Powerless Revision 1 (26 page)

“I’ll make you regret that.”

She took a forceful step forward, and the others crowded in to prevent her from getting to him. Mira wondered what devastating effect would come out of Roselyn’s mouth next. But Vern took a defensive step back, and his heel clipped the mirror against the wall. It shattered and the shards slid down to the floor with a heart-stopping crash.

Mira gasped as the pieces settled around Vern’s feet. Everyone stopped moving. She knelt down and stared through the frame at the wall. That mirror had been there as long as she had been.

“I’m sorry, Mira. I didn’t mean to,” Vern said. Mira stood up and everyone could see the pain in her eyes as she looked at them. She didn’t need to say anything; everyone understood that the party had come to an end. They grabbed their things from around the room, and Mira escorted them downstairs. They walked silently in single file to the front door. Grabbing their coats and preparing for a somber walk home in the cold dark, they offered words of appreciation to Mira for a great party and words of regret about how it ended.

Her guests departed just as they’d come, in ones and twos, disappearing into the deep shadows of a moonless night. Mira returned to her room to survey the damage. On the way, she glanced at her parents’ door, surprised the noise hadn’t woken them up. She saw it was late and doing anything other than going to sleep seemed impossible. Wearily, she inspected the wreckage on the floor of her room. Picking up the pieces wouldn’t undo the damage, and so she let them lie and went to sleep.

***

“How could you be so irresponsible?!” The harsh note of Jeana’s voice rang in Mira’s ear. Together, they looked down at the slivers on the floor that shimmered in the light from the window. Hearing her mother reprimand her, a tear rolled off her cheek and landed on the glass at her feet.

“I’m so sorry, mom. It was an accident,” she muttered.

“Was it that game that you wanted to play? Is that how this happened?” But Mira shook her lowered head.

“That game, it’s not really even about the dice. It’s just about testing limits and crossing boundaries.”

“Well this is one boundary you should not have crossed. That mirror was a gift to you from my mother, may she rest in peace, when we moved here and built this house. And now it’s gone forever.”

Tears trickled down Mira’s face. Jeana sympathized with her, and she regretted making her feel as bad as she did it. She pursed her lips and shook her head at her daughter with her hands on her hips. The mirror would not be a great loss if it made Mira more independent.

“It wasn’t because of the game. They got into an argument about the Final Trial. It looked like they were going to have a fight over it, but then Vern stepped back into the mirror and everyone stopped. They all left after that. I just wish it hadn’t happened.”

“It didn’t have to,” Jeana said, putting her hand on Mira’s shoulder. “They were in your house, your very room, and you are responsible for them. I know you’re not afraid to speak your mind, but you can’t be afraid to confront your friends, even though that can be a very hard thing to do. Letting them know what they were doing was unacceptable would be the best thing a friend could do. You have to be able to take control of them.”

Mira, still sniffling, struggled with her mother’s words.

“But what if they don’t listen to me?” she asked.

“It seems like that’s up to them, but it’s really up to you. If you speak clearly, directly, and seriously, they will respect your wishes and accept your commands. And then if they don’t, you have to show them there are consequences for that, like asking them to leave. This doesn’t mean you can’t be their friend or you shouldn’t listen to them, just that you have to help them do what’s right even when they can’t see it.”

“Ok, mom. I should have done that. I’m sorry,” she said with her eyes closed. After one last look, Jeana left her to clean up the mess. She told her to be careful but that she should think about how she let this happen. Mira carefully picked up the large pieces with her fingers. She saw her shattered reflection in the fragile shards. It pained her to look at herself in this moment. She had to be better.

***

Descending to the ground floor, Jeana met her husband, who worked at stripping the walls of paper and decorations. Jeana collapsed into a nearby chair and put her hand to her face.

“How did it go?” Kevin asked.

“It was hard. I can’t imagine having to do that more often,” she said.

“Mira’s a good girl. She wouldn’t ever do anything to upset us on purpose.”

“After she finishes at the academy, she’ll have to leave and we’ll have to come to terms with that. There’s a difference out in the world between doing what you need to do to get by and doing what your parents would like.”

“She’ll find a way to do the right thing. She’s smart like that.”

After sulking for another moment, Jeana shook off her melancholy and started removing the black paper from the walls. It surprised her to find the same wooden walls that had always been there underneath. Those flat sheets covered so well that they could have hidden anything.

Fortst brought the class to order with a thump on the lectern. Surveying the group before him, he noticed an empty desk near the back wall. He strained himself to remember who sat there and started counting the other students to arrive at it by process of elimination. As soon as he’d given up on remembering and resigned himself to starting class anyway, it dawned on him.

“Where’s Mira?”

The students turned to look back, only now noticing the empty seat. Those who had been at the birthday party contemplated if there was a connection between the empty seat and how the party ended. The rest just assumed she skipped.

***

“I don’t know,” mumbled a voice to the teacher, who seemed to wait for an answer. Fortst became incensed, and a surly grimace soured his face. But he glanced up through the open door and then just shook his head with disappointment. He saw Mira tiptoeing around the water-covered stone path and through the clearing’s mushy, marshy surface. She navigated around puddles with such precision that it seemed she wouldn’t make it to the schoolhouse until lunchtime.

“I wish you took as much care not to be late as you do to keep your feet dry,” Fortst said once she could hear him. Her foot making a splash, Mira leapt to the steps and entered the building.

“I’m sorry I’m late, but I have something important to say. Is that ok?”

