If he wanted her to know, he was capable of telling her. It was one of the many times she felt guilty for having this power. She should be oblivious to his feelings, and he should have a fair chance. She wasn't sure what she would do. She was a bit surprised that he had fallen for her, because of her looks. After a bit of thought, it made sense since he didn't know her before. When he began thinking of positive things about her, she had to work hard not to blush. How had he gotten that from the fifteen minutes they'd spent altogther.

She had used what she had believed were some of her first words to him threatening him. She gave him an encouraging smile as he stumbled over the words. With the new knowledge she had she would be nicer to him. She decided she may dial back on the flirting though. She was relieved to hear him mention God. She did go to church each week after all. It would be nice to know that he wouldn't challenge that. The only thing was there were many religions with gods in them.

Which one was he talking about? She was a bit amused that he was trying to share the gospel with her. She had been going to church as long as she could remember. She doubted he would tell her something she hadn't heard before. Since she knew this was important, she didn't interrupt him. She appreciated that he was at least trying, but she didn't think the first day was the right time to bring it up. If she had been someone else, it could have scared her off permanently.

She smiled at him, "God never promised the road would be easy did he?"

Kai didn't consider herself a clingy person. While she did like being close to people and talking and sharing things, often, she wanted her personal space. If you could constantly hear everyone's stream of thoughts, it would be understandable. Even so, she found that she wasn't sure how she wanted Eric to react to her injuries. She liked it when people showed that they cared for her, but at the same time she felt that she was supposed to try to resume normal life as soon as possible.

She didn't feel like she could enjoy the extra attention. Now, that he mentioned it, she was curious what God's plan had been through all of this. Now, that she was comfortably seated, her mind drifted to other things. She nodded her head agreeing that this was a very nice spot. To keep up the conversation momentum, she was about to ask him what his favorite spots were, when he began pulling out the food. Her eyes widened, and she couldn't help smiling and giving a soft giggle.

"I'm sorry. I feel like a dog just waiting for you to feed me. I promise. I'm not normally like this."

She couldn't go digging through his backpack. According to her raising, it would be improper, rude, and so she would feel weird. She only had one hand, so it would be more difficult. She was too hungry to be picky, and he would just have to hand her one. She held out a hand expecting him to give her one. She felt quite demanding and rude, but he did bring the food. She did lean over and see the pencil and paper. While it was normal to see in a backpack, she felt her hairs raise in suspicion.

She worked hard to keep her facial expression neutral and erase the building panick from her face.

"Uh, do you mind me asking what the pencil and notepad are doing in there? Also do you have any recording devices on you?" she asked.

At first she had been going to say phone, but she thought recording device would cover more things and leave less loopholes. She caught the the last thought in his mind that he had left his phone at home trying to keep her at ease.

She decided to trust him and she went on with her explanation. She felt that it was sad that her parents didn't know, yet this boy she had known for a short amount of time was about to know her greatest secret. Why had she decided to tell him?

She gave him a teasing grin, "Should I make you pinky swear and cross your heart and hope to die before I reveal anything? Got to make sure you swear an oath that you'll keep."

Some people considered pinky swears sacred, especially, among their siblings.

She leaned back fully prepared to tell him a tall tale before she really told him what happened.

"As a little kid I woke up in a lab. I think they must have been doing illegal experiments. Because of my new found power, I was able to come up with a plan and escape. I got into the foster system and now here I am."

She waited a moment for his reaction. Had she been able to convince him?

"I'm kidding. I was trying to give a super hero story. Let's see. I think that I started noticing thoughts around eight. From my research into brain development and psychology, the child's brain really starts developing and changing around that age. That's why I think it started becoming apparent then. It was a gradual thing. I also had to learn how to control it to some extent."

She looked at him trying to gauge his reaction. She took a bite out of the sandwich so it wasn't so weird that she was just staring at him.

"Mmmmm. This is really good," she smiled at him, trying to break the silence and make it less awkward.

She broke off a piece and absent mindedly gave it to Gunner.

Her eyes widened, "I'm sorry, I should have asked before I fed your dog," she apologized.

He smiled at her comment, looking back over at the ground. "No, he didn't." he said. He wasn't sure how much he should keep talking about this, so he dropped it.

