The Set Up (8 page)

‘Nico?’ Fergus repeated. I shook my head. It wasn’t fair. Fergus would
never
ask an ordinary student to turn out their pockets. As usual, he was picking on me.

Ed was still staring in my direction. All of a sudden, his gaze shifted and he made direct eye contact. I knew only a few seconds had passed but suddenly it felt like time had vanished. That everyone had disappeared apart from him. And then I heard his voice in my head.

Say this: Sorry, sir. We’ve been discussing the Magna Carta, sir.

I opened my mouth and said the words. As I spoke I knew that Ed was inside my mind, telling me what to say.

Like, I was present. And yet, not present.

It was, without doubt, one of the freakiest experiences of my life.

Fergus frowned.

‘And the Magna Carta is?’ He folded his arms, and stared at the floor, clearly expecting me to crumble.

I stood, my heart racing. Ed’s voice sounded in my head again, but I was panicking so much I could barely follow what he was saying.

Calm down, Nico.

I blinked.

Just listen
, Ed’s voice went on.
The Magna Carta was an English charter, issued in 1215, which limited the powers of the king and which has been used as the basis for constitutions around the world. Many of our rights and freedoms come from that one document. That’s what we were discussing. How an ancient piece of writing still affects our lives today.

As he spoke, I repeated the words. I knew I wasn’t saying them in the way I normally spoke, but there wasn’t time to personalise them. It was my voice, but it was, undoubtedly, Ed speaking.

‘Very well, Nico.’ Fergus looked up at me, sounding puzzled. ‘You may sit down.’

As Fergus looked up, Ed looked away. His presence inside by head vanished completely. I sat down, shaken. For a few seconds I was unable to take in what had happened. And then the bell rang for the end of class and everything fell into place.

Edward O’Brien was the name of the boy with the Medusa gene that Jack had told me about – the one who hadn’t wanted Jack’s help all those months ago. Jack had been convinced Fergus would know about the boy and he was obviously right.

Ed had psychic powers, just like me and Dylan – except, in his case, the Medusa gene had clearly given him the ability to read minds . . . and to communicate without speaking.

Everyone around me was moving towards the door. Ed was still at his desk, loading books into his bag. I leaped up. Ed glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. He sped up, hauling his bag onto his back, almost running out of the room.

Completely forgetting my decision to speak to Ketty after class, I grabbed my textbook and pushed my way to the door.

Ed was already out. I looked both ways down the corridor.
There.
He was scurrying away, round the corner.

I ran after him, praying some teacher didn’t appear out of nowhere and stop me for speeding down the corridors.

I caught up with him just outside the back door, in the so-called Tranquillity Garden. It’s a small patch of grass with a bunch of flower beds. You’re not supposed to talk or run around out there.

Needless to say, it’s hardly ever used.

‘Ed?’ I said. ‘Wait.’

He kept on walking.

‘Stop.’ I reached out and grabbed his arm.

‘What?’ He hung his head, as I let go of his arm.

‘What did you do back there?’

‘What d’you mean?’ Ed assumed an extremely phoney look of puzzlement. ‘Nothing.’

For God’s sake.

‘You got inside my head, man.’ I frowned. ‘Told me what to say.’

‘You’re imagining it.’

‘You
did
,’ I insisted. ‘You can read people’s minds. You’ve met Jack Linden. He
told
me about you. You’ve got the Medusa gene. Why won’t you admit it?’

There was a pause. The wind rustled in the trees above our heads. Then Ed looked up, slowly. ‘It’s wrong, what I can do,’ he said. ‘Getting inside people’s heads is . . . it’s evil.’

‘No.’ I stared at him. ‘That’s what Fergus wants you to think.’

‘My parents think so too,’ Ed insisted. ‘Mr Fox told them about the Medusa gene a year ago. He offered me a place at school then . . . said I’d be safer here. But they didn’t believe him. Then I started being able to communicate telepathically and—’

‘Tele- what?’

