The Unlocked (Charlie Hartley Series Book 1) (7 page)

Walking through another set of double doors, Charlie found herself
in a metal room. It looked cramped and menacing with all the unidentified metal
equipment scattered about.

Hilary interrupted her thoughts. “This is an ANDREI training
room. We’ve got four others like this. It’s made of material designed to resist
a specific element manifested by a student. Taking my powers as an example,
this is a room I can’t burn down. These rooms are strictly for physical
training and mental endurance,” Hilary explained.

The second room looked similar to the first except its walls
were covered with specially designed thick padding. “This is the infirmary. The
materials used in these walls temporarily block any powers. This was designed
so attending physicians are protected from potentially violent students. You
know how nerves can trigger unwarranted violent reactions, right?” At Charlie’s
nod, Hilary looked around and continued, “Doesn’t this place remind you of
rooms in a loony bin?”  Charlie chuckled at Hilary’s comment that
reflected her own thoughts.

“I’d love to stay and chat with you, but you’ve got five
minutes before your first class with Ms. Everest. We need to get going.”

Heart thudding wildly in her chest, Charlie felt a weird
drowning sensation. This was her usual response to nerves, but for some reason
it felt like her first day at Joseph Foran High School as a new student. And
then she realized, it was her first day! But the thought didn’t help slow her
racing heart.

Hilary ushered her down a hallway with a reassuring smile
and hand squeeze. “I’ll be back when your class is over. We can resume the tour
then,” she promised.

Charlie reluctantly turned the knob and entered the room.
All but one chair was filled. A youthful-looking woman stood in front. She
greeted Charlie with a warm smile. “Well, you’re a minute early. It’s Ms.
Hartley, right?”

Charlie managed a nod but couldn’t squeak out a verbal
response. “Class, this is Charlene-“

“Charlie, please call me Charlie.” She didn’t realize she’d
just cut off the lovely woman, most likely her teacher, in mid-speech.

The woman’s smile seemed plastered on her face. “Class, this
is Charlie Hartley.”

The rest of the class responded in a bored chorus, “Hi,
Charlie Hartley.” Each student was busy staring at his own empty table save for
a Russian-looking guy whose stare seemed to penetrate Charlie’s soul.

“I’m Rachel Everest. Call me whatever you wish,” the woman
said. “You can take a seat at the back, Charlie.”

There were only seven students in the class, eight including
Charlie. It was a very small class, but considering how few had special
abilities, theirs was a good number.

Ms. Everest grabbed Charlie’s attention again. “Charlie, do
you mind me asking a personal question?”

Charlie was caught off-guard. She didn’t know how things
worked at ANDREI yet, so she was stymied. Her nerves were on overdrive but she
managed to say, “No, I don’t mind.” Charlie prayed she sounded intelligible to
Ms. Everest because to her ears, her voice was garbled.

“Do you know what you can do?”

She racked her brains for an answer. It sounded like a beauty
pageant question. Then it occurred to her Ms. Everest was referring to her
powers.

Even then she struggled with her words. “I can move things.”

A curly haired girl in red-rimmed glasses piped up, “So can
we!”

A few giggled but the girl looked genuinely bothered.

“Brianna…” Ms. Everest was about to chastise the girl. So
that’s Brianna. Great, my roommate doesn’t like me already.

“I mean with my mind. I can move things with my mind,”
Charlie added.

That silenced them.

“Pics or it didn’t happen!” A petite girl with tiny face and
a mischievous smile said in reference to a popular tagline on the Internet.

“Mika!” Ms. Everest looked exasperated. She gave Charlie an
apologetic look.

The dark-skinned guy sitting in front of Charlie turned around
to face her and said: “Mika’s just messing around. But we do want to see,” he
turned to face the front. “Right, Ms. Everest?”

“Only if Charlie is comfortable,” she replied, looking at
Charlie expectantly. Charlie felt all eyes on her. She did her best to ignore
them or she’d lose concentration and embarrass herself on her first day. She
stared at Mika’s bag on the floor beside her chair as all eyes followed suit.
After a few seconds, Mika’s bag had yet to move.

“Are you sure you’re not a defect? I mean, Ms. Pitt wouldn’t
let a defect come in, right?”

Ms. Everest snapped. “Mika, that is enough! Cafeteria duty
for the next month starting tomorrow!”

