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Cael wasn’t in his room, and a glance at his desk revealed the folders were also gone. Pippa’s room was just across the hall, so I peeked inside but found it empty. I passed Zach, Gavin, and Val’s rooms – also empty – but then I saw Brodie in his room sitting cross-legged on the bed, reading a magazine.

“Knock-knock,” I said by way of asking permission to enter.

He looked up, and his eyebrows lifted. “Iggy. I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I don’t mean to bother you, I just had a quick question.”

“No bother at all. You’re welcome here any time.” He closed his magazine and directed his attention to me.

I found it odd that someone who’d been so rude to me at the pool was being so nice now. But I wanted information, so I ignored the thought. “Where did you get the magazine?”

“That’s the question you came here to ask?”

“No. But seeing you with one has me curious. I didn’t know we had access to reading material.”

“There’s a small library.”

I came to stand at the end of his bed. “There is? Where? How do you know about it?”

“It’s across from the entrance to the Arena. Dr. Jensen said we could enter any room that wasn’t locked, so I started trying all the doors. That door opened, and voila, I have a magazine. There are also books, a sofa, and two desks.”

“Wow. I’m glad you got nosy and discovered it.”

He smiled. “So, what was your original question?”

I gripped the railing, wondering if he’d answer me. “You were directed to Area 2, and I wondered why. Lots of others have gone there too. I’ve been to the arena and a lab, but not to Area 1 or 2. I was just wondering if those rooms are test labs.”

“Area 2 is an office. I met a doctor name Thurmond. She’s a psychologist. I had to meet her for a psychological evaluation. We all do at some point. She said the students will meet with her periodically for ongoing assessments and evaluations.”

“What kind of tests did she give you?”

He unfolded his legs and hung them over the side of his bed. “All we did was talk.”

“She did show you black blobs on white paper and ask you what you saw?”

He chuckled. “No. She just asked me questions.”

“What kind of questions?” I started gnawing on my bottom lip.

“She wanted to know what I thought of this place, if I’d made any friends, if I missed home. Stuff like that.” He walked over to stand in front of me. “You look like you’re thinking it was some type of interrogation in some dark closet in the basement of the FBI’s headquarters.” He poked my wrinkled brow. “If you’re worried about it, don’t be. It was the most relaxing thing I’ve done here so far…outside of the rec center.” He asked, “Hey. I was just about to go to the cafeteria to get a drink. Wanna come?”

“It’s open?” Another surprise.

“Yeah. Sometimes they put snacks out, too.”

I shrugged. “Sure.” We walked together and I wondered if Brodie possessed some hidden motive for being nice to me. I had been so certain he was someone I needed to be wary of, but maybe I had jumped to conclusions simply because I’d seen him around Alex.

In the dining hall, I grabbed a pack of crackers and filled a cup with Fanta from the soda fountain. I’d been in such a bad mood at breakfast, I’d hardly touched my food, and I was hungry. Brodie led me to a table where Krish sat munching on Cheetos. He apparently was friends with her, and they struck up a conversation. She was pretty with thick black hair that hung to her shoulders and smooth, dark skin. Her voice had a lilting tone when she spoke.

She asked me, “What did you have to do in Lab 3?”

I shook my head as if it was silly. “I participated in an aviary study.”

“Huh?” Brodie paused in the middle of biting into a peanut butter filled cracker.

“They released a bunch of birds into the room and I had to paralyze them.”

“Is that what you do?” Krish asked.

I immediately became suspicious, wondering if their purpose in talking to me was to find out exactly what I could do. In Atlanta, the students never had the freedom to discuss these things. Could telling them about my abilities possibly put me in harm’s way? I was sure Alex would want to know everything about me because I had used my power on her, and she hated me. Would Brodie pass on any information he gleaned from talking with me?

“Yeah. Something like that.” They could tell I had closed up. Brodie went back to eating his crackers and Krish gave me a look of understanding.

“I can thin people’s blood,” she volunteered. A calculated move to gain my trust?

“Did you kill your cat by making it bleed out?” I remembered seeing the animal lying in a pool of blood. She looked away and her shoulders fell. “I’m sorry,” I told her, feeling instantly guilty for bringing it up. “That wasn’t very considerate of me.”

“How did you kill your animals?” Brodie asked me, as if getting revenge for my own callous question.

I considered my answer and decided on truth. “I stopped their hearts.”

Brodie’s eyes lit up. “I can do that, too. I’ve never met anyone who has the same power as me. How do you do it exactly? Dr. Jensen says I can control cells that create electricity. Heart cells. Did you know that a single cardiac cell beats all by itself. Is that how you do it?”

I was taken aback by his changed demeanor. “I…uh…don’t know how.”

“Dr. Jensen didn’t explain the research to you? The doctor I tested under always shared his research with us.”

I shrugged. “Either Jensen doesn’t know, or he doesn’t want to tell me the specifics.” That was also the truth. But even if I did know the mechanics behind my ability, I wouldn’t share that information with Brodie or anyone else other than Wesley and Cael. It seemed too revealing, like exposing one of the most vulnerable parts of myself.

Then Alex and Gavin walked in, chatting and laughing, and I immediately clammed up. If she was here, then she wasn’t with Wesley. So I decided to find my best friend and see if we could sort out the awkwardness that seemed to be developing between us. I excused myself, threw away my trash, and headed for his room.

Like everyone else’s door, his was stuck open, and I walked in without bothering to announce myself. To my surprise, he and Cael were sitting on the sofa whispering and looking at the contents of the files that I’d seen on Cael’s desk. When they saw me, they clamped the files shut and Cael asked, “What did you have to do in the lab?”