As impatient and irritated as he appeared to be, Fortst never passed up an opportunity to waste time in class. He begrudgingly assented.

“I think today could be a very special day in the life of someone in this room, and a great mystery will finally be solved.”

“I thought your birthday was over the weekend,” interjected a voice.

“No, that’s not what I’m talking about,” Mira said, shaking her head. “I’m talking about Mary. I think I’ve figured out what her power is.”

A few gasps escaped from around the room, and the blood seemed to drain from Mary’s face. Her mouth hung open and she answered her neighbors’ hushed inquiries with signs of bewilderment and confusion. Daring to believe that Mira spoke with sincerity and cause, she hesitantly bought into her proposal.

“What…what is it?” she asked. Mira answered quickly.

“Well, I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but I have an idea and an experiment that I think will get us there. What do you think, sounds like a productive use of class time, doesn’t it?” Mira said, turning her attention to Fortst.

“Absolutely. I think we should exhaust every single possibility that exists if it will help us get to the bottom of this. Mary has been in the dark about herself for far too long. It’s intolerable!”

“Exactly,” Mira said, a little surprised that she had convinced him so easily.

“So what is your experiment,” Mary asked. “I hope you don’t have to cut me open or anything.”

“Not at all. Let me start by asking you something. Do you recall what you said to me the first time we spoke way back in the fall?”

“No,” Mary answered, after spending a moment trying to remember.

“You said that I felt different to you. And you reminded me of that when I was speaking with you at the party—we all had such a great time, didn’t we? Yeah, it was unforgettable—when I walked up behind you and you knew it was me.”

“But everyone feels different to everyone, right? And who else would do that at a party besides the host?”

“Maybe and maybe not,” Mira answered, with a contemplative hand on her chin. “That’s what we’re going to have to investigate. Ok, here’s what we need to have happen. Let’s push the desks against the walls, except for one desk that we’ll leave in the middle. That desk will face away from the door, Mary will sit in it, and the rest of us will be outside. Ok?”

Everyone stared at her for a moment, until Fortst clapped his hands and the students started to move their desks. Once they were against the wall, Mary watched them exit the building one by one, assembling on a dry area against the forest wall. Though they dreaded the puddles, they took comfort in the warm and comfortable temperature, which made standing outside an easy job.

“Now what do I do?” Mary said, sitting in the chair with only the back wall in view.

“One of us will enter the building behind you, and you have to tell us who it is. Don’t turn around or move your head at all,” Mira said.

Mira looked over the group and pondered which one to pick. Taking a big step, and motioning her to be quiet, Mira put her hand on Aoi’s shoulder and directed her to go to the entrance. Aoi stalked straight through the puddles to the entrance and then stopped in the doorway.

“Who is it?” Mira shouted.

“It’s Aoi. She’s the only one who doesn’t care to avoid the puddles.”

“No, no. We’ll have to try again. This time don’t listen to anything. I won’t say anything, and when someone comes up behind you and you know who it is, just say it.”

Aoi came back, and Mira sent Dot to go next. She whispered to take her time and to get to the entrance as silently as possible. Dot crept along the exposed ground, curving over to the stone path and following it to the door. Softly setting her feet on the steps, she stopped and waited.

“It’s Dot!” she said, and the crowd clapped and cheered in approval. They tried it one more time, and soon Mary correctly named Kurt as the one standing in the entranceway.

“She is psychic and can identify people without seeing them or knowing them!” Vern said.

“That’s one possibility, but we haven’t proved that yet. It does seem like some kind of sensing. Let’s get her out here and talk to her about it.”

Mira called to Mary and soon she walked out and took a seat on the steps. She had a determined, concentrated look on her face that showed how intent she was upon figuring this out too.

“When you know someone is there, how does it work? Can you close your eyes and see their face?” Mira asked.

“No, I can’t see anything other than what I imagine and what my eyes show me.”

“Well, what tips you off about whom it is? Is it something about the name or maybe a memory that comes to you?”

Mary tilted her head and thought hard.

“No, not really. It’s not something I ever really paid any attention to before. I just get this feeling and it makes sense to me who it is.”

“Ok, we have to find out what you are able to do to tell who someone is, and I think I have a way to do that. Please return to your seat and wait for someone to enter the schoolhouse behind you just like before. It will take a while, but just focus on that feeling, what it is and what it tells you.”

Mira motioned to everyone to stay put and she whispered to Fortst that she needed to go get something and would be back soon. Hopping over puddles to get to the trail, she then took off running through the trees. The crowd waited silently for a few minutes, and then boredom overwhelmed the students, who began to mill around and talk.

“Maybe she can tell who you are by reading your thoughts,” Dennis said.

“Oh, no! What if she’s been reading my thoughts all this time and I didn’t know it! I’ve been thinking lots of things that would be embarrassing if someone else knew about them,” Chucky said.

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“I’m not going to tell you!” said Chucky, flustered.

***

Mira returned much slower than she left, and this time she had someone trailing along behind her. Coming through the end of the trail, she vehemently urged everyone to remain quiet. An old man emerged from the trail behind her, and only Fortst and one other student knew his name was Mert Bogger. The rest of them just saw a tired old man who looked around like he was lost.

Following the directions Mira had given him on the way to the senior schoolhouse, Mert ambled his way up to the entranceway as silently as he could without compromising his balance. He trudged up the cement steps, turning at the top to look back at Mira, who reminded him to stop and stay quiet. The students strained their eyes trying to see Mary sitting inside.

“It’s…it’s…I don’t know who it is!” Mary shouted.