‘Telepathically.’ Ed reddened. ‘It means I can “hear” other people’s thoughts and they can “hear” mine, if I want them to.’

A worrying possibility struck me. ‘So . . . so how many of my thoughts could you “hear” just now?’

Ed shuffled from foot to foot. ‘Not many,’ he said awkwardly. ‘I wasn’t prying. You’d know if I was. I was just sensing the surface stuff, really – mostly all I felt was how freaked out you were about the idea of Mr Fox seeing whatever was in your pocket – which would have been obvious to anyone looking at you anyway.’

‘God, Ed, you can read people’s minds . . .’ I grabbed his arm. ‘Don’t you see, it’s
amazing
. Didn’t Jack make you see that?’

Ed shook his head. ‘We only spoke for a minute. It was horrible. I mean, he turned up out of the blue outside my old school, about a month ago, telling me I was going to develop some mad genetic ability . . . that I was one of four people implanted with this deadly virus-type thing. My parents were really cross he’d come to me directly rather than going through them.’

I frowned, suddenly remembering what the Medusa gene had done to my mum. ‘You keep talking about your parents,’ I said. ‘Isn’t your mum . . . didn’t she . . .?’

‘She died when I was four.’ Ed looked away. ‘Sandra’s my stepmother, but I think of her as my mum. I mean, I don’t remember my real mum much.’ He looked at me. ‘It must be the same for you?’

I shrugged, embarrassed. Then I realised what he’d said.

‘How did you know I had the gene too?’ I said. ‘I never said.’

Ed sighed. ‘I saw it in Mr Fox’s mind the day I got here. He made me look him in the eyes and when I do that to someone, it’s really difficult not to just go straight into their head. Mr Fox was trying so hard not to give away that you had the gene that I couldn’t
help
but see it.’ He paused. ‘Look, I only helped you out today because you helped me with that boy yesterday. But we’re quits, now. I thought you’d understand, seeing as you’ve got the gene too. Mr Fox and my parents are right. The Medusa gene is a curse – it
kills
people. I’m not going to use it any more, so please leave me alone.’ And with that he scuttled away, back into the school building.

I stood in the silence of the Tranquillity Garden for a few moments. Ed was so wrong about the Medusa gene. I checked the time. I was already late for my next class. A few more minutes wouldn’t make any difference.

I took out my new phone, called Jack and told him everything Ed had done and said.

Five minutes later I strolled back into school, a smile on my face – juggling seven pebbles perfectly in the air.

Saturday afternoon, and almost everything was in place. Once I’d mastered the juggling on Friday I’d been tempted to show Ketty straight away, but I knew that doing it privately was one thing – and making it work in front of her was another, so I kept practising.

As soon as Jack had heard about Ed he said he wanted to meet up with us both on Saturday night. I’d explained that I was supposed to be seeing Ketty then, but Jack was undeterred.

‘There’s a pub called the Saracen’s Head not that far from your school where we can all hook up,’ he said. ‘I’ll make sure no one hassles you and your girlfriend for ID and your drinks won’t cost a thing. You’ll look good in front of her, while I speak to Edward.’

‘Great, er . . . but she’s not my girlfriend,’ I explained. ‘We’re just friends.’

Jack laughed. ‘Well, maybe Saturday night will change that.’

I was worried Ketty might have changed her mind about us going out, but she agreed to go to the Saracen’s Head straight away. She still seemed a bit reserved with me, though – not easy-going and relaxed, like she used to be.

It was simple enough to get permission slips to be out at the movies until 10 p.m. on Saturday night. I had no intention of either going to the cinema or getting home that early, of course, but it’s easy enough to fool adults. You just have to keep updating them with texts:

That sort of thing.

Which left the one crucial detail that was threatening to spoil everything. How was I going to get Ed to come too? He didn’t look like the kind of teenager who’d be comfortable in a bar, even a small, local one. The idea of him having fake ID was laughable.

