Monday morning Sarah walked silently to the school. She was not actually heading to the school, she was heading for Ato’s car which was always ready and waiting at the Dunkin Donuts close to her house. Her headphones were already pouring heavy metal music into her head. With a small grin she looked up to see Ato heading her way. Her friend pounced on her and she laughed before they linked arms. “Are my thoughts so bad that you have to use that music even when you’re with me?” Her friend joked as they slipped into the car.

“Nope. It’s everyone else I can’t stand. You can drive today.” Sarah said smiling. Ato had known her secret before Michaela had and had accepted her with open arms. Of course she had the occasional thought of world domination but who would not? As the two girls drove to the school, Sarah gazed out the window. The dream had changed last night. Now she knew it was Michaela heading for her. But did Michaela know?

She sighed as they pulled into the school parking lot. She could already taste the disgust, jealousy, ‘love’ as these kids called it, and pretty much every other feeling known to man. “I can barely handle this anymore. It’s almost way too much to bear.” She said as she and Ato headed inside. Heavy metal poured from her headphones as they walked quietly through the crowd. As if they had been instructed beforehand, the students parted for them. Sarah stared straight ahead, her gaze never wavering from her locker. ‘Focus, focus, focus…’ She reached her locker and quickly jerked it open. Without a word she got her books and slammed the locker door shut. She saw Michaela out of the corner of her eye and couldn’t help smiling. She seemed so nervous today! It might be a bad thing to be happy that your friend was nervous, but if that meant she had seen her in her dream it was a good thing to her. Ato grabbed her arm and the two girls headed for English.

Hours later Sarah was certain. School was a drag. Teachers blabbing nonsense, kids screaming lies laced around their truths. With fingers trembling, Sarah raised her hands to her ears. “I want it all to stop.” She mumbled, not looking anywhere but her desk. “I want it all to stop.” There was a new voice among them though. One she knew…but at the same time she didn’t. ‘You can silence them.’ It told her, its cold words filling her mind. ‘You know you can.’ Sarah looked up at the teacher and focused. She soon found herself in the teacher’s mind. This was a first…but it was easy. Smiling, she slowly began to get rid of the teacher’s use of her vocal chords. It wouldn’t be permanent. With surgery or something she could easily get the use of her voice back. Unless Sarah gave it back before then. Startled with her own actions, she quickly pulled away.

Ato was giving her an odd look as she jerked in her seat. Sarah watched, lacing her fingers, as the teacher tried to continue speaking. She coughed a few times and tried again. She held back a giggle as panic rose in the teacher’s eyes. Finally, after a few moments she wrote ‘Class Dismissed’ on the board. Somewhat curious, it took the class another few minutes to clear out of the classroom while their teacher ran to the nurse’s office. Smiling to herself, Sarah linked her arms behind her back and stretched. “Well that was interesting.” She said aloud, more to herself than to Ato walking beside her. Ato answered her anyway. “I know! Freaky how she just stopped talking in mid-sentence.” Sarah laughed. “Let’s ditch the rest of the day. It might be some weird bug going around.” Ato eagerly nodded and both girls went to their lockers to get their things.

Soon they were cruising down the highway towards the downtown area. Sarah spoke first, the eagerness in her voice not even trying to be hidden. “Let’s go to the mall. I want to try some things.” ‘Mainly using my mind of course.’ They headed in that direction and Sarah turned on the radio. Why were everyone’s thoughts suddenly so under control? Was she doing that? And could she seriously mess with someone’s brain so that they could not speak? Excitement coursed through her muscles, a ripple of apprehension traveled across her skin. What if she could do more? What if she could manipulate any thought? Or action? And she could move things with her mind…why not move people? Although she was somewhat horrified at the ideas her mind was coming up with, she was also longing to try them. Never had she had such a sense of power!