"No, you're totally fine." he said back as she apologized. "I just didn't want to give you something you didn't like or want, and it's not like I'm trying to hide anything in there. There's nothing in there that I'm worried about being seen so.." He shrugged, still smiling. He bent over, pulling out a bagged sandwich and handing it to her. He also pulled out a bottled water for her and set it down between them, then pulled a water out for himself, setting it down on his other side. Gunner laid patiently on the ground, his panting had ceased and his eyes were now wide, looking at the food that was so close to his nose yet so far away.

He felt his heart do a double flip as she asked about the notebook, but that had been expected. She was probably on high alert, after all. "Oh, well I brought it just in case something came up and we needed to meet again or something. I don't have your number, so if you felt like you left stuff unsaid that you wanted to get out sometime later..." He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. He knew she'd find the answer in his mind anyway, so he just thought directly.

It's just because I was going to ask for your number. He stole her a side glance, feeling a build up of nerves. He knew that he would have fumbled over his words if he'd tried to explain, and like it always was thinking was far easier. He knew he was probably blushing a little bit, but he figured she'd already gathered up his feelings for her. She probably already knew everything about him. Everything except for his father. He hadn't thought about any of that yet, and he didn't plan on it.

"And no, I don't have any recording devices. I left my phone at home, and that's the only device I have capable of recording." he answered. "That's...that's actually why I left it there. I didn't want you thinking that I was going to do something like that." He leaned back, ready to listen to her. He wasn't hungry yet because he had eaten breakfast, so he refrained from pulling out a sandwich. His eyes lit up and a wide smile split his face as she joked about doing a pinky promise. He couldn't help it. How could he not give in to that tease?

So he raised up a pinky and hooked it around hers before pulling back and running a finger in an X pattern across his chest. "Pinky swear. Cross my heart and hope to die if this secret shall ever leave my lips." He leaned back again as she did, fully prepared to listen. As she started speaking, his thoughts couldn't help but whirl around in confusion. There was no way that was true. Was she testing him? Did she agree to this meeting just so she could lie to him in order to protect what she really had? But as she continued on, his suspicion faded and his amusement grew.

She paused, awaiting his reaction and he simply grinned at her, orneriness alighting his bright blue eyes. "Well that's really somethin'." he said, a playful smirk lining his lips. He chuckled as she revealed that she was trying to give a super hero story, and fell silent again as she began telling the real story. When she was done, he sat quietly for a brief moment thinking.

He opened his mouth to answer her, but she beat him to speaking first, complimenting on the sandwich and then tossing some to Gunner. He gave her a small smile as her expression changed to one of shock and nervousness. She quickly apologized, and he simply chuckled, shaking his head.

"It's okay." he said. Gunner had happily taken the food, swallowing it whole instead of chewing at all. "I don't feed him my food often, but it's okay every once and awhile." He smiled at his dog, whose eyes were now trained on Kai, his tail wagging slightly on the grass. "If he somehow didn't like you before, he surely does now." he commented, giving her a relaxed smile. "If he starts begging just tap his nose and tell him no, and he should stop."

He adjusted his position, leaning forward a little. "Okay, so you've basically had to deal with it as long as you can really remember." he paused. "Is it hard for you? Like...you said you had to learn to control it to some extent, how do you do that? What do you mean by control it? Just...tucking certain people's thoughts away, or..." he trailed off, giving her room to speak. He didn't want to be too direct because that could limit the information that he could gather, but he also didn't want her to reveal everything to him. A person should be allowed to have their own secrets, and if she didn't want to tell him everything, he didn't expect it from her.

Gunner let out a small whine, inching forward on his belly a little more towards Kai, his gaze trained on the sandwich in her hand. Eric's instinct was to tell him no, but he held back, giving Kailey a look and motioning with his hand subtly. He'd given her permission to do so, so if Gunner continued he would let her put a stop to it.

She gave a loud sigh, "I'm sorry to trouble you over this, but would you mind opening my bottle?"

It was one of the things she had to get used to with this broken arm. She wasn't sure if she could do it on her own. It would take some effort and be more embarrassing than if she just asked for help.

She pulled the sandwich out of the bag, and munched on it intermittently. She couldn't help, but smile at Gunnar staring longingly at the food. She turned to him to see what his reasoning was.

"Oh yeah, that sounds good," she nodded.

Even though they weren't particularly close....yet, she was sharing a big part of her that nobody else knew. There was no way that she would just info dump on him and then leave and never speak to him.

"What's your policy on texting? Like normal times to respond and is it something you do for fun?" she asked.

"I just text whenever I think of it. It's my way of being able to tell people that I was thinking of them," she explained.