I walked into our year group common room. Ketty wasn’t there – she always runs on a Saturday, even when it’s pouring with rain like it was today – but almost everybody else was. Billy, Lola and Lauren were sitting in one corner, laughing over some magazine. Tom and Curtis were playing table tennis.

Ed was perched on the sofa by the window, flicking through a history textbook. I shook my head. Somebody should really tell him how uncool it is to be seen studying on a Saturday afternoon. Movement outside the window caught my eye. Ketty was jogging past, her sweats and hair plastered to her body.

I looked back at Ed. He was watching her too. Which gave me an idea. I sauntered over and sat down next to him on the sofa.

‘Hey, Ed,’ I said. ‘How’s it going?’

‘Fine, thanks.’ He smiled.

I watched him warily. Was he going to try and read my mind again? But Ed’s eyes were guarded and not quite focused on my own. I realised, with a jolt, that this was how he always looked at people – not quite making eye contact. What had he said about it before? That if he looked into someone’s eyes, it was virtually impossible to avoid reading their thoughts . . .

Making a mental note to avoid looking directly at him myself, I cleared my throat. ‘Got any plans for tonight?’

Ed shook his head. ‘I thought I’d catch up on some reading. I mean, the syllabus here is different from my old school, so I’m behind in a couple of subjects.’ He held up the history textbook.

I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes at this latest display of Ed’s geekiness. ‘I thought you might like to come out with me?’

Ed’s expression grew wary. ‘Where?’ he said, cautiously.

‘Just a bar in Hanmore Park – that’s the nearest town to here. It’s nothing special.’ I made a face. ‘We only get permission slips to stay out till ten, so you won’t see much action down there, but it could be a laugh.’

Ed shrugged. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said. ‘My parents wouldn’t like me going somewhere where they sell alcohol.’ He frowned. ‘How would we get in, anyway?’

‘Oh, there won’t be any alcohol,’ I lied. ‘The early part of the evening’s just for under-eighteens. They’ll kick us out by nine-thirty.’

I held my breath. Surely even Ed wouldn’t fall for that? But he did.

‘Oh, well that’s okay then, but I’m still not sure I should. I mean, I do have all this reading to do.’

Unbelievable.
I sighed.

‘That’s a shame,’ I said. ‘Ketty was really hoping you’d come along.’

‘Ketty’s going?’ Ed’s face brightened.

I grinned. ‘So you’ve only been here two days but you know who Ketty is?’

Ed blushed. ‘I’ve just . . . I’ve seen her running. She’s . . . well, it’s different. I mean,
she’s
different, isn’t she?’

More than you’ll ever understand, mate.

‘Yeah, Ketty’s cool,’ I said. ‘She’s a really good friend of mine . . . tells me everything.’ I paused.
Here goes.
‘Actually, I think she likes you.’

‘Really?’ Ed’s face flushed scarlet.

‘Yeah,’ I lied, praying he wasn’t going to suddenly break his own rules and attempt to read my mind. ‘Ketty was going on about you earlier, before she went running. Said how good-looking she thought you were.
And
interesting.’

Ed’s dark blue eyes lit up.

‘Don’t expect her to make it obvious, though,’ I added hurriedly. I wondered if I’d gone too far. I was sure Ketty hadn’t even noticed Ed existed. And she was certainly way too cool to go for someone so geeky. ‘Ketty’s much shyer than she looks,’ I went on. ‘She might seem like she’s not interested but she’s actually just really unsure of herself.’

‘Okay.’ Ed leaned forward, like he didn’t want to miss a word I was saying. ‘Thanks, Nico. I really appreciate you telling me all this.’

For a split second, he almost made eye contact with me, then his gaze dropped again.

A throb of guilt pulsed through me. I pushed it away. I was only doing this so that Jack would get another chance to speak to Ed . . . to make him see how special his mind-reading abilities were.

I was doing Ed a favour here
.

‘Right, well we’re meeting out the front at seven-thirty.’ I stood up, then punched him playfully on the shoulder. ‘Good luck, man.’