matter as she led me through the hallways taking paths I would never have thought to take but kept me from bumping into anyone on the way to our next class. When we reached the door, she stopped me with a hand once more on my bag and not my body.
“You don’t have to keep your guard up so much here. Just so you know.” She locked eyes with me her face full of understanding. “We won’t call you a freak or beat the shit out of you for being different. And believe me,” Charity crossed her arms over her blouse and glanced down at the ground, “we all have our defense mechanisms to keep people at arm’s length. I’m sure the others told you we didn’t all come here at birth.”
“Yeah. So, I’ve heard.”
Her gaze lifted from the ground and a small smile played on her lips. “So, don’t be so hard on yourself. The world already does that no reason for us to add to the burden.”
I found myself smiling back at her as I nodded. “Got it.”
Letting Charity walk into the classroom first, I scanned the room slowly. This one wasn’t anything like the last classroom where the desks were organized in neat little rows. There weren’t even any desks. Cushions lay about the room and yoga mats were piled off to one side. My brows drew down as every began to take a seat. Charity offered me the cushion next to her and I gratefully took it. Her minions - friends - Dharma and Bishop took the seats next to us.
The bell rang just as a familiar tall, dark, and handsome man came into the room. His head was down reading something on his phone as he walked, so he hadn’t noticed me yet. I took that moment to check him over.
His clothing was much different than the first time we met. Charcoal colored slacks covered his long legs and a dark blue sweater stretched across the muscles of his chest. The V-neck of the sweater showed off a hint of the dark curls on his chest and a sexy scruffy of hair decorated the expansion of his jaw.
Dex paced the front of the room, enraptured in whatever it was he was reading and not paying much attention to the class. Though, the way he held himself above the others told me this guy was a teacher.
Anyone else and they’d have been worried that their teacher not only seen them smoking on campus but had helped them light the damn cigarette. Not me. If I had plans to stay, then I might have been a little concerned. More for the fact that the sexy mystery guy Dex was my teacher than being caught smoking. I so couldn’t be getting hot and bothered for the administration.
When those long dark lashes flickered up from his phone and around the room, they promptly landed on me. His brows furrowed and confusion pinched his forehead before those delectable lips pressed tightly into a frown.
“You must be Eleanor.”
It wasn’t a question. The tightness of his words clearly stated he wasn’t happy about it.
“Elle.” I corrected him not letting him think seeing him here affected me. It didn’t. Not in the least.
“Very well.” He nodded then and then turned to the rest of the class our moment over and done with on all accounts. “We will be practicing memory retrieval today. It is a delicate process that requires concentration and complete control of your abilities.”
The others in the room murmured with excitement.
Except me.
I didn’t know how to do that. I couldn’t do that. That wasn’t even in the realm of my abilities. Why was I even in this class?
“Partner up with the person next to you.” Dex continued not giving me the chance to interrupt. “You will hold hands, touch is essential for this to work, and then take turns pulling a memory. A single memory from their head.” He gave the students a lopsided smile that made something in me tingle. “And be kind. No embarrassing caught with your pants down kind.” He waved a hand carelessly in front of him. “And go.”
Bishop turned and grabbed Charity’s hands before I had the chance to pick her, leaving me with no other choice than Dharma. Not that I could since I couldn’t do this. My powers didn’t go that far, and I certainly wasn’t about to let someone I didn’t know poke around in my brain. I thought of all those memories