She didn't text too late at night too often, but she did text randomly. She kenw some families were picky about this kind of thing, and she didn't want to get him in trouble. She also didn't want to text someone that would never reply. She couldn't help, but give a smile. She found this situation a bit amusing.

"No offense, but if you don't get the information you want from this meeting, I'm probably not going to hunt you down to make sure your curiosity is satisfied. On the other hand, I'm telling you something that no one else knows about. There is no way I'm just going to tell you all this stuff and then ignore you and act like we've never had this talk."

She was sort of joking, but mostly being serious. She hoped he didn't feel pressured or annoyed with her, but she was trying to keep it upbeat.

"Yeah, you agreeing to meet here. You basically signed a contract. You don't have to like me, and we don't have to be particularly close, but you're going to be my friend....At least to some extent," she sort of amended.

She would at least try to keep in contact with him, if not being real genuine friends. She wondered if she was overdoing this.

He had a crush on her, and was this too much? He trailed off, and she realized that his voice was in her mind. He was deliberately communicating with her, because he had gotten past her slightly ignoring his not as loud thoughts. She turned toward him and looked at him her eyes slightly widened in surprise. She gave him a tentative smile. It wasn't a big deal. She'd traded and asked for people's numbers all the time. From the slight blush, this was a little bit of a big deal for him.

She wasn't sure if he was experimenting on her receptive skills, he communicated better in his thoughts or what. If she was in his place, she would be uncomfortable communicating through her mind. She would try to keep the mind reader out as much as possible. She felt herself relax more, when he said that he didn't have any recording devices. There had been no detection of a lie, so it was a relief not to have to worry about it. She had been sort of joking about the pinky promises.

Some of her friends told her it was juvenile, but she continued to often use it. If they thought it was embarrassing, she thought it would be a little more binding than just saying I promise. He had promised so readily. Either he had been prepared to make this kind of promise, he wasn't a very good promise keeper, or he wasn't taking her seriously. Of course there were other options, but those were the ones she thought of first. She watched his face carefully as she began to talk. She was pleased to see that he was astonished at first. She had managed to pull his leg for a little while.

She had gotten into the habit of staying far enough out of their thoughts where she didn't hear every word. Instead she just got the basic sense of their emotions. Sometimes the occassional word came through, but it was a little bit less input, and made it easier to function. She was glad that she hadn't made a huge error. From different people she had seen different policies. Some gave out treats too readily, and some she felt were too uptight, especially, when she just wanted to give them a treat, so the dog would remember her in a friendly way.

"I'm glad you don't mind. You can never tell how people will feel about little things like that," she sort of shrugged.

With the dog looking at her like that, she knew she would have a hard time denying him anything. She cocked her head having to think about his next question.

"I would definitely say that it is hard. You would be surprised how much input I get everyday. I feel people's emotions along with their thoughts, and it is very pressuring and manipulating. I have a hard time hanging around with people that are depressed or sad. I try to love all people, and I understand them better, but, when it comes to people I willingly hang out with, they have to be pretty even tempered in emotions and thoughts. Most people wouldn't be able to write or do anything that involves slight concentration. I had to learn how to block it out entirely. I also had to learn how to focus in on one thing," she sort of gave a deprecating smile, "If I wanted to eavesdrop."

She wondered if that answered his question. She looked down at Gunnar whining at her.

"I'm sorry boy," she said in a sing songy crooning voice while apologizing. "I don't know if I should give you anymore. I certainly want to," she looked at Eric with a question on her face. "Oh yeah...Numbers. Would you hand me the notepad? You can type your number into my phone," she told him.

She unlocked her phone and gave it to him with the sceen popped up to a new contact. She was sort of expecting another question.

Eric felt a bit like an idiot. He looked at the slight frown on her face and the water bottle in hand, and gathered what she was going to say before she said it. He gave her a gracious smile and gently took the bottle from her hands. He unscrewed the cap with ease and handed it back to her carefully.

"That's okay," he said. "No trouble at all." He was relieved to know that she was fine with texting him, but he found it amusing how many questions she was asking about it. "I mean, I don't text often." he admitted. He looked away for a bit, wanting to stay light and happy but he didn't know how to say this next part. "But only because I don't really...have anybody to text." He looked back at her, shrugging. "As you can probably guess I'm not exactly popular at school." He glanced down at his knuckles, which were still scabbed and bruised from the last brawl with his father. At first he'd tried to hide them from everyone, but once one person noticed everyone did. He no longer hid them or tried to hide them, but he felt very self aware now that he was with Kailey.

