Free Starseed by Liz Gruder Page A

withdraw, as if he had put up an intentional cloud over his sun.
    “It’s time for class,” he said thick as night. He walked toward the classroom trailer. “Understand,” he said over his shoulder. “We are as alone as you. We are far away from home. You are the best we’ve encountered since coming here.”
    Kaila stared at Jordyn’s shoulders in the silver overalls. “Do you mean New Mexico?”
    Jordyn kept walking.
    “I don’t know what to do with this,” she called.
    He turned, faced her. “You do, Kaila. You have a powerful mind just like us. Wake up.”
    They stared at one another as the sound of a mower cutting grass hummed in the background. The smell of fresh cut grass filtered through the breeze.
    “Be who you are,” he urged. “Take off the head covering.”
    Kaila hesitated. “If I take it off, they will come for me.” She didn’t know what she was saying, merely parroting her mother’s words.
    “You needn’t be afraid anymore,” Jordyn said. “We are already here.”

    “You are late,” Mrs. Bourg said as Kaila and Jordyn opened the door to advanced physics. “Do you have a good excuse?”
    “Yes,” Jordyn said, breezing over to Mrs. Bourg. He placed his hands on her desk. He leaned over and stared his large hazel eyes intently at her. As Mrs. Bourg met his gaze, her face went slack. Her expression went blank.
    “Kaila fell and hurt her knee,” Jordyn said. “We had to clean it and put a bandage on it. That is all.” Jordyn turned to Kaila and rolled his eyes.
    Mrs. Bourg came around from her desk, bent and examined Kaila’s knee. “That looks like a terrible fall,” she said. “I can see the bruise below the bandage.”
    Kaila peered down and saw nothing. Jordyn wore a thin smile.
    Brandy, Tara, Douglas and Phyllis looked confused.
    Kaila realized that Jordyn had made Mrs. Bourg see a bandage and bruise that wasn’t there. Jordyn and his group could implant false visions of what people saw. Was this really happening?
    “That is an acceptable tardiness,” Mrs. Bourg said. “Now, please take your seat. And consider wearing lower heels, Kaila.”
    Kaila’s ribs tightened like a steel band. She couldn’t breathe. This was too much to compute. What did he mean “we are already here”? Should she be afraid of them? And what in hell were these supernatural powers? Overwhelmed, she staggered, dropped into her seat, gasping for breath.
    “What’s the matter?” Jordyn asked.
    She thrust out her left hand as she frantically rummaged through her book bag for her inhaler with her right hand. She couldn’t draw a breath. Her airspace had shut.
    As she placed the inhaler to her lips and pressed the spray, she saw Brandy and Tara observing, their mouths agape. Oh God, her left hand was out! They had seen her three long fingers. They would tell everyone she was a monster.
    Kaila curled her fingers into a fist and buried it in her lap while holding the spray in her lungs. Her face, neck, and chest heated.
    Jordyn stood by her side, his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
    Mrs. Bourg marched to the front of Kaila’s desk. “Sit down, Jordyn.” After he took his seat, Mrs. Bourg asked, “Are you all right, Kaila?”
    Kaila felt her lungs opening. She nodded.
    “We didn’t know you had asthma,” Mrs. Bourg said. “But that is not uncommon. Auto-immune disorders, allergies, sensitivities are prevalent in our mixed society.”
    Kaila barely heard her. Brandy and Tara studied her with narrowed eyes. She prayed they wouldn’t gossip about her hand.
    Mrs. Bourg fluffed her brassy hair. “Today,” she said. “We have a different lesson. Imagine traveling great distances in space. There are many theories on how it would be possible to travel to other galaxies. But there is only one of them that works.”
    She snapped her fingers. “Antonia, come to the head of the class.”
    Antonia obediently stood in front of the class. Her skin was rich as espresso, her eyes