A New Friend (3.1)

LATER THAT MORNING RIVI ENTERED health class, only to find that Daniel, Bill, and his two cronies were there already. Rivi introduced herself to the teacher sitting at the desk at the front of the room and then took a seat.

After a few minutes the teacher stood.

"Okay," she said, picking up a piece of chalk.

Facing the chalkboard, she proceeded to review with the class their lessons on human anatomy— how certain drugs affect the body, both negatively and positively...

"Now," the teacher said afterward, writing neatly on the chalkboard, "we will be doing end of term class reports, which will be due in two weeks. You may work in groups, and you may choose your own topics, as long as they pertain to what we have learned so far in this class. Because Rivinaig is new, can I have someone volunteer to partner with her?"

Rivi looked down at the smooth surface of her desk, remembering the projects she'd done with the rest of the Earth children while they were on Aun. A silence filled the room, and then the lunch bell rang.

"We'll finish assigning partners after lunch," Mrs. Jameson called, as the classroom emptied.

Rivi stood and followed the students to the cafeteria, where she picked up her lunch plate like everyone else, but unlike the others, she went to sit at an empty table. Rivi ate some of the food, and when she realized she had no taste for it, she went to walk on the school grounds. She hadn't been walking long when she saw a familiar sight: Bill and his crew bullying Daniel Peterson.

Rivi shook her head as Daniel took one punch after another. As she approached, she manipulated Bill's shoelaces so they tied themselves together. Rivi walked up behind Daniel as Bill turned his head to laugh at his cronies. Before he turned back around, he picked up his right foot to kick Dan, who had fallen to the ground and was trying to stand. As Bill did so, his tangled shoelaces caused him to fall flat on his back. Rivi mentally untied his knotted shoelaces, as Bill demanded to know who tripped him.

"Was it you?" he demanded of Daniel.

"No, it was me," Rivi answered rolling her eyes sarcastically as she tried to pretend she was joking. "Only someone who doesn't know any better would try to pick on someone smaller than him."

"I can squish you like a cockroach!" Bill retorted.

Rivi locked eyes with him as he got up and struck a fighting stance, fists up. As he threw one of his fists at her, Rivi dodged, then jumped over his foot as he tried to kick her leg. Bill drew back his other fist, but as Rivi's feet landed, she fell down into a squat and, thrusting her right leg out, spun and tripped the bully flat onto his back.

Rivi stood, walked over to Daniel, and helped him up. She escorted him past Bill's posse, who were hovering around their windswept leader.

"How did you do that? Bill Torres is bigger than both of us." Daniel asked, shocked.

"That's no reason to let him scare me. To tell you the truth," Rivi said, surprised, "that's the first time I've done that. I wasn't about to let him push me around, though."

"I'd never be able to do that," Daniel said, looking at his feet in dejection.

"Yes, you can!" Rivi exclaimed, very irritated. "To say that you can't do something is to kill every hope you have of ever accomplishing anything!"

Daniel turned, confused, to look at Rivi. Rivi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before she started levitating everything in the schoolyard.

"Your brain tells you that you can't, so even though you have not tried, ultimately, you won't. Things don't have to be that way," Rivi said sadly.

Daniel looked down and shuffled his foot in the grass.

"The mind affects how the body reacts to stimulus. Fear can sometimes work as a stimulus. I can teach you how to convince your mind to allow you to react differently to fear. We could work on it as part of our class project, if you'd like."

She sure is strange, Daniel thought, not quite sure of what to make of this new student. Then again, it's not like I have anyone else to work with.

"Sure," Daniel admitted. "The teacher is normally stuck assigning me a partner anyhow."

#

Later that evening after dinner, Daniel arrived at Rivi's house as they had planned. Miss Tate told him that Rivi was in the back yard. Daniel walked straight through the clean, friendly-looking house and into the back yard. He froze on the top step at the sight that met his eyes. His face blanched as he grabbed the railing to turn to go back into the house.

"Wait," Rivi requested.

She was sitting on top of the picnic table with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. Her arms were extended straight out from her shoulders, palms down. All around the back yard, various large objects were floating in midair around her.

"I did not wish to alarm you," Rivi explained.

"What are you?" Dan asked in alarm.

Rivi frowned with concern. She relaxed, opened her eyes, and looked at each object in turn, lowering it. She then looked straight at Daniel.

"I am human. 150 children, myself included, had the unique opportunity to be taught by an alien race called the Aunantet. We have been taught to use more of our minds in ways very few humans dare to dream of."

"Okay," Daniel said, not understanding, much less believing, what she was saying.

"I knew you needed to see the capability of the human mind to understand your own ability to turn fear into something else. I know I am taking a risk showing you this, but I had a feeling that you wouldn't believe me otherwise."

Daniel looked once more around the yard.

"How did you do it?" he asked.

"I simply changed the molecules in the objects until they were lighter than air."

Daniel frowned and shook his head, still not believing what she was saying.

"Okay. At least you've seen that it can be done," Rivi said, as she then used her mind to move all of the large objects in the yard over to one side.

"Now, do you think that both you and I can put everything back in under an hour?" Rivi asked.

"Without levitation?" Daniel asked with a slight chuckle, as he sized-up the large pile of objects.

"Yes, Dan," Rivi answered with a laugh.

Daniel bit his lip for a second and then turned to face Rivi.

"Yes, I think we can, but it will be a bit close."

"All right then, let's get to work," Rivi answered.

"Should we mark the time first?" Daniel asked.

"No need. I am in almost constant communication with my personal computer."

Daniel frowned for a second, shrugged, then went to pick up the first object. Rivi followed suit, and soon, they were racing back and forth across the yard. They finished with three seconds left.

"We did it!" Rivi exclaimed.

"Whew!" Dan sighed.

"Remember, the more you believe in your ability to handle something, the more your confidence will improve."

Dan nodded.

"Seeing that we now have a good foundation from which to start, I think you ought to head home before it gets too dark," Rivi said with a smile. "We should meet earlier tomorrow."

"How about six in the evening?" Dan asked.

"At the park?"

"Deal," Daniel answered.

"We can continue working on this on the way to school tomorrow. Shall I meet you at your house?" Rivi asked.

"No," Daniel replied, as if a bit unsettled. "How about if I come around seven tomorrow morning?"

"Sure," Rivi answered, contemplating his reaction.

Daniel started walking back toward the back door. He paused at the bottom step as though considering something.

"Everything okay?"

"It's nothing, I just ..." He started, turning back toward Rivi.

"It's ok," Rivi said, cutting him off. "If you don't mind, I need to ask you for a favor, though."

"Sure."

"Please don't tell anyone my secret. Everyone is being told that I am from another country, not another planet." Rivi pleaded.

"No problem," Daniel said, smiling back at her. "Who would I tell?"

With that, Daniel left and Rivi, once again, sat on the picnic table to ponder.