He didn't know if she believed any of the rumors swirling around about him. That he was a bully, that he beat up unsuspecting kids, or the rare but still there rumor that he was a guy who hung around and forced girls to sleep with him. No one really knew where he'd gotten his scars, and no one knew why he showed up to school with fresh cuts and bruises on a pretty weekly basis. He told no one about his goings on so nobody knew, and it was something that he kept locked away so far deep into his own mind that he didn't think even Kai could see it. Not unless he told her.

"But anyway, when I do text I respond pretty quickly. Unless I'm busy." He looked down at Gunner and smiled at his face. He listened to her speak, and he was more and more relieved and happy that she wasn't just going to leave him hanging after this. He was afraid that that was how it was going to be, but she seemed to think that it wasn't going to be like that at all.

"No offense taken." he replied. He noticed her smile and her surprised look as he spoke with his thoughts towards her, and he glanced down. He wasn't sure how she felt about him doing that, but if she was going to continue to speak with him, she was sure going to have to get used to it. He found it easier to think than to speak, especially since his nerves were always so high.

She began to answer his questions, and despite not having this highly rare ability himself, he somewhat understood what she was saying. What she said made sense, even if he himself could never experience it. He knew he had more questions, but he didn't know how to ask them without seeming too snoopy. He knew they were here for this exact reason, but some part of him didn't like how many questions he had and wanted to ask. It made him feel snoopy and oddly gross. But he knew he had to because she hadn't really planned on this.

He grinned as she crooned to Gunner, who was whining and still scooting closer to her. She subtly was asking if she could give him more food, her gaze shifting to Eric, and normally he would say no. But this was a nice day and it was a rare occassion, so he shrugged as an answer to allow it. He sat forward as she suggested exchanging numbers, and dug out the notepad. He set it on her lap and took the phone from her hand, quickly typing in his number and handing it back to her. He still was thinking over how to respond to her answer.

"So," he said slowly, trying to find a decent way to word this. "You've learned to block out a lot of things, but you can focus in on one thing when you want to....eavesdrop." He said the last word with a joking condescending tone, and gave her a teasing dissaproved look. He broke it with a small chuckle, and dropped his hands into his lap. "Sorry if this is a bit too personal for you, but do you eavesdrop often? Or do you try to let people be people? I'm not judging either way, I'm just curious. Like...do you know who people are based on their thoughts?" He was genuinely curious about the last question and what it's answer would be.

"Did you know who I was? Had you ever picked up on any thoughts of mine before yesterday?" He wanted to know what she thought of him, and if she believed all the wild and crazy rumors that floated around the school.

She texted people often, but only some of them did a lot of back and forth stuff. Most people preferred stuff like snap chat, but she tried to keep her social media activity down low. She didn't want it coming back to bite her in the butt, when she got older and was trying to get a job. She hadn't really expected him to have tons of people to text, but she assumed that she would have some people that he did it regularly with. Her eyes followed his gaze down to his knuckles.

She began to doubt herself and him in that moment. She had heard stuff like him beating other kids up or forcing someone to sleep with him. She had privately thought it was some trouble at home. Perhaps an angry sibling or father. At his age, she doubted a mother or sister would be able to inflict those wounds on him. She didn't know what his family life was like, but she had never seen him violent or felt malevolent thoughts from him at school. She didn't feel like it was fair to judge him by those rumors, and she hadn't found anything wrong with him.

He might have been awkward, but he had also been kind, thoughtful, and polite.

She cocked her head at him and looked at him like he was a curious object, "Hmmm. Yeah..." she felt awkward agreeing with him, because it sounded mean. Meanwhile, she cut back the no offense remark that she often made. "I haven't seen that you were particularly popular," she had to admit.

She saw no reason to pretend otherwise, but they didn't need to focus on that. She tried to limit her no offense comments to stuff that were borderline.

She didn't mind too much speaking through the mind, but it was unusual.

"If we're ever in a class together, at least you can talk to me," she gave him a smile. "It's highly unusual to speak through the mind like that. Among the many reasons being I haven't told anyone else, but you're also sort of letting me into your thoughts, and that's personal," she explained, knowing that some of it was obvious.

She wasn't sure how many of these questions she would welcome, because she was pretty sure he could come across one that would be awkward.

