Animi Academy: Entrance

"Welcome, Kaikara Yolen! I'm Ms. Elvira, your new homeroom teacher. Nice to meet you! " The lady smiled brightly at me. I resisted the urge to narrow my eyes at her. She was small, with long black hair and equally dark, innocent eyes. She was shorter than me, and looked as though she was my age. She sure as hell didn't look like a teacher to me.

Against all impulses, I nodded. "Alright, Kaikara, let me give you a quick tour around your new school. This," She said with a voice puffed with pride, "is Animi Academy. 'Animi' literally translates to 'of the mind' in Latin. Cool, huh? Right then, to your left is..."

It was all so bizarre. Here I was, enrolled into a school for special children. No, I am not retarded. Each child in this school--supposedly--had psychic gifts. They scouted all over the world for people with gifts such as mine. Of course, there were only a precious few who really did have the talent. Ms. Elvira stated that there were about three hundred students altogether in this school. It was amusing really, that a school of three hundred students could take up about ten miles squared of land. I wondered if I'd get a house instead of a room as my dorm. As Ms Elvira continued to rabbit on excitedly about the school, I couldn't help but think her very bully-able. She was exactly the type of teacher that students all liked... to ignore.

Shit, I hope she can't read my thoughts.

Suddenly, screams from inside a building--one of the ones that classes were held in--and Ms. Elvira stopped mid-sentence, distracted. "Oh dear," she gasped, looking stunned. A female student was running blindly out of said building, screaming and thrashing as she went. Her hands were fisted tightly into her hair, as if her head was gonna explode.

"Elvira!" I turned to see another student standing not too far from the crazed girl. She was with two girls who were wearing normal clothes like me, cowering behind her. Her silver-gray eyes were distressed. "Hurry up, Elvira, break into her mind!"

Ms. Elvira;s expression was torn. She bit down on her lower lip, looking away. "What's taking you so long?! Just do it!" The girl yelled again. "This isn't the time to be hesitating!"

Another voice rose above the screams of the crazy girl. "I can't get in, Kaelyn! She's gated and guarded!"

"Damn it, Elvira! Just do it!" Finally Ms. Elvira turned to stare at the girl running amok. The girl abruptly stopped screaming, and fell to the ground.

We hurried over to where she lay unconscious. The girl who kept forcing Ms. Elvira also came over. I glared at her from the corner of  my eye. Ms. Elvira might be a pushover, but that girl was being an asshole, acting all high and mighty. Ms. Elvira had looked seriously frightened and stressed out.

"Wow, Ms. Elvira had managed not only to break into her mind, but also control it even though her mind was gated and guarded, not to mention going haywire... No wonder she's one of our most talented teachers." I heard someone gush.

In a whisper, the person beside her said, "Look, there's a guy with her. He must be a new student."

Well no shit, blondie.

"You all can start a fan club for Ms. Elvira for all I care, but do it after class," The gray-eyed girl said sternly, "which you are late for." The girls ran off immediately. "Almost forgot, sorry Kaelyn!" One of them yelled over their shoulder.

Ms. Elvira sighed as she inspected the girl. "I hope I didn't damage anything..." Kaelyn looked annoyed. "Elvira, if you had been one second later--"

"Would you shut up?" I gritted out. "What the hell's your problem? She was the one who did all the work while you were busy yelling, and yet you're still complaining?" She cocked an eyebrow. "And what's it got to do with you?" Ms. Elvira simply watched in open-mouthed fascination.

This girl was really getting under my skin. I spoke without really thinking it through. "As if you did anything useful--you probably couldn't even break into the girl's mind."

Kaelyn narrowed silver-gray eyes at me. Suddenly, an odd sensation crept over my skin. My mouth opened, and I said, "This is one of the things that you can learn here." I tried to shut up but nothing happened. I had no control over my own body. The two girls who were with her previously stared in awe at Kaelyn. "Of course, bending a person's will is considered a very advanced skill, and you would be required to go through many levels of training and be deemed trustworthy to actually start learning this." It was more than unsettling to hear myself say things I didn't know what I was talking about. Hell, everyone did that but this was different--it was literal.

Ms. Elvira giggled. She summoned a couple of male students to carry the fainted girl to the infirmary.

I blinked and just as abruptly I was released from Kaelyn's mind-manipulations. "Come on girls, you have to be registered at the administrator's office." As she turned, she gave me a minus degree glare. "I don't go around asking people to do what I can't do, Yolen."

I only stood there looking like a gaping fish.

Casually, she added, "Oh, and welcome to Animi Academy."

Mutual Feelings

"I wish I could hate you."
The figure behind the desk didn't reply, didn't move. He stared at the grandfather clock to the right, scrutinizing the hands ticking away time.

"So do I."