“But the kitchen is disgusting!”

Ms. Everest didn’t speak. She was staring at something at
the back of the room. Mika whipped her head and saw it. It took only seconds
before all heads were turned and the rest saw it too.

The large glass globe was no longer perched on the table. It
was floating in mid-air, thump-thump-thumping against the ceiling.

“Whoa,” Mika exclaimed.

Ms. Everest smiled. “Now we know. Class, Charlie is
telekinetic.” Upon hearing someone declaring her as such made her feel giddy
inside. The teacher’s pronouncement was the affirmation of all the years she
spent convincing herself her powers weren’t just hallucinations or her mind
tricking her. She was a real telekinetic. Then Ms. Everest said, “Now, would
you please gently put the globe down so we can get on with our class.” Charlie
did as she was told and for the next hour, Ms. Everest talked about abilities.
She learned all of them in her class were called The Unlocked.

During the class, Charlie got acquainted with the powers of
her fellow Unlocked. Ms. Everest asked the class to demonstrate what they could
do for Charlie’s benefit.

Mika, the spunky girl who talked a lot, could make herself
invisible, or more precisely, could make certain parts of her body invisible.
She was only in Level 1, referring to students who were just starting out and
had little knowledge of what they can do. Other Level 1 students included
Garrett, the guy seated in front of her, who could control time very briefly.
Another guy with brown hair swept to the side and who reminded Charlie of
Justin Bieber with a better voice was Jian. His powers were Illusion Creation,
which impressed Charlie when he made her experience being underneath the ocean
teeming with fish for a few moments. Patrice was the dark-brown haired lass
with piercing dark eyes who didn’t talk much; she could manipulate the weather.
Patrice demonstrated her powers through a clap of thunder rumbling despite the
sun shining brightly through the windows.

“The rest of the class is at Level 2. They are now
evaluating the extent of their abilities before we find a program suitable for
honing it,” Ms. Everest said.

Charlie met Cassandra, a tall blonde who oozed with
confidence. She could manipulate gravity and proved by making all eight chairs
and the sole table in the room float an inch from the ground for two full
seconds. Brianna, the worrier in glasses who initially thought Charlie was a
fraud, could predict the future.

Brianna approached Charlie. “You’ll have a… mishap.
Tomorrow, or in the near future. I’m sorry; it’s still a little blurry to me.
I’m working on it.”

Charlie was initially taken aback, but decided to take
Brianna’s prediction with a grain of salt. “I’m your new roommate.”

“Oh, so you’re the one bunking with me. Hi, roomie!” Brianna
chirped before heading back to her seat in front of the class.

Then there was the Russian. His name was Ilka and he flew
around the room to prove it. Julian could make a double of himself, while Ted
could hear Charlie’s breathing even from 20 feet away.

“You smell like geraniums,” Ted told her. Charlie sniffed
her shirt and true enough, the faint scent of her perfume that smelled of
geraniums was still there.

What a weird bunch
, Charlie thought.
I like them
already.

Exactly an hour later, Ms. Everest dismissed the class.
Charlie noted Amanda was not kidding about the school being particular with
time and punctuality.

When Charlie exited the room, she felt a hand on her
shoulder. It was Ms. Everest.

“It’s really nice to have a new face eager to be in my
class,” she said to Charlie. “See you tomorrow.”

Charlie smiled. “See you tomorrow, Ms. Everest.”

Hilary waited for her outside the room like she promised.
“How was class?”

“It was okay,” Charlie replied. “I need some time to process
things, but I think I’m taking it pretty well, all things considered.”

Hilary agreed. “I think so too, Charlie.”

They walked towards the cafeteria and chose a table near the
door. Charlie walked up to the counter and spotted Mika behind it. When it was
her turn, Charlie smiled at the new kitchen assistant.

“I’m sorry about what I said earlier,” Mika said. “I didn’t
mean it to be offensive or anything.”

Charlie was surprised to receive an apology. “Don’t worry
about it. I’m sorry about kitchen duty, though. Maybe I can talk to Ms. Everest
to let you off.”

“Really? Thanks!” Mika exclaimed. Charlie left the line queue
with a tray of food and a smile on her face.

“I see you’ve made friends,” Hilary observed when Charlie
got to the table.