While she didn't think she would mind him asking any question, as long as he accepted her answer if it was no, she wouldn't be offended. Doing this was really as baring as it would be if she walked around without clothes on now that she had thought about it. More people had seen her without clothes on than knew about this. She gave Gunnar a little bit more of the sandwich. She decided after that that it would be enough for the greedy dog. She accepted her phone back, and put it in her pocket.

One of the many things that annoyed her was when she wanted to talk to someone and they continued to stay on their phone. She cocked her head curious what he was going to ask about now. At first she raised her brow at the disapproving look before she caught the joking tease dripping all over. She laughed a little, but at the same time she was uncomfortable. How could she answer his question without sounding like a complete creep?

"I mean...yeah I eavesdrop frequently. It's sort of like hearing. If I can hear you in person, I can hear your thoughts. While thoughts are more personal, that's sort of what it's like. It's just another way of hearing people. I mean as long as I don't go using it against people, or have to interact with them too much, it's gotten where I don't feel too badly about listening in. Like hearing if there are a ton of voices, it's hard to concentrate on just one. Sort of like hearing you can't choose to not hear it. You sort of have to distract yourself."

She gave a real grin this time.

"I'm honestly sort of surprised you didn't ask this question earlier. I don't remember ever tuning into you particular. Our paths never really crossed, and I don't think your thoughts ever stood out."

She hoped she made herself sound normal and not some creep. She hoped he wouldn't judge her too harshly. He had to be coming to some sort of conclusion.

She sort of shrugged, "I don't really know you. I'm not sure why you don't have many friends," she felt a little sad about that, but there wasn't much she could do except be his friend.

"I know that with most people, if they come to school with wounds, it means they are having family trouble," she looked at him carefully wondering if her theory correctly. "From the short while I've known you, you're not the violent type. I don't think you go around hurting people. Of course I can be wrong, but your dog loves you, and I trust his judgment," she smiled a little. "It happens a lot in families. I have a few acquaintances that have to deal with that." She wasn't really friends with them, but they were closer than acquaintances.

(I don't mind at all :)

He gave a small smile at her aggreeance. "Yeah, there's a lot of rumors." he said. "Keeps me kind of secluded from everyone. A lot of thoughts about me that they don't exactly want to change I think." He ran his hands down his legs, biting his lower lip. He felt a bit awkward discussing it, but he didn't know why. He guessed it was because he didn't want her giving in to all the rumors too. She mentioned talking to him in a class telepathically, and offered him a smile. He returned it, letting out a soft breath of relief.

"Yeah, I guess I can." he said. "I mean, I know that you already can hear some of what I'm thinking so...why not use that? I find it easier to think than to talk because I'm...well, I'm me." He looked down at his lap again, his eyes falling to his scabbed hands. He listened as she answered his question, genuinely intrigued. He had a feeling that mind reading was complex, but she made it sound decently simple. Not that it was easy, he could be sure of that. She obviously had gone through trials in life with it. He was kind of disappointed at the fact that she eavesdropped often, but he wasn't for long. What did he know about mind reading? It was like she said. It was just overhearing like anyone would with hearing voices coming from people's mouths. It wasn't her fault she was born this way.

He grinned back at her, and his grin slowly faded as she went on to explain things. She was assuming things about his life, and to be honest she was pretty spot on. He didn't really like that she was saying all of it so openly, but part of him really was glad. Maybe he could finally talk to someone about it.

"Well a lot of people just don't know what my life is like so they assume things and tell those things to other people." he said, looking down at Gunner so he wouldn't have to look in her eyes. Eyes could give so much away, and he wasn't sure if he was ready for that quite yet. "Those words can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people and...a lot of those people don't want to believe any other thing." He swallowed. "I don't have friends because of that. I come to school with these, and...and people talk." He nodded, finally looking over at her.

"Thank you, for not judging too quickly." He bit his lip and listened as she spoke more, saying she had a few aquaintances that were dealing with rough home life too. "You would be right about family trouble." he said, folding his hands together and absent mindedly running a thumb over his healing wounds. "I don't talk about it to anyone because for one nobody would care, and two...more rumors would probably spread and I don't exactly need that in my life either."

His expression turned more serious as he looked at her, and Gunner let out a small whine, barely audible. His head was lifted and his ears perked, his tail laying still on the grass instead of thumping it lightly like he had been before. His eyes were trained on Eric, his lean body tense. He could sense the emotions coming off of his owner, and although clueless as to what was going on, he knew his duty as a dog. He would protect if he felt it need be.

