The Many Faces of Tully

I’ve been here for three months now and my body is set on my routine. I wake up at four, I shower, and then I eat breakfast with Jace. Then, I watch whoever is practicing that day, and study them with Jace.

I have practiced four times with Nash. I don’t want to try it with anyone else. It isn’t getting any better. Right now I have strawberry blonde hair. It’s curly and constantly falls into my face. My eyes are a light blue, almost gray, and I have full lips. I’m standout pretty again and I don’t like it. The twins catcall at me whenever they get a chance. I’m about five-five and a half and my body is soft. I’ve been like this for two weeks.

I spend most of my time with Jace and Nash. I can’t help but notice that we break up into groups. Calchas is always with Kato and Rozen. I don’t see much of them unless they come out and ask Jace to show them the footage of that week’s practicing. Mirage, Haides and Toshi tended to always be together. Zazu and Hutsi are inseparable. Gunther and Elsu are with them often unless they are off on their own pastimes. The twins hang out with me and Nash some days, but they rotate around with the other groups.

I kind of have a feeling that Jace was sort of the loner before I came here. The twins tease him often about him finally finding someone to sit in front of screen with all day, which I find ironic because they are always playing video games. They always call me his assistant.

I feel myself starting to fall for Jace, but I try to beat down the feelings. I can’t get emotionally attached. I’d kill him too, just like I did with all the others. Nash is the only one who can handle me, and he’s just like a little brother. And how could Jace ever like me, knowing what I’ve done? I’m a horrible person, and he knows it. But he doesn’t treat me like it. He treats me like his assistant, or maybe a friend. I don’t know. I try not to think of it too much.

He’s taught me how to run the camera, and how to change how you look at it on the laptop. He’s shown me how to read the CAT scans and taught me all about the brain. He taught me everything he knows. We are always researching stuff on his laptop. He’s always looking for things on the news or science websites. He’s looking for other people like us. Seeing if there are people with powers, and if the guy we are going to fight ever shows up. He's always studying the brain, seeing if anything new is found, like our brains, but he’s found nothing yet.

Sometimes he gets on a web-chat with doctors and asks them complicated questions. Touching on the subject that people might have extraordinary powers because their brains or bodies are different. At first they always laugh at him but then he stumps them with logic that he throws at him. I seriously think he makes almost all of them questions their degrees and whether or not they have had enough training to be a doctor. Jace is smarter than all of them. I’m surprised super intelligence isn’t a part of his powers.

I actually got a good look at his background picture on his laptop once and the girl he’s with is blonde and has brown eyes. She’s very pretty. I wonder where she is, but I don’t ask. No one talks about their personal lives.

I learn that Jace has been here for twelve years. He’s been here since he was eleven years old. No wonder he was disappointed when he saw me at first. He had been waiting for twelve years for me. He had twelve years to come up with the most exotic ideas, and then I show up, not intimidating in any way. I’d feel let down too.

The next person to join was Rozen and that wasn’t until four years after Jace got here. Hutsi and Zazu already knew each other and joined a year later. Six months later was Gunther. Two years passed and then Toshi showed up. Mirage and Haides joined within the next year. A year and half later Damon and Edmund were sought out. Another year and Elsu showed up. Four months later Nash was here. Then they waited a year and two months for me.

It makes me feel so bad for Jace. He’s been here since he was eleven. Where is his family? Do they know what he can do, or where he is? Do any of our families know? The thought makes me sad. We could all be orphans, and this is our orphanage. We are alone, but together. We are each other’s family now. I don’t know if that comforts me or makes me feel even more alone.

They show me Kato’s recordings. He’s known all of this was going to happen for almost twenty-three years. He started recording on my birthday. I don’t tell them it’s my birthday though. It makes me uneasy that I’ve been destined to come here since birth. He wrote down all of our names, the date we were going to be found, and our powers. He thinks we have our powers because of our names, but I’m not sure I believe him. That would mean everyone has powers, because everyone’s name means something. I want to know why we have powers.

* * *

I walk into the kitchen and Jace is there, like always. He always beats me here. He’s popping toaster waffles into the toaster. Huh, I haven’t had those in a long time.

“Hey, can you pop two in for me too?” I ask him. He answers me by putting two more in the toaster for me.

