Kara's Cross

“Have a seat, Kara.”

Ms. Smith closes the door behind her before walking up to her desk and sitting down. Of course I’m called into the counselor’s office. It’s not as if my day could get any worse.

“I’ve asked you in here to talk about the incident which happened in the hallway earlier today.”

“It was just an argument, Ms. Smith,” I offer, “I did something to make Maddie mad and she was calling me on it.”

Ms. Smith leans back in her chair watching me for a few seconds.

“That sounds about right, but it’s not exactly why I wanted to talk.”

The uncomfortable feeling from our last meeting returns as if it had never left. It is as if she knows more than she lets on.

“I don’t know what else to say,” I admit, “she got mad at me and I deserved it.”

“What did you do to deserve it, Kara?”

I shouldn’t have said anything. Now I have to be careful. If I tell her what happens, she’ll probably either think I’m crazy or some sort of freak for the government to study. I’d better just lie.

“She was talking to a boy I like, which upset me, so I called her a lousy friend and a traitor.”

That should work. It’s similar to what happened to Maddie at the beginning of the year so it must be reasonable.

Ms. Smith frowns a bit, but continues to watch me. I’m getting tired of feeling as if I’m in trouble every time I’m around her.

“Kara, you realize my job at this school is to help you, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” she leans forward before continuing, “I can’t help you unless you are truthful with me.”

“What do you mean? I am telling the truth.”

“You may not have noticed, Kara, but there were a great many students in the hallway during the argument between you and Maddie. Many of them overheard parts of your conversation. Most of them report someone is stealing things; some even heard you were the one responsible. Not a single student mentioned the argument being about a boy.

Crap. What do I do now?

“Maddie’s mom got fired because her boss thinks she was letting people steal from the store where she was the night manager. Maddie knew I went there last night, so she thought I was the person who was stealing stuff.”

“Is she right? Were you the one?”

“No. The cashier gave me my shirt free. She told me it was because I was the hundredth customer. I thought I was lucky. Even so, it was only one shirt; Maddie was talking about a bunch of things going missing.”

Now it sounds like I am trying to get the cashier in trouble. I just want this to be finishe

“Kara,” Ms. Smith begins in a voice sounding like she is trying to be soothing, “didn’t you think it was unusual for a store to give away merchandise?”

“Like I said, I thought I was lucky. I am pretty sure it will never happen again.”

“How can you be so sure, Kara?”

I’m never using my power again, that’s how.

“You said it didn’t seem normal for stuff to be given away, so if it ever happens again, I’ll know something is wrong.”

“I suppose so,” she mumbles in agreement, studying me again. “I have just one more question.”

Great. What else could she possibly want to know?

“Kara, if I told you I have heard stories and have some proof there are people among us with special abilities which allow them to control other people, what would you say?”

No, no, no, no, no, no. This can’t be happening. I’m not going to use my power anymore; why can’t this just all go away? How does she know? Am I going to go to jail? What if they trace what happened to Shayna back to me? Logan made her run in front of the car, but I can’t turn him in, he was saving me. What if she dies? What am I supposed to do?

“Kara,” Ms. Smith’s tone turns to concern. “Are you alright? You’re pale. Is something the matter?”

I take a deep breath. I need to calm down. There are at least two others like me at this school. Logan’s never been called down, Arabella either, as far as I know. Maybe she is just asking for information.

“That sounds incredible, Ms. Smith,” I try to act surprised, “kind of scary, too. What would happen to these people?”

“Well, Kara, one of the main reasons I was hired at this school was to discover if there is any validity to these stories. There have been more than a few unusual reports over the last few years, and I am here to discover the truth.”

“If there are people like this, what do you want with them?”

“That’s a good question, Kara. My associates and I feel it would be best if we could identify people like these in order to better help them.”

I cannot construct any kind of coherent response.

“People with abilities unlike those around them, need to be protected and nurtured, while at the same time they need to learn how they should and should not use their abilities. There are people out there who would use them as tools or weapons, not caring about the person, except for what they are able to do.”

That hits a little close to home. I like what she is saying, but I’m not sure I should confide in her. My gut tells me not to, but it sure would be a relief to get this out in the open. What if it’s a trap? Whether I deserve it or not, I don’t want to go to jail. I need to get out of here so I can think this through.

“I’ll let you know if I believe anyone fits the description, Ms. Smith.”

“Please do, Kara. If there are people out there with amazing gifts like these, we should be helping them in every way we can, and we can’t help them unless we know who they are.”

“Okay, Ms. Smith. Thank you. I should probably get back to class now.”

“Certainly, Kara, just remember what we talked about.”

“I will.”