"Look, you're telling me a lot about yourself." he said, his voice low. "You're telling me things you've never told anyone before in your life. I think it's only fair you know some things about me too." He gave her a very small grin, trying to ease the tension. He didn't want to scare her away. "I made a pinky promise and hoped to die, so you'd better be doing the same." He gave a light chuckle. "My mother died a few years ago, a lot of people know that. But a lot of people don't know that I had a little brother that died of a birth defect just a few years before that. He never made it to a year old. It shattered my mother, and her death shattered me." He swallowed, glancing down and noticing Gunner's tense body. He reached down and pet the dog, and he relaxed, laying his chin on his paws.

"But my father took it pretty hard. He always drank, but after she was gone he drank a lot more. He was always mentally abusive to me in particular, but after everyone was gone but me he took out his anger and depression on me physically." He sighed. "I deal with that on an almost nightly basis. That's why I have bruises and such. Not because I'm a bully, not because I pick fights. Not because of any other wild and crazy thing people have come up with." He leaned back on the bench.

"I've been struggling a lot too the past few years, but I've managed." He nodded slightly. "Only a year left and then I won't have to put up with it as much anymore." He looked at her. "So yeah. I guess we've both told our secrets, huh?"

It wasn't like she went around trying to find everyone's secrets, she just didn't try to block the sound out. She had to be distracted by something else to block it out really well. She They hadn't even established a bond of trust. She knew that if she were him, she would be judgmental. She shrugged helplessly, "I don't go around trying to learn everyone's secrets, but I think most people would listen if people were talking around them. Right?" She looked at him hoping she wasn't a terrible person.

From one time, she had actually tried delving down into someone's thoughts. There was a certain amount of far that you could go, and you could find stuff they weren't completely aware of. After that one time, she never tried again. It took extra energy and these were the thoughts that were sometimes kept private from the thinker. While she had noticed he wasn't the most eloquent, if their spots were reversed, she would probably try to keep herself out. After all they didn't know each other well.

There were many different layers to mind reading, but she was scared to learn about them. She didn't want to delve too deeply into someone else's mind. She was curious if he was tolerating her, because of his crush. She believed they were telling each other this stuff a little bit, because of peer pressure. It was amazing the things people would reveal when they were with someone else their age. While she began telling him things, she had concluded, his grin became less and less.

She wished she had stopped earlier, but it would be awkward just to break off. She hadn't ever made assumptions about him, because she didn't think she had ever really talked to him or thought about him. It wasn't something that she needed to make conclusions on, and she didn't know him well. If it was his home life, she didn't feel like it should be too big of a secret. She would prefer that he had a rough home life to the other stories she had heard about him. If he was right and he didn't have friends, she could understand that.

Of course she had spilled some pretty juicy things about herself first, but it was amazing what people were willing to tell you even if they didn't know you. Her parents told her telling secrets to each other was dangerous and foolish, especially, at this young age. They may end up regretting it. She hoped that didn't happen. She knew she should have probably thought more into this. She did care. She at least wanted a basic idea. She understood keeping secrets, but she didn't want it to be a complete mystery if they ended up being friends.

Gunnar let out a whine and she gave him a brief smile. She leaned over and pet him. His voice was low, which was a slight change in tone. She raised her head back up to look at him and pay attention. She returned his grin, and returned the pinky promise. Her face became more solemn as he delved into the story. It always felt so empty to say you were sorry, but there were no words for it. What else could she say? While he wasn't being particularly emotional, she could feel a faint echo of previous feelings, and it moved her more than it would the average person.

She tried to withdraw herself from his thoughts. It was too personal, and she didn't want to start crying. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine what I'd do without my momma or my daddy. I've had their support my whole life. Sometimes, I forget how blessed I have been," she told him. She wondered if he was mostly sad over his mother's death or if he felt any grief for the brother. She had always had a pretty close relationship with her dad. While sometimes she preferred their conversations to be distant, if she was ever confused or needed support, she could talk to him.

The way he talked about his home life. It was like he was telling a normal story, which surprised her. How could people live like this? Impulsively, she took one of his hands in her own for a moment, hoping to bring some comfort. It was an awkward movement with only one, but she would have to do it that way. She hoped that his wounds were healed enough where she didn't hurt him. She put his hand down soon after, because she realized that she should have asked. If his father was abusive, he might not appreciate physical touch.