I go and stand next to him in front of the counter. He opens the cupboard for the coffee mugs and grabs two of them, and I grab two plates from another cupboard. I know this routine. I’ve done it a hundred times.

He reaches into the pantry and grabs the peanut butter, and I grab the strawberry jelly out of the refrigerator. He pulls out the drawer and grabs two knives, and I’m going from muscle memory now. This is hardwired into my brain. It feels so familiar but it also feels unfamiliar too. I wonder why that is.

I grab the coffee pot and pour coffee into his mug first, and then fill mine to the brim. I put the pot back in place and I count down. 3. 2. 1.

Pop! I unscrew the lids to both the peanut butter and the jelly and he places two waffles onto my plate and two onto his. I grab the jelly and he grabs the peanut butter at the same time. I spread the jelly onto one of my waffles.

I stick the knife into the jar and hold it out for him to take. He hates that I put the knife in the jar. He complains that I get jelly all over the handle. I take the peanut butter from him and balance the knife on top of it so it doesn’t fall to the floor. He’s shaking his head.

“You got jelly all over the handle of the knife,” Jace says. The unfamiliarity pulls at my memory again. Something about this is off. I ponder it while I butter my other waffle. When I’m done I pinch the blade between my pointer finger and my thumb and wipe off the excess peanut butter and lick it off my fingers.

I screw the lid back onto the peanut butter and hand it back to Jace and take the jelly from him. We both put them away at the same time. He takes the knife from me and rinses it off in the sink. I grab the two waffles and squish them together to make a peanut butter and jelly waffle sandwich. I’m wiping off the jelly and peanut butter from the edges as he squishes his together too.

I’m turning to face him, and I’m just about to pucker my lips for the oncoming kiss when I finally figure out why this is unfamiliar.

This isn’t Rhode Island.

I’m not with him.

I’m in Iowa, with Jace.

My chest squeezes painfully and I immediately touch the watch. How did Jace know my routine? How did he perform it perfectly, just like him? I want to cry. This is what we did every morning practically. We would get up, and shower together. He would always finish before me and by the time I walked into the kitchen he would be popping four toaster waffles in for us. We would do exactly what Jace and I just did, and he would kiss me before we went and sat down at the table.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Jace says. He must have just caught on. My knees are starting to shake, and my heart rate is picking up. “You eat peanut butter and jelly waffle sandwiches too?”

I nod. I’m breathing quick sharp breaths. My chest hurts, and I don’t know if it’s from my power or heartache.

“You haven’t happened to have been to Ms. Anna’s Waffle House in Rhode Island, have you?” he asks me, oblivious to my pain.

I moan when he says that. Yes, I have been there. That’s where I met him. I squat down so I’m sitting on my heels, hugging my chest. I’m trying to slow my heart rate. I’m trying to keep the box shut. Neither is working.

“Tully?” Jace crouches next to me. “Whoa, hey, calm down. It’s all right.” He puts his hand on my back.

What is he doing? Why isn’t he running? He knows what’s happening. My ears are starting to ring.

“Tully, listen to me,” he says. “You can beat this. C’mon. Take deep breaths. Like this.” He takes a deep breath and breathes out.

I can’t do it. I have to try. I try to focus on what he’s saying. How can I when my ears are ringing?

“Tully, look at me.” I look up at him. His gray eyes are cutting into mine. “Breathe with me.” He takes a deep breath again. I copy to my best abilities. He lets the air go, and I copy. “There you go,” he says. He takes another deep breath. I copy better this time.

A few deep breaths later I’m calming down. My brain is in overdrive. I need to get out of here. I can’t be here today. I’m thinking too much about him. I need air. I need an open road.

The kitchen door opens and Jace turns to see who’s coming in. I know better. No one is coming in. I’m leaving. I stand up quickly and hurry out the door.

“Wait, Tully. Where are you going?” He follows me out the door. I turn, not to face him, but to catch my purse that is flying towards me. “Whoa,” he says. I turn and hurry towards the elevator.

“Tully,” Jace says. He grabs my arm and I feel electricity pulse through me. “Ouch!” he shouts and let go of my arm.

I hurry into the dark room and I see my escape. The elevator door opens for me and I hurry in. I finally turn and face him. He’s holding his wrist and his hand is glowing slightly green. He’s looking at me with wide eyes.

“Sorry Jace.” The doors shut and I rocket upwards.