Part 9

I looked at her in absolute confusion. Then it slowly dawned on me. As I looked up, I choked out, "Kate?"

"The one and only," she replied, cheerful as ever.

"B-b-b-b-b-b-but, but how? You've had powers this whole time?"

"You're not the only one who can hide the thing you hated your whole life."

"So, what is it? Your power?"

She didn't answer, but rather looked down in concentration. The air around her got brighter until she was completely wrapped in light. Eventually, it got too bright to look at, and we all turned away. Within a couple of seconds, the light dimmed, and Kate was dressed in her usual aesthetic: cottage core. I was shocked speechless. I couldn't move or talk for several minutes. I was just trying to process what had just happened. My best friend is a shapeshifter. This is too much. This can NOT be happening.

I don't remember walking away, but the next thing I knew, I was in my room, with the door locked. I didn't want to talk to anyone. They all knew, and they lied to me. I can't stay here one moment longer! With a start, I realized that I shouted that last line. I started shaking to hold in the sobs that were threatening to spill through my eyelids. This isn't me. I never got angry at anything. Besides, I was used to betrayal. Why was this affecting me so much?

As these questions were pouring through my head, I heard a knock at the door. I didn't want to answer it, but I had a feeling that whoever was knocking could tell me what was going on. So, I took a deep breath, collected myself, and opened the door as the knocking started again. I saw that Kate and Eric were there and immediately shut the door again. They were the last people that I wanted to see at that moment. But as I slid down the door, I heard a voice say, "I know that you're not in the mood, but tradition has it that each person gets checked upon at the end of the day. Can I come in?" As I opened the door again, a little more slowly this time, I saw Alex there. I didn't want to talk to him, but I needed people to leave me alone so that I could think. As I result, I let him in.

The first thing that he did was sit down. He sat crisscrossed and waited for me to join him, signaling that with his hand. After a couple of seconds, I joined him. It was definitely an awkward silence, simply because the last thing that I told him was that he had no imagination. So finally I decided to break the silence. "What did you have for dinner?"

"Chicken breast, and pasta. You?"

"Squash."

"Surely you had more than that, right?" I shook my head. I didn't really have an appetite, but pretty much everybody knew that when Eric had been asked to do this thing. Eric... oh god! I had so many questions about that kid, I had no idea where to start. Luckily, Alex fixed that without a second thought. "You're confused, aren't you? You have a lot of questions about this place, but more about Eric, I'm guessing." I must have been blushing really hard because he immediately took it back. "I'm sorry, I didn't it like that. You're just wondering what his abilities are, aren't you?" I slowly nodded my head. Finally, the answer to the question that had been bugging me since that conversation. It was only a couple of seconds, but it felt like an eternity, and then he said, "He can increase feelings in someone, but only if they're already there."