Besides, she didn't know what kind of feelings he had on that. Some people didn't appreciate it at all. While she wasn't touchy feely necessarily, she did use it at times, when she thought that people could use a little extra comfort than sitting at an awkward distance talking about it. "I guess we do," she agreed. "Sorry for that," she gestured to his hand. "I should have asked. Did you mind?" her face looked concerned. She felt dumb again. He had told her something that he hadn't shared with anyone else, and she was concerned about herself. She leaned over to pet Gunnar to cover her nervousness.

"I mean, yeah it's understandable." he agreed with her, nodding. If someone was talking around them, most people would listen. If he'd been graced with the ability to read minds, he surely would be doing the same thing. He knew that he wanted to put himself on a pedestal, and say that there was no way he would ever eavesdrop in on somebody's personal thoughts, but he knew that was untrue. Any human would. It was human nature, that was how they would react. As for Kai, even if she didn't deliberately try to eavesdrop, it had to be hard to block out everyone and everything all the time.

As he told his story, he didn't look at her much. But when he was done he saw the expression on her face, and her words seemed sincere enough. He found himself wondering what her life at home was like. She said that she'd had their support her entire life.

What does that feel like? he wondered. He was thinking, but not directly to her. He had become sort of unaware again that she could read his mind. It was stupid that he'd forgotten, but it was still something that felt so unreal even though it was. Something that he still hadn't fully grasped. What would my life have looked like if my mother hadn't died? Would I have both of my parent's support like she had? Would I be happy? He couldn't help thinking those things, it just came so suddenly after hearing her speak. He wasn't aiming for her to hear them, but he knew she would.

"That sounds really nice." he said, his voice breathy, almost as if he was longing to feel that, to experience what she was talking about. He gave her a soft grin, his thoughts wandering again to all the different things that could have happened. He refrained from jolting as he felt her hand slip into his for a moment. His instinct was to instantly flinch and pull away, but he remained calm and let her do it.

She quickly apologized, and he noticed how she leaned down to pet Gunner, an excuse they both had been using to get out of an awkward situation. He was glad he'd brought the dog.

"No, it's...it's okay." he said. "Not used to it at all, so." He shrugged, looking down. He had always wondered how people could be touchy feely with other people. He had been fine with hugs and kisses from his mother, but no one else in the world had ever done that, nor had he ever given it. It had been odd for him, that brief moment of physical contact that wasn't a hit, slap, punch, or shove. Any physical contact he got was one of those, and so naturally he had wanted to flinch. But his body hadn't let him, because it had sensed that it was different, that her touch had been gentle and in no way hurt him.

He looked back over at her, trying to regain some sense of normality. He felt a little shaken now, but he wasn't sure why exactly. "Do you uhh...do you want another sandwich?" he asked a bit awkwardly. He realized how random and stupid it sounded, and in return gave a genuine chuckle. He knew he'd packed some food for himself, too, but he found that he wasn't hungry at all. He also noticed that he hadn't taken one drink of water, either.

He didn't know how many more questions he should ask her about her ability. He still had a lot more, but part of him just wanted to enjoy another hour or so with her without the pressure to talk about something that he'd just happened to stumble upon. Sure, it was a part of her, but he knew there were other things about her that he wanted to know. Mind reading wasn't what defined her. She had a group of friends, and they knew nothing of her ability. So he knew that they were friends with her purely because of who she was, not what she possessed. He wanted that, too.

"Hey, do you mind if we just...talk for awhile?" he asked. "Not about mind reading or anything? I know that's what we came here for, but..." he sighed, feeling a bit like an idiot. "I still have questions, don't get me wrong, but...but I also just want to know you." He made a face, not exactly confident in how that came out sounding. "I mean I just think that I should know you for who you are and not for whatever ability you possess, ya know?" he said. "We can keep talking about the mind reading thing if you want, but I was just wondering if you wanted to shift gears or anything."

He adjusted his position on the bench, suddenly kind of uncomfortable. He didn't know how she felt about him yet, if she really trusted him or not yet, but surely she could tell that his intentions were pure, right? He wasn't trying to do anything underhanded, he just wanted a friend. Kailey was the closest thing to a friend that he'd ever really gotten, and part of him wanted to keep going with that.

There was some silence, and it appeared that he was considering what it would be like if he had a life similar to hers. She wondered if it would be wrong, but she wanted him to see her family and get a taste of what it was supposed to be like. She felt that it might not be the right idea, but she would want him to meet her family if he became a real friend. While they weren't perfect, they did all love each other and try to take care of each other. She heard his thoughts, but she also sensed that he didn't really want her listening, so she decided not to comment on it.