“Surprisingly so,” Charlie said, pleased. Charlie’s gaze
darted to a boy with messed up brown hair who entered the cafeteria with an
easy, confident gait. He looked cute with that fresh-from-the-bed attire and
half-open eyes to match.

“Hey, Hilary. Who’s that guy?” Charlie asked, craning her
neck to his direction.

“Ah, that’s Otto. All around nice guy,” Hilary replied. Then
she erupted into a watermelon smile. “You have a crush on him, don’t you?”

Charlie laughed. “Of course not, I haven’t even met him!”

“But you think he’s cute!”

“I neither confirm nor deny that claim.” The two girls
laughed. As their laughter subsided, a girl whose entire demeanor screamed
trouble approached their table.

“So it’s true, Hil, you now have a new lunch buddy,” the
blonde girl playfully pouted. She turned to Charlie. “I had to see it for
myself. Look bitch, I don’t know why or how you’re back, but I don’t care. You
don’t just waltz into this school and steal my friends. You’re not one of us.”

Charlie was taken aback. She didn’t know how to respond.

“Madison, stop. She’s not Jeanne,” Hilary intervened.

Madison laughed. “And you expect me to believe that?” She
lifted a few strands of Charlie’s hair, examining them. Madison inched her face
so close to hers she could feel Madison’s breath on her nose.

“Holy shit,” Madison blurted. “She’s really not Jeanne?”

Hilary sighed. “That’s what I’ve been telling you.”

“Is she some sort of clone?”

Charlie cringed at the c-word. She didn’t like to think she
was a clone; it makes her sound artificial. Hilary quickly defended her.

“Have you ever heard of twins, Madison?”

“Oh, so you’re the twin bitch!” Madison exclaimed. “I don’t
believe we’ve met. My name’s Madison.”

Madison extended her hand like nothing happened. Charlie had
no choice but to shake it. “Charlie,” she croaked.

“Very nice to meet you, Charlie,” Madison said, smirking.
She walked away without another word.

Hilary heaved a deep breath. “I’m sorry about that. She’s
the actual bitch, not Jeanne. Madison and your sister have a history. Jeanne
was the only one who was able to stand up to her and Madison hated her for it,”
Hilary explained.

“Well, she seemed less venomous when she found out I’m not
Jeanne. That’s good news, right?”

Hilary shook her head. “I don’t know. With Madison, you
never really know.”

Charlie shrugged it off. With the initial excitement wearing
off from all the newness around her, Charlie allowed her thoughts to linger on
Jeanne. “What else do you know about my sister?”

“Your sister is a fighter, that much I know. We were best
friends from the orphanage. Like me, she was passed on from one foster home to
another until she ended up at Texas Hands for Change, where we met.” Hilary
stopped talking as if a switch was turned off.

“Hilary? Are you alright?” Charlie’s friend didn’t respond.
She was about to stand to get some help when Hilary grabbed her arm.

“I’m fine,” Hilary said, hand on her forehead. “Just a dizzy
spell, I guess. I’m going up to my room to get some rest. You should come with
me.”

“Sure,” the worried Charlie said, linking her arm around
Hilary’s for support. “I don’t have any other activity for the rest of the day
anyway, according to the schedule Ms. Pitt gave me.”

“Good. We can both retire early for the night.”

Charlie dropped Hilary in her room first before heading to
her own. She didn’t realize how exhausted she was from the long ride and from her
first day at ANDREI so far. Within a few minutes, Charlie was sound asleep.

Three hours later, Charlie woke up, facing a white wall an
inch away from her face.

Her first thought was her bed was not beside any wall. It
was safely positioned in the middle of the room, so she couldn’t possibly be
facing either side. The second thought was that a bright light was emanating
from her left side. Then she saw it: a light bulb.

Charlie was right next to a light bulb.

She peeked over her left shoulder and her room came into
view. Charlie was floating right below her ceiling. In her panicked state, she
didn’t notice a familiar blonde girl standing at the side of her room, trying
to contain her laughter. Charlie tried to focus but couldn’t bring herself
down. She looked stupid flailing her arms around like she were drowning. Then
she heard boisterous laughter.

It was Madison, bent over, finding the scene hilarious.

“Put me down, Madison. Please,” Charlie pleaded. She kept
trying to put herself down, concentrating as hard as she could to no avail.