr Jackson and the other people in that group, why didn’t you shift? You could have become some kind of large animal. You could have attacked them. Or you could have become a small animal and escaped. Why didn’t that happen, Paul? Why didn’t you shift?’
    Again, Paul could only look at him helplessly. This time, the doctor had no speculations to offer. ‘You’re not sure, you probably don’t even remember. Well, let’s get back to the video.’
    But Paul knew perfectly well why he hadn’t shifted when he was with those bad people. He didn’t know then that he could. It was true that he’d shifted before, at home, when the bad guys shot his parents. But back when he was turned off, he didn’t know he could do it on purpose – he didn’t know that he had some control over this strange and mysterious gift.
    But he knew now.

C HAPTER T WELVE
     
    I N THE GIFTED CLASS, Ken ran in at the last minute so Amanda didn’t get a chance to talk to him before Madame called for everyone’s attention.
    But before Madame had even said ‘good afternoon’, Ken’s hand shot up. Madame looked at him in surprise.
    ‘Yes, Ken?’
    ‘Madame, could I ask the class something? There’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.’
    ‘Of course, Ken. What’s on your mind?’
    His classmates turned to look at him.
    Ken was clearly uncomfortable at being the centre of attention, but he persevered. ‘I want to know . . . If you could get rid of your gift, would you? I mean, most of you guys know how I don’t like hearing these voices. And I was just wondering if I was the only one who doesn’t like having a gift.’
    ‘It’s not always comfortable having a gift, Ken,’ Madame said.
    ‘Yeah, yeah, I know that,’ Ken interrupted. ‘I’m sorry, Madame, but I’m not talking about getting used to the gift. I want to know if anyone else wants to get rid of their gift.’
    An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Amanda hastened to break it. ‘I’d like to get rid of my gift. I know there’s no way I can,’ she added hastily, ‘but if I could, I would.’
    ‘Sometimes I wish I didn’t have my gift,’ Emily offered. ‘When I get these images of terrible things about to happen . . .’ She shuddered.
    ‘You just have to learn to control it,’ Jenna declared, ‘so you don’t see the future