It made her sad that he was unhappy, but becoming happy didn't happen in one day. It felt awkward asking for permission with those kinds of things, but sometimes it felt easier if you established these things beforehand. She decided that she would try to lessen on the physical touch though. From his thoughts she could sense surprise and some other emotion she couldn't place her hand on. Either way she was putting more stress on him, and that was counterproductive, since she had been trying to help him.

She couldn't imagine being afraid or wary of touch. The most she had to worry about was someone playing a prank on her. While she didn't feel like she was overly feely touchy, she did use it as an additional way to communicate affection. He was beginning to sound awkward again, but she was feeling it too. She wasn't very hungry, but she accepted another sandwich, so that she wouldn't have to say no. Saying negative things including no made things more awkward and it halted momentum.

She took a quick swig of water, when she realized something. "You haven't eaten or drank anything," her voice sounded a little scolding. "Are you okay?" her face softened into concern. Her mouth turned up at the corners. She was relieved he actually wanted to become friends, at least that's what she saw this as. "Yeah, that's good. You can always ask stuff later or learn about it on the go," she pointed out. Of course they could have a normal conversation later too, but it was awkward being the only having someone asking her questions.

She didn't like making this whole meeting about her, and she wanted to get to know him. Besides his home life, what made him him? "What class are you the best at? Is that class your favorite?" she asked. She was curious to see what they had in common. "It's sort of surprising, but I'm good at math. I'm not sure if I am necessarily good at it, but I like writing and art," she told him. She remembered that prom would be coming up soon. While she didn't think he was the type to go, she wondered if she could convince him to go.

After this next talk she would either invite him to the house or tell him that she was going to leave, because her arm hurt bad. She had tried to ignore it, but all the pain killers were wearing off, and it was beginning to throb and ache. She tried to move it hoping a new position would ease the pain. "Sorry. I know this is random, but I think I remember seeing my bone sticking out of my skin after my wreck," she said it sort of dead pan. She gave an apologetic smile, "My arm is hurting, and I was thinking about it."

He nodded as she spoke, agreeing silently. He was still thinking about having a whole family who shared everything, who had love for one another. He was brought out of his thoughts as she kind of began scolding him for not eating or drinking anything. He gave a weak smile.

"Yeah, I'm okay." he answered softly. "Just not that hungry yet is all." His grin widened as he saw a smile spread on her face, and she agreed to talk about other things for a bit. She started asking questions right away, and his spirits were lifted. He wasn't normally a talker, and this was the most conversation he'd had with a single person in several years. It was a good feeling to have, and he wanted to keep holding onto it. He realized in that moment how badly he wanted and needed a friend.

She told him that she liked math and writing and art and he chuckled, shaking his head. "Math is my worst and least favorite subject. Well...besides history. It would be better if we had a more fun teacher but..." he shrugged, chuckling. "I like weight class." he said. "It's something I'm good at, and there I don't have to worry about not fitting in or anything. But I like art, too. And writing." He said the last two things more slowly, as if he was just now figuring out that they liked a couple of the same things.

His slightly amazed expression turned a bit more grim as she described what she'd seen on herself after the wreck. "No, don't apologize." he said, scooting forward and standing up. Gunner quickly got to his feet, his tail wagging as he realized that they were going to walk again. Eric put his water bottle back in his bag. "We can go, if you'd like." he said. "If you need to go home and take some medicine you probably should." He was by no means inviting himself over, but he didn't want to make her walk by herself, and he wasn't sure if she had a ride.

"I would be happy to accompany you back." he said. "Just in case something were to happen. And I don't want to make you walk home by yourself." He gave her a smile, almost a sheepish one, and he offered to take her stuff and hold it for her if need be. "How often do you need to take pain medicine? Are you alright? How bad does it hurt?" He almost flinched. "Sorry for all the questions, I'm just a bit worried. I hope you're okay, is all." He knew he was fumbling around a little with his words, but he didn't want to make her stay and sit in pain if she needed medicine.

He didn't want to be the reason for her pain. He wanted to help her in any way he could. Gunner let out an excited whine, shifting his weight from one side to the other in a kind of dance. He was ready to go. He didn't know where, but he would go wherever Eric took him, and this new girl. He liked this girl, she'd given him food.