He stood up, but I backed away. “Play with some Cardinals and Cockatiels. What have you two been doing?”

Wesley gathered the three files, stood, and pushed them into Cael’s arms. “
He’ll
explain.”

I focused on Cael and planted my hands on my hips.

Cael said, “Jensen told me he and his staff have been having some difficulty understanding how and why your power works. Even after years of testing, he admitted they haven’t figured it out. I asked him a bunch of questions. He already knew I was bored. So he gave me some old files to read through to keep me busy.”

“Files about what?”

“You,” he replied with diffidence.

“You two have been reading files on
me
? What kind of files?”

Wesley spoke up. “From the earlier tests. Around ages thirteen to fifteen, from what I can tell so far.”

Heat suffused my face, caused by a mix of embarrassment and anger. “You’ve been reading personal information about
me
?”

“It’s all very clinical,” he defended.

“And you didn’t think to ask if it was okay with me for you to read those files? That’s my life in there,” I shouted at him, pointing to the stacks of papers.

“I was going to wait. I was going to talk to you about it before you went to the lab.”

“Then why didn’t you wait until I got back?”

Wesley stepped forward. “It’s my fault, Iggy. I pushed him into letting me read a file, and then I found something interesting and gave it to Cael to read. We started reading more after that.”

“Great! So my best friend and my boyfriend have been studying up on information about me that
I
probably don’t even know. Without my permission!”

“I want to help, Iggy.” Cael looked pained.

“Why on earth would Jensen give
you
any information about me, Cael. You’re not a scientist. You don’t have a triple PhD like everyone on staff around here.”

“I told Dr. Thurmond I was bored, and she suggested to Jensen that I be allowed to look over your files.”

“You’ve been talking to Thurmond?”

“Just once.”

My fists clenched. “Those pages are my tests, my fears, my nightmares. Years of torture. And you two are reading about it like it’s some science fiction novel!” I lunged forward and snatched at the folders. Cael jumped back. “Give them to me.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not? They’re about me. They’re mine.”

“Jensen will take them away and never give me another thing to look at if I let you see them.”

“Oh, but you can let Wesley see them? That’s bullshit, Cael.”

“Yes. I have permission to show them to Wesley and no one else.”

“What sense does that make? Did it occur to either of you that his intent in doing that might be to get me so pissed off at the two of you that I never want to speak to you again?”

“The sooner he understands the science behind what you can do, the safer you’ll be. The sooner he’ll let you go home.”

I threw my hands up in the air. “That’s a lie!” I looked at Wesley. “I know
you
don’t believe Jensen would follow through on that.”

Wes said, “No, but I have my own reasons for thinking it’s not a bad idea.”

“What reasons?”

“Nothing I care to share with you while you’re so over-emotional and everyone can hear everything we say.”

“Over-emotional?” I grabbed for the files again, and my fingertips scraped the pages. But Cael was fast, and I didn’t succeed. I shot daggers at him. “I don’t want you reading about me. Give them to me.”

“I can explain why I accepted them, and I promise I won’t read them anymore unless you give me permission, Iggy. But I’m not going to give them to you.”

My lips drew into a thin line. “I could
make
you give them to me.” I thrust out one arm. “Hand them over or I’ll
show
you that I can take them from you.” The look on Cael’s face made me instantly regret my words. I clamped a hand over my mouth. I would
never
use my power against him. It was a horrible thought. I couldn’t believe I’d just said that. Threatened him. No matter how mad I was, I would never hurt Cael. What was wrong with me? What kind of person would threaten the people she cared most about? Using my power on Cael would completely sever any trust he’d ever had in me. I would hate myself for it. “I…I’m sorry, Cael. I didn’t mean that. I would never do that. I would never deliberately hurt you.”

“Iggy, you’re right. I shouldn’t have looked at your files until I asked you first. I promise you,” he repeated softly, “I won’t open them unless you tell me I can. But I’m not giving them up. Go ahead and do what you feel you need to do.” He stood there, clutching the files to his chest and waiting for me to hurt him. He was just going to stand there and let me use my power against him? Did he really believe I could do that?

Wesley grabbed my upper arm so tightly, I gasped. He hissed, “What the hell has gotten into you? How could you threaten him like that? Someone you care so much about. Who’s next, Iggy? Me? Your dad? Kim? Are you going to hurt people every time you don't get your way?”

He released me and I ran out. I heard Cael call my name and Wesley tell him to let me cool off. I didn’t want to go to my room because the door wouldn’t shut, and the bathroom seemed to be the place everyone went for privacy. So I headed to the rec center, thinking I could hide in the women’s locker room. But the door was locked.

“Iggy?” Ibram popped his head out of his doorway. I hadn’t known his room was the one closest to the rec center. He took one look at my face and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just having a bad day.”

“So you’re going to the rec center to work it out?”

I sighed and turned to face him. “I was looking for somewhere to be alone for a while.”

“And you can’t go to your room?”

“That’s the first place people go to find me. And I don’t want to talk to anyone right now.”

Ibram’s face softened, and a dimple appeared with his crooked grin. “You can hang out in here. If you sit on the sofa, no one can see you from the hallway unless they’re coming from the rec center. And it’s closed.”

“I’m not much in the mood for company.”

“That’s okay. I was on my way to see Shayla.” He gestured for me to come inside. “I don’t think anyone will bother you in here.”

I entered and gave him a watery smile. “Thanks, Ibram.”